TV Catfish: Arrow, PLL And More
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Arrow and The Flash's Oliver Queen and Barry Allen (aka "The Arrow" and "The Flash")
"The classic superhero is living two lives, and often the people closest to them don't know their secret," Schulman says of Arrow and the Flash, both of which have fit that bill at one time. "What it comes down to is: Is there some level of deception that's acceptable for the greater good?"
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Arrow's Laurel Lance (aka "The Canary")
Unlike Oliver and Barry, who conceal their identities for the greater good, Schulman says he doesn't approve of Laurel keeping Sara 'alive' for her father's sake. "He was bound to find out eventually, so in addition to being heartbroken over his daughter's death, he's also now shocked that his other daughter would lie to him; I think it's a mistake that she did this," he says. "I would be happy to facilitate any reconciliation between them."
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Awkward's Tamara (aka "Autumn")
While certainly crazy, Tamara's catfishing of ex-boyfriend Jake in Season 4 wasn't technically dangerous. "I would say that was more a symptom of her jealousy and scorn," Schulman notes. "It wasn't revenge; she just wanted to stay in touch and keep receiving his attention. We had an episode like that on the show."
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Teen Wolf's Meredith (aka "The Benefactor")
Unlike Tamara's deception, Meredith's (R.I.P.) is a little more black and white: She was a dangerous catfish. "For as long as there have been people and language and money, there have been con-artists and liars and cheaters," he explains. "The internet hasn't invented anything new; it's just made things easier than they were previously."
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Pretty Little Liars' "A"
As crazy as this might sound at first, Schulman insists that "A," despite concealing his/her/their identity from the girls, is actually not a catfish. "They're not pretending to be someone they're not," Schulman says. "They're just being anonymous, which is probably what 'A' stands for."
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Pretty Little Liars (the show itself)
So if "A" isn't PLL's big catfish, then who is? Brace yourselves... Schulman says "the show itself is cat fishing the viewer" by repeatedly tricking us into thinking various people were "A" over the course of its five-season run. Boom.