Somewhat satisfying. That’s my two word review as Pretty Little Liars comes to a close with its series finale entitled “Til DeAth Do Us pArt.” After seven seasons of being terrorized by the illusive “Team A,” we finally learn the true identity of A.D. While we may have gotten some answers, we still have so many questions, in true Pretty Little Liars fashion.
There’s so much to unpack from the series finale of Pretty Little Liars. This two-hour rollercoaster brought out all the stops. It’s a love letter for long time fans and it shows in every storyline that takes place during “Til DeAth Do Us pArt.” The episode picks up one year after A.D.’s board game, but it’s just the beginning.
After seven season’s A.D’s identity is unleashed. A.D. is revealed to be none other than Spencer Hasting’s evil twin Alex Drake. It turns out Mary Drake gave birth to two baby girls that night in Radley. Spencer was given to the Hastings and Mary sold Alex to a nice British family. Of course, it’s the Drake-DiLaurentis family, so Alex couldn’t just live a fairytale life in England. When she started to show some aggressive behavior at a young age, her adoptive family left her at an orphanage. Eventually, Alex meets Wren, who of course notices the striking resemblance to Spencer. Wren gets Alex in touch with her sister, CeCe. And that’s when Alex picks up the torture game and becomes the A.D. we all love to hate.
Troian Bellisario. Words cannot express how extremely talented she is, but we’ll have to try. While she’s always been one of the stand outs on Pretty Little Liars, this episode utilizes her to her full potential. Pulling double duty, Bellisario brings Alex to life and becomes one of our favorite villains in just one episode. While watching Bellisario square off against herself in almost every scene, it’s hard to remember both Spencer and Alex are played by the same person. Bellisario shines and makes this Pretty Little Liars episode one of the series best.
While the “Twincer” theory has been floating around Pretty Little Liars Tumblr tags for quite sometime, it’s still pretty amazing to watch it come to fruition. While we’re upset that A.D ended up being a character we didn’t even know, there’s no better person than Bellisario to bring Pretty Little Liars to this epic character reveal and we’re so happy the series put this important ending in her hands. Bellisario is a queen and we continue to bow down to her.
This episode is commanded by Alex Drake. After drugging Spencer and locking her up with Mary Drake, Alex tries to seduce Toby and essentially take Spencer’s life. If that’s not bad enough, Alex also kidnaps Ezra and stops the Ezria wedding from going on as planned. While Alex struts around Rosewood pretending to be Spencer, our girl Spencer always has a plan.
Spencer convinces Mary Drake to give her a hug after learning about Alex’s life story and swipes a bobby pin. She picks the lock and her and Ezra make their way out of Alex’s creepy dungeon. Of course, this is Pretty Little Liars and the craziness doesn’t stop there. It turns out Alex bought Toby’s house he was building and created an entire, fake house underground to trap Spencer in. With time running out and Alex coming for Spencer wielding an axe, our only hope is that someone in Rosewood realizes the “Spencer” they’ve been hanging out with is not real.
We never thought our saving grace would be Jenna (and a horse), but here we are. After running into “Spencer” outside the Hasting’s law firm, Jenna can sense it’s not really Spencer. She calls Toby and Toby alerts the rest of the girls and Caleb. Following Mona’s lead, the girls find Spencer and Alex fighting and Ezra bleeding on the ground. Toby must figure out which one is Alex and which one is Spencer. Of course he picks out the correct Spencer because #Spoby. But, more surprising than that? An actual Rosewood police officer comes in a timely fashion and arrests Alex and Mary Drake. We repeat. A POLICE OFFICER shows up. Truly the biggest twist in this Pretty Little Liars finale.
While the big reveal of Alex Drake commands this Pretty Little Liars finale, the series still makes time for some of our biggest ships to have their finale moments and of course, a proper send off for a group of girls that have becomes our second family.
Let’s start with Ezria. “Til DeAth Do Us pArt” uses the big Ezria wedding as a framework for everything that goes down. We get an adorable pre-wedding Bachelor/Bachelorette party at the newly renovated Lost Woods Resort and a rehearsal dinner featuring our favorite people in the world: the Rosewood Wine Moms. One of the biggest mysteries Pretty Little Liars still leaves us with? How did the Mom’s escape the basement? Guess we’ll never know. What we do know is that Spencer is their designated driver and that’s just pure gold.
