| This article is about Karen Beasley. You may be looking for Kelly Beasley, her twin. |
| “ | You just be a queen, girl. | ” |
— Karen to Faran
| ||
Karen Elizabeth Beasley[1] was a major supporting character in the television series, Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin on Max. She is portrayed by Mallory Bechtel.
Karen was Millwood High's reigning queen of mean and an antagonist to the Little Liars. She became the "victim" of a revenge orchestrated by her ex-best friend Imogen Adams as retaliation for Karen's believed role in Imogen and her friends misery. Karen and her twin sister Kelly attempted to retaliate, which led to Karen's murder at the hands of A.
Biography
Karen is the identical twin sister of Kelly and the daughter of Tom and Martha Beasley. The family portrayed a perfect front to the town of Millwood, Beasley family represents Millwood's greatest wealth, perfection and "prestige" with their patriarch being the domineering sheriff of the small town. However, the family struggles behind perfect walls with a verbally intimidating Tom, sheltered Martha, and the conniving twins that do everything possible to please their father. Karen and Kelly often switched places, pretending to be the other to fool their teachers or parents. The twins took an interest in ballet and strived to be the best under the pressure of their father's domineering demands. According to Tabby Haworthe, Karen started becoming a bully in the second grade.
As she and her sister grew up, they became friends with the outgoing and party-loving Imogen Adams. Together, the trio partied and hung out becoming the "It" girls of Millwood.
Personality
Karen was a very conniving, ambitious young woman who strived to always be the winner, considering herself superior to everyone around her. When faced with people who challenged her winning mentality, she lashed out, which was a point of contention between her and The Little Liars. She could be fun and carefree one moment, then vicious and callous the next. She was described as narcissistic by Tabby, a bitch by many, and lovely by few.
Physical Appearance
Karen was a pretty tall teenager with shoulder-length, straight blonde hair, round green eyes, an oval-shaped face, and upper-class sense of self. She always wore heels which made her stand straighter.
Series
Season 1
In August, Karen stops by the Adams House to see Imogen Adams. She announces that her boyfriend Greg is in the car so it shouldn’t take long. A tense stand-off begins, even as Karen hands Davie a letter that was out front, the “A” in her name red. Davie opens the letter to find a flyer for the rave that occurred 22 years prior, to her utter shock. Imogen notices her mother’s discomfort, but Davie brushes it off and tells the girls to head upstairs.
Karen briskly skims through Imogen’s closet the latter who says she gave her the shirt she’s holding. Karen snidely remarks she can’t wear it now. Imogen begs Karen to understand that Greg kissed her first, not vice versa. Karen, however, refuses to listen, confronting Imogen that she kissed Greg at her own party. The blonde tries to storm off but finds in the hallway floor wet. The girls slowly walk to the source of the water, the bathroom. Imogen softly calls out to her mother. She pushes the door open, taking in what’s in front of her: Davie, dead in a tub overflowing with bloody water, the letter “A” drawn in red ichor on the wall. Karen screams in horror as Imogen gasps.
One month later on Monday, September 28th, Karen continues her crusade to be crowned Spirit Queen at the Spirit Week Dance, her minion Sandy by her side at her booth. She's surprised when Imogen Adams and Tabby Haworthe enter Millwood High. She didn't expect Imogen to come back to school. She fakes sweetly veiled surprise that Imogen is back, leading Tabby to snark that if she wasn’t such a narcissist she’s check up on Imogen. Karen coldly tells her to get off her ass as it was traumatizing for her to see, recalling back when she ran out the house screaming. She tells Imogen she’s here for her and pulls her in for a hug. However, she cruelly whispers, “People may be polite to you, but trust me: nobody wants your pregnant, tragic ass back here.” Karen wishes her a good first day back, but Tabby overheard and asks why she’s a bitch at everything.
Faran Bryant later enters the school, so Karen desperately tries to get her attention, though Faran ignores her. This leaves Karen feeling stung. Seeing Minnie Honrada stare at a flyer for the school’s LGBT club, the blonde snips that she doesn’t need to come out when everyone already knows. Karen asks the girl if she cast her vote yet. However, the girls flips her the bird and declares her name to be Mouse, calling Karen a dick. She tries to run off but bumps into Noa Olivar, who agrees Beasley and her twin Kelly are evil.
In ballet class, Madame Giry lists out the roles for the upcoming Swan Lake performance, among them Kelly and Faran who received the main role. Karen questions if she got a role, only to find out she landed a supporting role. She approaches Faran, who insinuates the real reason why Madame Giry made her the Black Swan. After class, Karen corners Noa and asks to vote for her for Spirit Queen, but Noa won’t as well as the fact she’s running unopposed. Karen snidely asks if she’s late for community service, giving symphony for Noa working alongside thugs. She tells her to say hi to her father for her.
