Following the shocking reveal of A’s identity after five and a half season’s of patient waiting back in August, Pretty Little Liars returned to our screens last night for a special preview episode to get us up to speed on what we can expect from the remainder of season six, due to premiere in January.

‘Pretty Little Liars’ Five Years On Preview

As we saw in “Game Over, Charles”, Cece Drake was unmasked as ‘A’ and things seemed to quieten down for our four heroines at last until that dramatic five-years-on, flash forward, when Aria (Lucy Hale), Emily (Shay Mitchell), Hanna (Ashley Benson), Spencer (Troian Bellisario), rush in to tell Alison (Sasha Pieterse), who now appears to be a teacher, “He’s coming for you.” Well now we’re getting a proper look at the girls five years later, what new dirty secrets they may be hiding and who the new big bad could be now that ‘A’ is out of the picture.

Hannah

Hannah, 'Pretty Little Liars'

ABC Family

Hannah and Caleb are no longer a couple and Hannah has moved on with a mystery man she met in Europe. The two are engaged and she has a massive rock to prove it.

She had moved to New York City with Caleb and went to studied fashion in FIT. She interns for Zac Posen and it appears her excessive workload drove a wedge between her and her former flame.

Spencer

ABC Family

ABC Family

Just like Hannah, Spencer seems to have gotten everything she’d dreamed of professionally at the expense of her high school sweetheart relationship. Toby stayed in Rosewood while Spencer aimed for loftier heights.

She now works as a lobbyist in Capitol Hill, though an admission that coffee runs aren’t out of her remit show she clearly hasn’t reached the highest rungs of the ladder just yet. Toby has come into a huge chunk of inheritance and has used them money to buy land in Rosewood on which to build his “dream home”.

Emily

ABC Family

ABC Family

Emily has been through the most in the last five years of all the girls, her father died in action and she dropped out of college in California. She’s now working as a bartender in Malibu and PLL co-creator Marlene King reveals that it’s Emily who comes back to Rosewood with “the biggest secret.”

Aria

ABC Family

ABC Family

Aria went to Georgia to study photography but then had a change of heart and transferred to Boston to pursue her first passion, writing. She now works for a publisher and it’s here where her old school teacher and former love interest, Ezra, comes back into her life. She’s moved on from the relationship, however, and is seeing a new man called Liam.

Ezra’s life hasn’t been so charmed. He followed Nicole to work for ‘Habitat for Humanity’ and was perfectly content but an unknown tragedy intervenes and things get “taken away from him quickly and violently.” This being PLL we probably won’t find out what this was for another season at least.

Alison

ABC Family

ABC Family

As we previously learned in the five years on teaser, Alison stays in Rosewood and becomes a teacher. She’s the most settled of the five and is married to none other than Charlotte’s (CeCe/A) Doctor, Dr. Rollins, who “treats her really well,” according to Pieterse.

She has struck up a close relationship with Charlotte in the five years that have passed. Charlotte is remorseful for her actions and Alison wants to see her released from psychiatric hospital, Welby (no longer Radley, which is now a hotel). She asks the girls to return to Rosewood to testify that they no longer feel threatened by Charlotte. They are hesitant to do so but want Alison to be happy.

Mona has applied for a summer job at Welby to act as Charlotte’s warden no less. “I’m about to start a career in the public eye, but I need to know her intentions,” Mona reveals. It’s true Charlotte does have a lot of dirt on her but we there’s surely some ulterior motive here.

No word was given on what was actually going in the teaser clip that showed the girls issuing a frantic warning to Alison BUT a closer look reveals that just when they burst in to Alison’s classroom, Alison is seen writing “Mrs. Rollins” on the chalkboard. It could mean nothing but given the series penchant for dropping the most seemingly innocuous clues ever, we think it could bear some significance.

The series will return January 12, 2016.

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