Mona Vanderwaal

"I don't have to hide, you do. And you're gonna wish you stayed dead."

- Mona to Alison.

Mona Vanderwaal is is a main character in the television series Pretty Little Liars on ABC Family. She is portrayed by Janel Parrish.

Mona was revealed to be the first and original "A" in "UnmAsked" and was sent to Radley Sanitarium for psychological and emotional treatment.

Biography
Deep down inside, Mona never forgot the way Alison had previously treated her; as an outsider and dork. Ironically, Mona begins behaving like Alison after she resumes Alison's place as a Queen Bee. She taunts Lucas and calls him 'Hermie', despite once being friendly to him.

Mona is a very self-conscious person. Due to the bullying and rejection she faced when Alison was around, Mona developed a complex in which she is not happy with her life. Although she does not show this side of her in public, this is why Mona felt such a need to remain popular, beautiful, and best friends with Hanna. This is also why she started tormenting the girls as "A," because she was afraid that the Liars would steal Hanna from her, who was her only friend. She and Hanna became best friends when Alison's crowd was disbanded. Mona figures that Hanna would not give up the chance to become popular. Their friendship stays strong until the ever so infamous "A" begins torturing the girls, forcing Hanna to become closer to her old friends. The other Liars, besides Hanna, don't care much for Mona, and this is a source of conflict in certain episodes, but it ends up being much more severe then a simple annoyance when it is revealed that this is the very reason she became A; she was angry at the Liars for taking Hanna away from her after Ali's body was found.

Mona can also speak French, hack computers, and do voice impressions. Mona was revealed to be "A" in the Season 2 finale. She considers herself a genius, but also has a personality disorder (according to Dr. Sullivan). Mona is under the influence of someone in a red coat.

In Season 5 after it was revealed Alison is in fact alive, Mona forms as "army" of people who were victimized by Alison prior to her disappearance, to fight against her return. The group includes Lucas, Paige and Melissa Hastings.

Series
Pilot
 * -|Season 1=

In one of Aria's flashbacks, Mona is shown with glasses and 2 pigtails, trying to hang out with Alison and Aria. She asks them to wait up, but Alison tells Aria to ignore her and Aria obeys, running away from Loser Mona. Mona is crushed and wraps her arms around herself. After Alison Death Mona is first seen with Hanna shopping in the mall. They comment on each other's accessories that they stole before Hanna goes to talk to Spencer. Mona shoplifts a scarf then meets up with Hanna who shoplifted a pair of $350 sun glasses.

Mona is then seen with Hanna in class. Emily tells Aria that she and Hanna are the new Queen Bees. Aria comments that she didn't even recognize Mona.

The Jenna Thing

Hanna and Mona hang out and chat near their lockers after Aria comes out of Ezra classroom, until Mona catches sight of Sean, and Hanna tells her friend that she will see her later.

A few moments after the bell rings for English class, Mona saunters in, asking whether she's late, cluelessly calling Mr. Fitz, "Mr. Fritz" to everybody's amusement. Mr. Fitz tells her to just take her seat. When she takes her seat, Hanna points out her mistake. But Mona said she did it on preps.

Later, Mona and Hanna are walking out of the mall, flanked with plenty of shopping bags. The two girls are happily chatting about the day's finds when suddenly they catch sight of Darren, standing in the parking lot. Mona reassures her friend that he has nothing on her, as she purchased everything legally. Hanna agrees and walks over to Darren to tell him to back off.

To Kill a Mocking Girl

At school, Mona and Hanna discuss their recent shoplifts, when Sean and Noel walk over. They announce Noel's blowout cabin party planned for the next night. After they leave, Mona questions Hanna about when she is going to have sex with Sean, and Hanna reacts frustrated. Mona states that she isn't pushing for Hanna to do it, but wonders if the relationship is real if they haven't done it.

Mona is later seen at the party flirting with a guy, while wondering what is up with Sean and Hanna. Later she see's Hanna marching angrily across the lawn to get to Sean's car. Mona tries asking Hanna what is wrong and why she is taking Sean's car, but Hanna never even responds, instead driving off with the car.

There's No Place Like Homecoming

Mona sits down to talk with the four girls, while insulting Spencer's date, which is the opposite of what Spencer wants people to think of Alex. At Homecoming, Mona and Hanna talk as they insult what other girls look like. Mona and Hanna get into a heated argument when Mona makes nasty comments to Lucas, who has come to photograph the dance for the yearbook. Hanna greets him warmly, but Mona shoos him away. After he leaves, the two argue over whether popularity is more important than befriendly nerds, in which Mona warns Hanna that she will not go back to being a loser Mona and will lose her friendship with Hanna if it comes to it.

The Perfect Storm

Mona sees Lucas and Hanna talking together. Mona is not enthusiastic about this new relationship development and mercilessly taunts Lucas, calling him "hermie" and "shim," names that Alison had made up. Mona continues to make fun of Lucas until Hanna tells her she knows Mona's new handbag was purchased on eBay. Mona pretends she bought it as "a goof." Later, fed up, Hanna pulls Mona aside and calls her a hypocrite for treating someone on the lesser social status so rude when they used to be on that same strata themselves! Lucas later thanks Hanna for talking to Mona, as she no longer taunted him after Hanna said something.

Keep Your Friends Close

Mona is throwing a birthday party for herself, which she calls "Camp Mona" and gives select invites to her friends, including Hanna and the rest of the Liars, as they are her BFF's friends. The rest of the Liars aren't interested, though Hanna tries to persuade them to come and that Mona has redeeming qualities, but they do not change their minds. This changes, though, when "A" tells the Liars that information will be revealed at Mona's birthday party.

