Warning: Spoilers ahead for Pretty Little Liars: Summer School. With a new season of everyone’s favorite teen slasher series arriving on MAX on May 9, 2024, there are fan theories already as to who Bloody Rose is in Pretty Little Liars: Summer School. Bailee Madison, Chandler Kinney, Zaria, Malia Pyles, and Maia Reficco return as the next generation of the cult series.
In Original Sin, the Liars were terrorized by an unknown assailant known only as A, revealed in the finale to be Archie Waters, the second illegitimate child of Rose Waters and Marshall Clanton. His mission is to avenge his sister, Angela Waters, a lonely teen girl who died by suicide in 1999 because he believes the Liar’s moms are to blame for his sibling’s death.
Summer School picks up shortly after Original Sin ends, where the characters face a fate worse than death—summer school. However, Millwood High isn’t the only thing getting in the way of their fun summer jobs and new, dreamy love interests. A new villain who may or may not have a connection to A, has come to town and is going to put them all to the test.
In an interview with Cosmo, co-creators Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa and Lindsay Calhoon Bring teased some info about this terrifying new antagonist. “We do have a new villain who possibly is connected to Archie Waters, as we’ll learn early on in episode 1. One of our favorite franchises this season is SpookySpaghetti.com. Roberto and I and our writers are all very obsessed with Creepypasta, so we love sort of having our own website. And this horror villain is going to test every one of the girls and they’ll go on their own personal journey.”
“Our villain is a female figure of horror, which is something we really wanted to explore in our female-centered horror show. We also wanted our villain to feel quite apocalyptic and terrifying. And because most of our season is set during summer—besides taking inspiration from our favorite slashers—we wanted it to feel a little more apocalyptic, like something like The Texas Chain Saw Massacre or even Midsommar. There’s a lot of really horrific imagery tied to movies like that and we wanted to tap into those a little bit. And we also knew we had to make a villain scarier than A and it was pretty scary in season 1,” Roberto said.
“The mythology of the look of her face is very tied to into the mythology of the show,” Lindsay continued. “And that’s something that will reveal a bit later in the season.”
Who’s Bloody Rose on Pretty Little Liars: Summer School?
So who’s Bloody Rose and how might she be connected to A? We’ve put together the most convincing fan theories. And obviously, spoilers ahead.
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Rose Waters
Image Credit: MAX This might be a little on the nose, but Rose Waters seemingly seeks retribution for the incarceration and subsequent death penalty of Archie Waters. “Religious and uses knife like Bloody Rose. Producers keep saying it’s her and we already know which is so different for tv. Also she slut shames just like Bloody Rose’s targets,” one Redditor theorized, though not everyone is convinced.
“I do think we’re in a likely world where Bloody Rose is just Rose Waters—especially with how Archie was approached in Season 1. It was more the mystery around them rather than the mystery of who they actually are,” they observed.
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Martha Beasley
Image Credit: MAX A second fan theory is Martha Beasley because she too is mentally unwell and uses a knife like Bloody Rose. “Wants her daughter to be a virgin, just like Bloody Rose kills those who aren’t. Has motive to start now since she had hella trauma, killed her husband, and lost her daughter,” a Redditor observed.
Another commented: “Mrs Beasley is a top suspect because of how similar she and Rose Waters are, both had twins and have mental issues and one of their twin children died at a party by falling, despite Angela killing herself and Karen was pushed, and they are handy with a knife and not afraid of using it.”
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Dr. Sullivan
Image Credit: MAX A lot of fans are convinced that Dr. Sullivan, who’s a therapist chosen by the Liars’ parents originally to help them deal with their seemingly obsessive thoughts, is actually Bloody Rose. “Bloody Rose is going to be Sullivan. I don’t know how Roberto plans to pull this twist off, but If you look closely at the final shot where rose grabs Imogen by the neck, and zoom on the eyes, they’re the exact same as [actor] Annabeth Gish’s eyes,” writes one fan on Reddit.
Another fan agreed. “I think you’re right on this one. There could also be two of them working together as a twist too!” they wrote.
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Chip’s mom
Another popular theory for who Bloody Rose is: Chip’s mom, Mrs. Langsberry. “I genuinely think Bloody Rose is about to be Chip’s mother 💀 She’s going after the liars to avenge her sons death, the way Clanton / Archie did for Angela,” wrote one fan. “That would make sense especially if the pattern of killing sexually active teenagers continues,” one agreed.
One fan posed a question: “I still didn’t saw the new episodes of season 2 but would this mean she believe that her son Chip is innocent of what he was accused, does she think he was not a rapist?” to which one viewer replied: “Unfortunately even in real life, there’s some mothers that will defend their rapist sons even if they do acknowledge what they did. I haven’t seen the new episodes yet, but it is possible that she knows and just doesn’t care.”
“I agree with you 100%, and that’s more reasoning for her to be BR. Only thing that confuses me is if it is Chips mom, why call yourself Bloody Rose Waters and pose as Archie’s mom?” another fan observed.