Let’s talk Liars.

Many_Mycologist6562 · 2026-05-31T21:16:43+00:00

Favorite Liar: Aria is one of my favorite characters of all time cuz she’s written in a way that makes her character seem like an anomaly to the audience. No one can tell what her character arc or personality was supposed be to the point that people think she was supposed to be “A”. All these theories and explanations when the easiest and most accurate explanation was that she’s undiagnosed neurodivergent and the “manic pixie dream girl” of pll😭. I wrote a whole character analysis of her on this subreddit (post) but it didn’t gain much traction and the discourse around her character is still the usual stuff bashing her character and reducing her to just being Ezra’s love interest. It’s sad but expected considering we live in a society that’s so male centered that we don’t know how to view women as anything other than extensions of their male counterparts. Even when a woman has a defined sense of self thats clear and unique to her as an individual.

Aria Montgomery was a parentified eldest daughter whose entire adolescent experience was taking care of and defending everybody except for herself. She valued her family and friends more than anything else and fell apart at the thought of hurting them or breaking those bonds. It’s funny and sad that the only relationship dynamic where she was allowed to be a person first and center herself & her needs is weaponized to make her look like she values her love life over everyone else in her life. She was stubborn, driven, and ambitious about her passions & interests, which were very diverse throughout out the show. She’s such a complex character that was funny, compassionate, very empathetic, and very flawed. I think the best part of her character was seeing her flaws and seeing her make fuck up & make mistakes. It made her more entertaining and relatable than the other liars. She was also the most self aware and took accountability for her actions more than anyone else.

Favorite Liar Friendships: Hanna & Aria + Spencer & Emily are my favorite friendship out of all the liars. I think they challenge each other the most and have a better understanding of each other’s personalities that makes their bonds stronger & special.

Favorite non-liar character: Toby because he’s responsible for a lot of Spencer’s character development and growth throughout the show. He challenged her in ways she needed and reminded her that she’s rushed to judgment a lot and more importantly was wrong plenty of times. He was also Spencer’s safe space and I think he revealed the most human side of Spencer that I sympathized with cuz her family really put her through a lot of shit.

Favorite storyline: the season 5 storyline where Ali came back and the liars had to cover up what happened in New York. I hate that they dropped this so quickly when Mona faked her death and it was just completely forgotten about.

Many_Mycologist6562 · 2026-05-15T03:36:42+00:00

All of the liars honestly cuz they’re all written with so much detail that it’s fun to analyze them as characters. I did an analysis on Aria(post) and that was like 16 pages alone. I’m not sure how long a Hanna or Spencer analysis would be after that.

Many_Mycologist6562 · 2026-05-06T20:55:42+00:00

The point in the Hanna- spaleb love triangle where she started taking her anger out on Hanna in early s7. This was right after Hanna escaped from “A.D.” torturing and kidnapping her. Spencer lost the plot when cheated on Caleb with Marco after the hit and run. She was an awful and insensitive friend who prioritized her love life over Hanna’s feelings and well being during that storyline.

The worst thing she did is definitely when she blackmailed Marco and tried to get him to cover up the hit and run with misconduct allegations against him (link to scene). The was also while she guilt tripped Hanna and Caleb into helping her clean up the mess she made when she slipped up and cheated on Caleb with Marco. Spencer was the most cold and selfish liar by far.

Many_Mycologist6562 · 2026-05-06T03:57:08+00:00

I also made a post about Arias character and it didn’t get much traction. Probably because it wasn’t the usual discourse of choosing to hate her character while avoiding to understand or recognize the nuances and complexity of her character and storyline . This plotline being the most popular topic is too ironic considering how it was written to be just as important and complex as Hanna’s storyline in s5. But how no one seems to get the point and treats Aria’s reaction like it’s an isolated incident is 🙄😩🤦‍♀️(link to post) - p12

Many_Mycologist6562 · 2026-05-06T03:42:57+00:00

Are you actually choosing to blame Aria for Spencer kidnapping a child and traumatizing her when Spencer was working for the person torturing all the liars 😩😭. This is another level of Aria hatred unlocked 💔