Then, Mona hears a rumor after A sends her a text that Hanna lost weight thanks to a liposuction. Mona breaks off their friendship due to anger, going as far as to dis-invite Hanna from her birthday party. She also dis-invites her because Hanna refused to ditch school with Mona, despite Hanna's mother giving Hanna plenty of cash to spend on Mona. So, ironically, Spencer, Aria, and Emily attend Camp Mona without Hanna (Just for information). Camp Mona turns out to be an over-the-top bash, complete with massage deck, food tents, makeshift hair parlor, and matching T-shirts for all attendees. Her gift table is piled high with presents.

Moments Later

When Hanna is hospitalized due to her run in with "A" at the end of the party, Mona visits her in the hospital and apologized, realizing that she was mad at Hanna for a stupid reason. Hanna gladly accepts her apology and they become BFFs once again. While visiting Hanna, Mona told Hanna the reason she chose her to be her best friend. At a party, chubby Hanna vomited while on the trampoline. When she realized everyone was laughing at her she bowed, no longer affected by peoples remarks. Mona found that to be a life lesson. Mona believed that if Hanna could get over people teasing and ignore it, so could she.

Mona throws a surprise "Welcome Back!" For Hanna party when she was released from the hospital. Mona and Hanna are still BFFs but not like before. Their friendship isn't as strong, due to the fact that Hanna's relationships with her former BFFs, are growing once again (The Liars).

The Badass Seed

Mona is not seen in a few episodes until which she is going for a part in the play. Later she is seen gossiping with Hanna about her morning shower with Caleb(Hanna and Caleb). At the school play with the rest of the Liars, she witnesses Aria slip up and refer to Mr. Fitz as 'Ezra' and raises an eyebrow. She wonders about who is evil or naughty in the play and wonders how she is going to play a selfish character.

Monsters in the End

Mona is worried about Hanna's breakup with Caleb, and states she takes the blame, knowing she should have stopped him from getting to close to her friend. At the Festival she is helping Hanna with a booth and Caleb suddenly shows up. Hanna hides and Mona talks to him, while taking a letter from him to give to Hanna, which expresses his love for her. She reads and promptly destroys the letter, due to feeling the need to protect Hanna from being hurt again. Hanna does not find about this until later and thinks even more badly of Caleb as a result.


 * -|Season 2=

It's Alive

When Hanna finds out from Caleb that Mona never forwarded Caleb's goodbye letter to her, but instead lied, leading her on to believe Caleb was worse than he actually was, she is distressed and angry with Mona and Caleb.

Noel Kahn returns to school in the same episode, and Mona begins dating him, to Hanna's surprise. Hanna is angry with her friend for lying to her, but agrees not to judge her for dating Noel. Eventually, Hanna confronts Mona later in the episode, just before her date with Noel. When Hanna leaves, Noel detects something wrong, and Mona just sulks.

The Goodbye Look

When the Liars' parents have placed a ban on them hanging out together, the girls sit at different lunch tables. Mona tries to invite Hanna to sit with her, but Hanna is still too sore at her to be her friend again, so all five girls sit at separate lunch tables, eating alone.

Hanna and Mona eventually rekindle their friendship; Mona calls it spiritual. They agree to keep their romantic lives (i.e. Caleb and Noel) out of discussion for the time being, while their friendship repairs, in order to avoid more arguments. However, Hanna does find out why Mona is dating Noel: "He has bad-boy cred now too." (Because of his suspension)

Never Letting Go

Mona takes over as the boss of the fashion show. Spencer expresses an intense dislike for Mona's attitude. Despite her bossiness and aggression she is able to have the show run smoothly until "A" sabotages the CD. In an open display of favoritism, Mona appoints Noel as fashion show DJ.

Touched by an 'A'-ngel

Mona accompanies Hanna in blowing off school to try on her bridesmaid dress for Isabel's wedding. Before meeting her, Mona had formed a negative opinion of Kate, based on what she considered a hideously ugly gown. However, when she meets Kate, she immediately takes a liking to her style. When Kate invites Mona and Hanna to lunch, Mona accepts, while Hanna declines, frustrating Hanna. She accompanies Hanna on a trip to a horse farm, due to Mona's pretending she went to equestrian camp in order to fit in with Kate and her friends. At the farm, they meet Kate's friends. Hanna displays her ignorance about certain cultural references that Kate and her friends make, so Mona cuts in, laughing off Hanna's remarks, trying to save her friend’s face. Later Mona and Hanna are walking through some random woods, their faces stained with dirt. The girls had managed to lose Kate's horses. Hanna gets Mona to admit that equestrian camp had never happened. Hanna snaps at Mona, accusing her of befriending Kate for selfish reasons, and Mona counters that Hanna has been bad tempered ever since Caleb left. Hanna later apologizes.

After returning to the stable, Hanna expresses to Mona her feelings that Kate and her friends were nasty towards her and also considered Hanna clueless. Mona suggests that Hanna wasn't trying hard enough, making Hanna really rail against her future step family and Kate's friends, writing them all off to hell. It turns out that Kate and her friends outside the stable could overhear the whole exchange after Hanna accidentally set her riding helmet on the loudspeaker switch. The girls rush out to undo the damage, but Kate walks away miffed, with her friends at her heels. Mona does seem sincerely apologetic about her mistake and the fallout Hanna has with Kate and her friends.

I Must Confess

The girls tell Dr. Sullivan about A. That day, Dr. Sullivan attends the school in an assembly to talk about bullying, and about people threatening you. Mona is seen during Dr. Sullivan's assembly on cyber-bullying and rolls her eyes at Hanna, mouthing the word "boring." Ironically, Mona is "A", and probably cared a lot more about what Dr. Sullivan was saying.

The First Secret

In the prequel episode, Mona is insulted by Alison after trying unsuccessfully to sit with her and the other girls in the school cafeteria. Rebuffed, Mona goes next to Lucas' table.

The familiar scene where Mona spots Aria and Alison eating their frozen yogurt as they walk is replayed. Mona calls out to join them, and Aria looks inclined to stop, but Alison propels Aria forward in an attempt to lose Mona. It is now revealed that this event took place on the eve of Halloween 2008. Mona turns around, rejected, chilled, and upset.

