I am writer, director and producer Marlene King. You might know me from PRETTY LITTLE LIARS, Just My Luck, Now and Then, or any number of different projects. AMA!

Hi Marlene,

Are we going to get a real A or member of the A-Team reveal this season?

This season, characters on the show will learn A's identity and give a huge clue to the audience.

What time of year is it in Rosewood? It has been senior year for 2 whole seasons, and 1.5 seasons since halloween of senior year. I've heard rumours of a Christmas episode, which knowing you all could obviously be a flashback ep, but it we're doing this Christmas then everything that has happened since the Halloween train has been less than 2 months of show time? Can you shed a little light?

Also I just want to say I love the show and the way you all interact so openly with the fandom! Great work, always. Can't wait for tomorrow night!

Time goes VERY SLOWLY in Rosewood. It's almost like a magical element to us, because we want the show to go on for a few more seasons, we move time slowly, but after the Christmas episode time will speed up a little bit and we will get to spring of Senior year more quickly than we've dealt with this Fall. Thank you!

So tomorrow night, in-universe, what is the date?

Fall? It's Fall in Rosewood. And before the end of the season, we WILL get to Thanksgiving.

First, I feel like the fact PLL has positive representation of multiple queer people of color goes under appreciated. Intersectionality is appreciated so thank you! Second, will the fact that Ali drove Paige to self-harm ever come to play again?

Well, first of all, thank you. We have a lot of fun on PLL but we try to contribute to any positive role modeling we can. And the Piage /Alison storyline this summer is one of my favorites, and I can't wait for fans to watch it play out. It's very emotional, and I think it's very real to what teens go through when they are bullied.

When will we know who killed Wilden?

You will find out tomorrow night, actually!

Has there ever been a story line that ABC Family said no to?

There have been storylines that ABC family have said no to, sometimes because they paralleled other shows on the air, but not because of content - they want to make sure we are different from their other shows.

Omg, can't believe you're doing an AMA. Have you seen the PLL Subreddit? /r/prettylittleliars. We do live discussions every episode, and its one of my favorite parts of watching. You should check it out!

My question: Which of the Liars do you relate to the most? And which of the couples do you ship the hardest?

In some ways I relate to all the characters, but the character I related to first was Hannah, because of the divorce story in the books and the divorce story we brought into the show. My parents were divorced, and I latched onto that.

Hi Marlene,

As one of the moderators of /r/prettylittleliars I've observed times when seemingly CRAZY fan theories have turned out to be actual story lines a season later. Have you or the writers ever lurked our subreddit or Twitter for ideas or even just to get a good laugh?

PS, thanks for doing this! You rock!

No one ever intentionally lurks for ideas. But there are times when we see a wave of interest in a certain storyline and we will give it more life, maybe, than we originally planned.

Hi Marlene!

I am a huge fan of yours, thank you for replacing the hole that was left in my heart after lost ended. I really enjoy watching your show, and thank you for making such a fun well done mystery show! We have a subreddit over here that submitted questions since many of the people couldn't make it online today. Would love to know your answers! Sorry for the large amount but these are questions from MANY of your fans!

1) Is it ever really going to be addressed how Ezra was doing a book, and really taking advantage of Aria? Was that story intended from the beginning? What clues are there in earlier seasons to point this out? How are you going to write his redemption arc? Since this is a "favored" relationship, how are you going to come back from this really negative backstory?

2)Will everything eventually make sense when the series ends? I feel like there's a lot of subplots that matter for a few episodes then are never brought up again and things contradict a lot and are hard to keep straight. Will all those things be fully explained? IS there a plan?

3) Have they known since the beginning that there was more than one A?

4) You have said that there are no plans to stop the show after season 5. Do you have a set end in sight?

5)How do you decide what film elements to put in?

6)What do you think of the dark themes like pedophilia, psychosis, pill addiction, murder, etc, in a show with a large teen demographic?

7)Who is your favourite character and why? What was audition process like for the main five girls?

