Pretty Little Liars kicks off its fifth season Tuesday night with all new episodes, and executive producer I. Marlene King is revealing what fans can expect from the explosive new season.
Fans of PLL know that, when the show airs, Tuesday nights are officially ‘PLL Day,’ as evidenced by the show’s social media dominance. (#PLLDay usually trends all day leading up to the episode). Tuesday, June 10, marks a very special PLL Day, as the show’s fifth season premiere ushers in an entire new chapter for the show with the return of Alison.
At the end of fourth season, which aired in the winter, Alison (Sasha Pieterse) rejoined her friends Spencer (Troian Bellisario), Aria (Lucy Hale), Emily (Shay Mitchell) and Hanna (Ashley Benson), finally coming clean (or so they think) about faking her own death. As the show enters its fifth season, Alison will return to Rosewood, making it the first time all five girls will truly be together in the present and not in a flashback. In a recent interview, King revealed that Ali’s sudden return would certainly cause drama within the group.
“They get caught up in her [Ali’s] girly, whirly, tangled web very quickly. And they start to wonder, you know, ‘We’re glad Ali’s alive, but are we glad she’s back?’,” King revealed to E! News.
“Yes they’re overjoyed that their friend is alive and back and they missed her, and they love her dearly, but things are not the same as when she left. They all kind of grew as individuals, and now that she’s back they can’t just pick up where they left off,” actress, Lucy Hale teased.
Ali’s return will also mark a huge shift for Emily, who considers Ali her first love. In a Reddit AMA on Monday, King promised that the season would explore Ali’s sexuality and teased a potential love triangle between Emily, Alison and Paige.
When Pretty Little Liars picks back up, Ezra (Ian Harding) is unconscious, but alive, leaving the girls, especially Aria, in a panic.
“[If] he should survive, then the dust settles and the reality of their most recent history kicks in. So there is work to be done on the trust level of Ezria,” King teased about Ezra’s fate.
After it was revealed that Ezra had ulterior motives for dating Aria, all the Liars and many audience members suspected him of being A, but King assures Ezria fans that Ezra is, for now, a good guy. That said, she also promised fans that all is not forgiven, and Ezra will still need to be redeemed.
“In regards to Ezra, after he fell in love with Aria, the book became irrelevant, and he used his surveillance on the Pretty Little Liars to keep them safe and find out who A was,” King wrote on Reddit.
In a separate interview, King also teased that audiences might find out who shot Ezra in Season 5’s second episode.
Another couple whose relationship will be challenged this season is Hanna and Caleb. Since the Pretty Little Liars spinoff, Ravenswood, was canceled by ABC Family after just ten episodes, Caleb, and Tyler Blackburn, will be returning to the world of Rosewood. But fans shouldn’t expect his reunion with Hanna to go smoothly, as her new love interest, Travis (Luke Kleintank), is still in the picture.
“Just when Hanna feels like she is making progress with Travis…Caleb does come back to Rosewood, and he is surprised to see that Hanna has moved on. And of course, Hanna immediately – I mean – this is the guy that Hanna wants to spend the rest of her life with, so, it’s a complicated turn of events for them,” King told E! News.
Tyler Blackburn, though, has hope for Haleb, telling E! News, “There’s hope, for sure.”
Benson, who plays Hanna, however, doesn’t seem so sure, saying, “I think in the beginning it’s going to be a little bit difficult. Caleb now knows that Travis is her boyfriend, and for Hanna, she finally moved on and accepted that she can be with somebody else.”
As for Spencer and Toby, the new season will find the couple trying to be more honest with each other.
“I think they’re both at this place where they don’t want to keep secrets anymore. And I think so far, from season five…Spoby is in a very trusting place, and they get past their secrets very quickly. And, there’s a big twist about ready to happen for their relationship, but it’s not a twist that’s going to tear them apart, it’s just a twist that will take them in a different direction,” King said.
Returning for Season 5 are Noel Kahn (Brant Daugherty), Paige (Lindsey Shaw) and Lucas (Brendan Robinson). Melissa Hastings (Torrey DeVitto) will also be a bigger part of season 5. The secret Melissa whispered to her father at the police station and how it relates to the dead girl found Ali’s grave will be revealed.
“The question of who killed that girl will be answered in our summer season, and also the identity of that girl will be revealed in our hundredth’s episode,” King revealed.
In addition to revealing the identity of the Jane Doe in Ali’s grave, one of Pretty Little Liars’ beloved characters is also going to die in season 5. Though King refused to hint at the identity of the unfortunate soul getting axed from the show, she did call the event a “significant” death.
Pretty Little Liars’ Season 5 premiere “EscApe From New York” airs Tuesday, June 10 at 8 p.m. on ABC Family.
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