Later on in the school hallways, Lucas bumps into Alison, dumping his drink on her. Angry, Alison rejects Lucas' apologies, mercilessly calling him "Hermie" and publicly suggesting that he's really a hermaphrodite. When Alison walks away, Lucas growls that she will get what's coming to her, and Mona nods uncomfortably in silent agreement, having witnessed the whole exchange. How Mona ever took to calling Lucas by that same insult is a mystery.

At Noel's Halloween bash, Mona is dressed as Catwoman. Alison doesn't seem to recognize her (though for Mona that's probably a good thing) when Mona approaches Alison and with a warm hello. When Alison asks if she knows her, Mona mysteriously responds no, but Alison will. When Jenna saunters away from her own exchange with Alison, Mona declares Jenna the best Gaga, and the two introduce themselves, seeming to start a friendship.

A Hot Piece of A When Hanna plans a surprise birthday party for Caleb in "A Hot Piece of A," she does not invite Mona, thinking her still against Caleb. However, she invites herself and Noel, claiming they're friends now. Hanna agrees, and the couple saunters away together in the Rosewood High hallways.

At the party, Mona and Noel question Hanna's decision to order 12 pizzas with green peppers as Noel is allergic. After the boat fiasco, Mona is seen with Noel outside, dripping wet, after they "took a dip" in the lake.

Let the Water Hold Me Down

The next day in school, Mona expresses her worry to Hanna that she is losing Noel. Apparently, he spent most of the previous night on the phone, and she had to convince him to go skinny dipping just to get his attention. As Mona walks with Hanna in the school hallways, they see a student taking down Hanna's homecoming picture; Mona barks at him in her friend's defense. When she continues speaking, Hanna is completely inattentive (thinking about Lucas being missing). Mona is hurt by her friend's insensitivity, and Hanna rushes to a bathroom stall, leaving her pal behind.

Later in the episode, Spencer sees Mona getting off the train in Rosewood. Apparently both had spent the evening in Philadelphia. Mona tells Spencer that Noel broke up with her, looking heart-broken. She had been on a shopping spree as therapy for her distress. She offers Spencer some of the cashmere sweaters she had bought. Spencer declines and comforts Mona with empowering words, telling her she's better than Noel. Mona thanks her and gives Spencer a rare compliment.

The Blond Leading the Blind

In Hanna tries to console Mona over her break-up with Noel, but Mona is still upset with Hanna. Mona grabs a necklace out of her locker and tries to return it to Noel, who is standing nearby. He promptly dumps it in the trash and laughs when Mona begins to cry. Hanna follows a tearful Mona into the bathroom and tries to comfort her, though she can't seem to find the right words. They agree to use their fake IDs at Rive Gauche later that night. But, when they get there, Hanna and Mona spot Jenna and Noel sitting together in Rive Gauche.

The Naked Truth

Mona is her usual impertinent self during the school "Truth Up Day" Program. Ashley runs Mona's and Emily's focus group, and Mona mocks and gives attitude, even to her best friend's mom.

Then, Emily is intimidated and told off by Tamborelli. Mona looks on, and Emily notices her staring. She decides to approach Mona about it. She apologizes to Mona for letting Alison torture her all those years. Even though Mona puts on her nonchalant exterior, she seems genuinely effected by the apology. She sides with Emily and lets her know Tamborelli isn't so lily-white himself.

She goes out of her way to help Emily get back on the swim team by blackmailing the school vice principal. She adeptly hacks into his computer though "he changed the password" and digs up compromising information. She confronts Tamborelli herself, securing Emily's place back on the team. When Emily thanks her, Mona responds "that's what friends are for." She goes on to discuss with Emily what she should wear to go to a swim meet because she would like to come and see her. This seems to show that Mona has a very forgiving personality and only puts on a popular, not caring face as a front to protect herself. At the same time, Hanna is going through her own ordeal, being accused of sending racy pictures of Kate. Mona stands by her as well.

Breaking The Code

Mona tells Hanna about going to the mall, which Hanna forgets, but promises that they will hang out the next day at Hannah's house. When Mona receives a text from someone, Hanna asks who it is from and Mona lies. After Hanna leaves, it is revealed that the text is from none other than "A." While hanging out in Hanna's bedroom to pick out clothes as promised, Hanna is again inattentive to her friend, paying more attention to her phone, until Mona receives another message from "A" and tells Hanna about it. She says that it had been happening for a few days and that the messages have been accusing her of shoplifting things. Hanna asks if any of the texts are about her, and Mona replies that there are more about Hanna's mom. She shows her a suggestive photo of Ashley and Officer Wilden. Hanna lies and says it's obviously photoshopped, to which Mona agrees. When Hanna questions what Mona would do with the picture if the mystery texter started threatening her, Mona replies that if she can live through Alison, she can survive this anonymous texting.

Later, Mona visits Hanna's house again and shows Hanna an incident report from when Hanna shoplifted the sunglasses. The report was put into Mona's mailbox by "A." "A" had ordered Mona to give the incident report and the picture to the Rosewood Observer or else she'd be filling out a police report herself. Hanna tells Mona about "A" and that the threat isn't a joke. When Mona asks about what A did, Hanna does not reply properly. When Mona wants to know what to do about the report, Hanna isn't sure but promises she will think of something in time. Mona asks her to hurry, showing the text she got from "A" which says that she only had until 10 am the next day.

The next day, at 10:15 AM, Hanna, believing that Mona turned her mom in, goes to tell Mona that she doesn't blame her. Mona reveals that she went to the jewelry store and returned the necklace she stole. The store owners called the police and it ended with Mona's mom working it out so Mona would just be serving food to the homeless. Hanna thanks her and Mona replies that she wouldn't do anything that would hurt her best friend and her mom.