1) Is it ever really going to be addressed how Ezra was doing a book, and really taking advantage of Aria? Was that story intended from the beginning? What clues are there in earlier seasons to point this out? How are you going to write his redemption arc? Since this is a "favored" relationship, how are you going to come back from this really negative backstory?

Wow. Okay! The Ezra writing the book was not on our radar in season 1, but we started thinking about it in season 2, because fans were starting to look at him as a suspicious character already, so we started putting in clues from that point on, for example, making sure he was unavailable at certain times to Aria, but available to the "A" and showing up in odd places at odd times, like at the end of the Halloween train rather than on it.

2)Will everything eventually make sense when the series ends? I feel like there's a lot of subplots that matter for a few episodes then are never brought up again and things contradict a lot and are hard to keep straight. Will all those things be fully explained? IS there a plan?

There is DEFINITELY a plan. I think it might contradict for a little while, but usually we explain in a way. We try very hard to keep things non-contradictory in the long term. We include a lot of red herrings deliberately, but we try to tie up all the loose ends before we move on to another subplot.

3) Have they known since the beginning that there was more than one A?

Yes. We knew in the beginning that we couldn't sustain the series on one "A." We let Mona be the original A, and let the audience guide us on how far we could go before answering that one question.

4) You have said that there are no plans to stop the show after season 5. Do you have a set end in sight, or do you just plan on dragging it out as long as possible?

I did not plan on dragging it out as long as possible. There is an end in sight. And we will hopefully announce what season that will be soon.

5)How do you decide what film elements to put in?

It's really what's organic to an episode. We love exploring Hitchcock and Hitchcockian themes, and if there's a Hitchcock movie that's relevant to a storyline, then we LOVE to use it.

6)What do you think of the dark themes like pedophilia, psychosis, pill addiction, murder, etc, in a show with a large teen demographic?

The Pretty Little Liars live relatable lives in a world that is filled with heightened reality. So darker themes sometimes tend to be more extreme than real life.

7)Who is your favourite character and why? What was audition process like for the main five girls?

My favorite character is A and you'll understand why when A is revealed, and A's motivation for being A is revealed. And the audition process for the 5 main girls was a lot of fun! We had a great time. We got to meet a lot of wonderful, talented actresses but when each individual girl who got the gig auditioned it was magical in the room, it was really fun and magical.

Hi Marlene! I'm a huge fan of Pretty Little Liars and have been watching from the beginning with no plans to stop and I have been hoping you would do something like this because I have a couple of questions I would really love if you could answer.

First has to do with Toby. From season one (or two I'm not sure exactly) there have been references towards Pretty Eyes as A, and it was revealed that Toby was A, however Mona said she recruited him after he got his buckscounty job in the middle of the third season. Is this an oversight? Also I feel like there has been such a huge shift in his character from that time, and him being A wasnt really explained. It was said that Toby was there in order to protect Spencer but she ended up going on a downward mental spiral and he almost framed Paige for murder. After this storyline it didnt really make sense for the whole mother storyline because it didnt give spencer the time to heal and question him over his dealings with A. Is there any chance that they are going to reflect on this further because I really feel like it puts a damper on their relationship.

My next question has to do with Ezra. The show does a good job at showing how Alison was abusive towards the girls in many different ways, however it paints Ezra in a very heroic/positive light and I really think that since your audience is mainly teenage girls and your show is about female friendship, it's really irresponsible for this show to be painting that kind of message. Ezra didn't know that Alison was underage when seeing her but he DID know that Aria was underage when he pursued a romantic and sexual relationship with her. AND THEN he became her teacher which put him in such a position that gave him so much power over her. Also, in the episode were Aria is in his cabin he shows really really abusive behavior towards her, he tells her that he needs to be the person she trusts most, that she needs to distance herself from her friends, and he also gaslighted her emotions when she said she was uncomfortable. Not to mention he was having surveillance done on them, now like Toby he said it was for his book on Alison/to keep them safe but he hasnt shown ANY indication that he was trying to keep them safe, considering he did NOTHING about A even though he knew about her/him. And now I feel like him getting shot is putting him on track for a redemption arc which is really troubling.

