| This article is about the "A-Team", the team of people affilated with "A". You may be looking for "A", the single individual, Red Coat and The Black Widow, the accomplice of the Leader, Charlotte DiLaurentis. |
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The A-Team is a secret group of people who use the pseudonym "A" to threaten Alison DiLaurentis, Aria Montgomery, Hanna Marin, Spencer Hastings, and Emily Fields. Mona Vanderwaal was a member of the "A-Team", as revealed in "UnmAsked", Toby Cavanaugh was a member of the "A-Team", as revealed in "The Lady Killer", Spencer Hastings was also a member of the "A-Team", as revealed in "I'm Your Puppet". As revealed in the episode "The First Secret", the A-Team was created in October 2008.
When Mona was revealed to be Original "A", she tried to convince Spencer Hastings to join, what she referred to as the "A-Team". She also alludes to it when she says "You had to earn it, the right to be a part of it". After, Spencer asks her what she's going to do now, because "doesn't 'A' always have a plan?" Mona replies with "Yes, she does", referring to herself. After Mona was admitted into Radley Sanitarium, we hear in her mind that everything is going exactly as they planned. A mysterious person in a red jacket visited her and Mona told her that she did everything she told her to do. From that moment, Red Coat stole the game from her.
When Toby Cavanaugh was revealed to be helping Mona, there were plans alluded that referred to a mysterious phone call, that never got made. Also, it was mentioned that if he and Mona knew that Nate was going to have Garrett Reynolds "off the hook" for Maya's murder then they would have done things differently. Toby's motives for being involved in the "A-Team" were to "keep Spencer safe" as revealed in "A DAngerous GAme".
The A-Team as of "Game Over, Charles" has consisted of Charlotte (Formerly adressed as Charles), Sara, Spencer, Mona, Toby, Lucas, Melissa and Wilden (according to Mona).
After Uber A had started to torment the girls five years later, a second A-Team (unofficial name) was born from the ashes of the old with Alex Drake leading it until she revealed herself a year later.
Series
The possibility of a team of more than one "A" tormenting the Liars was practically unheard of. Both the fans and the Liars were of the belief that "A" is only one person. This was mostly due to the fact that in the books, "A" (book character) is only one person, and a team of people has never been used in the books.
However, despite its team status, the "A" or rather the person in the black hoodie, who was after the Liars was primarily one person (Mona). After "UnmAsked", Marlene King confirmed that Mona was the "A" who did everything to the Liars in the first two seasons (except two things). Either way, however, there were always other people involved with Mona, like Lucas, who was Mona's helper in the first two seasons.
The possibility of an "A-Team" was also ignored up until "Touched by an 'A'-ngel". In the last few minutes of the episode, Spencer, Emily, Hanna and Aria talk about the possibility of "A" working with multiple people. At the time, the Liars were suspecting Jenna and Garrett of being "A", and that Jason killed Alison. The Liars talked about how Jenna, Garrett and Jason were all working together, and "playing for the same team". This was the very first reference to the "A-Team".
Later, in "A Hot Piece of A", the Liars begin to think that the person in the greenhouse wasn't actually "A", but a helper.
Throughout the season, the Liars continue to suspect Jenna and Garrett, and later, Melissa, of being "A". They often referred to "A" as "them". By the end of the Season 2 finale, most fans had an idea of there being more than one person. However, the current structure of the "A-Team" was not thought of at the time. It was believed by many people that there is only one "A", the person in the black hoodie, and that this "A" had helpers in case of emergency. It was not thought of there being multiple minor "A"s who wear a black hoodie, all controlled by a leader, the Big A, who wears a red coat.
In "UnmAsked", Mona attends the Rosewood Masquerade Ball with the other girls and later, goes with Spencer to the Lost Woods Resort, 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 with a flashlight.
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 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 even though she survived.
Mona was later put in Radley Sanitarium where she is visited by a mysterious stranger in a red jacket who seems to be giving orders to Mona.
It is confirmed that Mona has had the help of an accomplice. While Mona is still in Radley Sanitarium, the Liars are still getting texts from "A". Also, it is revealed that after the events of "UnmAsked", Spencer, Aria and Hanna returned to "A"s lair and all of "A"s pictures of the liars had been removed. Spencer also mentions several occasions where Mona was with them at the same time they received texts from "A" proving that she has "friends" who help her.
