“Pretty Little Liars” has been one of the most popular shows on television for nearly seven years. Fans have watched with frustration, awe and countless other emotions as they have followed the lives of four girls, tormented by a black-mailing villain called A, who knows all their secrets. However, on Oct. 30, 2014, Lucy Hale, one of the four lead actresses on the show, announced that the seventh season will be the show’s last. Her statement was later confirmed by show writer I. Marlene King on Facebook Live on Aug. 29, 2016.
“The next 10 episodes of the show really are going to be the last 10 episodes of the series,” King said.
In 2006, a book called “Pretty Little Liars,” written by Sara Shepard, was released. The story was about four girls who had been best friends until their leader, Alison DiLaurentis, disappeared. Three years after her disappearance, the four girls, who had grown apart, began receiving texts from an anonymous person who signed every text with ‘A.’ Each text held personal information that only their friend, Alison, would have known about. Because of this, they began to believe she was alive. The entire plot for the 16-novel series revolves around the four girls’ search for A’s true identity, dodging threats and surviving the typical, milestone struggles of high school along the way.
Within the first four years of Shepard’s writing career, she released eight novels, all pertaining to the Pretty Little Liars series. As the popularity of the books grew, ABC Family (now known as FreeForm) began looking into the idea of a television show.
On June 8, 2010, the eighth novel in the series, “Wanted,” was released, along with the pilot episode for the show. While the show followed the first novel fairly well, the screenwriter knew that the drama wouldn’t be as intense if the show followed the books. It would be too predictable. As the show progressed, she strayed from the original plotline more and more, resulting in a completely different A than in the books.
Currently on its seventh and final season, the midseason finale left fans with more questions than answers. With only 10 episodes left, fans are hoping the show will take its time wrapping up and tying together all the loose ends.
“I can’t think of one question we don’t answer,” King said.
“These last 10 episodes are pretty crazy, so we’re going out with a bang,” Hale said.
The second half of the season will not air until April 2017, giving fans enough time to mentally prepare themselves for the end of the show, which will have run for a total of seven years. Including the book series, the full story will have run for 11 years. Though the dates for the final 10 episodes have not been released, the finale will air sometime in late June or early July. The finale will be two hours long as opposed to its normal running time of 45 minutes.
“Every (episode) sort of tops the other, and we’d still say it’s the biggest, most romantic (season),” King said.
Whether you’ve been watching the show since the very beginning or have just started watching, the second half of the final season promises to be one of the most intense, surprising seasons in the history of the entire show.
