What if Pretty Little Liars spent years building up the perfect A, only to reveal the wrong person?

From the pilot episode onward, Melissa Hastings was always lurking at the center of Rosewood’s biggest secrets. She had connections to Alison’s disappearance, the NAT Club, Ian Thomas, Garrett Reynolds, Wilden, Bethany Young, and nearly every major mystery that shaped the series. She was intelligent, manipulative, fiercely protective of her family, and constantly one step ahead of Spencer and the other Liars.

Unlike many of the show’s final suspects, Melissa didn’t need a last-minute backstory or a surprise British accent to justify her actions. The motive was already there. The secrets were already there. And perhaps most importantly, the suspicion was already there.

Today, we’re breaking down the clues, red flags, and missed opportunities that could have made Melissa Hastings one of the strongest A reveals in Pretty Little Liars history.

The NAT Club

The NAT club was introduced to us in season one as a Latin translation of “We see all.” In reality, it was a peeping tom club founded by Jason Dilaurentis, Ian Thomas, and Garett Reynolds as a way to spy on girls. They would plant cameras in trees outside of bedroom windows and even pay girls to set their friends up for a closer look.

In Season 2, Episode 21, titled “The Blond Leading the Blind,” Mona sent a video to the girls as A, revealing Melissa as a member of the NAT club. This video proves that Melissa was in Alison’s room on the night she went missing, looking for her because she had stolen videos from Ian’s laptop earlier that day.

Alison immediately went to visit Jenna to use the videos as blackmail and count her out as “A.” Jenna called Garrett, who called Ian, which led to them all ending up in her bedroom while she was either being thanked by Toby, or blackmailing Byron, or blowing off Ezra, or drinking with the girls in the barn. The timeline of that night was fuzzy as hell.

The point is that the entire premise of the club was illegal and morally fucked. Melissa could not let it get out that she was a part of something so corrupt. She was still in her early twenties at this time, with her whole life ahead of her. Imagine the shame not only for Melissa but also for the Hastings name as a whole. She couldn’t let Alison expose them…

As a member of the NAT club, Melissa had a history of setting up cameras to spy on people in precarious situations. She was also no stranger to using the video footage she saw to cause chaos. Melissa knew that Ian was filming Alison up close and personal, which is why she started sending the teenager threatening messages. At this time, Mona was A, so Melissa sent them without a signature.

The Night Alison Went Missing

On the night Alison went missing, Melissa was first tracked in Alison’s bedroom, looking for the NAT club tapes. Jason claimed to have seen her later in the night talking to Cece Drake, but in canon, that was just a drug-induced hallucination or something. The final thing we know she did that night was find Bethany’s body, assume it was Alison taken out by Spencer, and bury the body.

In canon, Melissa really did love her sister, but she was caught up in her own world of love and corruption. But what if the events of this night were so much more sinister? What if the NAT club conspired to rid the world of Alison Dilaurentis once and for all? What if they worked together to kill her?

The Masks

In the canon timeline, it’s explained that Melissa realized Mona was using an Alison mask and black hoodie to blackmail her into going on the Halloween train. Melissa asked Shana where a mask like that could be made, which led her to Hector’s place. Melissa also said that Wilden started the fire, even though Shana confessed to it in the finale of the same season. Realistically, the masks NEVER made any sense.

Hector told the liars that Alison had the masks made so her friends could look like her. So how did Mona end up with them, and later Cece? Did Alison give it to them? Unlikely. Did Hector? Was Melissa telling the truth about just needing information?

Maybe Melissa was lying all along… What if Melissa found out about the masks and made a deal with Hector? She’d let him borrow her face for a mold, in exchange for the Ali masks, so she could distribute them to her “A” team.

Also, Melissa was the Black Swan! She claimed it was due to blackmail about faking her pregnancy, but what if she’d been working with Mona all along? We know that isn’t so far-fetched because Melissa is on Mona’s anti-Ali squad in season 5.

The Consistently Shady Relationships

Not only was Melissa a member of the NAT club, but she was the queen of dating CRUSTIES. First Ian, then Wren, then Garrett? Garrett and Melissa got together almost immediately after Jenna dumped him. Which wasn’t that long after Ian’s body was found.

Let’s not forget that she was the one who took the picture of Ali with Cece and Wilden in Cape May. That’s if you believe Cece, which, who knows if we should, considering she lied about damn near everything else.

Also, why were Melissa and Wren working with Shana? Melissa knew that the liars were responsible for blinding Jenna. If she was working so hard to protect her sister, why would she become buddies with someone who hated her? Why would she send Jenna and Shana to the lodge of all people when her intent was to keep Spencer safe? It made no sense.

What would’ve made sense, though, is if Melissa was really “A,” blackmailing Jenna and Shana to cause mayhem behind the scenes at the Lodge as a distraction. That would give them a reason to break into Wren’s apartment when Spencer spots her there a few episodes later. She could’ve been looking for leverage or clues or a way out of the mischief. Or maybe there was no blackmail and Shana happily participated in the torture of the girls, just like the canon timeline. Here, she’d just be working under Melissa instead of avenging Jenna.