At the end of "Blood Is The New Black", the new "A" is seen buying various black sweaters and gloves while wearing a red coat. The cashier says "You're buying this for a team?".
In "Single Fright Female", two black-hooded figures are seen together. One hands the other the room key to "Room A".
Toby is revealed as "A"
In "The Lady Killer", Nate St. Germain/Lyndon is revealed to have been Maya's killer. Mona walks with a black-hooded member of the "A-Team" back to Radley Sanitarium. Mona talks about how she wishes they could have made "the phone call", but says that even the best-laid plans can go awry. She says to the "A-Team" member, "I'll see you soon". When he turns around, the audience sees that the member is Toby.
In "She's Better Now", Toby tries to run down Lucas. He's wearing his hoodie so possibly "A" is afraid that Lucas may reveal something he shouldn't. Later a hooded figure tampers with someone's bike and the person (Brad from Decathlon Club - in which Mona later takes his place) crashes.
In "Misery Loves Company, Mona told Toby that "they" need to understand that she's in charge", confirming "A" is indeed a girl.
In "Dead to Me", a member of the "A" team was seen, by a drugged Emily, digging Alison's grave (confirmed later it was Mona). Red Coat was also there - to supervise - and leaves when Emily begins to yell stop. Spencer also found the second "A" lair, but it was empty.
In "I'm Your Puppet", Aria goes to pick up Malcolm from karate, but finds that he has already been picked up by an "Aria Montgomery". She goes to his cubby and finds a carnival flyer with an "A" circled. Aria heads over to the carnival; while talking to her mom, she sees Malcolm getting a balloon with a black hoodie standing by him. Malcolm watches a puppet show and eats popcorn with a black-gloved person. After finding him, Malcolm tells Aria that her friend "Alison" picked him up. Spencer is shown putting her pills in her pillow and takes out a black hoodie, along with two puppet show tickets, and thinks about how she joined the "A" team, meaning it was her who took Malcolm.
After Mona is kicked off the team, "A" is believed to work alone, but still has Toby under their thumb by promising answers to his mother apparent suicide for the first half of the season.
Another person they had help through blackmail was Jessica DiLaurentis who was protecting the one who attempted to kill her daughter while she buried her. She handed someone a suitcase in "Unbridled" indicating she was helping someone in the shadows leave for some place. After Jessica writes an email saying she can't protect the person anymore, someone killed her and buried her in the Hastings backyard.
Shana follows the Liars in New York to kill them and Alison as justice for the Jenna Thing. Aria kills Shana and the girls believe Shana was Big A, but it was confirmed it was justice for Jenna.
In "Miss Me x 100", "A" blows up Toby and Jenna's house and is later revealed the leader is working alone with no helpers at that moment.
Red Coat returns and appears to be working with Charles DiLaurentis. They sabotage Aria's art gallery and get tickets to the Rosewood High School prom.
CeCe is revealed to be Charles, aka Charlotte DiLaurentis, and she made a deal with Mona that if she helped Mona get out Radley, Mona would let her play the "A Game" with her. Unknown to Mona, Sara Harvey was another member of the team who acted as a decoy for Charlotte as Red Coat and The Black Widow.
