The 'PLL' Halloween Specials Include So Many Clues

As Mona so creepily — er, I mean, eloquently? — put it during her stay at Radley, "I love Halloween. All the dressing up, being other people, tricks and treats, treats that turn into tricks." You know what else I love though, Mona? Possibly even more than Halloween? None other than the Pretty Little Liars' Halloween specials.

Why? Because the PLL Halloween specials have all the things we love about PLL wrapped into one neat little 45 minute episode, of course! Upon my first viewing of them, I knew I could count on mysteries, masks, and adrenaline-pumping story lines — but, now that it's been a while, I realize at the time, I never realized how many clues these bad boys had.

That is, until I re-watched all of the episodes together. Back to back.

Ever since the big A reveal, I’ve been thinking about said clues and how many of them I must have missed. (I've also been somewhat furious at myself for not figuring out the truth sooner.) All the signs that CeCe Drake was A all this time were there — I just didn't see them. Better yet, I didn't know where to look! Feeling a little like Jenna after she recovered her vision, things became crystal clear during this re-watch. Epiphanies were had, and ultimately, many a thing was pieced together. I guess hindsight’s always 20/20 right?

Anyway, here's what I learned:

"The First Secret" (Season 2, Episode 13)

Twins:

You'd think for an episode so early on in the series, Season 2's Halloween special wouldn't be so full of clues. But, honestly, "The First Secret" starts off just as prophetic as I would have hoped. The episode opens with Allison telling the story of two twin sisters and how kills the other, brutally. Perhaps it's a nod to the original book series by Sara Shepard or, perhaps... it's a huge, massive, blaring clue that A was CeCe.

Ali ends the story: "They had no choice but to take her away to a place for the criminally insane." Hmm...also sounds a lot like when CeCe was put in Radley for trying to kill Ali. The twin connection and heavy handed imagery is too real to ignore.

Abandoned Houses = Full Of Clues:

Early in the episode, the girls see someone in the window of a rundown abandoned house — and naturally, they get freaked out. At the end of the episode, the girls try to rescue Ali from that same house. As they peek around, we notice a few things within all the rooms: The silhouette of a suit (perhaps it belongs to "He?"), and a dollhouse (a clue for Season 6A's fascination with dolls? I think yes).

Other Easter Eggs:

As this whole entire episode is one giant flashback, the Easter eggs are aplenty. For instance, the clown mask in the Halloween store is the same one in Mona's lair. Allison receives a voodoo doll with a note that says "It's my turn to torture you," which sounds pretty familiar to the torturing commencing in the opening of Season 6. Seriously, there's so much happening in this episode. (Also, special shout out to Aria bumping into Ezra pre-Ezria as she goes to visit her Professor father on the college campus.)

"This is A Dark Ride" (Season 3, Episode 13)

The Return of the Baby Mask:

Spotted first in Season 2's Halloween episode, the creepy baby mask is ba-a-ack. And, just like in Season 2, there's more than one of them. We learn somewhere in the middle of the episode that one of the mask-wearers is Garrett, but who are the others? At the beginning of the episode, when Aria and Hanna spot the person in the mask and recognize it from last year, Hanna says to Aria "it's just a costume. It doesn't mean anything anymore." Oh, but it does. In fact, costumes mean everything to the liars. In the Christmas episode of 2012, it's revealed that CeCe Drake owns a baby mask. Putting the pieces together in retrospect, it becomes clear that the other baby masked villain in the train was indeed CeCe. BOOM.

The Twin Is Back:

The twin actress from Ali's story last year is also back, but this time, it's hinted that she's a ghost. If my previous theory is correct, then this is just another way to remind us again that the pivotal moment we've all been waiting for (i.e. the big A reveal) had to do with twins all along. One thing's for sure: The show did not want us to forget about these two twin girls.

Other Easter Eggs:

The same "Radley Sanitarium car" that was in the previous season's halloween episode is shown again. Perhaps to remind us that A has a serious history with Radley? Also, the body bag that falls out of the ice bucket at the end of the episode has the words "Charon & Sons Funeral Directors" written on it... and guess what name you can make out of these letters? "CeCe."

"Grave New World" (Season 4, Episode 13)

Twins Again!

If there's one major thing I learned during this re-watch, it's to pay attention to the twin imagery! Early in this episode, Hannah notices two blonde twins in red coats and becomes immediately bothered by them. We also see two twins (this time brunette) in a photo on the wall of the house the girls get lost in. Then, there's the fact that towards the end of the episode, we learn that Miranda Collins and Caleb both have deceased "twins" in Ravenswood. So much double imagery, it's insane.

Other Easter Eggs:

The "HELP ME" sign on the underground wall looks suspiciously similar to the message written in the dollhouse closet. Also, the engraved plague message "For Your Convenience has "CeCe" within it, and either that's purposeful or I'm just going insane. Inquire within:

It's so much to take in — and while I'm bummed we won't be getting one of these Halloween specials this year, I think we're getting something even better: a PLL five-year time jump. November 24, you can't come soon enough.

Images: ABC Family (12); thesweetsofa/Tumblr