25 of "Pretty Little Liars"’s Most Unbelievable Moments
Even die-hard Pretty Little Liars fans have to face the fact that it’s probably one of the most unrealistic teenage shows to have ever existed. Of course, PLL does a great job of giving us strong female friendships and endless style inspiration – and we will love it forever for those gifts – but let’s face it: most people’s high school experiences are pretty different from those of our favorite Liars. Hopefully none of us have ever been tormented by an anonymous entity via group text or have had to Google “how to bury a body.” In honor of what’s been the greatest season yet, we’re looking back at 25 of the most unrealistic things that have happened in PLL history. But we’ll always love you, Rosewood.
GIF: Courtesy of GIPHY1/25Literally everything about Ali’s “murder.”
For the first three seasons, we’re led to believe that Alison DiLaurentis is dead, and we were totally rooting for the Liars to figure out who killed her. But then, like, she’s not dead. She’s totally alive and she’s all, “Did you miss me?” We find out that a random girl named Bethany Young was actually in her grave this entire time. So...did Ali’s mom I.D. the body? How did this switch happen? Are Bethany and Ali somehow related? Was there an autopsy? WE STILL HAVE SO MANY QUESTIONS.
GIF: Courtesy of GIPHY2/25That time Hanna pushed a cop car into the lake.
Of all the Hanna moments, this one was by far the most hilarious because, like...Hanna...you can’t push a cop car in a lake. You just can’t do that! Sure enough, the car reappeared an episode later, and “A” had a lot of fun with this mistake. (We still love you, Han.)
GIF: Courtesy of GIPHY3/25“A”’s message in the fireworks.
That giant red “A” in the sky was one of the best visuals of the entire series – especially because it came at a time when the girls thought that “A” was behind bars. But...just...how did it work? Is “A” also a fireworks artist? When did “A” have time to master this talent?
GIF: Courtesy of GIPHY4/25When “A” hid a message in the cash register at the Brew.
Okay, that time when Aria was paying for her coffee and then the cash register spit out her entire college essay (read: letter to Jackie) on a receipt? HOW DID YOU DO THAT, “A”? Is “A” also a magician? This is a serious question.
GIF: Courtesy of GIPHY5/25And when “A” hid a message in Hanna’s tooth.
We know that Charlotte read a lot of medical books in her time at Radley, but is that all it takes to master dentistry? Just reading books?
GIF: Courtesy of GIPHY6/25Okay, fine, all of “A”’s messages.
Pretty much everything “A” has done has been shocking, TBH. Especially when it involved animal parts or lake water.
GIF: Courtesy of GIPHY7/25“A”’s unlimited funds.
We’re still not sold on the whole Carissimi Group explanation. Sure, that sort of explains Charlotte’s funding, but where did Mona get the money to live out of a hotel room for over a year? And in case you were wondering how much money “A” has spent over the past 7 seasons, don’t worry — we calculated that for you. (Spoiler alert: it’s a lot).
GIF: Courtesy of GIPHY8/25All the times the Liars got away with murder, literally.
Between Shana, Elliott, and Wilden, those girls are eventually going to get caught. (But, then again, maybe not – see number #15.)
GIF: Courtesy of GIPHY9/25Um...the dollhouse.
We know that Charlotte was some kind of child prodigy, but how did one girl build that entire structure? There’s no way she did it alone...so who is her accomplice?!
GIF: Courtesy of GIPHY10/25The chips!
And we’re not talking about potato chips – we mean those surveillance chips that were surgically implanted in the Liars’ necks. Again, we have to ask, where did Charlotte learn how to perform surgery? (Unless, of course, she had help from a certain British doctor….)
GIF: Courtesy of GIPHY11/25The lookalike dolls.
Both Mona and Charlotte had, like, dozens of sets of dolls that looked like all the Liars. We had enough trouble convincing our parents to get us one American Doll, let alone 50 custom dolls.
GIF: Courtesy of GIPHY12/25Those ultra-realistic masks.