Also GRRM has talked about gardening/architect writing and I was wondering what you and your team are? Do you have a clear endgame planned from the beginning or do you sort of make it up as you go along?

I'm sure that there are more questions that I'm forgetting but these are the three that really stick out to me, this show to me and so many other viewers is about the girls and their friendship and to have these two glaring flaws without the text itself calling out these two characters (and Wren) on their behavior is putting a damper on all of the good things that this show has to offer!!

edit: clarifying that Toby (with Monas help) was going to frame Paige. Sorry for the length!

So the first question, the waitress in the diner (whose name is Marlene) uses Pretty Eyes as one of her go-to greetings. The Pretty Eyes she referred to the first time we saw her were to Mona's eyes.

In regards to Ezra, after he fell in love with Aria, the book became irrelevant, and he used all of his resources to do surveillance on the Pretty little Liars to keep them safe and find out who A was.

Are we ever going to see an example of him keeping them safe? Because it seems as of right now he let A do so much to the girls even though he had A's movements tracked down on a timeline.

I really think that Ezra's abusive tendancies need to be adressed in the show but I didn't really expect an answer. Falling in love isn't an excuse for the way Ezra has treated Aria. He's a sexual predator. He, a twenty something college graduate, seduced and manipulated a high school junior in order to further his own career. Thats literally being a predator.

We decided to be true to the storyline of Ezra and Aria that Sarah created in the book series, because it was a storyline the majority of book fans cared about.

Hi Marlene,

I love Aria is A theories, but I find it hard to believe fans would allow the show to go in that direction. Mona’s comment about Aria’s wallpaper being very “her” was very telling. Does Aria have secrets from before the series run that we have yet to find out?

I think all the girls have secrets that we may not have found out yet. All the Pretty Little Liars, I should say...

Will we get to find out what Ali had been up to while she was "dead"? I feel like there should be a spin off show showing Ali while she was away, have you ever thought of it?;)

Yes, I have thought of it! Alison: the Missing Years.

Is A a character that we've already met?

In theory and reality, yes.

In answering this question do you refer to a singular A or perhaps more than one person?

Well, I'm referring to a singular A.

Will the girl who went missing at the same time as Ali, Sarah, and/or her clique make a come back?

I hope so. It's a storyline we are still talking bout. It's an interesting parallel to our world.

Is Alison heterosexual?

That's such a great question. We've had a lot of conversation about that in the writer's room. It's a question that we've asked ourselves a lot this season. And the answer to that question will come this season.

Hi Marlene,

Love your show. After the Season 4 finale, are we led to believe that Mona was the “A” harassing Ali leading up to the night she got attacked? Or that Mona was inspired by Ali’s description of A after Mona picked her up?

We are led to believe that Mona was the "A" harassing Alison.

Will you ever kill off a major major character? like one of the girls or the boyfriends/girlfriend? maybe the parents? They sketchy as fuck

I could never say never. So Maybe.

What are the chances of a "5 years later" sort of extension of pretty little liars? I understand the cast can't keep playing high school students, but this could avoid that issue. Cause the cast is great

There will be a time jump, it may be on the TV show, or the movies we are starting to talk about, but there will be a time jump. We will "jump" college.

Hi Marlene, Is there hope that Paily might reconcile in time for the Christmas episode?

Yes there is!

Hi Marlene! Is there a show that you have been addicted to in the same way that many of us are with PLL?

YES. Breaking Bad. The whole time I was watching that show, I was saying "This is how PLL watchers must feel." I was staying up too late, getting up too early, I actually drove to work one day with it playing propped up on my iPad. So I know exactly how fans feel. And this was last year, so it was really great for me to feel that connection.

Hey Mar! Will we get insight on both Ali and CeCe's Red Coat journeys?

Yes! Also, tomorrow night!

Is the person who hit Ali, the A that was tormenting her? Or will it be revealed to be that the hitter and A are separate.

