Inside the Unmasking of Pretty Little Liars: A Look Back After 10 Years
Many of us still find it hard to believe that a decade has passed since Pretty Little Liars finally unveiled A’s true identity.
Adapted from Sara Shepard’s book series, Pretty Little Liars aired on Freeform from 2010 to 2017. The show followed five best friends constantly tormented by an anonymous figure known as A.
The series became a cultural phenomenon, leading to spinoffs like Ravenswood, Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists, and Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin.
The Moment
“Got a secret / Can you keep it?” The theme song of ABC Family’s hit Pretty Little Liars only heightened the suspense for viewers who anxiously awaited six seasons for the central mystery to unravel. But on August 11, 2015, the show’s four protagonists confronted “A,” who had terrorized and threatened them multiple times. The infamous campaign began with a text: “I’m still here, bitches. And I know everything. A,” filled with misdirection, but the stalker turned out to be Vanessa Ray’s CeCe Drake.
“Finally, everybody could breathe a little!” Ray tells us.
Who Was Involved
Lucy Hale, Shay Mitchell, Ashley Benson, and Troian Bellisario portrayed the core group of Aria, Emily, Hanna, and Spencer, respectively, getting tangled in various intrigues in fictional Rosewood, Pennsylvania. The initial “A” seemed to indicate their missing and presumed dead friend Alison (Sasha Pieterse), but actually it was Janel Parrish’s Mona Vanderwaal who initially took on the “A” role as revenge for being bullied.
Why We Remember It
The backstory! We knew CeCe as a friend and mentor to Alison, but CeCe was actually Charlotte, Alison’s transgender cousin. Assigned male at birth (as Charles), she spent much of her life in a mental institution due to the transphobia of the man she thought was her father. This experience deeply affected her.
“I did my best to portray her in a way that was very vulnerable and almost gentle, returning to her childhood,” Ray, 44, shares. “We’ve seen CeCe in this glamorous Queen Bee status. She appeared as the older girl who had everything under control. It was a wonderful opportunity to showcase the innocent child version of her.”
Key Details
The script for “Game Over, Charles” was, naturally, shrouded in secrecy. To avoid leaks, “It was sent as a physical copy, which I had to return,” Ray recalls. During filming, “We had to return our sides [script pages] at the end of each day, and each page was numbered. Security protocols were incredibly strict.” For Ray, who was already commuting between L.A. and NYC for Blue Bloods, shooting that summer finale was a whirlwind due to her real-life wedding plans: “I got married on a Sunday and then had to be on set at 6 a.m. on Monday!”
The Aftermath
A social media trailblazer, Pretty Little Liars was a massive success on Twitter, and this episode became its most-tweeted, even surpassing the series finale in 2017.
Though fans were split over the reveal, the show faced criticism regarding its LGBTQ+ representation. Featuring a trans character “was significant at the time,” Ray notes—yet making this character a murderer sparked controversy. After the series concluded, PLL expanded into Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists (2019), followed by a new friend group in HBO Max’s revival, Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin (notably emphasizing the “A”!).
A New Perspective
“Now, we’re accustomed to origin stories about TV villains: understanding their motivations and the humanity behind their actions,” Ray observes. “I believe Pretty Little Liars was ahead of its time, adeptly peeling back the layers of CeCe—including the trauma of being ostracized by her parents and institutionalized. They addressed many critical issues.”
Where Are They Now?
Ray continued her role on CBS’ Blue Bloods until its farewell in 2024, mentioning, “There’s definitely a possibility I could return for Donnie Wahlberg’s fall spinoff, Boston Blue.” Would she be interested in a show centered around her character, Eddie, and her on-screen husband Jamie (Will Estes)? “I’d jump at the chance. Imagine it set in Miami or Hawaii. Blue Bloods on the beach!”
