Alison DiLaurentis

Alison DiLaurentis
Pretty Little Liars character
Sasha Pieterse as Alison DiLaurentis.
First appearance	Novel: Pretty Little Liars (2006) Television: "Pilot"
Last appearance	Novel: Vicious (2014)
Created by	Sara Shepard On-screen developer: I. Marlene King
Portrayed by	Sasha Pieterse Isabella Rice (as a child)
In-universe information
Alias	Novel: Maxine Peptwell Tiffany Day Kyla Kennedy Television: Vivian Darkbloom Marnie Winter Rebecca Kelly Holly Varjak Alison Rollins (married name; formerly)
Nickname	Ali D. Ali "A" The Queen of Mean Queen Bee Bitch Red Coat The Mastor Manipulator Mastor Puppeteer
Occupation	Novel: "A" (formerly) Television: Red Coat (formerly) Teacher
Affiliation	The Liars
Family	Novel: Jessica DiLaurentis (mother) Kenneth DiLaurentis (adoptive father) Jason DiLaurentis (maternal half-brother) Courtney DiLaurentis (identical twin sister) Peter Hastings (biological father) Spencer Hastings (paternal half-sister) Melissa Hastings (paternal half-sister) Television: Kenneth DiLaurentis (father) Jessica DiLaurentis (mother; deceased) Jason DiLaurentis (maternal half-brother)
Children	Grace DiLaurentis-Fields (daughter) Lily DiLaurentis-Fields (daughter)
Relatives	Novel: Elizabeth DiLaurentis (paternal aunt) Television: Mary Drake (maternal aunt) Charlotte Drake (maternal cousin/adoptive sister; deceased) Spencer Hastings (maternal cousin) Alex Drake (maternal cousin) Carol Ward (maternal great aunt; deceased)
Born	Television: (1994-06-06) June 6, 1994 Rosewood, Pennsylvania
Alma mater	Hollis College

Alison Lauren DiLaurentis is a fictional character in the Pretty Little Liars novel series, introduced in the original series of novels and also appearing in the television adaptation. In both the beginnings of the books and television series, Alison is a central character who is shown mostly in flashbacks. The entire plot of the series begins when Alison mysteriously disappears and leaves the small town of Rosewood in shock. Due to her position as a queen bee of Rosewood's social scene, Alison's actions and relations are constantly under scrutiny from the town's citizens. Sasha Pieterse, who portrays the character on screen, has described Alison as an indecisive person, even showing herself as a ruthless, manipulative girl.

Throughout the first three seasons of the television series, DiLaurentis mostly appears in flashbacks and hallucinations. The character plays a more prominent role from the fourth season onwards. In the novel series, Alison is the main antagonist and "A", while on screen she changes her actions and turns out to be a victim too. Alison is the main antagonist for a portion of the fifth season of the television series, when she begins working against the Liars. Alison returns to being a protagonist by the end of the season, when she is arrested for Mona's murder and the Liars are kidnapped by A.

Casting

The Hollywood Reporter noted that Sasha Pieterse along with Torrey DeVitto landed recurring roles in the pilot; The Alloy website later confirmed that Pieterse would be playing Alison DiLaurentis.

Development

Characterization

DiLaurentis was the former "Queen Bee" of her clique and the most popular girl in school before her disappearance. Although she cared for her friends, she enjoyed using their strongest secrets against them to keep them together. Charming and manipulative, DiLaurentis was skilled at finding ways to get back at everyone, and many people hated her. She knew everybody's secrets, but since she's been gone her friends are beginning to realize they actually knew nothing deep about her.

Sasha Pieterse (the actress who portrays Alison DiLaurentis) confirmed that DiLaurentis's character and personality have drastically changed; she has to "figure out who she is. She's been hiding for so long, and she's a victim now". "Alison's a totally different person, so to see the way they treat her is going to be very interesting and to see the way that she gets affected by it is also going to be very interesting," Pieterse said. I. Marlene King, the creator of the show, confirmed that DiLaurentis is an "outsider" in her own group and that really is thematically; she also said "The girls are talking about something very light and simple and Alison can't relate to it because it's not the world she's been living in".

Relationships

In an effort to escape “A” for a little while, DiLaurentis headed to Hilton Head with Ian. But their weekend rendezvous was ruined when Melissa showed up, angry for Ian’s betrayal with DiLaurentis. Overhearing Ian’s conversation and reconciliation with Melissa, DiLaurentis chose to escape through the balcony, but not before stealing some files from Ian’s computer. Besides a video of her, she discovered a video labeled “Jenna & Toby.” “There's nothing wrong with us,” Jenna says in the video as she wraps her arms around Toby. “We’re not even related.” Before her disappearance DiLaurentis and Ian met up at the "Kissing Rock" in which she said, after hooking up with Ian, “This is just me killing time while I’m waiting for something better to come along … You and Melissa deserve each other. She’s such a bitch.” DiLaurentis threatens to send him to jail if he or Melissa does not stop with the threatening messages, leaving Ian to stalk off. Signing the end of the relationship.

DiLaurentis has been romantically linked with Ezra Fitz. Ezra became fascinated with her after meeting her at a pub near Hollis, and while the pair did not have a sexual relationship, Ezra was set on writing a book about her. On the night of her disappearance, Ezra pulled up unexpected, confronting her about her lies. Turns out DiLaurentis told him that she was a 21-year-old student at UPenn and roommates with CeCe. "God help me, Alison, I actually like you," he told her. "I just don’t want to see you get hurt."