That's the mystery that will be answered...

Why is there a framed picture of a wren in the picture of A's lair you posted on instagram yesterday?

A is watching everyone. A is watching everyone.

Will you ever show more of Hanna's eating disorder/ body image issues? Like any new flashbacks or will it ever resurface?

Hanna in season 5 deals with her old identities when Ali was alive, and her new identities now that Ali is alive again, if that makes sense.

Will it be a white Christmas in rosewood?

YES!

Oh, and BIGGIE Question #2 here:

Why are the scripts leaking?! It was a little neat (the Aria/Ezra fans breathed a sigh of relief), but it sort of bunged up our show! (Not just here; it was on Twitter, FB, everywhere).

A set spoiler is fine; great fodder for speculation. But entire scripts?

I've read scripts that are not real scripts online. But to be on the safe side, we hire an uber-genius-anti-hacker-guy to keep all of our scripts a secret this year. the reality is people go out of their way to try to find spoilers and fans should not read them, that way nothing will get spoiled.

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We will DEFINITELY find out who the Black Widow is, and there will be some clues given to the relevancy of the character midway through this summer. I love that character, that's a great character too.

Would you ever introduce a gay male character on the show?

Yes, we are already breaking the stories for season 5B, and there is a gay male character we think who will be joining the show!

Hi, Marlene! I know you're a busy woman, but do you find time to keep up with all the fan theories? And do you secretly browse the PLL subreddit? :)

I browse as much fan theories and fan responses as I can! I really enjoy it, and it's a lot of fun for me to see how involved and passionate the fans are. Sometimes the theories are incredibly great. They're always fun, in any event.

Will Tippi be making any appearances this season?

Not this summer!

Is -A and --A two different A's or the same one?

The dash and the dash dash are not relevant.

When will it be revealed who is in the grave? 5A?

Yes. We will find out the identity of who was in the grave in 5A.

Hello Marlene! I've been watching Pretty Little Liars since the premiere and I've been hooked ever since! I've got a few questions for you and it would be great if you could answer a few!
1) How do you feel about Alison? Why do the girls want to help her even though she's a horrible friend?
2) Where are we at with the timeline? Is graduation this season?
3) Who is your favorite liar and why?
4) Where did Holden go? I miss his cute face.
5) When do you see the show ending?
6) Do you think most of the fans questions will be answered by the end of the show?
7) And FINALLY, do you and the writers have an endgame A planned?

EDIT: Sorry, I have one more. How do you feel about the Aria theories about her being A? I kinda hope they're true!
Thank you so much, I'm excited for tomorrow night! Also check us out a /r/PrettyLittleLiars, we love the show!

1) How do you feel about Alison? Why do the girls want to help her even though she's a horrible friend?

You know, that's a great question. It's a storyline we go deeply into this summer. And I would say when the Pretty Little Liars were younger, they were easily sucked into Alison's manipulation because of their age, but now they are older and wiser, it will be interesting to see how far she can push them.

2) Where are we at with the timeline? Is graduation this season?

Graduation is coming but it's not this summer. We have to have a prom before graduation.

3) Who is your favorite liar and why?

My favorites change all the time depending on the story lines we are dragging the girls through, I would say. So they are always changing.

4) Where did Holden go? I miss his cute face.

I miss him too! He's back, he'll be back this Summer, you'll see him in the show.

5) When do you see the show ending?

I don't want it to go on longer than it should, and we are starting to talk about when that end date would be, but there is no set end date yet.

6) Do you think most of the fans questions will be answered by the end of the show?

I think almost all of them, that's our intention.

7) And FINALLY, do you and the writers have an endgame A planned?

We have an endgame A Plan that has been our endgame plan for a long time, since we revealed Mona as original A.

With so many characters turning out not to be how they seem (Ezra, Mona etc.), how do you balance a) not telling actors about future developments and plot twists and b) having their portrayals be genuine and true to the characters?