At school, when Hanna passes by Mona's table, she shows Hanna another A message on an apple. Freaked out about it, she decides to take the rest of the day off because she doesn't want to be a sitting target. However Hanna invites Mona to sit with her, Aria, and Emily. Mona was reluctant first, feeling that they won't accept her, but eventually agrees sit together with them.

UnmAsked

Mona attends the Rosewood Masquerade Ball with the other girls and later goes with Spencer to the Lost Woods hotel, after Spencer deduces that "A" had rented the room next to the one Alison was staying in. In the room, they find sketches of a Black Swan costume and conclude that "A" must be wearing it at the ball. Mona offers Spencer a stick of gum, but Spencer turns her down. While going through "A's" belongings, Spencer locates a gum wrapper from the same brand of gum Mona just offered her. She tells Mona that she changed her mind and that she'd like a stick of gum after all. Mona agrees, but says she doesn't have any more on her, but that she can go get some out of her car while she goes to call Hanna. She leaves the hotel room while Spencer continues to search. A few minutes later, Mona returns to the room and angrily says "I found the gum!" Spencer looks up from the book and says "You didn't call Hanna...because you're A." Spencer turns around and we see Mona wearing a black hoodie. Mona admits she's "A" and congratulates Spencer on figuring it out, right before knocking her out.

Spencer wakes up in a car with Mona driving recklessly towards Lookout Point. Mona says that she wants Spencer to join the A-team. Spencer asks if the reason Mona became A was her anger at them for letting Alison bully her. Mona laughs and says that she got over that a long time ago. Mona reveals that she became A because she hated them for stealing Hanna's friendship away from her. Spencer pleads with Mona to stop, encouraging her that Hanna is still her friend. As they drive, Spencer is secretly recording their conversation on her phone and sending the video to Aria's phone. Aria, Hanna, and Emily leave the ball immediately and drive to Lookout Point. When they show up, Spencer and Mona struggle, resulting in Mona falling off the edge. Spencer reaches out, trying to save her, but fails.

As the police and medical personnel arrive on the scene, Mona is revealed to have survived the fall. Dr. Sullivan makes her return to Rosewood and diagnoses Mona with a personality disorder that caused her to experience a sense of hyper-reality and omnipresence. Mona is found criminally insane and sent to an asylum for treatment. Dr. Sullivan is confident that Mona can be helped with treatment.

During the final few scenes of the episode, Mona says in a voice-over that everything has gone according to plan and that now the girls will feel safe and unlock their doors at night, even though there's still a threat against them. While in the asylum, she receives a visit from someone in a red coat. She looks up at this person, smiles weakly and says that she did everything they told her to do.


 * -|Season 3=

It Happened 'That Night'

We find Hanna has been visiting Mona in the Radley Sanitarium, and that Wren Kingston is working as one of her doctors. Hanna shows up for answers, wanting to know what she did to make Mona hate her so much. Each time Mona just sits their still and almost lifeless. She has a glazed look in her eyes and remains with a stoic expression. After Hanna leaves, Mona spies as Wren and Hanna speak about her. Later when Wren calls Hanna he states that Mona is making progress and he thinks that it's from Hanna's visits. At the end of the episode Hanna tries to get through to Mona again, and asks her if she wants her to keep coming back. Mona looks over and smiles. Hanna thinks that she is smiling at her, but then realizes she is smiling at an empty chair. Mona is actually hallucinating and sees Alison holding her "Lolita" book, wearing a red coat, smiling back.

Blood Is The New Black

Hanna is still seeing Mona, who is still catatonic, no matter how many times Hanna mentions new spring colors or Noel Kahn. Hanna gets frustrated this time and yells at Mona about how she feels about her ruining her life. She brings up how Mona would be in jail if she confessed about her hitting her with a car and pleads to know what she has done to make her hate her; she even throws a chair across the room. Mona just stays quiet. Wren explains to Hanna what she's suffering is ambiguous loss - the person she cares about is still there, but she's lost them anyway. Hanna finally figures out a way to break through to Mona - giving her a makeover, complete with eye shadow, foundation, and mascara. Mona looks indifferently at her reflection in the mirror. Hanna gets mad again and says "Look, I didn't come here to play beauty shop with you." Mona speaks for the first time since Hanna's visits - "You're getting them again, aren't you? The texts?" Before Hanna can get anything out of Mona, she's shuffled out of the room. Alone in her seat, Mona slides tweezers out from under her and pricks her finger with it, allowing a drop of blood to bloom.

Kingdom of the Blind

Hanna visits Mona again. She is now talking much more and somewhat bubbly. She goes on talking about new pills, water, and gum in a somewhat delusional way. Mona also mentions her parents had come to visit her but they just stare at her like they don't know who she is anymore. She acts clueless when Hanna mentions the new "A," and bluntly asks "Have they found what's left of Alison?" Lucas also visits her after Hanna to see if "she is really mental." He thinks Mona is faking in order to stay out of jail. Caleb later visits her to warn her to not mess with Hanna. As she plays cards she taunts him about past events, then flips over the table and starts screaming. She is last seen lying awake in her bed singing “In the Eye Abides the Heart” to herself, holding one card from her game with Caleb, The Queen of Hearts.

Crazy

Aria visits Mona at Radley. She tells her that Hanna was sent the Ouija board that Mona and Hanna once used to ask what happened to Alison (who was missing at the time). Aria asks Mona who is trying to hurt them but Mona says that it isn't her and to tell Hanna that she's sorry. After visiting hours are over, Aria leaves only to sneak back in with Hanna. Hanna reveals to Aria that Hanna saw Alison after what happened with the ouija board. Hanna called Alison's parents and told them Ali was still alive, until three days later her body was found. This distracts them long enough for Mona to leave her room and lure them into the Children's Ward. Mona brushes a doll's hair and repeats:

"Miss Aria, you're a killer, not Ezra's wife." - Maya knew.

