Some victims shut down, some become hyper vigilant, and some try their best to figure out whats going on so that they are less likely to be hurt again. Ali speaking with someone in codes doesn't mean she's not a victim. It just means she's being proactive and trying to get to the bottom of this, once and for all.

Ali is really cunning and I think thats seen as a shady characteristic when in truth, thats what has kept her alive and what she had to use when she was on the run.

Well, yeah whoever A is (I guess Lucas is "it" now), they're clearly going to feel like a victim; and Hanna (my fave!) put herself where she is today by trying to move that useless barrel (though I loved her spirit in trying instead of taking Toby's advice and staying home and doing nothing). So yeah they have to be cunning.

But then you look at someone like Melissa, who supposedly (ouch, show hurts my head, gulp) dumped Ali's body in Ali's yard, kept it a secret all these years, etc crap that's completely unbelievable, and you pick up that Melissa's cunning indeed IS self-preservation, and maybe a good heaping dose of vengeance. (Why a woman 10 yrs older than the girls would feel the need for vengeance against any teen is beyond me, I completely admit, but there it is.) Still, I like her role, and it's mysterious; would rather see Melissa onscreen than Talia anyday, so we could figure her shit out.

But yeah I sort of don't want Ali to just be seeing things, and can't ignore the camera action (look at washing machine one, two, three, and on four get wild-eyed look and scream her face off), I'm more seeing "code" that a camcorder would pick up than I am seeing "crazy girl".

I guess she could be nuts, or a (forgive: not good at "horror genre" talk) ghost whisper?

Then again, it took me forever to realize Ezra painted the "Don't" on "Don't return to Rosewood" for Shana. (Yes, that's spec, but it's fairly well-documented spec I think: I got it from elsewhere, and have seen the YTs, and it does make sense). It's plausible Alison saw a tiny little swastika or something I'm missing, too. IDK. Just right now, I think of how Mona communicated with code, and I really like the series to stay on the non-ghost side of things, so code works great for me.

I'm open to things (like Ali being tortured); I just think some guesses are more "in canon" than others. When you think of Alison, even all she's been through, it's very hard to imagine the girl from First Secret or even Dark Ali getting that scared of a something she saw in a laundry room. She keeps her composure. Just imho :)