There are few teen drama characters that are as iconic as Alison DiLaurentis from Pretty Little Liars.
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None of the other girlies even come close.
Not only was she a mean girl, but she was THE mean girl of the mean girls. Yes, she did her fair share of general schoolyard bullying, but she also lied, manipulated, and blackmailed half of Rosewood. Not to mention the fact that she was only supposed to be 15.
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Like, a literal teenager was running that town. And not just running it, but running circles around folks twice her age. Let us not forget that while Ali was supposed to be 15, Sasha Pieterse was actually only 13 when she started playing her — and making her 20-something costars quake in their boots in every scene.
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So, in honor of Sasha for giving us the ultimate bad girl character, here are 15 of Alison DiLaurentis’s most iconic moments from Pretty Little Liars.
1. When Ali blackmailed Mr. Montgomery by threatening to expose his affair, just so he’d lend her a lot of money.
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I don’t think we ever find out what the money was used for, but this scene is bold as all get out. She marched in there fully aware she had the upper hand and didn’t back down once.
2. When she wrote Paige a fake love letter from Emily and then tricked her into basically hand delivering it.
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Watching this scene even now gave me chills. Ali knew she was out of line based on her tiny shutter as she walked away, but that’s the thing about her — she will never admit defeat, and she certainly doesn’t admit fault. She is ruthless in her bullying, and she was so desperate to have Emily to herself that she went out of her way to make sure Paige couldn’t have her.
3. In one of the earliest flashbacks, when she uttered this eerily foreshadowing line.
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Pretty sure “It’s immortality, my darlings” was stamped on every middle schooler’s locker in 2010.
4. When Ali popped into Aria’s house to help save her from Meredith’s drugging, dropped some sage wisdom, and this bit of dark humor:
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One thing about Alison, she is funny.
5. When Ali stopped by to check on Hanna in the hospital and gave one of her most famous monologues.
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I very distinctly remember this scene from when it aired, not only because of the humor in the beginning (“I thought you were dead?” “Yeah, I heard that, too.”), but because of the way Ali almost looked defeated in the end. She was clearly over the A situation, and it seemed like for a minute, she might have been regretting some of her actions.
6. When Alison tore Ian to shreds about his creepy N.A.T. boys club, and threatened to expose him for filming a bunch of underage girls.
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Like, this man is a legit sex offender and, frankly, just creepy, but she still stood her ground.
7. When she stomped her stilettos into the hospital to blackmail Jenna with the video of her and Toby, and then threatened her casually before leaving.
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Blackmail, control, power — all in a day’s work for Ali.
8. When she visited Spencer in Radley and uttered this line that is the perfect epitome of her character.
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If only we were all as mysteriously enchanting as Alison.
9. And then in that same scene when she uttered this chilling truth.
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10. When Ali suspected Toby of being A, so she rolled up to his jail cell with all the notes from A and questioned him.
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PLL definitely had a tendency to lean toward ableism, but this is such a classic teenage bully moment for Alison, while also showing how she never backs down from a fight — even if she might be wrong.
11. When Ali was at a sleepover with her friends, but didn’t want to worry them with the petty details about how she was going to ruin Pigskin — aka Paige’s — life.
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Sasha’s line delivery is always impeccable, because “no neck bitch” is not even that bad of an insult, and I still shuddered.
12. When they went to a party and Ian’s date “fell” down the stairs, so Ali manipulated a cop into giving them a ride home so no one would suspect them.
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13. When after Ali returned, Mona tried to threaten her, but Ali still had the last word (and last slap).
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14. When Ali pulled a Regina George and broke up Noel and his girlfriend, just because she was “bored.”
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Major Regina energy.
15. And finally, when she returned from the grave YEARS later and uttered the most iconic four-liner in television history.
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