"Where were we? Maya's away sleeping sweet until Garrett's all rosy count on me." - www.massugar.com

"No one to save Ali from evil." - Not safe.

Mona is then sent back to her room. Later, Hanna tells Aria, Spencer and Emily that Mona was using a code that they had once used to write mean stuff about Alison on her missing flyers. Using the first letter of each word, they realize that the second code/riddle (see above) translates into "www.massugar.com" - Maya's website where she kept blog entries and videos of herself and sometimes Emily. They also wonder what "Not safe" means. Did it mean Alison wasn't safe or they're not safe?

Stolen Kisses

The hospital thinks that Mona has been slipping some of her meds to a visitor. They decide to move her to a maximum-security facility in Saratoga, New York. Realizing that the girls' chances to get more answers about "A" are getting smaller, Hanna approaches Wren about convincing the hospital board to let Mona stay. Wren tells Hanna that he can't do anything about it, so Hanna gives her own formal speech to the board. However, Hanna throws her speech aside and speaks out as Mona's friend to the board. They decide to let her stay.

The Lady Killer

Mona leaves Radley dressed as nurse. Later, she is seen wearing a black hoodie and taking instructions from someone by phone. She goes to "A's" lair and reports someone, who also wears a black hoodie, that she changed plans. near the end of the episode, Mona is talking to another member of The "A-Team", who is revealed to be Toby. She tells him about her disappointment that the plans didn't work out as they should.

This Is A Dark Ride

Mona is seen singing the children's song "Teddy Bears' Picnic" and painting a mask, saying she wanted to do it for an art project. She turns around and a black hoodie is revealed. She says she loves Halloween, because of dressing up and tricking people. She hands the person a mixture of pills and bullets, then says "This is going to be the best Halloween ever." "I bet somebody's life on that." When a nurse is checking on Mona, she tricks them by putting her art project under her blankets, making it seem like she is sleeping. Later, a person wearing the same costume as Caleb begins to dance with Hanna. Hanna realizes that this person is a fake, and tears off their mask, revealing another mask and a blonde wig, made to look like Alison. Later, a nurse checks on Mona, and she is smiling with the second mask she was wearing on the ground, meaning she was pretending to be Caleb.

She's Better Now

Mona is released from Radley. Being forced to go back to Rosewood High by her parents, she visits Hanna and pleads for forgiveness. At school people make fun of her and avoid her, with only Jason having a good attitude towards her. Then, with the creepy Janitor on the loose, Caleb uncovers a secret...Mona was never forced to go back to school, in fact, she begged to return. Soon after she gained back a minor amount of popularity with a crying out video. She is shown looking at Meredith towards the end of episode...who ends up falling into an "A" trap.

Mona-Mania

Mona joins the Academic Decathlon, which Spencer is in, taking Brad's place (who was injured on that tampered bike). She later competes against Spencer for title of captain, she would win as Spencer was too cocky. She later celebrates with club at the Brew when Hanna tells her not talk to her ever again. Since, Mona was blackmailing Lucas and Lucas even tried to scare her by setting the schools shed on fire. Mona is later seen in her "A" hoodie talking to another person on the phone, as she watches Byron leave.

Misery Loves Company

Mona is seen talking to Toby in the "A" lair. She is seen hacking into something on the computer, then precedes to tell him that she doesn't call the shots. At school, Mona is seen meeting a group of people, acting friendly and innocent. Later, she is seen in her "A" gear and is seen in Toby's apartment, sitting at the table Spencer set up for her and Toby's anniversary, smiling. It could be implied that she placed Toby's Radley I.D. in his desk to be found. She could have also changed his locks. Earlier in the episode, Mona said were all set for "tomorrow" (possibly meaning that the next day was Spencer and Toby's anniversary), meaning that she and Toby planned for him to be exposed.

Dead to Me

Mona tells Spencer that she would hate to see Toby drive all the to the Academic Decathlon competition just to cheer for her. She also says that she's been off her "A" game lately.

What Becomes of the Broken-Hearted

Mona is quietly sitting at a lunch table with the rest of the Decathlon members. She doesn't say anything when Spencer accuses her of taking her off the team or when she asked "is there anything else you want to take away from me?" Mona would send the "good doctor" Spencer's way. She is at the Decathlon practice and starts to talk to Spencer about her being cray-cray, her break up, and if she has any friends. Spencer snaps and attacks Mona, Mona would get help up and says she's fine.

Out of Sight, Out of Mind

Mona, mentioned by Spencer, is in New York during the time Spencer was locked in the sauna. Mona is at the Brew ordering a latte, when Spencer confronts her about "Deepest Sympathy" wreath. She claims she has know idea what she is talking about, but tells her not to put the orchids in sunlight like she did-they didn't make it the through night- before leaving. Mona is at the Brew again when she gets a phone call and leaves, with Spencer following her. She ends up at the woods and briefly disappears, however, just as Spencer is about to lift Toby's helmet off his head, she reappears and says "He's dead." This leads Spencer to chase Mona, Mona would get away.

Will The Circle Be Unbroken?

Spencer has a flashback of Ali and her in Church, and Mona was singing the song "Will The Circle Be Unbroken?" enthusiastically. Ali laughs at her. Ali and Spencer leave after Church is over and Ali makes mean remarks of Mona to Spencer. Spencer sees Mona standing alone at the top of the stair to the Church, and feels a bit of remorse.

A DAngerous GAme

It is revealed Mona really doesn't know as much as we thought she did. She doesn't know who Red Coat is, and in the end gets a text from "A," implying she may become a victim of "A." The 4 Liars and Mona open the trunk of Wilden's car and they see something that makes them shocked.