After Charlotte tells the Liars her story, she tries to blow up Radley with the DiLaurentis family in with her. The Liars stop the plan with Sara getting punched out by Emily and Charlotte declaring "Game Over" after she nearly commits suicide; thus the A-Team is disbanded.Members and Motivations
Mona's Team
| Image | Real Identity | Episode Revealed | Motive |
|
Mona Vanderwaal | "UnmAsked" | Getting revenge on the Liars for "stealing" Hanna away. |
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Lucas Gottesman | "'A' is for A-l-i-v-e" | Blackmailed by Mona Gave Emily a massage in "Touched by an 'A'-ngel". |
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Melissa Hastings | "Face Time" | Blackmailed by Mona Was the Queen of Hearts and Black Swan. |
Charlotte's Team
| Image | Real Identity | Episode Revealed | Motive |
|
Charlotte DiLaurentis | "Game Over, Charles" | Getting revenge on the Liars for "wanting" Alison dead. Wanted revenge on her family. |
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Mona Vanderwaal | "A DAngerous GAme" | Wanted to keep playing the game after her release. Worked for Red Coat |
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Toby Cavanaugh | "The Lady Killer" | Worked alongisde Mona to protect Spencer. |
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Spencer Hastings | "I'm Your Puppet" | Find out if Toby was alive and the identiy of Red Coat. |
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Melissa Hastings | "Face Time" | Blackmailed by Mona Was the Queen of Hearts and Black Swan. |
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Darren Wilden | "'A' is for A-l-i-v-e" | Blackmailed by Charlotte Was the first Queen of Hearts. |
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Sara Harvey | "Game Over, Charles" | Sara loved Charlotte and wanted to help to repay Charlotte for taking care of her. Was Red Coat and The Black Widow. |
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Noel Kahn | "The Wrath of Kahn" | Helped Charlotte torture the Liars in the Dollhouse. |
The A.D. Team
| Image | Real Identity | Episode Revealed | Motive |
|
Alex Drake | "'Til Death Do Us Part" | Wanted revenge on whoever killed Charlotte. Wanted to become Spencer and have Spencer's life. |
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Wren Kingston | "'Til Death Do Us Part" | Was in love with Alex and wanted to help her. Donated sperm to impregnant Alison. Had Mona released from Welby so she could join Alex's team. |
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Jenna Marshall | "Wanted: Dead or Alive" | Promised to fund surgery that would help regain her sight. |
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Sydney Driscoll | "Power Play" | Blackmailed Alex used Sydney because she "fit the hoodie". Met with Aria under the guise of being A.D. |
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Aria Montgomery | "The Glove That Rocks the Cradle" | Blackmailed by Alex. Destroyed Emily's nursery and hid a body. |
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Mary Drake | "'Til Death Do Us Part" | Assisted in keeping Spencer hostage. |
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Mona Vanderwaal | "'Til Death Do Us Part" | Double Agent Watched the Liars in a "Melissa mask". Incapacitated Spencer. |
Suspects
- Jenna Marshall - She meets an unseen person (Shana, from the costume shop) in the park and hands them an unknown item with the instructions "You know what you need yo do". She was also seen associating with the Black Swan. Jenna hates the Liars for being involved in The Jenna Thing. Also, she and Shana moved Det. Wilden's body after Ashley ran him over. (Season 1, 2, 3, 4)
- Ian Thomas - He may have started the N.A.T. Club to film people for someone other than himself, Jason and Garrett.
- Noel Kahn - He has dated both Mona and Jenna, and hates Aria for cheating on him with Ezra. He helped Alison remain in hiding and is anxious to not be caught for it. (Season 1, 2, 3)
- Alison DiLaurentis - Alison's behavior is strikingly similar to A's. Alison was also the black hooded figure, who the girls referred to as "A", who pushed Ian off the bell tower. In Season 5, she bribed Cyrus in "A Dark Ali", and seemed to know Bethany, when her mother seemed to be having an affair with Bethany's father. She seemingly lured Bethany into Rosewood to kill her and is now forming an army of her own when The Liars cut their ties with her. Later, The Liars found out Mona planted fake information about her. (Season 1, 2, 3, 4, 5)
A's Lair
A's lair is "A's" base of operations. It is where "A" would meet up with the other members and would create their plans. The original lair was located in Room 2 of the Lost Woods Resort. The room contains pictures, newspaper clippings, and dolls resembling the girls and Alison. There is a hole in the wall behind a picture frame so "A" could watch Alison in Room 1 next door. Spencer concludes that "A" was stalking Alison. This is where Spencer figures out Mona is "A", due to the gum wrapper and the cashmere sweaters.
Once the original lair was discovered by Spencer, the other "A"s cleared out the room and began to find and rent a new room elsewhere for the lair. We know the new lair is "Room A" of its building, and is basically an exact replica of the original lair. Mona was seen in the lair in "The Lady Killer" discussing plans with another "A", presumably Toby. In "Dead to Me", Spencer finds the second lair, with the help of a private investigator, but it is empty when she arrives.