In addition to all of this, whenever the “A” schnengans revved up to max, Melissa was always conveniently in London. What if she wasn’t? When Spencer flew to London for her interview, Melissa could’ve been the one to plant the blood in her bag. Even Toby flew to London at one point, and Melissa wasn’t there. Coincidence? Maybe not..

The Alternate Ending

One thing I love about this show is that there are just so many ways it could have gone and so many motives to explore. Melissa being A was a pretty popular theory back in the day, and there were entire arcs in the show where the girls were convinced that Melissa was guilty.

What if they were right? What if Melissa was A? Let’s explore how she could’ve gotten there, what her motive may’ve been, and how the timeline would’ve ultimately ended.

Bethany Young’s Murder

In the canon timeline, Melissa came across Bethany’s face-down body and buried her, thinking that Spencer had hit Alison over the head with a shovel. Personally, I loved this. This reveal gave so much insight into Melissa’s character, especially her anger towards Spencer in season one. Melissa was convinced that her sister murdered Alison and was framing the man that she loved for said murder. I would keep this the same.

Let’s say Cece helped Alison lure Bethany to Rosewood with the intention of using her to fake Alison’s death. Ali heard Ezra talk about a plot like that in a book he’d read, so she stole the idea. Bethany got to the backyard, and Ali hit her over the head with the shovel that she took from Spencer. She put her bracelet on Bethany for good measure and hid behind some bushes when she and Cece heard someone coming. It was Melissa who, in turn, buried Bethany, thinking her sister murdered Alison. Cece stepped in as a witness, pretending she’d protect Melissa, and that’s when Jason saw them talking.

I would make season one the catalyst for why Melissa truly grows to hate Spencer and, by extension, the liars. First, Melissa caught Wren and Spencer together in her bedroom, effectively ending her engagement. Then, Spencer convinced Melissa to give Ian another chance. She did, and they hit it off just for Spencer to turn in the trophy, claiming it was evidence that Ian killed Alison? It felt like a slap in the face, like Spencer hated her sister and wanted to watch her suffer.

It seemed like Spencer was obsessed with Ian. Stalking him, investigating the NAT club, and trying to expose him. Trying to expose all of them. I would never have Melissa send the video confessing to Spencer. Instead, I would have had this reveal be a flashback of Melissa telling Ian the truth and him proposing to her in response. That’s always been my headcanon behind their elopement anyway, so I’d make it official. This flashback would happen during her “A” reveal in the dollhouse, which we’ll get to.

Becoming “A”

First, let’s cover how I’d have Melissa become “A” in the first place.

We know that Melissa and Wren had ended things roughly at the beginning of season one. However, they came to some sort of agreement by the beginning of season two, when he was helping her with medical supplies for Ian. In canon, I’d say that their relationship rekindled quickly, but quietly, and he reached out to Melissa instead of Cece as a support figure for Mona.

Melissa could have easily developed the same omniscient need, personality disorder as Mona if you stop to think about it. Anyone raised the way Spencer and Melissa were could have. Wren would recognize that and ask Melissa to help Mona find more positive outlets, but it would backfire greatly.

Rather than Melissa helping Mona, it’d be Mona giving Melissa everything she needed to know to take over the “A” game. Melissa would stop visiting once Mona’s meds changed, same as Cece did in canon, so Mona would be fuzzy on what she told whom, still making her lost on the identity of “Big A.”

I’d have Lucas be the one to clear out Mona’s lair, as per instructions if things went wrong after the masquerade ball. This means Melissa would jump right in and use him as her minion anonymously when things pop off for season three.

The Night of the Lodge Fire

In the canon timeline, “A” told Spencer to lure the liars to the lodge for a welcome home party since she was just released from Radley. I’d keep this. Melissa would like that location because it’s familiar to her and easily contained. This would still be a scheme to find out if Alison is alive, just like it was with Cece.

The difference is that Shana wouldn’t be working separately from “A” here. She’d be working with Melissa because she hates the liars. I’d cut Shana’s relationship to Alison and just make her a transfer who had a face-off with Emily on the swim team, then fell for Jenna.

I would have Shana head over to the Lodge to help Melissa with Jenna when they receive a call from Wilden. Shana and Jenna would help him over to the lodge to lie low while they continued with their plans. They’d set the lodge on fire; Alison would be the one to land the plane, confirming she was alive; and she’d rescue Hannah and Emily just like in canon. Actually, I believe it was Cece who landed the plane in canon, but here it would be Ali for sure. It just makes sense, given that the entire storyline establishes she knew how.

Once Ali was confirmed alive, the “A team,” made up of Melissa, Wilden, Shana, and Jenna, would fight over how to respond. Melissa and Jenna would actively want to kill Alison, whilst Wilden and Shana would want her to just stay wherever she is. This fight would escalate, resulting in Wilden’s death. At this point, they’re all too deep.