 * -|Season 4=

A is for A-L-I-V-E

In the opening scene, Mona gets the chip out of the computer in Wilden's police car showing Ashley hitting Wilden with her car. Back at the Hasting's she plays "third degree" and reveals what she knows and doesn't know. In the morning when the girls wake up Mona has disappeared but then she brings in their favorite coffee drinks and breakfast. She won't hand over the computer chip but agrees to take them to the A lair. In the lair she tells them that Wilden and Melissa were dressed as the Queen of Hearts on the Halloween train and has a video showing Wilden, but someone hacks and deletes the file before the second person is shown. They hear voices outside the trailer and find five young girls dressed as each of them with a matching doll, including Mona. The girls say "Ali" has been playing with them since Mona moved in, meaning someone was keeping an eye on her without her knowing.

Mona tries to rekindle the friendship with Hanna and the two go shopping one day after school. It is clear to Mona that Hanna is just pretending and hands over the computer chip as a gesture of goodwill. She points out that they once did have a true friendship.

At Wilden's funeral when Spencer goes to check the casket for damaging evidence Mona shows up claiming she must have received the same message from 'A'. They find a cell phone which ends up being Ashley Marin's. As the funeral begins the girls are asked to sit with Jessica DiLaurentis but they don't leave room for Mona who seems hurt. In the final scene we see the The Lady in Black in the lair and she places a doll of Mona with the liars in the dollhouse, implying Mona is now one of the liars.

Turn of the Shoe The Liars are at the Brew, discussing The Lady in Black, Melissa's whereabouts, and the night of the fire. Mona comes into the Brew where the girls are and says that she has been thinking a lot about the Ali thing and Hanna then accuses Mona of putting Hanna’s mom’s phone in Wilden’s coffin. Mona says no and says she will do anything to prove that all the girls are in this together, so Spencer says to take them to A's RV.

Mona drives up to where the RV is, with the girls in separate cars behind her. The girls arrive and Mona opens the gate to where the RV was, and is in shock when the RV is gone, and the girls think that Mona has taken it somewhere else. Hanna and Spencer leave in their car, while Aria and Emily wait, and they watch Mona. Mona gets into her car and then all of a sudden, from the back seat, a hooded figure with an Ali mask starts to choke Mona. Mona tries to reach for the flashlight and Aria and Emily see that Mona’s car lights are flashing, so they start walking to the car. Mona finally gets the flashlight and whacks A with it and jumps out of car, and onto to the ground, gasping for breath Aria and Emily run over to her. Mona’s car starts up and A drives the car and tries to run over the three as they narrowly escape by jumping out of the way. According to a text Aria sends to Hanna the next morning, Mona finds her car abandoned being the school an is freaking out. At school when English class ends and Spencer hangs back, Mona says they'll meet her at the courtyard to the surprise of the other Liars.

As Aria is driving home from her self defense class she spots Mona talking to a cop in front of the police station. Aria drives up to them and acts like she is picking up Mona and tells her to get in. Mona does, and Aria gets mad at her saying she can't be seen talking to police in broad daylight because if she can see her, so can A. Mona says she did that to eavesdrop on other cops about any info they have on Wilden's murder. She says she heard them say taped off the south shore of Torch Lake. They found Wilden's footprints there and think he was there the night he was killed. They also found a woman's footprints, high heels. Mona says they are the kind Alison liked to wear.

Cat's Cradle

Mona is eerily absent. The Liars discuss in the opening scene that she was missing from school. They want to hide Ali's stuff they got from Jessica DiLaurentis before Mona sees it. Emily points out she's more concerned when Mona isn't around then when she's with them.

Under The Gun

Mona shows back up at The Brew wanting to talk to Spencer. Spencer insists that she can say whatever it is in front of Aria and Emily and Mona reveals that Toby gave A the RV lair and Spencer was hiding it from them. Mona may not be A anymore but she can still do reconnaissance and has evidence. Spencer admits what Mona is saying is true. Later at school, Emily goes to Mona saying she "wants in" and wants to know what she found on Toby. Mona says she wishes she knew and points out that she is not the one pulling the strings anymore and all she has is an empty RV. Since A has proof of everything bad she and the Liars have done, with one wrong move everything could go up in flames.

The Guilty Girl's Handbook

Mona is helping Hanna with a plan to save her mom from a conviction, but since Caleb doesn't trust her, she proves her loyalty in an unexpected way by admitting she was the one who killed Wilden.

Into the Deep

In this episode Mona sticks to the fact that she killed Wilden. And puts up quite a performance when she is interviewed by a detective. However Mrs Hastings reveals that some of the evidence does not match with what Mona is saying. Mona is later take n back to Radley where she devilishly smiles at a piece of carved writing stating 'will the circle be unbroken'

The Mirror Has Three Faces n Radley, Wren passes Mona a sketch of a happy-looking family on a farm and asks for her emotional response. Mona says that it's a happy picture and Wren asks her how it makes her feel. She replies, "happy", and he asks what her response is. She makes a sarcastic comment about the artist's drawing ability.

Wren wants to know how she feels about what she's said she's done. Mona says that "Look, those girls used to make me feel bad. But recently I've realized that... we're on the same side." She says that she wanted to make up for all the bad things she's done, and that Wilden was bothering them so she got rid of him, and she'd do it again. As he takes notes, Wren says he doesn't think she got rid of anybody, and he'd like to know if she's going to be honest with him. Mona asks why would she ever be honest with him, to which he says that she used to be. Mona replies that that was before she realized where his loyalties were. Wren says he doesn't know what that means but he thought that they'd trusted each other when she was first a patient there. Mona says that that was before she found out that he was keeping secrets from her. "By the way, you forgot the 'g' in 'diagnosis'."

Wren's notes on Mona read: "Dianosis: Extreme distrust and paranoia. Delusions of persecution." He says she's the one who's been keeping a secret, and he knows that she knew that he would figure it out. Mona asks figure what out, and Wren says "You stopped taking your medication."


 * -|Season 5=

EscApe From New York

Mona is seen watching a news update in The Brew which shows The Liars, including Alison's, as missing. Displeased, she turns to put on her jacket, and tells someone in a red jacket, that "this changes everything". Mona is next seen talking to someone on her cell phone, before telling Lucas that the Liars are not in Philadelphia, they're in New York.