On Tuesday, Karen looks on sullen as Faran and Henry practice their choreography, but an unimpressed Madame decides to call it a day and asks Faran to come into her office as she dismisses the class. That afternoon, the cafeteria bustles with activity, until Imogen storms in and confronts Karen in front of everyone. She plays innocent, concerned this might not be the right environment for someone in Imogen’s “condition”. She demands to know she truly did to piss Karen off, turning to Greg to admit the truth in front of her. Karen snaps and says she doesn’t belong here, and she isn’t the only person who feels that way. She defiantly states she won’t go anywhere, and in fact will be Spirit Queen like her mother. Karen is shocked by the threat, flustered as Imogen leaves the cafeteria gossiping in her wake. The other girls are left impressed.
At the Beasley household, Martha asks her daughters how was school. Kelly states it was fine, but Karen complains that everyone is insane, particularly Imogen Adams and a girl who’s- “…better than you,” finishes the Sheriff. The mood shifts. Kelly says Karen is really good, but the Sheriff wants Karen’s word on it. She claims she’s better. He tells her to look around her, at all the nice things. He has it because he’s the best at everything, and demands she be the best at everything. Martha brightly asks if anyone wants desert.
Karen goes to Pinball Pizza with Greg Mantzoukas. She instructs Greg to get a suit as she doesn’t want to be crowned Spirit Queen with Greg wearing his stupid letterman jacket. Greg questions why she’s giving him a hard time as he’s had a long day, and refuses to be like her mom, to be talked however she wants. Karen dismisses her mother as pathetic and her dad a cock sucker. Greg is dismissive ballet and her complaining, and after a second of shock she kicks him underneath the table. She admonishes him, saying she doesn’t question his football skills even though he loses every game and cheers him as the dutiful girlfriend she is. Greg isn’t in the mood to entertain her tantrum, leaving her alone for their audience to witness.
On Wednesday, Karen's Spirit Queen posters are defaced with gouged out eyes, "whore" and "bitch" scrawled across them. Imogen's posters are freshly hung in the vicinity of the defaced ones. As such, Imogen and Tabby are blamed for the incident. In science lab, Sandy asks Karen for a pen, the latter who reaches into her bags and comes up with her fingers wet with blood. She screams and kicks her bag forward, the contents dropping out on the floor. A bloody, dead mouse glistens on the floor. Because of Karen's crude nickname for Mouse, which is rodent, the girl is blamed for the evil. In ballet class, Karen screams in pain - her ballet shoes have been filled with razor blades. She accuses Faran, who professes her innocence. Each of the wrongly accused girls are punished in detention.[2]
About six months ago, the Beasley twins hosted a party at their house while their parents were away on a church retreat. In the kitchen, Imogen Adams downs the last of her drink. She screeches happily upon seeing the Beasley twins. She wants to raid their dad's liquor cabinet, but the twins refuse. Their dad will check it when they get back from their church retreat. Imogen wants Greg Mantzoukas to get them some, though Karen isn't speaking to Greg as they're in a fight. If the bitches want more, they have to get it themselves. Imogen stumbles off to find Greg so she can ask him herself.
As the night goes on, Karen does a shot when Kelly rushes over. They need to talk about Greg and Imogen. She whispers into Karen's ear nervously. Karen storms through the house just as Imogen finds her. Karen explodes over Imogen, kissing her boyfriend. Imogen protested that wasn't what happened, but Kelly had seen them together. What she saw was Greg kissing her. He comes from the hall, telling Karen it wasn't a big deal as Imogen is drunk. Karen tells her to get out. Imogen tries to explain, but Karen calls her a slut and demands she get out. She then turns to Greg and shoves him before storming off.
In the present day, the five framed liars believe Karen did all those things to herself to get back at them for various indiscretions. They want revenge, and plot to make it happen. On Thursday, October 1st, Karen walks into school to find Imogen and Tabby hosting a booth. She's hosting a screening at The Orpheum because Jordan Peele is dope and Mr. Smithee is racially biased. He's not the only one. It's also an event to promote Imogen's spirit queen campaign. Karen's surprised that Principal Clanton let her run after she trashed her posters. Imogen thinks he's afraid the pregnant girl would sue the school if he didn't. Tabby adds they didn't trash their posters, but if there's anything she wants to confess, this is her last chance. Karen has nothing to confess. Imogen might give a speech, so Karen decides to come against Tabby's request. Karen grabs a flyer and stomps off.