Unless Hector the mask-maker is actually a wizard, or maybe Tony Stark, we have trouble believing that a mortal man could create all those customized masks. Not to mention the fact that Elliott’s mask-making skills seemed to surpass Hector’s!
GIF: Courtesy of GIPHY13/25Tippy the bird.
Anyone who has ever had a pet parrot knows it’s actually not that easy to teach them to talk. In fact, there are many parrots that will never say a word at all. And yet, Tippy the bird didn’t just learn words, he could sing an entire phone number. Again, we have to ask...magic bird?
GIF: Courtesy of GIPHY14/25So. Many. Explosions.
Man, we’ve never seen a town where stuff blows up as much as Rosewood. Between Jenna’s garage, Toby’s house, and Aunt Carol’s cellar, there’s been an awful lot of explosions — and fires — for Rosewood.
GIF: Courtesy of GIPHY15/25The Rosewood Police Department.
For as much time as the Rosewood PD have spent trying to find various murderers, they still aren’t better detectives than a group of teenagers. Plus, both Wilden and Holbrook were shady, and we never really were able to trust Tanner. The jury’s still out on Marco, but we’re not sold yet.
GIF: Courtesy of GIPHY16/25The adult men of Rosewood, in general.
There is a creepy trend of adult men in Rosewood being too interested in teenage girls. Of course, there was Ezra and Aria (not okay), and then there was Wren and Spencer (also not okay). But there was also Ian and Spencer (nope), Ian and Alison (still nope), Holbrook and Hanna (NO), and even Lorenzo and Ali (surprise! no). We know this is a TV show, but it's still just wrong on every level.
GIF: Courtesy of GIPHY17/25And the teenage boys of Rosewood, in general.
We don’t know about you, but we don’t remember legit male models roaming the halls of our high school. We also can’t remember ever having a boyfriend as perfect as Caleb. Sigh.
GIF: Courtesy of GIPHY18/25Mona’s plan to fake her own death.
We can accept the fact that Mona is a bona fide genius, but faking your own death is...uh, not great, Carl. Also, we’re not sure how she managed to draw her own blood every day for a month – we break out in a sweat when it’s time for a routine shot at the doctor’s office!
GIF: Courtesy of GIPHY19/25K, let’s talk about the outfits they wore to high school.
Every day was a fashion show for the Liars! Also, did they ever repeat an outfit? And how did they have a different flawless manicure every single week? We need answers!
GIF: Courtesy of GIPHY20/25The fact that they actually graduated high school.
Sure, Emily went to a swim practice every once in a while, and Aria made googly eyes at Ezra in English class maybe once a week, but they definitely spent way more time hiding from “A” or combating ninjas in New York than they did writing papers or studying.
GIF: Courtesy of GIPHY21/25And the fact that their makeup always looks so good.
Only in Rosewood can you get kidnapped and still have flawless smoky eye and a perfect contour. IRL, you take a 20-minute nap and wake up looking like a raccoon. Not fair.
GIF: Courtesy of GIPHY22/25Literally everything about Radley. (Excuse me, THE Radley.)
In this day and age, how did such a creepy old-school psychiatric institution exist? Was it off the grid somehow? Why did it always look like the set of a horror movie? And how is the new Radley not haunted?
GIF: Courtesy of GIPHY23/25Ali’s confusing family tree.
Can someone please get this girl an ancestry.com membership so she isn’t surprised by any more unexpected relatives? Ali’s Christmas shopping list literally doubled between seasons 6 and 7.
GIF: Courtesy of GIPHY24/25Mona and Caleb’s computer skills.
For most teens, fierce tech skills involve figuring out how to double or triple filter on Snapchat, but there’s Mona and Caleb, hacking into private networks, decoding encrypted files, and duplicating the mobile phones of villains like it's NBD. K.
GIF: Courtesy of GIPHY25/25And the biggest question of all time: Where are their parents?!
We kind of miss seeing Ashley Marin in the kitchen during every episode, even if she was cooking breakfast with Wilden. Bring back the PLL moms!
