CeCe Drake - Big "A"

"None of you are sure when you look in the mirror. None of you are really certain who you are. I did that. I took that away from you, the same way everything was stolen from me. And now I'm back, an everything that happened before, that's gonna feel like a picnic."

- Charlotte to Mona

 

Is it Charlotte? Is it CeCe? Who is this girl and what is her relevance in the series?

Charlotte DiLaurentis, alias CeCe Drake, was born to Mary Drake as a male named Charles. However, Jessica (Mary’s twin sister) and Kenneth DiLaurentis took care of her from a very early age, due to her mother’s mental state. She grew up believing that she was Jason and Alison’s sibling. 
When she became transgender, Kenneth started to feel very uncomfortable. His transphobic discourse was often present. After an incident that took place when Alison was just a baby, she was admitted to Radley Sanitarium, the mental health center that her mother was in when she gave birth to her, although she didn’t know this. After this, she was erased from the DiLaurentis’ family tree. Jessica visited her and even sneaked her out of the hospital center to let her play with both Jason and Alison, but that stopped before they could truly remember her. 

She was misdiagnosed with intermittent explosive disorder (IED) which led to her being over medicated, and nearly killed by the doctors at the center. Both Jessica and her took it as an opportunity, and decided to had a funeral in honor to Charles Drake, Charlotte’s deadname. Then, she got officially named as Charlotte DiLaurentis. However, she was finally abandoned in the health centre.  
After that, she dedicated herself to math in order to escape Radley Sanitarium, and ended up attending the University of Pennsylvania. When she returned, she went by the name of CeCe Drake, and befriended both Jason and Alison, which didn’t recognize her, as they were too little when they last saw her. 

Here is where her story begins...

She was the main antagonist from season 3 to season 6A, labeled as “Big A”. During her reign as leader of the Team-A, she committed several crimes: from kidnapping to murder. 

However, her plan was never to kill “the liars”. She loved them, in an obsessive and mental kind of way. For her, they were her dolls. She just wanted to play. In fact, the real reason behind her becoming “A” was that she knew that Alison was alive from the very beginning, and she wanted to get her home safely. At first, she harassed Alison’s friends because she thought that they were happy of her disappearance. However, after realizing otherwise, her affection towards them started. 

I know you won’t believe me, but I love all of my dolls. That’s why you’re still alive.

- Charlotte to the Liars.

So, we can say that her mental illness condition is what really led her to all this, suffering from a very early age of identity issues and abandonment. That, together with her love and affection for her younger sister, although portrayed in a very irrational way, were the driving forces for her actions. 

Main relevant actions by CeCe Drake: 

- She supposedly killed Alison DiLaurentis. The night of her apparent death and later disappearance, Alison was hit in the head by CeCe with a rock. However, she survived.

- Even though he was like a sibling to her (though not by blood), CeCe Drake dated Jason DiLaurentis. She wanted to reconnect with him just as much as with Alison, and found not other way. Jason didn’t know CeCe was his sister. 

- She was “Red Coat”: During the first seasons, Alison used a red coat as a disguise. When CeCe took on the game from Mona as “A”, she used a red coat, kind of signaling her familiarity with “the liars”.

- She created the “A-team”, which was formed by her as leader, and several servants such as Sara Harvey or Mona Vanderwaal herself.  

- She killed Darren Wilden, the police officer investigating Alison’s death/disappearance. She shot him twice.

- At the end, she tried to kill herself, as she felt guilty for her actions. She was stopped by “the liars”, but ended up being killed by Mona during an accident. 

All the information has been taken from Villains Wiki Fandom and The Pretty Little Liars Wiki Fandom. Surf both pages for further detail on the matter! 

Claudia Nogués Reboto