The lair was housed in an R.V., which Big A got Toby to hand over to them via blackmail.
In "Now You See Me, Now You Don't", Big A's lair appears to be revealed, upstairs in an abandoned building in the town of Ravenswood. The lair is run by Ezra Fitz. The room contains pictures of everyone, a payroll, a closet of black suits, newspaper clippings, letters and laptops with cameras that have street view in order to monitor them at all times. However in in "Free Fall" it is revealed Ezra is not "A", and that he was just writing a true crime book about Alison. He was using all the technology to see if he could get to the bottom of the case.
In "Miss Me x 100", Big A's lair is revealed. She is setting up an apartment in Rosewood with Police radio equipment, the familiar dollhouse and dolls, the Black Widow outfit and other packed boxes.
In "Welcome to the Dollhouse", it is revealed that Big A (Charles) built a dollhouse, which they used to kidnap, Mona, Sara, Aria, Hanna, Spencer, and Emily. He also used the Campbell Farm as a temporary lair, in order to frame Andrew.
Later in "Game On, Charles", Charles attempts to lure Ali into their lair, but Ali manages to not be kidnapped, and along with Ezra and Caleb, succeeds in saving the girls.
Trivia
The Alternate endings for pAige and cAleb
- The betrAyer and the second member of the A-Team is revealed to be Toby. Multiple endings were shot to avoid the real one from being leaked. Alternates for the betrAyer role were Caleb and Paige. These alternate endings are available on the Season 3 DVD.
- Some fans suspect Aria of being "A" because she was the last person to have Vivian Darkbloom's (the alter ego of Alison DiLaurentis) red trench coat, which Red Coat has been known to wear.
- It's further speculated that Jenna Marshall is on the "A-Team" because during "UnmAsked", she meets an unseen person in the park and hands them an unknown item with the instructions "you know what to do". Some believe this person to be the same person who visits Mona at the end. This might make sense if Mona and Jenna formed a friendship after Halloween 2008, as alluded to in "The First Secret". In "A DAngerous GAme", It was revealed that Shana Fring is the person Jenna met at the park.
- The leader of the team could be the mystery person seen at the end of "UnmAsked" wearing a red coat, just as it could be the same person seen at the end of "Blood Is The New Black", while wearing a red hoodie buying black hoodies and gloves from a man, who asks whether "A" is buying this merchandise for a team. But after the reveal of Charles, it is assumed both Charles and Red Coat stole the game from Mona.
- Producers revealed Mona didn't do two of the things "A" did in the first two seasons. This is most likely Emily's massage (she was with Hanna) and killing Ian (she has no known connection to him, and he clearly knew the person that pushed him off the bell tower). The person that gave Emily that massage was Lucas revealed by Mona in "'A' is for A-l-i-v-e". Alison is revealed to have pushed Ian in "A is for Answers".
- In "The Kahn Game", we see "A" coming to Mrs. Pillsbury (who is obsessed with cats) to rent a room/apartment. Mrs. Pillsbury names "A" as "dear" and talks to her which makes it obvious that this "A" is female. (It is possible it was Mona, since she was still on the team then)
- It's possible that the leader wears red while the recruiters wear black, such as the person who visited Mona at Radley.
- We have seen "A" or someone presumed to be "A", in many different disguises: the Red Coat, the Zombie Baby Doll Stalker costume and the Queen of Hearts costume. This leads us to question the size of the A-Team.
- Hanna finds the key to "Room A" in "Misery Loves Company".
- Ashley Benson said that there are a few members of the "A-Team" and we will know who they are during season three. [1] She talked about Toby and Spencer.
- "A" carries around Vivian Darkbloom's driver license and uses it.
- In Season 4, Toby is a victim of the "A-Team" because "A" knows what happened to his mom and uses that information to get Toby to steal the lair.
- It was revealed that "A" has only one helper, and it was also revealed that Red Coat and The Black Widow are the same person.
- This person was then shown to be Sara Harvey, who was working with Charlotte at the time. It is unknown what other identities Charlotte made Sara dress up as.
Revealed Identities
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Charlotte DiLaurentis/CeCe Drake/Big A