The Gravesite Schnenegans

The whole plot point of Emily waking up at Alison’s dug-up grave got so convoluted over time, but let’s sum up what it could’ve looked like had Melissa been in charge.

In canon, Emily found her way to Paige’s house, drugged from the flask. Paige went inside to get her some water, and Emily disappeared, lured away by a phone call from Spencer’s phone. Melissa could easily have made that call and convinced Jenna to drive Emily to the gravesite.

Melissa would’ve been the one in the black hoodie digging up the grave while Jenna watched from behind in the red coat. Both girls would be wearing an Alison mask, left for them by Lucas, who had been getting new blackmail instructions from Melissa. He would’ve been told to photograph the liars at the gravesite as evidence, just like in canon.

I like the idea of Melissa and Jenna, two members of the NAT club, working together to keep everything hidden after realizing that Jason was just too useless to help. It also makes sense for NAT club members to be “A” because that was essentially practice for something on a much bigger scale. Melissa could handle the medical stuff using Wren as a pawn, while Jenna did everything at school. Once her vision failed her, she’d bring in Noel Kahn, Shana, and Lucas for help.

The Dollhouse

Melissa being behind the dollhouse would’ve been bananas. But not completely far-fetched. Vengeful over Ian’s death, angry about Spencer’s lies, desperate for control, and bitter about the other liars being free when she feels trapped in the same vicious cycles, Melissa decided to take things up a notch.

In this timeline, I would keep Alison coming back from the dead and being framed for Mona’s murder. Alison was responsible, after all, for the deaths of Bethany, Ian, and Garrett, so we can consider that justice to be served. I would have Melissa actually kill Mona, though. There would be no reason to bring Mona to the dollhouse, because Melissa doesn’t care about Mona. She just wanted vengeance on Alison, Spencer, and the other liars.

She’d also be jealous of their friendship. Melissa could never really keep girlfriends; she only ever had her sister. A sister who constantly lied to her and would choose friends over family again and again. The same way Mona resented Hannah for not coming clean about “A,” is the same way Melissa would.

This would also mean that the trick “A” pulled on Spencer with the fake blood and her thinking she hurt someone would be a callback to Bethany. Alison’s death and Bethany’s disappearance were the catalysts in all of this, and it’d feel like some sense of poetic justice for Alison and Spencer to both be locked up because of it. She liked the irony of Mona treating them like dolls, so that’s why she did it bigger and better.

Since Shana is dead by now, I’d have Jenna recruit Noel to help out in the dollhouse. In canon, I think Cece had known Noel for years at this point, but I like the idea of Jenna bringing Noel in rather than him just randomly being there with his cartoonish evil grin for no reason.

Obviously, the vault would be very different with Melissa being “A.” It’d be more akin to Mona’s lair from the Lost Woods resort. Charles wouldn’t exist in this timeline. Instead, I’d have Spencer realize her sister had been behind everything all along once the liars got access to the vault. There’d be a lot of information about Bethany Young. Melissa would have become obsessed with her after realizing that Ali wasn’t the girl that she buried.

This is when Melissa would deliver her villain monologue, and we’d get a full flashback to the night Ali went missing, as well as to Ian’s proposal. I’d have a final showdown between Spencer and Melissa, resulting in Spencer hitting Melissa over the back of the head with a trophy. The same trophy that Mona planted in season one. We love a good full circle moment, after all.

The girls would escape, and by the time they brought police to the dollhouse, Melissa’s body would be gone.

Uber A

I like the idea of Melissa surviving the dollhouse and just being on the run for the time-jump. It creates this feeling of unease for the girls because, although the stalking ended when the liars escaped the dollhouse, they’ll never truly trust that it’s over. And they shouldn’t.

This would cause even further division with Spencer and her family, because she’d be terrified that her parents were aiding Melissa, which, knowing them, they probably would.

After the time jump, let’s say the liars are returning to Rosewood for Hannah and Caleb’s wedding. Spaleb does not exist in this timeline. I’m not sorry either. Alison would still be in jail due to a lack of evidence of Melissa’s guilt in Mona’s death. Hannah and Caleb would be fighting over her job and their ideas of “freedom.” Spencer would be in absolute shambles, struggling with addiction again and failing to keep it under wraps. Aria would be dating Jason Dilaurentis and working at a publishing company. Emily would also be in shambles, a college dropout, and selling her eggs for money to reinvent herself.

The morning after Hannah and Caleb’s rehearsal dinner, Melissa’s body will be found hanging in the bell tower, similarly to how Ian was found in canon at the end of season one. The girls would all receive a text, “Melissa played the game. I wrote the rules. Now she’s gone, and your asses are mine. Miss me? -A”

Final Thoughts

I am working on another PLL ultimate rewrite, and I will pick up this uber A alternate ending over there. For now, I hope you enjoyed this Melissa is A theory. I’d love to know your thoughts, so feel free to leave a comment there to chat!