Could Bethany Be In This 'PLL' Halloween Episode?

One does not simply watch Pretty Little Liars. To know this series is to become obsessed with the show's perpetually twisting mystery, and sometimes the only way to untangle the web is to go right back to the beginning. I. Marlene King has stated that there are several episodes fans should re-watch if they want clues about Charles' real identity, but of course it's not just Charles that we should be looking out for. Charles might be A, but he's not the end all, be all of the Pretty Little Liars mystery — there are so many characters that we're still in the dark about. The Season 2 Halloween episode "The First Secret" suggests that we may have seen some of the show's more elusive characters long before we even knew who they were, or what factor they would play into the mystery.

The first of three Pretty Little Liars Halloween specials takes place nearly a year before Ali goes missing. In this prequel episode, the girls all score a coveted invite to Noel Kahn's Halloween bash. But instead of treats, it's all tricks — and the most major trick of all is pulled by Ali herself. Ali tricks the girls into thinking she's being followed by a crazy guy in a baby doll mask in order to "test their loyalty" — but ultimately the joke is on Ali, who seems to have a real stalker after all.

The episode is rife with little clues, and here's what we know:

This Girl Could Be Bethany

I'll be honest: I kind of feel dumb for not thinking of this before. Ali recants a story to one of Hanna's terrified babysitting charges about two blonde twins. One twin gets so mad at the other that she murders her with a knife, leaving her parents no choice but to send her to a home for the criminally insane. One of the girls (she's played by Madison and Miranda Carabello, who are real-life twins) later appears in the Halloween episode "This Is A Dark Ride," this time as a maybe-ghost at Hanna's house.

Here's a theory: What if the "Ghost Girl" who appears to Ashley and is in Ali's story is Bethany's twin sister? It would make sense — Bethany could have been sent to Radley because she murdered her sister, and the news might have been covered up simply because the girl was a minor. It would also explain why Ali knew the story — Ali and Bethany were friends.

Whoever's In This House Is From Radley

Emily sees some movement from the window in an old abandoned house. Aria notes that she gets the feeling that something "really bad" happened in that house. When the girls leave, the door opens — someone is clearly in there — and a car pulls up from Radley Sanitarium. Could Charles be visiting Rosewood for the day? Alternatively, could this be the house that Bethany murdered her sister in?

Mona Was The One Watching Ali

This isn't a new clue, per se, but the clown mask also appears in Mona's lair, which means she might have purchased it at the Halloween store, when Ali receives this text:

Melissa Didn't Trust Ali — At All

It's a little odd for there to be so much hostility between Melissa and Ali, especially since, as far as we know, Ali and Ian had not started hooking up behind Melissa's back yet at this point. It's also odd that Melissa reacts to Ali's comment about how Spencer "can count" on Melissa — sure, we know that she's not being genuine, but she definitely seems like she is. Melissa knows something about Ali, and whatever it is, it could be big. Could it refer to the thing that Melissa, Garrett, Jenna and Ian were arguing about the night Ali disappeared?

The Poster On The Wall Hints At Twins

Check out the poster in the lower right corner. It appears to be the French version of this proverb: "It's double the giggles and double the grins, and double the trouble if you're blessed with twins." It's in Ali's room, but what if it used to be in Jason and Charles' room?

The N.A.T. Club Is Making A Deadly Movie

We STILL have no idea what kind of movie the N.A.T. Club was making, but I think it's way more serious than just filming underage girls in their pajamas... or at least it turned out that way. What if the N.A.T. Club set out to make a movie about the secrets of Rosewood, but instead ended up getting themselves involved with a secret that could get them in a lot of trouble — or killed?

Ali Might Be Right About Melissa

I used to think that Ali spoke this way about Melissa because she was jealous of her relationship with Ian, but what if that wasn't the case at all? What if Ali knew a horrible secret about Melissa and knew that she was lying for her own selfish purposes? Ali wasn't always a good friend, but maybe this bit of advice is something worth listening to.

Could Ali Be Talking About Wren?

He does dole out not-so-legal prescriptions on the reg...

Jenna And Detective Wilden Were Always Connected

Was Wilden also a part of the N.A.T. Club?

There Were At Least Three People In Baby Doll Masks

We know Noel is one, and we see moments before that Lucas takes off his mask. One of the two faces above isn't Noel, and it could potentially not be Lucas, either — he had just removed the costume moments before the camera cuts to this shot. We might have thought that it was really Lucas who got back at Ali by attacking her in the abandoned house, but what if it was someone else — say, Charles on a break from Radley?

The clues are out there. Now we just have to see how they all fit together.

Images: ABC Family (screenshot) (16)