It's a very tricky process. Sometimes we will tell a character a season in advance so they know how to play the part, but sometimes we won't tell them until an episode before. Depends on the actor, usually.

how many characters bite the dust this season? give us a guestimate

There's one significant biting of the dust this season. One call I won't want to make to an actor. I have to make the calls to tell them they are dead...

The first two messages Ali received in 'The First Secret' (The first message with a text, the second with the burlap doll) were not signed by 'A'. Could you shed some light on this? Thanks! -Ashley

A did send those, but A just hadn't assumed the nom de plume of A at that time.

Hey, Mar! Wil Alison's journeys as Red Coat be touched on this season? Will we get insight on how she maneuvered in "hiding" so easily? Any flashbacks from her POV?

We don't have many flashbacks from Alison's point of view in the summer season, and we don't touch on the past as much in the summer season. Because she's back, it's so interesting to see the girls in the present and moving forward, we're trying to spend more tim in the present.

Do you have a favorite episode of Pretty Little Liars?

Oh, that's so hard to choose! It's like picking your favorite child. But I think the season 4 finale, and tomorrow night's premiere, and the 100th episode (which is coming up) are my 3 new favorites. And I'll always love the pilot too. When the show's all over, the pilot will probably be my all-time favorite episode because it really started the story.

Hi Marlene,

I'm a huge fan of the books and the show. I know you and the other writers have said before that the show would never stray too far from the books, but it looks like the show's going in a different direction now.

My question is, would you say that people who've read and love the books would overall be satisfied with the endgame you have in mind for the show?

The show always stays true to the characters and the truth of the characters Sarah created in the books, although I have lunch with Sarah as much as I can and we share our endgame stories, we decided a long time ago that it would be best if our endgames were not the same. Although it would be a weird coincidence if they were the same, since I don't know hers and she doesn't know mine. Although the books were so successful they may go on past the show.

Hi Marlene,

With regards to PLL, Have you decided how the rest of the series is going to play out or do you continue to add new ideas/characters/story lines as time passes?

I know how the mystery plays out, but we are open to new characters and story lines that help us get to the endgame of answering the mystery questions.

Why is Wren so sketchy? Should we be considering him as a possible A team member?

Everyone is a possible A team member on this show.

Hi Marlene Is Now and Then 2 ever going to happen?

We're talking about it. We're talking about Now & Then the TV series. ABC family has shown a little bit of interest in that, so we're still talking about that. People tweet about this to me all the time, they'll even send me photos of themselves watching the movie on a sunday afternoon.

Is the black widow a person we already know?

Yes.

Hi,

Does the show have a new opening theme?

It does not. We are sticking with the current theme. It's iconic to the show, and we still love it.

Hi Marlene ,

can you please tell us something about the Christmas episode ?

The title of the Christmas episode is "How the A Stole Christmas" and I'm writing it with Kyle Bown.

Which little project that I've probably never heard of is the one you're proudest of?

Oh boy! Everything I've worked on has made some noise, so I'm waiting for the little ones. I mean, Pretty Little Liars was the little show that could and Now And Then was the little movie that could.

Hey Marlene,

Who are your literary inspirations that gave you the ideas to create shows such as PLL?

Well, Sarah Shephard who created the books gave us the literary inspiration for this series. But I love a lot of great American writers, who we reference often in the show - Fitzgerald, Harpee Lee...

Will we learn why CeCe was wearing the same top as Alison the night Alison went missing in season 5? And is it relevant in the long run?

We learn a lot about CeCe's motivation. I just think we learn a lot about CeCe and her relationship with Alison tomorrow night.

Marlene loved the books, love the show, one question that I have got to know!

I know you guys have said time and time again that you don't stick to the books, but I have got to know is Courtney going to be entering in the story line?

I can neither confirm nor deny

Things always go awry!

Are Radley Sanitarium and the Mockingbird Cafe named for To Kill a Mockingbird? If so, are those callbacks to season 1 and how much significance does that book have in the PLL storyline?

Radley was actually introduced in the books, but I think Sarah was using a To Kill A Mockinbird reference, and so we took that ball and ran with it and made it even a book that Ezra was teaching early on.