In Season 6, DiLaurentis befriends Toby's new partner on the police force. DiLaurentis quickly takes an interest in Lorenzo. Lorenzo agrees to protect her, and asks her to be in a relationship with her. She agrees, but the relationship is later rejected by her father. They break up when DiLaurentis goes behind Lorenzo's back, and uses his key card to sneak into the police station and look through confidential items. DiLaurentis is heartbroken, but Lorenzo is persuaded by Spencer to take DiLaurentis to the prom. He agrees, but does not get to meet her there, due to DiLaurentis and Charles meeting for the first time.

Five years later, DiLaurentis is dating Elliott Rollins, who was Charlotte's doctor while she was at the Welby State Psychiatric Hospital. In the beginning they decided to keep their relationship a secret due to the fact that she was dating her sister's former doctor, but that changed after they made the decision to get married. Aria Montgomery married the pair after completing a course online to become an ordained minister. In the season six finale, Ali checks herself into the same institution Charlotte was because she believes that she is seeing her mother (who died in season 4) and Detective Wilden (who also died in season 4). She thinks that she is going crazy when she sees them in her house but it turns out to be Jessica's twin sister and Charlotte's birth mother, Mary Drake, and Elliott who was wearing a realistic Wilden mask, all part of Mary and Elliott's plan to get Carissimi Group's money. It is revealed that he and Charlotte were in love with each other.

Through the seventh season when Alison is pregnant, she is supported by Emily but soon realises her feelings for her when she learns that A.D. used Emily's eggs to implant inside Alison. During a conversation between Paige, she admits her feelings for Emily and the two begin a relationship. In the one year time jump, Alison and Emily are now the mothers of two twin daughters named Grace and Lily who are soon revealed to be Wren's children as well thus making him the person who had impregnated Ali. Alison soon proposes to Emily who accepts.

Rivalries and friendships

DiLaurentis is known for her rivalries with Jenna Marshall, Mona Vanderwaal, Toby Cavanaugh, Byron Montgomery, Melissa Hastings, Paige McCullers and often with friend Spencer Hastings. DiLaurentis originally offered Jenna to join her clique, but was rejected leading DiLaurentis and The Liars to blinding Jenna, which later became known as "The Jenna Thing". DiLaurentis is known to be cruel as she bullied Mona Vanderwaal leading her to become obsessed with, stalk and cyberbully DiLaurentis leading her to become "A". DiLaurentis became enraged with Toby Cavanaugh when he kicked her out of his house leading DiLaurentis to blackmailing Toby to take the blame for "The Jenna Thing", though he would later thank her due to Jenna wanting to have a sexual relationship with him. DiLaurentis would take the opportunity to blackmail Aria's father, Byron Montgomery, after seeing him cheat on Aria's mother, desperate to keep her from telling Ella the truth, Bryon paid DiLaurentis to keep quiet. Spencer's sister Melissa became enraged after finding out Ian was cheating on her with DiLaurentis, Melissa was also in DiLaurentis' bedroom the night she disappeared as well as joining Mona's army against DiLaurentis.

Disappearance

On the morning of her disappearance, Alison stayed with Ian in Hilton Head but later found videos of Jenna and Toby and later fled after witnessing an argument between him and Melissa before she visited Jenna who she thought was her tormentor and threatened her. However, after a text message from --A she crossed Jenna off her list and later boarded a plane back to Rosewood by Duncan where she kept the videos in a storage unit. That afternoon, she met with the girls for their sleepover but wasn't allowed out her house by her mother Jessica (probably due to CeCe's escape) but she sneaked her sleeping pills and left the house to go to Spencer's barn. There, she slipped the pills and caused everyone to fall asleep before going to meet Toby who thanked her for freeing Jenna from him before she got into a car with Ezra who broke off their relationship. At the Kissing Rock, she met with Ian who warned her not to share the videos but when she returned, she fought with Spencer who grabbed a shovel and threatened to kill her but instead her pills fell from her pocket and Alison accused her of being addicted to "speed" before sending her back to the barn, the fight witnessed by CeCe Drake/Charlotte DiLaurentis. She met with Byron Montgomery who she blackmailed about his affair and threatened to tell his wife about Meredith but she found Garrett and Jenna. During a fight, Garrett grabbed a hockey stick and pretends to kill Alison which Jenna believes before they both leave. When she doesn't get any texts, she returns home to find her mother crossed at her but CeCe appears from behind and hits Alison with a rock, believing that she was Bethany and Jessica later buried her daughter alive.

Return to Rosewood

DiLaurentis returns to Rosewood in Season 5, after the police discover she's alive. However, DiLaurentis ends up in prison, after Mona, who claimed to have proof that DiLaurentis was "A", is supposedly murdered by a blonde. DiLaurentis's charges are eventually dropped after the police discover Mona is actually being held captive by "A", who is revealed to be DiLaurentis's older brother Charles. Charles is later discovered to have transitioned into a female, CeCe Drake, whose real name is Charlotte DiLaurentis.

Over the years, Alison develops a bond with Charlotte, but when Charlotte is killed, Alison becomes desperate to find the killer, and when Hanna, Spencer, Aria, and Emily begin to show signs of suspicion, Alison begins to fear that her friends may have had something to do with Charlotte's death. She soon marries Charlotte's doctor Elliot Rollins however reveals himself as an antagonist and gets Ali admitted to the same psychiatric hospital as her cousin where she is tortured by Rollins. Her escape results in her husband's death at the hands of the Liars who cover up his murder along with her help. Alison soon discovers that she is pregnant with the father being her dead husband however in "Power Play" it is revealed that A.D had implanted Emily's donated eggs into Alison when she was in the hospital, thus making Emily the biological mother of her child.

Reception

Following the events of "A is for Answers", Autumne Montague of TVOvermind lauded Pieterse’s character for her self-awareness in having admitted to not be a good friend, calling it "refreshing from a girl who in flashbacks seemed simply self-absorbed."

External links

• Template:IMDb character
• Alison DiLaurentis at Freeform.com