Proof You Saw Lesli Before

There was a huge reveal about Mona's best friend Lesli during Tuesday's episode of Pretty Little Liars, and it's made me rethink everything about who might be under A's hoodie. Turns out, Lesli and Mona met at Radley, where Lesli was a patient for years — and where she was a roommate of Bethany's. There's definitely more to Lesli than meets the eye, and it seems that she might be connected to the Charles story in a major way, so this isn't a huge surprise. However, now that the liars are falling into the rabbit hole of Lesli's mysterious past, it's becoming evident that Lesli may not have been such a stranger to the girls after all: In fact, Lesli may have been around the whole time, if this photo evidence is to be believed.

We originally met Lesli in the series after Mona's "death," when she arrived in Rosewood to help make sure that Ali would get locked up for Mona's murder. That was suspicious on its own — if Mona and Lesli were such good friends, why didn't Mona ever bring her around before? It was clear that something was fishy with Lesli, but it wasn't clear exactly what — until the big Radley reveal happened on Tuesday.

But, I ask: was it really a "reveal?" Fans who pay close attention might have noticed Lesli's face before in — where else? — Radley. Major props to Tumblr user Tremolux for finding this one for us way back in February:

For the record, yes, I know what you're thinking: is that above photo really actress Elizabeth McLaughlin, who plays Lesli on the series? According to McLaughlin's IMDb page, it's not — but just because it's not the same actress doesn't necessarily mean that this background character wasn't supposed to represent Lesli, whom the writers knew would become an important player later. (Remember, the show used a stock photo to represent Sara Harvey in Season 5, only to have Dre Davis portray her in Season 6.) Lesli's look is very distinct, with very red hair and thick, black glasses — it would be a bit unusual for two Radley patients to have the same look.

So, let's say that the writers did plant Lesli in this scene back in Season 4 when Aria was volunteering at the institution: that would mean that Lesli has been secretly watching the girls for way longer than she ever let on. I'm not so sure that Lesli is Big A, but I do think that she might be working alongside the real person in charge, having gathered information on the girls from her Radley BFF Mona. If Lesli is as unstable as she seems (and given her years in Radley, it certainly seems like she might be) Lesli could have latched onto the vendetta against the girls as set up by both Mona and later Charles — assuming he's not dead after all.

Lesli is another clue to this puzzle, but let's not assume too much about her involvement just yet. We know she's a Radley alum, but with five more Pretty Little Liars episodes to go before the Big A reveal, we're only at the tip of her story's iceberg.

Images: ABC Family (screenshot); tremolux, dilemonade/Tumblr