In a move that no doubt shocked all Pretty Little Liars fans across the board, last Tuesday's episode "Don't Look Now" revealed that Charles DiLaurentis is dead. Or at least that's what the series wants us to think. If I've said it once, I've said it a thousand times — one should never take any information given on this show at face value alone. Nothing in Rosewood is ever quite that simple, which makes me want to believe that Charles is still alive on PLL after all, meaning this grave that the Liars came across is nothing more than a trick to throw us off track. (Plus, the idea that A is not Charles but rather a Charles impersonator is a thought I just can't handle right now. I can't go back to knowing nothing about A's identity. I WON'T DO IT!)
Now I know what you're probably wondering. If Charles is alive then how do you explain the tombstone that — as the Liars were quick to point out — has clearly been there for several years? Well, it's simply really. This proves that Jessica DiLaurentis has been a member of the A Team since the very beginning and had the tombstone placed there (with no body underneath) just in case someone ever started snooping around.
Let's not forget that Jason remembered hearing a noise when he went to visit Aunt Carol's house and ended up running into a very guilty looking Mrs D. Not only did she not want him to enter the house, but she also disregarded the noise he thought he heard coming from inside. The writers didn’t just throw that part in there for no reason. Then there's the fact that Mr. D was out of town when Charles supposedly "died." Seems pretty convenient that he can't corroborate his wife's account of what happened firsthand. She must've used him being away as an opportunity to get Charles out of Radley and into her own protection.
This could also explain why she took it upon herself to cover up what she thought was Alison's murder two years ago. If Charles did, in fact, try to harm Ali again, Mrs. D more than likely blamed herself for granting Charles his freedom. But since he's still her son, she had no choice but to try and protect him. It all fits together.
Of course, that's not to say the series won't throw a fair share of twists in along the way as well. But I just can't bring myself to accept the fact that the person we thought for sure was A is, in actuality, not A at all. I. Marlene King wouldn't be that cruel to us… would she? No, I'm still holding out hope that Charles is our guy. If we can see Mona's dead body with our own eyes only to find out later that she's actually still alive, then it should take more than an engraved piece of stone to deter us from completely writing Charles off as a member of the deceased.
Perhaps the tombstone belonged to someone else and Charles found a way to have it re-written to confuse everyone. (If so, mission accomplished.) Anything is possible on this show. So until I see a dead body, I'm not ruling anything out.
And maybe not even then…
For more Charles theories, check out Bustle's super awesome PLL podcast below:
Images: Eric McCandless/ABC Family; prettylittleliars/Tumblr (2); prettylittlelibrarian/Tumblr
