The Black Widow

"My deepest condolences. -A"

- The Black Widow in a letter to Bethany Young's parents

The Black Widow is anonymous character whose occupation is unknown but may be involved with A. It is presumed she was Red Coat, and this is her new disguise. She makes her first appearance as The Black Widow in A is for A-l-i-v-e, where she attends Darren Wilden's funeral. The Liars see her, but do not know who she is. She is rarely seen.

She is an antagonist in Season 5, possibly working alone or with A.

Series
'A' is for A-l-i-v-e
 * -|Season 4=

The Black Widow attends Darren Wilden's funeral wearing a black dress, black shows, black gloves, and a black veil that covers her face entirely. She is later seen in the "A" lair, removing the veil, exposing a burned "Alison" Mask, revealing this is Red Coat's new disguise.

Free Fall

A tall blonde woman shows up at the zoo, who The Liars think is Spencer in her disguise. The real Spencer shows up and then they disappear. This person is speculated to be the Black Widow but there isn't any confirmation.

Miss Me x 100
 * -|Season 5=

"A" is seen in her new lair. Her Black Widow costume appears at the end of the episode on a mannequin in her new lair.

Run, Ali, Run

At the end of the episode, she clips a card that says "My deepest condolences. -A" to flowers that are addressed to the parents of Bethany Young. She then puts the veil over her head and picks up the bouquet.

How the 'A' Stole Christmas

Jessica DiLaurentis portrays The Black Widow in Ali's "Christmas Future" Dream. This is not the real black widow since Jessica DiLaurentis is deceased.

Possible Suspects

 * Melissa Hastings
 * Ashley Marin
 * CeCe Drake
 * The Fragile Patient
 * Someone's Twin

Eliminated Suspects
1. People already in attendance at Wilden's funeral: 2. Other reasons
 * The Liars
 * Mona Vanderwaal
 * Jessica DiLaurentis (deceased)
 * Jenna Marshall
 * Pam Fields
 * Maggie Cutler
 * Shana Fring (deceased)
 * Sydney Driscoll (King said the person is from Season 4, she was introduced in Season 5)
 * Sara Harvey (This person is not played by anyone. The picture of Sara was found on shutter fly and can be bought)

Trivia

 * Marlene originally named her The Lady in Black.
 * After a fan suggested the name, The Black Widow, Marlene decided to keep it.
 * She was given the" fan-name" Veiled Griever because she attended Wilden's funeral, and she is grieving the loss of someone and she has a veil on.
 * Based on the burnt mask, The Black Widow appears to have some connection to the lodge fire.
 * When a fan asked Marlene if Red Coat and The Black Widow are the same person, she tweeted back "not ready to give that up yet".
 * The black widow is in real life a spider that kills those she mates with.
 * The Black Widow is the main antagonist of Season 5.
 * Marlene confirmed that The Black Widow is involved with the Uber A plan.
 * Her costume appears at the end of Miss Me x 100, in A's new lair.
 * Marlene said on twitter that the identity of The Black Widow is a character we already know and was in Season 4.
 * It is presumed that Red Coat became The Black Widow. Hopefully this is confirmed at some point, but it's obvious as Red Coat stopped making appearances when The Black Widow appeared in Season Five.
 * In an alternate universe, known as Christmas Future, Jessica DiLaurentis is the Black Widow. However, seeing as how Jessica is dead in the real world, it is likely this was only in that universe.
 * In, Welcome to the Dollhouse, it's revealed that Big A is male and is therefore not The Black Widow.