At The Orpheum, Karen, Kelly, and Sandy sit in the middle of the theatre to watch the films. The video starts with a campaign video to Vote Karen For Queen. It rolls into the video from that night. Karen is drunk and demands affirmation that she's “so fucking hot”. The boy behind the camera wants to see how she is. Karen can't believe that Greg kissed that slut when he has her. The asshole couldn't even stay hard enough to have sex properly. In the audience, Karen demands that Kelly tells her what's going on. She doesn't know. In the video, Karen continues to berate Greg while goading the boy into revealing himself. He agrees to show her but only if she shows him first. In the theatre, Karen becomes emotional and leaves the theatre. The video cuts off to show the rest of the campaign, as Karen runs out of the theatre crying. Kelly runs after her, catching the attention of Wes who enters the screening, just as the movie starts. Kelly runs after her sister.
Hours later, Karen texts Imogen to test a theory on whether or not she posted the video. She leans against a tree in a cemetery when Imogen joins her. She knew the video came from Imogen the night of their big fight. Imogen admits she went back inside the party that night to get her sweater. She flashes back to that night when she overhears Karen and Tyler in her bedroom. Imogen rushes in to stop them. She covers up Karen and pulls her away from Tyler. Karen is messy, drunk, and angry. She hates Imogen, which is fine with Imogen, but Karen doesn't want to be on some drunk guy's camera phone right now. Tyler continues to goad them until Imogen grabs his phone, calling him an asshole. She helps Karen out of the room. In the present, Imogen reveals that she handed Karen off to Kelly and made sure she was safe before she left. Karen sarcastically calls Imogen her hero. Earlier that night, she lost her virginity to Greg. The next thing she heard, was that he was kissing her best friend. That's why she was so pissed. Karen is still thinking about how Imogen kept the video because she could use it one day to hurt her. That's the only possible reason. Imogen isn't a good person. Imogen thinks she shouldn't have put razor blades in her shoes or mutilated a rat. Karen is oblivious to her claims. If they aren't going to have an honest conversation, Imogen will just leave. Karen tells her to go, then, but Imogen doesn't think she should be alone. Karen laughs over Imogen's worries about her getting hurt. She snaps for her to get out of her face, calling her a “god damn bitch”. Imogen scoffs then leaves. Off in the distance, behind a set of gravestones, A watches the scene unfold.
The Friday, Kelly fronts as Karen to falsely admit that she defamed her own posters, thus, getting herself removed from the Spirit Queen race. Kelly comes home to her teary twin reading comments. She admits people hate her, revealing that she's Karen. Kelly assures her that no one hates her they're just bored. Karen asks what the plan is, and if Clanton recognized her. Kelly admits that he completely thought he was her, Karen. Karen has a week's detention for the posters, and they have to hope Imogen goes to the dance. If she does, then by Monday, no one will be talking about that stupid video. Those bitches like movies, so they'll give Imogen a starring role in one. She's thinking a classic - Carrie.
On Saturday, the night of the dance, Kelly attends the dance when Imogen finds her, mistaking her for Karen. Kelly remarks that her sister is around. Imogen wants to make things right, so Kelly agrees to relay her message. She congratulates Imogen for winning against her sister as not many people can do that. She can't wait to see her up on the stage tonight. She flashes back to before the dance when the twins pour red paint into a bucket.
As Imogen is crowned Spirit Queen, basking in the beauty of the moment, Karen crawls through the rafters where she's hidden the bucket of red paint. She pokes her head through the streamers covering the railing and smiles evilly. Faran sees Karen in the rafters and nudges Tabby, who in turn, gets the attention of the other Liars. They try to scream for Imogen to look up. Shawn gets involved too. Karen smiles maniacally from the rafters as she inches the bucket closer to the edge. Imogen turns to look up at the balcony. She sees a man approach Karen wearing a full-body suit - it's A. Karen starts to look behind her but it's too late, A has ahold of her. He wrestles with her for a moment before pushing her over the balcony. Karen falls to her death with a loud squishing noise on the stage below. The partygoers begin to scream and run in different directions. Imogen stands still, too dazed to move. A pool of blood inches closer to her shoes. The Little Liars all get texts at the same time. It ominously says that one bully is down, but there are five more to go. Keep quiet about him, or they will all be next. The message is signed with -A. Imogen looks up to see A looking over the balcony at her. Karen's dead body lays on the stage, blood seeping out of her face as her eyes stare blankly ahead.[3]
Following her shocking death, the incident is ruled a suicide because of the video released a few days prior by The Little Liars. Imogen tells the girls about what she saw that night before their first "A" text - a masked figure pushing her over the rafters. They deduce that the killer is A, who doesn't want them to say anything about his existence. On Monday, Millwood High School holds a memorial for Karen, calling her a beloved member of the community. Meanwhile, Sheriff Beasley reveals his mission to have the girls arrested for bullying his daughter to her death. The girls try to explain that Karen had planned to dump a bucket of red paint on Imogen during her acceptance, but Clanton and Beasley reveal that no such bucket was found at the crime scene. On Tuesday, a newspaper article names Karen as having been "bullied to death" by Imogen Adams, Noa Olivar, Tabby Haworthe, Faran Bryant, and Mouse Honrada.
