Let’s face it: over the past seven seasons of Pretty Little Liars, Aria has just been there to be the romantic one of the girls. Her relationship with Ezra has completely consumed her every moment on the show, and her entanglement with A has been relatively PG. For example, when the girls were all kidnapped and placed in Charlotte’s dollhouse, they each had an individual form of torture. It’s assumed Charlotte preyed on Hanna’s eating disorder and Emily’s sexuality, while Spencer was kept awake and literally made to think she killed someone. Meanwhile, Aria’s was that her hair was cut when she refused to dye it pink. And then she kept the haircut. So, really, it’s about time Aria actually gets an “A(.D.)” story.

Unfair Treatment

Aria has definitely had it the easiest of the girls; while the other girls have been tortured, blackmailed or actually run over, Aria’s biggest A horrors have been because she kissed another man, or her father is an unfaithful jerk. Her mom hasn’t been framed for murder like Hanna’s has or almost run down in her own house like Emily’s.

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Aria has always felt a bit like an outsider on this show because the treatment she got, compared to the other girls, has always been slightly better. Like she has a connection with A and they’re going easy on her because Aria is their friend, or lover, or anything else. This would make sense if any of the “Aria is A” conspiracies in the fandom are correct.

What’s She Hiding

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What is Aria hiding? On Pretty Little Liars season 7 episode 14, “Power Play,” A.D. video chats Aria to show her Jessica’s file on her, which they threaten to release to the girls and to Ezra. A.D. says something like, when Ezra finds out what you’ve done, he’s going to choose Nicole, and she’ll have to visit him in jail. This could easily mean, in the sense that Ezra would go to jail, that they could release information and evidence that the two were together while she was in high school.

But what is so bad that Aria did? And when did it happen? Jessica has been dead since the end of season 4, so her file wouldn’t contain new information from over the time jump. Whatever Aria did, it was before/while we knew her in the early seasons. Did she assist A with torturing her friends? (Given A.D.’s offer for Aria to help them torture her friends, and her refusal, this is unlikely, but it’s possible Aria did in the past.)

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Could this file contain information from her time in Iceland? It’s never really been revealed what happened to Aria there, so she easily could have left with an enormous secret of her own. Whatever the secret is, it’s about time that Aria finally feels real heat from the girls’ infamous stalker. It’s a bit annoying her storyline still revolves around Ezra, and this one is no different as it’s about keeping Ezra with her, but at least Aria finally has something to hide, and she has to work to keep it that way. It’s almost like she’s finally being stalked by A, too.

What do you think? Are you excited for Aria’s dark turn? What is she hiding? Leave your thoughts in the comments below!

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(Image courtesy of Freeform)

Jay Ruymann

Contributing Writer, BuddyTV