Andrew Campbell came to Aria’s rescue in a big way on this season of Pretty Little Liars. When things weren’t going that well with Ezra, there he was, age-appropriate and willing to help her pick up the pieces. But his sudden injection into the show has some people wondering: Is Andrew really Charles DiLaurentis, the Big A that Pretty Little Liars dropped on us fans in the season finale? Both guys came out of nowhere, and we as fans know relatively little about them. In the season finale, we learned that Jason DiLaurentis has a twin and Ali DiLaurentis has an older brother (seven years older, to be exact), Charles, and this brother is holding the liars (minus Ali, who is in jail) hostage in a weird, remote bunker and making them attend a fake prom. Mona is there, too, dressed as Ali (and she’s never allowed to break character). Soon after the episode aired, the speculation started: Andrew and Jason and Ali do share a sort of familial resemblance, and Andrew’s off-color statements and strange surveillance make him seem, well, a little nuts. Not as nuts as some other people in Rosewood, but still nuts enough to notice.
But is Andrew really Charles DiLaurentis in disguise? I say absolutely not, and here’s why:
He’s Been In The Same Grade As The Liars For A While
We’ve watched Andrew go from nerdy valedictorian wannabe to hunky Aria man candy over the course of a few seasons. I realize that Andrew looks like he’s 30, but all of the actors on teen shows look like they’re 30, so that’s not really a big deal. That is way too long a con for him to sneak into the liar’s grade and not be figured out, inept police department or not.
He Already Went To School In Rosewood
Related to the above point, but still worth mentioning nonetheless: If Charles DiLaurentis is seven years older or so than the liars, he would have already gone through some form of schooling in Rosewood. If Andrew is Charles in disguise, don’t you think some teacher, student, janitor, or, I don’t know, any adult would have noticed him by now and said, “Hey, didn’t you graduate seven years ago, you weirdo?”
He Would Be Missed By SOMEONE
Let’s say that Charles hurt Ali or Jason and was banished to an institution by Mr. and Mrs. DiLaurentis and this is why we have never heard of Charles before. If Andrew were Charles and has been around all of this time, don’t you think someone would have noticed he was missing from his cell/room/bunk? I would hope that some sort of mental facility would care to recognize that an inmate/patient has escaped and would let somebody know.
Tons Of Little Boys Are “Pathfinders”
A plot point in the finale was that Caleb, Mike, and Ezra were attacked at a “Pathfinder” (aka a Boy Scout) camp when Caleb and Ezra went to track Mike down. Andrew makes a note later on in the episode that he used to be a Pathfinder. Correlation is not causation here, folks. This is just another typical Marlene King red herring. According to the Boy Scouts, there were 2,612,955 active members in 2013. That’s a lot of members. A lot of people have those sorts of survival skills. Just because someone gets poisoned eating pizza does not mean that all pizza is poisonous, you dig?
It’s Too Easy
The DiLaurentis kids went apple picking at Campbell Farm (Andrew’s last name), Andrew was a pathfinder, and we saw Andrew listening into a conversation at the Hastings house. Marlene King has never, ever made uncovering a villain this easy for viewers, and she’s not about to start doing it now. Move along, Andrew: You are NOT the villain.
Now that we’ve gone through the reasons why Andrew is not Charles DiLaurentis, who is? I have my suspicions, but I guess I’ll have to wait until this summer’s Pretty Little Liars premiere to find out. Or, you can listen to more theories about Charles and his identity in Bustle's Pretty Little Liars podcast, "Taking This One To The Grave."
Images: ABC Family (screenshot); Giphy (5)
