How would you have fixed the Cece reveal? I think I would like your writing better than what we have now. Also - do you think Ali and Shower are working together after last nights mess with Emily at the hospital?
I don’t know if it could be “fixed” in one episode.
There are many inconsistencies and WTF situations that are perhaps too minor to address, yet leaving them unaccounted for makes it look sloppy, careless, and without direction. You can’t tell us CeCe is worth millions when we know she robbed Jason of $50,000 and bragged about it. You can’t tell us she tried to kill Jason for a picture of Cape May when everyone already knew she was at Cape May. And so on.
Things like that will likely never be resolved, but a different 6x10 ending could have worked around them. Example:
Instead of CeCe’s “game over” line, she jumps off the roof amidst the Liars’ protests.
The Liars race to the edge, but when they look over the side, there’s no body on the ground. No black hoodie to be seen. Nothing. She’s just gone. It’s like some cruel magic trick. But perhaps they shouldn’t be too surprised, after all that’s happened.
Cut to interior of Alison’s home, same night. The Liars come to the general agreement that the game really is over; the story’s been told, and wherever CeCe is now, she has no intention of messing with them anymore.
Cut to city street, same night. A black luxury car with dark tinted windows pulls to a stop beside the curb. CeCe approaches the car and climbs into the back seat. Car pulls away.
Cut to interior of car. “I was starting to think you ditched me,” CeCe huffs, pulling back her hood.
Wide angle shot from the back reveals a Black Hood in front passenger seat, and Red Hood in driver’s seat.
“I did everything you asked me to do,” CeCe says.
“And?” a male voice echoes.
“They bought it,” CeCe answers.
Black Hood turns around, revealing WREN. “You’re certain?”
CeCe tilts her head. “You can drop the fake British charm. It’s lost on me,” she says. “I know your secret, Charles.”
“Did. They. Believe. You?” Wren enunciates, this time in a distinctly American accent.
“Hook, line, and sinker. They bought every word,” CeCe says. “So now what?”
“We wait,” Wren says. “Let them get comfortable.”
Cut to front seat, reveals MELISSA as Red Coat. “Those bitches will never know what hit them,” she sneers.
Cut to exterior, car speeds off into the night.
Fade to black, end credits.
The OT3 From Hell (CeCe, Wren, Melissa) seems like the ideal solution to get out of the mess and offer a universal theory that spans through all seasons.
We can work around the inconsistencies by pulling back on CeCe’s story and revealing multiple A’s who fit the part. We use characters we already know instead of Sara Harvey, who comes out of nowhere. We over deliver on the promise: we still get the big ‘A’ reveal, but it’s more than expected, not less.
With the key players revealed, the question then shifts away from the “who” and towards the “why” and what their endgame is. It’s open-ended enough to prompt new theories, which keeps the audience engaged and excited to see what happens next. It primes the pump for next season by being outrageous and screaming the message that it’s not over. Better than the boring stop/reboot we got that caused over a million viewers to tune out.
The OT3 From Hell can cover so much ground. The 'A’ doctor-like stuff could be attributed to Wren; the blood in London now makes sense; Melissa would be the Red Coat who Alison attempted to follow in Brookhaven; Wren was at the prom in the dollhouse, he’s “the one who Alison feared the most,” the “he” that Grunwald referred to, and the “he” who will come after Ali five years later; Melissa and Wren were the dark-haired couple that Seth the psychic boy talked about; Melissa and Wren arranged for CeCe to take over Mona’s game; CeCe was the double agent who did in fact distract 'A’ in Ravenswood, just like Ali said; Melissa and CeCe colluded since Cape May or earlier; Mona attempted to recruit Spencer because that was always part of Melissa’s plan; Melissa & Wren were the A-team Mona referred to in 2x25 (there was an A-team before she ever went to Radley and met CeCe); Melissa was the Queen of Hearts, Wren was the Phantom; the red & black and Mona’s house of cards begins to make sense, and so on.
With a scenario like this we could actually see all of these puzzle pieces fitting together on a grand scale, and the agenda could potentially stretch as far back as the pilot and earlier.
