“Pretty Little Liars Spring Finale Falls Short” (SPOILER ALERT)

The spring finale of the show promised us answers and left us with a cup full of questions.

img2-2.timeinc.net / Via Brunch News

We were promised secrets. We were promised closure. Most importantly, we were promised answers. In the days leading up to the Spring Finale, which aired last night on ABC Family, the five leading ladies were on a press tour drumming up interest in the finale. Sasha Pieterse, who plays the egocentric and twisted missing friend, Ali, told audiences, "We leak a lot of secrets and answers… I think the fans especially are going to be extremely happy." Sure, we were made privy to some new knowledge: Ali killed Ian, not A; Ali was having an affair with both Ian and Ezra that fateful summer; Spencer was innocent (though who thought she was really guilty?); the girls never woke up because they were drugged by Ali to find out their true allegiances; and Mona helped saved Ali and likely always knew that Ali was alive. Perhaps most importantly, giving us the closure we so desperately needed after the winter finale, Ezra came to the rescue of the girls as they stood face to face with A and tried to save their lives, clearing his name from the shortlist of potential suspects (YAY). But the fact of the matter is, our beloved liars are, well, liars. In typical Pretty Little Liars fashion, they left us with more questions than answers and more desperation to scramble to collect the clues. Let's review the new things we need to obsess over until the show's return in June:

1. OKAY, SPENCER DIDN'T DO IT. SO WHO DID?

During Ali's tell all with the girls in that seedy Philadelphia coffee shop, Ali clears Spencer's name and says that no, she did not in fact try to kill Ali. Ali also tells the Liars that her mother, Mrs. DiLaurentis, saw who did. BUT THEN SHE SAID NOTHING! Who is Ali's mom protecting? Who has Spencer's dad been protecting all these years? The logical answer is their love child, Jason, Ali's older brother. IF Jason tried to kill Ali, AND then Mrs. D covers it up for him, it explains the secrets that both the Hastings and DiLaurentis family have been hiding. But the question remains, why would Jason try to kill Ali? And why did Mrs. D cover it up for him all of these years? Why would she bury her daughter (alive!) that her own son tried to kill? What else are they covering up and hiding? Which leads us to…

2. WHO IS IN ALI'S GRAVE? AND WHO KILLED HER!?

Someone is dead. Someone is in Ali's grave. After 3.5 seasons, we learned for sure that neither of those two people was Ali. But now we are still left in the dark (pun intended, sorry) about whose body the police will find when they exhume Ali's grave and who killed that person. Could Jason have been responsible for both deaths? And who else was wearing Ali's same clothes and found dead in the house that Maya's family moved into a year later? (Remember that?! Creepy?)

3. WHAT DO MELISSA AND MONA REALLY KNOW?

I lump them into the same category because they've always had some weird relationship with the truth, and last night's episode is just further proof of their duplicity. Melissa mysteriously comes home after Toby goes to London (!!!) to tell her that Spencer is missing and starts talking to the police. When Mr. Hastings panics and begins to say that he must have missed something (presumably talking about covering up for Spencer, whose name has not been yet cleared), Melissa leans over to tell him some secret only they are privy to (how rude). I have a sneaking suspicion that Melissa has known more than she lets on the entire time, and we still need to find out what that is.

Plus, Mona is creepier than ever. In recent discoveries, she was merely part of the A-Team, not really chasing after Ali herself. However, this episode showed us a different story. When Ali was pulled out of the grave (and then left to wander by herself) by Mrs. Grunwald, Mona picked her up on the side of the road and took care of her to help her escape. When she takes Ali to the creepy Psycho-inspired Lost Woods Resort (where we've previously seen A's lair), MONA GOES NEXT DOOR TO BRUSH AN ALI DOLL'S HAIR. She's humming to herself, calling Ali a "pretty girl" and effectively being creepy and making us question her sanity all over again. Mona in A's lair while Ali is next door means that 1) she lied about the lair to the Liars two seasons ago and 2) she's known that Ali was alive THIS ENTIRE TIME. She helped Ali disappear, and told no one—why?

4. WHO IS A?!?!?!?!??!!??!!?!

This is the question we will seemingly never know the answer to. We've been strung along on an emotional rollercoaster of A reveals: Mona?! Oh, yeah, she's crazy; TOBY!? NOOOOOO; Mr. Fitz!??! Okay, that definitely makes sense and is actually kind of hot. But now that all of these names have been cleared (except maybe Mona's, again…) we still have to figure out who has been torturing the five girls all these years. Ezra's theory of Mrs. D was effectively debunked when we watched A hop across rooftops, but this leaves, to me, one prime suspect: Jason. He's creepy, he's close to Ali, and Mrs. D would probably try to protect him. This also ties into the sudden death and burial of Mrs. D at the close of the episode. IF Mrs. D really did know it was Jason and has been protecting him and Jason decided he finally needed to eliminate her, he probably would. We just don't know WHY he is doing these things to his sister and the girls.

A friend of mine expressed her frustration over this episode because we should have gotten these answers two years ago. Dude, I couldn't agree more. But in the end, isn't that what we love about this show? Marlene King has created a world where we are always on our toes, always guessing, and always along for the ride. I, personally, was a fan of the Mr. Fitz theory. Yeah, it sucks, but it makes things interesting. I can't wait for the show to pick back up in June, but I'm not expecting answers to any of my above-raised questions.