Karen's funeral is held the Thursday after her death, with Martha inconsolable in her grief. Kelly tries to help her out of the church, but Mrs. Beasley is shocked at the sight of Imogen among the mourners. Imogen tries to express her sorry and Kelly tries to explain that Imogen was invited by her. Mrs. Beasley is angry and calls Imogen shameless. She prays to Hell that Imogen’s child is taken from her like Karen was taken from her her. An upset Imogen holds her belly before running away. Once home, Kelly learns of her father's plan to have the girls expelled and their entire lives taken away from them.
Feeling guilty for her part, Kelly admits to the school board on Friday that her sister did plan to dump red paint on Imogen during the Spirit Week Dance, meaning that she just fell in a tragic accident. Kelly later seeks solace in Imogen, admitting that her sister's death should have been hers as she helped her plan the "Carrie"-themed revenge scheme. She breaks down in sobs over the loss.
The Little Liars gather in front of Karen's grave to say their goodbyes. Imogen delivers a eulogy remarking their fighting was not true to themselves and will miss her greatly. Tabby joins in, saying the reason she was up there was because of her, of them. She promises never to pull anything like that again. Noa says she didn’t know her well but know she threw lit parties, nonetheless. Mouse tells Karen she didn’t deserve what happened and wished they could have coexisted. Faran confesses she didn’t like her but admits she isn’t happy she’s gone. She says she will always be sorry for how they hurt her.[4]
As things gradually return to normal, Faran begins to suspect that Kelly is really Karen. She picks up on several oddities in ballet class; Kelly moves to Karen's locker, gives the same microaggression to Faran, wears her leotard, is suddenly a better dance, and Henry remarks that it's "like dancing with Karen again". She comes up with a plan to find out the truth without telling anyone. She enlists Henry's help by having him offer Kelly a foot massage after practice to check for the scar Karen would have sustained from the razor blades.[5] Henry reluctantly agrees to her request. He reports back that there is a scar, but argues it could have been caused by anything. Faran confides her suspicions to Madame Giry, who rebukes the idea, before privately admitting that Kelly self-harms and that's why she has scars.
In the meantime, Faran talks to Kelly about her becoming a better dancer. Kelly admits she’s always been one, though could never show it as Karen had to be the star. On Halloween night, Faran sees Kelly kissing Greg Mantzoukas in a back room. She confronts Kelly about her suspicions, but only elicits anger and grief from the twin. She explodes that she can be popular, good at dancing, and have a hot boyfriend just like Karen did. She warns Faran to never speak to her again. Back at the Beasley House, a barely mobile Martha refers to Kelly as Karen.[6]
In a flashback, Greg Mantzoukas and Karen visit The Orpheum while Tabby is working. He invites her to a bonfire party in the woods, behind the school. She wants to go so she asks her coworker Chip to cover her shift, and he does. Tabby is sexually assaulted after the party.
One night during a solo late ballet practice, Kelly receives a text from an unknown person simply asking, "Karen or Kelly?". Moments later, a masked attacker appears wielding a knife. He chases her through the auditorium before she breaks down, sobbing out that she's Kelly. The attacker ultimately spares her life.[7]
Appearances
- Chapter One: Spirit Week
- Chapter Two: The Spirit Queen
- Chapter Three: Aftermath (Corpse/Photos/Mentioned)
- Chapter Six: Scars (Flashback)
Trivia
- Karen is strongly believed to be inspired by Alison DiLaurentis' book counterpart, who demonstrated malicious and antagonistic traits unlike her sweeter, kinder twin sister, Courtney DiLaurentis.
- Both characters are bullies in their respective series. They also both have blonde hair, blue eyes, and are white teenager girls.
- Her funeral was held on Thursday, October 8th.
Quotes
“You just be a queen, girl." To Faran Bryant
Gallery
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