Pictured left to right: Shay Mitchell (Emily Fields), Lucy Hale (Aria Montgomery), Ashley Benson (Hanna Marin), and Troian Bellisario (Spencer Hastings) are gathered in the newly renovated hotel after hearing the news that Charlotte is being released. Photo courtesy of the “Pretty Little Liars” Facebook account.
Got a secret, can you keep it? “Pretty Little Liars” is a teen drama centered around the disappearance of Alison DiLaurentis, a popular ringleader and an unknown stalker who blackmails the friends of the missing ringleader. This television drama aired in 2010 and has produced six seasons of mind-boggling mysteries that the characters Aria, Spencer, Hanna, and Emily must uncover.
The show is currently in the middle of its sixth season, however the last half of the sixth season will be quite different. The characters and setting of the show has jumped ahead five years later, showing the girls in their adult lives.
The age change is an interesting jump, given that for the past five and a half seasons, the girls have been playing high school students. “We literally wrapped one episode one day and made the time jump the next day,” series creator Marlene King explains.
I am personally much more excited for the second half of the season because I felt very bored by the fact that they portrayed high school students for five years. The shift changes the viewpoint of the show and allows the cast to play roles closer to their actual age.
Even though they will be acting as adults, the drama and stalking from high school remains present in their lives. Their baggage follows them and new secrets will surface. King says, “A lot can happen in five years.”
The new episode was revealed January 12, 2016. The beginning of the episode showed the high school hallways where the four girls attended. While the camera panned through the hallway, the past voices of the girls played throughout, almost like it was haunting the halls.
Alison DiLaurentis, the ringleader, is shown working in her new profession as a high school teacher. It’s fitting for her young-minded character, almost as if she wants to stay in high school.
A court hearing is introduced to Alison by the doctor of her sister, Charlotte, also known as the anonymous stalker that has tormented the girls for years. Alison writes letters to all the girls in hopes that they will come back to their small town, Rosewood, and petition for Charlotte to be released.
Scenes of the girls living their separate lives were shown after Alison sent the letters. Seeing them all apart was so strange.
They all agree to come back to Rosewood to speak with Alison about the court case. They reunite at the old coffee shop they used to hang out at. When they reunite, the friendship is still there but the vibe is so different because they have all spent so much time apart.
The producers even changed the intro to the show; instead of having only Aria, Spencer, Hanna, and Emily in it, they added Alison. The whole episode had the same people, the same drama, but it is all so different due to the fact that they are living adult lives.
What is not so different is that Alison asks the four girls to lie to the judge to petition that Charlotte be released from the sanitarium. The four girls are torn because they don’t want to fall back into old habits centered around lying for Alison. However, their hesitation about lying for Alison is short-lived.
Spencer, Hanna, and Emily all state that would not be concerned for their safety if Charlotte is released. However, Aria tells the judge that she would feel unsafe with Charlotte being released. Aria is the only one standing up for the truth, a change from who she was in high school.
Unfortunately, Aria’s honesty doesn’t persuade the judge, as Charlotte is released. In an unexpected turn, hours after Charlotte is released she is reported dead due to suicide.
In the final scene, the four girls are gathered at Charlotte’s funeral. This scene actually mirrors the funeral scene from the series pilot episode. The similarities are riveting and it definitely encourages the fact that the same drama from Rosewood is far from over.
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