Entertainment

Dr. Rollins Could Be Faking His Identity On 'PLL'

by Kaitlin Reilly

Poor Alison DiLaurentis. Rosewood High School's newest teacher has been through the ringer in her lifetime: she's faked her own death, been convicted of murder, and suffered the loss of both her mom and once-evil sister. You would think that Pretty Little Liars might throw Alison a bone in what could potentially be the final season, but nope — it seems that the former Queen Bee is going to have her heartbroken all over again in Season 7, and it all has to do with her duplicitous husband. The Season 6 finale of Pretty Little Liars confirmed the worst about the good doctor: not only were Dr. Rollins and Charlotte were in love, Dr. Rollins only married Ali to steal the Carissimi Group's fortune. Clearly, Dr. Rollins is total scum, but it seems we'll find out even more about this dirtbag in upcoming PLL episode "The Talented Mr. Rollins." Could the title of this episode hint that Dr. Rollins is not at all who he seems?

Pretty Little Liars writer Jonell Lennon took to Twitter to share the episode title, and right now that title seems loaded with subtext. Though the series hasn't stated that this is where the title draws inspiration from, "The Talented Mr. Rollins" sounds an awful lot like the title of the 1955 Patricia Highsmith book The Talented Mr. Ripley, and the 1999 film adaptation of the same name. Given the way that PLL has borrowed heavily from other works of literature — the Season 6 finale, titled "Hush, Hush, Sweet Liars" pays homage to the Bette Davis film Hush, Hush, Sweet Charlotte — it seems that the title of the episode could also hint at the themes it will explore. Could this title mean that Dr. Rollins stole his identity from someone else?

The Talented Mr. Ripley is about a man named Tom Ripley who is mistaken for someone else, and is hired by a wealthy man to track down his son Dickie in Italy and persuade him to come home. Mr. Ripley and Dickie strike up a friendship, until Mr. Ripley gets bored of Dickie and kills him in a fit of rage. Mr. Ripley then realizes that he can assume Dickie's identity and live the life he always dreamed of by becoming someone else entirely. Hmm... could this be a hint at Dr. Rollins' own past?

It certainly seems plausible. Right now, we know that Dr. Rollins has been hiding his English accent, as well as his nefarious motivations for marrying Alison. Could that be because Dr. Rollins isn't actually Dr. Rollins? There's a real possibility that he stole the actual Dr. Rollins identity in order to work at the mental facility where Charlotte stayed for five years, which would make him even crazier than fans initially expected. Remember how Dr. Rollins impersonated Detective Wilden to freak Ali out? It might not be his only time pretending to be someone he definitely is not.

Here's hoping that the show delivers a crazy reveal about Dr. Rollins — we already know that this dude is shady, but just how shady remains to be seen.

For more Pretty Little Liars, check out Bustle's very own PLL podcast, Taking This One To The Grave:

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