Mona has congregated an army of people who were victimized by Alison prior to her disappearance, to fight against her return. The group includes Lucas, who was the first member, Paige and Melissa.

Whirly Girlie

Mike spots Mona outside the Brew, picking up a large box, and runs over to greet her. Upon asking if she needs help, to which she declines, Mona tells Mike she has bought whistles for every girl in school, so they can protect themselves, in case Alison's rumoured 'kidnapper' is still out there, "looking for his next victim". Before leaving for her meeting with Principal Hackett, Mike tells her that he misses her.

Aria comes home to find a Mike and Mona sitting next to each other holding hands. Mike leaves the room for a brief moment, telling Mona he will take her home, but Mona insists Mike drops her off at the library, for research. Aria claims that Mona is doing her 'research' in her house, but Mona refutes this, by telling her Mike invited her over. Mona then hands Aria her own whistle, claiming that she doesn't want what happened to Alison happen to another girl. Aria interrupts this as a threat, and tells Mona that the Liars know exactly where Mona was on the night Ali disappeared. In return, Mona asks Aria how Ezra is doing, letting Aria know that she knows what happened in New York and that their cover story is a lie.

Alison is at the mausoleum, to say goodbye to the girl who died, when Mona comes up behind her. Mona tells her that it was she who sent the threatening text, and that she should of signed her real name, telling Alison that "I don't have to hide, you do. And you're gonna wish you stayed dead," before walking off.

Surfing the Aftershocks

Mona finds Aria at her locker and present her with a 'Get Well Soon' card for Mr Fitz, and asks "you know what happened in New York". Aria tries to tell her that Ezra was mugged, but Mona innocently tells her that he was shot, but now he is back. Not at school, but in Rosewood. Aria doesn't want to sign the card, but Mona insists she does sign, even if it is for the sake of appearances. Hanna then walks up and takes the card from Mona, quickly scribbling her name. Mona goes on to ask Hanna and Aria what it will be like when Alison comes back to Rosewood High, as she would no doubt want to pick up where she left off.

In a flashback, Mona approaches Hanna outside of Lucky Leons and comforts her about Alison’s disappearance. She says that being missing for two months is not a sign that Ali will return and that someone needs to take her place.

In a second flashback, Hanna and Mona are in Hanna's bedroom, with Hanna having lost her extra weight over the summer. Mona tells Hanna that her new appearance calls for a new wardrobe and when she picks out a top that used to be Alison's, Mona urges Hanna to try it on.

In a third flashback, Hanna and Mona are strutting their new looks through the halls of Rosewood High, gaining everyone's attention.

In the present, Hanna spots Mona in the Brew and approaches her. Hanna tells her that Mona essentially turned her into Alison, but Mona tells Hanna that she wanted the change as much as she did.

Thrown From The Ride

Mona picks up the book Letter’ that Hanna had just thrown back on the table, and asks who is throwing out ‘The Scarlett Letter’. Mona suggests that the girls should get it for Ali, since she’s planning on coming back to school, and she’ll probably need it to catch up. Hanna says Alison will get her own copy, but Mona insists on giving the copy she’s holding to Ali, “Shana won’t be needing it”. Turning to face Aria, Mona goes on, “she transferred back to Georgia, right?” Aria doesn’t answer, so Hanna steps in saying she hardly remembers the girl. Mona doesn’t blame Hanna, “people come and go so quickly around here. Shana gone, Ali back. One girl checks out and another one checks in”.

Mona and Lucas are in a darkened classroom at Rosewood High, where Mona calls Lucas naive for thinking they can just call everything off. Lucas tells her he’s having second thoughts, but Mona tells him what they’re doing isn’t punishment, it’s a preventative measure. To get him back on her side, Mona tells Lucas that Alison’s story is just that, a story, and she can prove it.

As Spencer, Hanna, Aria and Emily eat lunch outside, Mona keeps an eye on them from the stairs at the entrance of the school.

Mona watches as Paige, Emily and Sydney talk and eat pizza, before making eye contact with Paige who notices her a few tables over.

Mona approaches Paige who is putting some things in her car. Paige asks what Mona is doing as they have nothing to talk about. Mona disagrees and Paige tells her that her answer is still no. Mona tells Paige that she heard Alison’s dad wanted to take her away from Rosewood, Ali doesn’t want to go, but maybe they could change her mind. Paige again tells Mona that her answer is no. Mona tells her that she doesn’t get to be some kind of social Switzerland, “if you’re not with me, you’re against me”. Paige says she not with anyone, but Mona tells her she is, “sure you are. At least you want to be. And Emily’s with Ali”.

Miss Me x 100

As Alison walks into school, Mona stands at the top of the school entrance stairs with Lucas, watching on.

After Alison closes a rattling window in Rosewood Church, she turns to find Mona standing behind her. Alison tells her that she doesn’t scare her, and Mona in returns tells Alison that she’s not as good of a liar as she used to be. As Alison walks away, Mona says that she knows Alison and the others were in New York the night Shana was murdered, and she can prove it. Alison asks Mona what she wants, and Mona tells her that she wants Alison to leave town, to which Alison assure Mona that she is no threat. Mona says that while Alison may have convinced Hanna and the other girls that she's changed, and maybe she is trying to be a decent person, but it won't last long. Alison demands to know what Mona is suddenly the victim of, and reminds Mona that she almost killed Hanna. Mona tells her no one feel worse about that than herself, but she’s all better now, “even the doctors say so”. Alison doesn’t believe her, and says that if Mona could prove that they were in New York, she would have done it already. Mona tells her “no one wants you here”, but Alison tells her she’s wrong and that everyone wants to be her friend. Alison goes on to say that all she had to do was apologise to Cindy and Mindy and they were practically begging her to sit at their lunch table, so it won’t be long until she wins over Mona’s army of losers, while reminding Mona that Alison made her Mona Loser once, and she can do it again. Angry and upset, Mona slaps Alison. Recovering from Mona's hit, Alison slaps her back, cutting her face and demands Mona to leave her alone before she turns and walks from the Church.

