Who's "A" This Time?

"A" is back, bitches and whoever it is isn't playing nice. Tuesday night's new episode of ABC Family's Pretty Little Liars , "Run, Ali, Run," put PLL fans right back where we started — wondering who "A" is. On last week's episode, "A" returned by blowing up Toby's house — proving Ezra's "Shana is 'A'" theory wrong — and on Monday night, "A"s reign of terror continued. But did PLL reveal that "A" is actually a girl in the episode's final moments? It sure seemed like it.

PLL fans and the liars themselves are still grasping at straws here now that we're back at "square one," as Ali would say. And while Spencer was trying to feel out whether or not her dad could've killed Mrs. DiLaurentis and Ezra and Aria were hunting down a connection between Mrs. D and Bethany at Radley, "A" was planning her next move. Which included lurking around the DiLaurentis house, attempting to strangle Ali, and sending a sweet flower arrangement to the "Parents of Bethany Young." So, what the hell is going on here and did the real "A" try to strangle Ali? Or was this just another Shana-type red herring?

It'd be easy to assume the same as Alison — that, if it really were "A" in her house, they would've killed her. But then I'd be completely wrong. "A" is predator and he/she isn't ready to let their prey off the hook just yet — the caged bird still has to sing, after all. So, unlike the situation with Ezra, where it seemed relatively clear that Shana was his shooter (meaning that it wasn't really "A"), Monday night's interaction between Ali and "A" is more sinister. Because it's incredibly likely that it actually was "A" and perhaps he/she would've finished the job had Emily not turned up.

Which leads us to the final moments of Monday night's PLL episode. In the past, I believed that episodes ended with actual shots of "A." So, if that pattern is continuing, Monday night's episode was a huge reveal — "A" is definitely a girl and, if we take into account the Hastings drama of the episode, "A" has to be Melissa. Mr. Hastings neither confirmed nor denied his and Melissa's whereabouts on the night of Mrs. D's murder, just that he didn't do it. And Melissa's whereabouts were conveniently ignored on Monday night's episode, making it extremely likely that she was under that black hoodie and veil at the end of the episode.

Stop trolling us, PLL — we know it's Melissa, now make it official.

Image: ABC Family