Before walking down the aisle, and even before Ezra gets kidnapped, Ezria is having some problems. Aria finds out days before the wedding that she can’t have children. While Ezra says they’ll find another way to have a family, he’s more hurt by the fact that Aria kept this from him for months. Of course, all of this seems like less of a big deal after Ezra is kidnapped and almost killed by Alex.
By episodes end, Ezra and Aria walk down the aisle and bring the Ezria romance to the perfect conclusion. For seven seasons, Lucy Hale and Ian Harding have given these characters life and we’re sad to see them go. From the very first moment we saw them in the bar, we knew Ezria would have our hearts. Hale and Harding bring this epic romance to the perfect conclusion in the series finale, complete with a fairytale wedding.
After completing the board game and getting married, Hanna and Caleb are experiencing some marital issues when we meet them in this finale. Caleb is annoyed Hanna is still taking care of Mona and all Hanna wants is for them to be happy and start a family. The one negative in the series finale corner is not enough Haleb. We understand they’re the stable couple, but dang it we just miss Ashley Benson and Tyler Blackburn already. By series end, they put their differences aside and Hanna reveals to the other girls that she’s pregnant. Man, these girls are obsessed with starting families.
Last, but certainly not least, the Pretty Little Liars series finale, while focusing heavily on A.D’s identity and the Ezria wedding, is a love letter to Emily and Alison. A couple that has been a fan favorite since day one, finally got their moment in the sun. When we catch up with Emison, Alison and Emily are happily living together with their two daughters. We’ll pause here so you can take in that adorable mental picture… Oh, and we learn the father of Alison and Emily’s children. Wait for it… none other than Wren!! Alex knew Wren would make beautiful children and honestly, we have to agree with crazy-pants on this one.
And as if that’s not enough Emison to make your heart explode, Alison later proposes to Emily. She puts a ring on that finger and we can’t help put leap for joy. Sasha Pieterse and Shay Mitchell have taken these characters leaps and bounds past where they started in season one. Both actresses have grown and shaped these characters into the best possible versions of themselves and this finale seals the deal. While we’ll miss all the Liars, saying goodbye to this couple seems to be our hardest goodbye.
Due to the fact that the entire finale was spent introducing us to Alex Drake and her motives, there are some characters that did get left in the dust. Hanna and Emily are all but absent from the series finale and that’s something we’re just not cool with. Hanna has a somewhat meaningless plot line about trying to get pregnant while Emily stands in Alison’s shadow. Even Alison is off her game in the series finale. Truly one of the best anti-heroes on TV, they dress Alison up in a pug sweater and have her propose to Emily. We needed mean Alison, just one more time.
While we love Spencer and Aria, we wish all the Liars had their moments to shine this episode. We didn’t even get a final, big smackdown featuring all the girls and A.D., something we were praying would happen. After all, they have been terrorized by Alex for seven seasons.
Of course after all the betrayal and the secrets, Pretty Little Liars comes to a close in the best way possible. First, we say goodbye to our Liars. And this is when I started crying the hardest. Hanna announces she’s pregnant, Spencer says she’s going to see what Toby’s up to and Ezria is going on a honeymoon and adopting. Then we learn Alex and Mary Drake are locked up in Mona’s own version of a creepy dollhouse. We always knew we loved Mona. But, the most Pretty Little Liars thing to happen? Cut to a new generation of girls finding out their friend has gone missing. A total 360 moment.
And with that final image, the mysteries of Pretty Little Liars have come to an end. While the finale’s big reveal could’ve been seen coming by devoted fans and there are still some questions, Pretty Little Liars serves up a finale that will have longtime fans smiling from ear to ear. By showcasing all our favorite characters and giving our actresses moments to shine, Pretty Little Liars draws to a bitter sweet conclusion. We think Alison sums up our feels best so we’ll let her do the talking:
“For some reason this feels like the end of something.”
Goodbye Pretty Little Liars. We’ll never forget you.
