In 12 short weeks, Marlene King has created one of the most compulsively compelling small screen universes with "Pretty Little Liars" and now she's pulling back the curtain on some of Rosewood's most sensational secrets.
PopWrap sat down with the creator to get the inside scoop on Noel Kahn, the future of Ezria, Hannah's love triangle and when A's true identity will be revealed! Hint: you'll be waiting a loooooooong time for that one.
PopWrap: If we were judging solely from Twitter fan reaction, it would seem like the stand-out so far this season has been Noel Kahn -- did you expect that?
Marlene King: I love it! It’s so fun. When we were plotting out these scripts, we wondered if we could actually make this shift with Noel and judging from him trending two weeks in a row, I think we did.
PW: Do you think that's partially because of actor Brant Daugherty?
Marlene: I think it's both. It was such a surprise for his character to not necessarily be this good guy and he’s such a great actor. Brant's got this great look … and those eyes. He really stepped up to the plate and delivered.
PW: This week's episode also saw Lucas own up for destroying Allison's memorial, something a previous episode tag led us to believe A had done. Will we come to learn that A wasn't behind all of those acts?
Marlene: That was a very interesting departure for us, but a great surprise. I think the majority of the person you’re seeing is A, but every once in a while – when it’s organic to the story – we’ll reveal those to have been someone else. Often those are a surprise even to us.
PW: The flashbacks have shown us that Allison was never nice to Lucas, but his reaction was so strong I'm wondering if we'll see there's more to that story than simple teasing?
Marlene: We will – but not until season two. That will have a lot more about Lucas' relationship with Allison in it than these next ten episodes do. Although he does play a very big part in the season one finale.
PW: What about Lucas and Hannah -- they're not over, right?
Marlene: Oh no! There’s a wonderful episode coming up with a dance-a-thon that has some lovely Lucas/Hannah moments.
PW: But I guess Hannah has bigger issues to worry about now that A stole her mom's money. Where did that idea come from?
Marlene: We started talking about that when working on the summer cycle. We wanted to up the stakes -- to be less about taunting threats and more about her putting the PLL’s in serious jeopardy. If you think she … or should I say he … how about shim [laughs]? If you think ending the summer cycle with Hannah getting run over with car was bad, just wait – A really ups the stakes in these next 10 episodes.
PW: Speaking of mothers, there was some great stuff with Pam this week -- where does this whole Pam/Emily/Maya thing take us?
Marlene: First of all, that's such a special storyline for us. Both Nia [Peeples] and Shay [Mitchell] have been amazing with their characters. They’ve taken such good care of these women. I don’t want to spoil anything but Nia has a beautiful character arc, but both mother and daughter go through the pain of disappointing the other before finding each other again in a beautiful way.
PW: That's just one case where you handle a potentially taboo topic with grace -- what's your approach in the cases of Emily/Maya, Jenna/Toby or Ezra/Aria?
Marlene: We try to keep their struggles as grounded in reality as possible. Keep them relatable – and that was my goal when I wrote the pilot. This is a crazy world but these girls have to remain identifiable to anybody who tunes in and I think that’s what has made the show successful. We all kind of live vicariously through these girls and boys on the show.
PW: Most shows have one romantic relationship at the core -- do you consider Ezra & Aria to be that couple?
Marlene: Yes, I do. I think they’re soul mates and I think that they found each other so organically is what makes the relationship so bittersweet. But there are some twists and turns coming up for them this year. And then there’s a really, really interesting arc in season two for Ezra & Aria.
PW: Any of those going to potentially involve Ezra and Ella Montgomery?
Marlene: Oh yes. They’re going to find they come into each other’s lives a bit more often.
PW: Oh good, because you know I love the show, but it could always use more Holly Marie Combs!
Marlene: I know! I wish every episode was two hours. We try so hard to give each of the PLL’s a great story in every episode while also finding great stuff for the parents to do as well. There’s some great Ella/Byron stuff coming up though in the next 10 episodes and also some interesting Ezra/Byron scenes. He’s getting to know the Montgomery’s.
PW: What about Ian -- that seems like a character we've just begun to scratch the surface of.
Marlene: You’re going to get to know him a lot better, very quickly. There’s a very rich storyline coming up that involves Melissa, Spencer and all the PLL’s – Ian is going to become a bigger player in the next few weeks.
PW: Right, because this Monday's episode sees the girls watch the Ian & Allison tape with new eyes, right?
Marlene: That’s correct. Next week, A starts to, in an odd way, help the PLL’s find out who killed Allison. So she becomes their frenemy in that way as she befriends them with evidence and clues, but almost always punishes after giving them something.
PW: Do you know who A is?
Marlene: Yes.
PW: Do you envision that as a season-long or a series-long story?
Marlene: I hope that it’ll be a series story. I think we can go three seasons-ish with it. But [author of the books] Sara Shepard did a great job introducing a second A in the books, and she’s getting ready to write four more, so I don’t know who she’s going to bring to us. But I want A to remain a mystery as long as possible because it’s so much fun. There’s so much rich mystery going on, that I think it’s possible.
PW: Plus the girls have floated the idea that A might be more than one person.
Marlene: That’s a legitimate theory.
PW: Some people think it could be Jenna -- and that she's not blind.
Marlene: [laughs] I think that’s a fairly popular theory. I will tell you that in the finale there is a very big Jenna surprise. I love that character ... and I love Toby. What I love about all the fan theories is how adamant people are about theirs. My sister-in-law is convinced that A is actually Allison.
PW: Right! I was convinced for a week that some random waitress at The Country Club was A.
Marlene: We have had lots of fun moments that we’ve stumbled onto mystery-wise and learned to give more clues through them. There’s an episode coming up where Emily has to follow her GPS to meet someone and we picked a real place, so if fans want to screengrab it and look it up, there’s a fun surprise. We realized that people are looking for this stuff anyway, so why not plant clues for people to find?
PW: So you're picking up the "Lost" mantle?
Marlene: A little bit! When we have the time to get that complex, we try to take advantage. I think it’s fun. It’s fun for us, so I hope the bonus clues are for fans too.
PW: You previously mentioned that season two is now at the forefront of your mind -- so tell me, will it pick up right where we left off at the end of this season?
Marlene: Season two will start very close to where season one ends, like the summer and winter premieres did this year. But they won’t all – there are places to make some small leaps in time.
PW: And what about the season finale -- do you have a title and will it dwarf Hannah getting run over?
Marlene: Yea, it's called "For Whom the Bell Tolls." It’s going to be crazy. We started shooting this week and it’s so much fun -- very Hitchcockian.
Source: nypost.com
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