Will 'PLL' Finally Give Us Some Answers?

It's almost back. ABC Family's hit drama Pretty Little Liars will return on Tues., Jan. 7 for the second half of its fourth season and there are big changes ahead. Executive producer on the show, Joe Dougherty, told TVFanatic that some old faces will return to the show during its remaining episodes and that the rest of this season will become "a season of answers." For dedicated PLL fans, that probably sounds like a dream come true. Right? Well possibly — for a show that has made promises of answers more times than we can count, can we really trust it to deliver in a satisfying way that won't just lead to more mystery?

The show's annual Halloween episode that aired in Oct. 2013 answered one of the series' biggest questions, "Is Alison DeLaurentis Alive?" (SPOILER: She is, by the way.) And kind of, sort of, gave us a strong sense of who "A" might actually be. (SPOILER 2: It might be Ezra Fitz.) But in terms of other mysteries and secrets, these are just the tip of the iceberg and if we're being honest with ourselves, these "answers" just spawned more questions than they resolved. That's been the formula thus far for Pretty Little Liars — give us an answer but force us to ask 100 more questions. Really, we need to take Dougherty's assertions at face value, especially when they're followed by something like this:

I think what you see on most characters on the show is that there’re usually motives behind motives and rationales behind rationales. So that what you see is true and we’re not going to take anything back but the story, there is a complete story that’s told and you’re just seeing fragments of it now.

Sound a little confusing? We think so, too. Dougherty also revealed that familiar faces Jason DeLaurentis and Noel Kahn will return to the show to "move things forward". But how and why? Noel and Jason have been mysteries unto themselves, so as much answers as those two could bring, they'll be bringing questions, too. Because it's Pretty Little Liars and mysteries and secrets are the essence of its existence — even if it makes us so frustrated that we want to put our heads through our TVs sometimes.

But let's just say we will get real, satisfying and concrete answers in Pretty Little Liars' upcoming episodes. In an effort to not be greedy, here are the top five must-knows for this "seasons of answers."

#1: WHO IS BOARD SHORTS?

Okay, this just needs to be done — especially now that fans are theorizing that Wren (you know, Melissa Hastings' ex-fiancé and Mona's doctor at Radley) is actually "Board Shorts"/"Beach Hottie". I mean, anything's possible, but c'mon. We know he's connected and that he's got a thing for younger girls (he did ditch Melissa for Spencer) for sure, but is he really that connected to all of this? We'd be surprised if this actually comes to fruition, but not so surprised that he's evil as hell. Who knows, that British accent might not even be real.

#2: WHO WAS IN ALI'S COFFIN?

Well, now that we know it's not Ali, there's got to be someone in there and we really need to know who. The body was removed a while ago, which we saw in the episode where someone dug up Ali's grave and the girls somehow thought it was a good idea to open the coffin. But whose body was it?

#3: WHAT IS UP WITH EZRA?

Is Ezra actually A. or just really creepy and always in the wrong place at the wrong time? We're betting that he's actually really creepy and he might be Ali's killer but we could be wrong. It's also possible that he suffered a psychotic break or has multiple personality disorder or has a twin (!!!!!) which could also explain his increasingly bizarre, violent, erratic, and terrifying behavior. The possibilities are endless so please, just tell us already.

#4: WHO WAS BURIED ALIVE?

Seriously, WHOSE CREEPY HAND IS THAT THAT'S BEEN TRYING TO CLAW ITS WAY OUT FOR THREE SEASONS ALREADY? We really need to know — now that we're sure it isn't Ali because she's in fact very alive, then who was it? When the audience learned about her alleged autopsy report, it did say that there was dirt in her lungs but then again, she didn't actually die. So it was someone else and we need to know who. (This one might not happen because we already found out Ali is alive and that might be all we'll learn this season about her "death.")

#5: WHO KILLED ALISON?

We've run through an enormous gambit of suspects at this point and we're still no closer to finding out who tried to kill Alison or who killed the person that was buried in her coffin. Was it two people? One person? We still have literally no idea — and even though it looks like it could've been Ezra, we can't be too sure. (See #3.) We've been waiting a long time and now that we know Ali's alive why the hell would she not just tell us right away who her would-be killer is? That's a hell of a secret to continue to carry around now that you've gone out on a limb and told people that you're still alive.

There's probably no chance of us getting all of these, but we can dream.

Image: ABC Family