Could There Be Three of Ali on 'PLL'?

Life is good, people. Nay — life is great. Pretty Little Liars returned for Season 5B on Jan. 6, and with it came a whole new slew of mysteries and questions. But the biggest question mark of them all remains none other than Alison DiLaurentis herself. The former Queen Bee of Rosewood lost her crown just as quickly as she gained it back: Ali was arrested for the murder of Mona Vanderwaal, and we're no closer to figuring out Ali's motives than we are the identity of the elusive A. As we learned in the Season 5B premiere, A and Ali are probably not one and the same — but a new clue from the premiere does hint that A might be a DiLaurentis after all. Could it mean that Ali is a triplet and not a twin?

It all comes back to a conversation between Ali and her brother Jason. Ali is scared — she knows that someone is framing her for Mona's murder, and that Jason might not necessarily believe that she's completely innocent. After all, to say that Jason's relationship with his sister is complicated would be an understatement — they've played mind games with one another for years, and Ali's always been the favorite in the DiLaurentis household. It's in that moment that Jason tells Ali that she has "three full baby albums" — and guess how many Jason has? And that's the basis of my new Pretty Little Liars theory: Ali D. is actually one of three DiLaurentis sisters — and she's a triplet!

Okay, okay — I know what you're thinking. This crazy Bustle writer has really gone off the rails this time. But I say, no — there's some real evidence for this!

First of all, I'll start with the obvious: Did Ali's parents really dedicate three separate baby books to her? After all, she's the second child — if you were going to dedicate a ton of time to documenting a child's life, wouldn't you maybe do it for your first child? Jason didn't become a screw-up until later in life, and given his current face I'm sure he was just an ADORABLE child. So it's a tad suspicious that there would be three for Ali and one (or, possibly, none at all?) for Jason.

Then there's this pervading idea of "copycats" throughout the show. Think about how many people we've seen with an Ali mask, or in a red coat — PLL is obsessed with the idea of multiples, particularly when it comes to Ali. If we're to believe that Ali didn't really kill Mona, someone posed as Ali did and is setting her up for both this murder and the earlier murder of Bethany Young. Who could this mystery person be? It might just be Ali's own flesh and blood.

Here's what I think could have happened on Pretty Little Liars, in a nutshell. Jessica DiLaurentis gives birth to three children — Alison, Bethany, and another daughter. (Let's give her the codename Vivien Darkbloom, in honor of Ali's Lolita obsession.) For whatever reason, Mrs. D decided to keep one little girl — Ali — and put the rest up for adoption. Bethany was adopted by a family the DiLaurentis family knew, and Vivian Darkbloom was sent somewhere else. Both Ali and Bethany grew up in relatively stable homes, but this last girl, Vivian, lived an unhappy life. Then, one day, the girls meet — Ali and Bethany share their happy home lives with Vivian, and Vivian is jealous. She vows revenge on her siblings who "stole" the life she never got to have. How does she do it? By murdering Bethany — and becoming A.

Psst... spoilers for the Pretty Little Liars book series ahead.

It's an idea that would be a nod to the Pretty Little Liars book series by Sara Shepard — in the series, the "Ali" that Spencer, Emily, Hanna and Aria become friends with is actually Courtney, Ali's twin sister. It's revealed that the real Ali was put in a mental institution in place of Courtney, and that Ali got her revenge on Courtney once and for all when she murdered Courtney — everyone mourned "Ali," but the dead girl was really her identical twin. Executive producer Oliver Goldstick stated that the show isn't planning on exploring the twin theory, but they very well could be exploring a triplet theory, right?

I know, I know — it sounds totally wild. But I'm a firm believer in the fact that when PLL does decide to give us an ultimate answer to the Ali/A mystery, it's going to be totally and completely cray. Maybe this is the answer — or maybe this is just another way the show is messing with my head. Either way, you've got me again, PLL — I'll search for your answers until there are officially no more questions.

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