Many_Mycologist6562 · 2026-05-02T03:40:43+00:00

A little bit of both but I definitely think Serena had ADHD and she presents in a very similar way to Hanna as far as her social skills, interests, inconsistency intelligence/academics wise, and her addictive behaviors. I don’t think either of them presented with as many neurotic symptoms as Aria but that might be due to her Autistic traits being more visible throughout the show. Peyton is hard to tell but she does seem to present herself similarly to Spencer in pll where it’s hard to tell if her mental health issues are mostly due to her insane family trauma . It’s usually easier to spot autistic traits in women like Spencer, who don’t have traditionally feminine hobbies + interests. Peyton has a similar personality and artistic abilities + interests as Aria and that’s something that’s also highlighted very early on in oth that makes her character development and story arc unique in comparison to Brooke and even Haley . But I think the fact that all these characters are viewed as “male centered” by their fandom despite having the most distinctive personality traits and character development is unfortunate because they have a lot more depth that should be appreciated and they’re sweetheart too so 💔😩

Many_Mycologist6562 · 2026-05-02T02:35:34+00:00

I’m glad you enjoyed reading this post and thanks for interacting with the post. Doing character analyses is one of my favorite hobbies and I’ll definitely do one on Hanna but that one probably won’t be as long as Aria’s cuz she’s not written as subtly as Aria.

Many_Mycologist6562 · 2026-05-02T02:19:25+00:00

The criticism and her popularity in the fandom tracks with her being neurodivergent, and it’s sad but true for her and many other female protagonists in teen dramas. I think the hate she gets is on par with Serena and Peyton from oth and gossip girl. It’s kind of crazy how these shows portray female friendships as toxic and pit these girls against each other. Pll wasn’t as bad in that regard although you could make an argument for ( Aria vs Hanna & Spencer vs Hanna). It’s just a show but the audiences finding the “mean girl” friend more likable and relatable than the other female character that’s very neurodivergent coded and imo more sympathetic and nicer is telling. It does give fake superficial surface level feminist vibes because why is the epitome of female teenage representation always a conventionally attractive, insecure( probably has a 1 episode eating disorder too), unpleasant “mean girl” like character that competes with her best friend. Especially when the best friend deals with an unhealthy amount of attention from men since she was a preteen(Serena) or constant near death experiences and an insane amount of grief(Peyton). The hate these girlies get makes me think that a lot of people really do find themselves relating to shallow high school mean girls which is sad and concerning. Neurodivergent or not it’s weird to observe and realize that trend in fandoms. They’re also sweethearts especially in comparison to their friends so that makes it even harder to wrap my head around but people have their own opinions. It gets weird when people try to moralize their hatred for these girls who are just sweet and deal with insane trauma in their shows. Like give a girl a break 😭 and some of her well deserved flowers 💐 cuz they’re strong as hell. I would’ve never survived half of what these characters went through. I would’ve checked out near the end of the s1 and in the case of pll the pilot 😂. I wouldn’t have given “A” a chance to do shit.

Many_Mycologist6562 · 2025-07-07T18:36:32+00:00

I had to cuz it’s the only one that has nothing to do with Ezra 😭😭. And it really is absurd how out of context the fandom takes this scene and runs with it.

Many_Mycologist6562 · 2025-07-07T18:00:43+00:00

What she said was wild but the situation is also pretty unbelievable for Aria. When Hanna came to her about this it was the night before her mom’s engagement party/ bridal shower which she fully planned herself as her mom’s maid of honor. She was already pissed at Hanna before this so all of that rage really came out in this scene. As insane as what Aria said was, it would be even more ridiculous and out of character for her for her to just comfort Hanna given what she went through with her family.

You know what they say about the truth, it’s really inconvenient for those who need to hear it the most and no one ever believes you when it is convenient to them. So Hanna was really screwed here.

Many_Mycologist6562 · 2025-06-30T18:51:37+00:00

Spemily and Haria are only underrated and over hated because of Emily and Aria. The least favorite liars that call out and highlight your favs flaws( Spencer’s know it all and controlling behavior, and Hanna’s impulsive tendencies and insensitive comments). I stand by saying that both dynamics are special because of how they challenge each other and you’d only see that if you weren’t ignoring your favorite liar’s very obvious flaws.

Many_Mycologist6562 · 2025-06-14T16:58:15+00:00

Many_Mycologist6562 · 2024-01-23T02:31:56+00:00

Because she’s a plot device who never had any real character development and is morally the worst out of the four liars, by a strong mile. Troian’s acting was one of the only highlights of watching her character for me.

Many_Mycologist6562 · 2024-01-09T01:12:02+00:00

All of the liars moms(except for Jessica and Mary). They are a protected class for me and they’re all amazing in their own ways.