When Alison and the other Liars walk into the cafeteria at Rosewood High, Mona and her army band together and confront Alison. When Spencer says they’re not afraid of Mona, Mona steps in front of Cindy and Mindy, “afraid of me? What lies has she told you? Alison attacked me last night, and when she started saying things like she could make me disappear, I turned my phone to video”. Passing her cell phone to Spencer, the Liars watch Alison’s verbal attack on Mona which included Alison slapping her.

Pulling up to a picnic ground, Sydney and Jenna step out of Sydney's car. Walking over to Mona, Sydney informs her that the Liars do not want things to go back to the way they were. Jenna says that they remember the way Alison treated them, like they were her dolls. Mona is happy by this and thinks that maybe they can get rid of Alison. The three girls turn to look as a third car pulls up.

The Silence of E. Lamb

As Mona is walking down the stairs in the hallway of Rosewood High, Emily approaches her asking what she knows about what happened to Paige, and Mona exclaims, “oh, the rat?”, before saying it makes her irked just to think about it. Greeting Sydney, Mona says that it’s such a creepy thing to do to someone as sweet as Paige, and asking Emily how Paige is, Emily tells her she stayed at home today, scared, only for Mona to say a dead rat has “boy written all over it”. When Emily asks her any particular boy, Mona tells her none come to mind, and when Emily suggests Noel Kahn after spotting his name on one of the books Mona is carrying, Mona tells her he leant her his notes, “as a favour”, before excusing herself and walking off.

Mona is watching the Cavanaugh house when Emily walks past, commenting that she’s a little out of her neighbourhood, and Mona tells her that “sometimes I just like to walk”. Saying that it’s pretty awful, how things change so quickly in “this town”, Mona goes on to say “somebody’s your girlfriend, then they’re not. One day there’s a house, then the next day, it’s gone. Poof”. After Emily says to Mona that if she or one of her goon squad played that trick on Paige, but before she can finish, Mona cuts in, telling her that she can call her a lot of names, “but don’t call me an amateur. A dead rat, really?” Telling Emily to give her love to Alison, Mona turns back to take one last look at the Cavanaugh house before walking away.

Trivia

 * Janel Parrish originally auditioned for the role of Spencer Hastings. After being informed she did not get the part, she re-auditioned for the role of Mona, and got the part.
 * In "Never Letting Go," Mona mocks Aria at the fashion show dress rehearsal while Aria is practicing her catwalk: "Are your legs always that short, Aria?" In the same episode, Spencer alludes to Mona being five feet tall. Mona's and Aria's wikia page both show that they share the same exact height: 5'2"!
 * Mona along with Hanna has appeared in character in commercials for TRESemme hair products including TRESemme Climate Control Mousse and TRESemme Fresh Start.
 * Mona is up on her Wizard of Oz references, as she tells Lucas in The Perfect Storm to ask the wizard to make him a man. "A" is up on their Wizard of Oz references too, custom designing a fortune cookie that reads There's No Place Like Homecoming. (Dorothy's words at the end of the film: There's No Place Like Home.") Also, in Can You Hear Me Now?, "A" sends a flier towards the Pretty Little Liars that reads, "Ding Dong, the Bitch is Dead," a reprisal of the film's song "Ding Dong, the Witch is Dead."
 * Janel Parrish revealed in an interview that she did not know she was "A" until a week before they started filming for the finale, but she was always hoping that she was "A."
 * Mona is released from Radley in She's Better Now which implies what the title meant.
 * Mona's favorite Holiday is Halloween, she likes it better than Christmas because it involves more makeup.
 * Mona got kicked off the A team at the end of the Season 3 finale and is now considered to be part of the liars starting in Season 4.
 * "A" puts a doll of Mona with the liars in the doll house in A is for A-L-I-V-E.
 * Mona is one of the two female characters with history of mental illnesses. The other one is Meredith Sorenson.
 * In EscApe From New York, Mona has formed a group (including Lucas Gottesman and possibly Melissa Hastings and Paige McCullers) of people who have been mistreated by Alison in the past. It is known as "Mona's Army".

Book Comparisons

 * In the show, Mona has dark hair and brown eyes. In the books, she has blonde hair and blue eyes.
 * Mona, in the books, witnessed The Jenna Thing and received burns from the accident. While in the show, only Toby saw what The Liars did.
 * In the books, Jenna and Mona were friends, but in the series they hardly knew each other.
 * In the TV series, Spencer is the first to find out that Mona is A. In the books, it was Hanna.
 * In the show, Mona dated Noel. In the books, she hooked up with Noel's brother Eric, before her death in Unbelievable.
 * Mona dies after her reveal as "A" in the books. In the TV show, Mona survives the fall and is admitted to Radley Sanitarium and becomes an ally to the liars after the events of A DAngerous GAme.
 * In the books, Mona becomes "A" as revenge for the Liars taking part in the blinding of Jenna Cavanaugh. In the TV show, Mona starts being A and also created the "A-Team" because she feels that the Liars (possibly including Alison, as she received notes from "A" as well) "took" Hanna away from her.
 * In the books, Mona is the first A, and seems to have no accomplice. In the show, Mona started the A-Team, and while she was in Radley, Red Coat took over the leadership.
 * Mona dated Lucas before Ali disappeared in the books. This never happened in the show.
 * In the books Mona was much more reckless, getting wasted, helping Hanna crash Sean's car, and showing her underwear to guys for fun.
 * In the books, Mona's friendship with Hanna was just a ploy to get information, whereas in the show, they had a real friendship with Mona seemingly atoning for being A.
 * In the show Mona and Mike date for a short period of time, however in the books they barely interact.