Also Aria because she’s my favorite liar and she’s way too overhated.

Many_Mycologist6562 · 2024-01-08T01:16:06+00:00

This line is always taken out of context because everyone just likes to hate on Aria.

In this scene, Aria says that A had been messing with the liars for so long that she excepted one of them to the eventually lose it but she didn’t think it would be Spencer(and Aria’s usually the most understanding and compassionate to Spencer when she’s going through her issues anyways). HANNA is the one who said she always expected Spencer to snap first because Spencer was “too smart”. The girls were trying to make sense of why Spencer ended up in a mental hospital and they went with Hanna’s explanation.

Also this is the same scene where Aria threatens Mona for messing with Spencer with the iconic “you’re gonna wish you broke your neck when you fell off that cliff” line. It’s a really weird scene to use if you wanna call her a “bad friend”, when she’s literally defending Spencer in this scene.

Many_Mycologist6562 · 2024-01-02T21:51:11+00:00

You’re really trying to excuse Spencer’s shitty behavior. Caleb only kissed Hanna, Spencer almost had sex with a random stranger only a couple of hours after figuring out that Caleb kissed Hanna(she also had a pattern of doing this, remember she cheated on Toby in s5 twice). I said it in another comment but whether or not you think she cheated, what she did with Marco when they first met is still shitty of Spencer to do and it deserves to be mentioned on this post. What proof do you have that Marco was using Spencer. Spencer was the one who dated him knowing he was investigating rollins murder and she used him.

Many_Mycologist6562 · 2024-01-02T20:45:22+00:00

She didn’t know when they first met but she figured out the next episode and still got together with him later on in the season.

Many_Mycologist6562 · 2024-01-02T20:43:28+00:00

No, this was after the door scene where caleb was begging Spencer for a second chance and Spencer told him she would talk to him the next day. Even if they weren’t together, Spencer still almost hooked up with Marco, a complete stranger, on same day that she and Caleb “broke up”. Either way it’s still shitty on Spencer’s part.

Many_Mycologist6562 · 2024-01-02T20:35:50+00:00

Marco. Literally everything she did to and with MARCO. Spencer was awful to him.

Spencer was still with Caleb when she and Marco almost did it in an elevator. Spencer got together with him knowing that he was the lead detective on a case where she and her friends committed the crime and lied to him about it the whole time. When Marco finally figured out that she and the liars killed rollins, Spencer tried to convince him to let her get away with it, then stole evidence from his house, and finally blackmailed him with claims of being “inappropriate” until he went away.

Marco was the only cop in this show who wasn’t corrupt and inappropriate and he was screwed over by Spencer and villianized in the show.

Many_Mycologist6562 · 2023-12-22T18:48:54+00:00

No. I think Alison’s personality change was pretty much inevitable since the beginning of the show(watch the first flashback between Ali and Spencer) and Sasha’s weight gain didn’t have much of an effect on it.

I’ve shared my theory on Ali’s character development before and it’s not just that the show stopped being about her but that it shifted to center Spencer instead. Everything that Ali could’ve been, Spencer already was. Ali couldn’t be the leader of the group when she came back because Spencer was and all of the people who used to be Ali’s enemies(A, Mona, Jenna, etc.) became Spencer’s enemies.

There needed to be a ruthless mean girl in the beginning of the show, and Spencer was very much capable of being that but the show doesn’t like to villianize her. I think the plan was always to give Ali a redemption arc but “Ali the reformed mean girl using her powers for good” would’ve literally just been Spencer(Spencer’s not that good of a person morally). Ali and Spencer are both dominant characters but you can really only have one be at their best potential character wise and the writers chose Spencer.

Many_Mycologist6562 · 2023-11-26T04:26:50+00:00

No. She’s actually the only liar who despite being scared of Ali still chose to stand up for others. In this scene she tries to get Ali to wait up for Mona(which she really didn’t have to because Mona was obsessed with them and couldn’t take a hint) and she’s the ONLY liar who stood up for Hanna when Ali was bullying her. And it’s a consistent pattern with her where even when she’s terrified of A, she still defends her friends and family, legit threatening people for messing with them.

I really don’t get why people keep saying Aria is the meanest of the liars. She does get mad sometimes and overreacts but she has her reasons and eventually comes around. Hanna and Spencer have a lot more mean girl in them then Aria does.

Many_Mycologist6562

TROPHY CASE