First off: pll is a work of art <3

question: If Mona wanted to be friends with Alison so much, why did she try to hurt her? Surely that would have pushed her away further?

Mona wanted to be friends with Alison early on, and I think Mona started gaming Alison before she became A.

Hey Marlene! The relationship the girls have with each other is great but will we see more of their friendships outside of the group? I miss Emily and Toby especially!

Yes, in season 5 we have a lot of fun scenes with characters we haven't seen together for a while. We are pairing up new people for fun friendship scenes.

My five year old niece asks, "Will A ever die?".

Well, we'll have to see. This also is a mystery that will be answered.

Hi Marlene!

What's your favorite dessert?

I get asked this all the time! Pie. Key lime pie.

Have you seen http://prettylittleliarsannotations.tumblr.com/ ? It's the funniest thing I've seen in a long time.

Yes, I think it's very clever!

If you could fill a swimming pool with something other than water what would it be?

Ha! Green Jell-o!

Are we supposed to be sure that Sarah was the person in Ali's grave, or is that something we'll find out this season?

You will find out this season the identity of the Jane Doe in Ali's grave.

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It's on the development slate, I would say, and hopefully it will work out. It's in discussion. And I would love it if we could make it work.

Good afternoon Marlene! First off, let me thank you for all the hard work and passion you put in to PLL. I have a few questions:

1. Did you ever foresee PLL getting as big as it is now? It basically rules Twitter on Tuesdays.

2. Have you and the writers known exactly what will happen from the beginning of the PLL series? Or has a lot changed as you go further into the story?

3. How has Sara Shepard responded to the tv adaptation of her PLL books?

4. How do you personally feel about the dark themes in the PLL series? Pedophilia, murder, mental illness, ect...

5. What will the biggest reveal of the PLL series revolve around? Will it be A's identity, or is there something even bigger in store for us?

Bonus: What has been the funniest incident on set of PLL? I imagine all the girls are a blast to be around. The one blooper reel of the show is incredibly hilarious. We need some more!

Thank you again for doing this. PLL has honestly helped me in some aspects of my life. There have been numerous things that have affected me, but Emily's struggle and coming to terms with her sexual orientation has been the most impactful of all. Watching her struggle and how she overcame it helped me come to terms with my own struggle with my sexual orientation. Thanks so much, and I can't wait for the new season!

Did you ever foresee PLL getting as big as it is now? It basically rules Twitter on Tuesdays.

We are ALWAYS grateful and overwhelmed by how big the show has become! Just recently I was talking to Ashley Benson about how we feel like there is an even bigger wave coming for season 5, we feel the swell of a new bigness for us being here and it's very exciting.

Have you and the writers known exactly what will happen from the beginning of the PLL series? Or has a lot changed as you go further into the story?

We've known the mystery endgame, but a lot of the relationship stuff has changed along the way when we see how characters relate to each other and if they have chemistry or not.

How has Sara Shepard responded to the tv adaptation of her PLL books?

Sara and I have a wonderful relationship and she loves the show. She watches it religiously.

How do you personally feel about the dark themes in the PLL series? Pedophilia, murder, mental illness, ect...

Already answered!

What will the biggest reveal of the PLL series revolve around? Will it be A's identity, or is there something even bigger in store for us?

There are lot of big answers to come. A's ultimate identity and motivation for being A is huge.

Bonus: What has been the funniest incident on set of PLL? I imagine all the girls are a blast to be around. The one blooper reel of the show is incredibly hilarious. We need some more!

Chay is afraid of possums, and we once had a fake possum in a shot, and she ran screaming from the set!

And stay true to yourself. We are always thrilled to hear that we are making a positive difference.

Is the twin theory totally put to rest? Sasha keeps saying in interviews it is but I need to hear it from you to believe it.

Nothing is put to rest yet on the show. Sometimes the actors don't know yet where the long term story lines are going since we can't trust everything they say.

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That's a great question! I think that that's because more girls are watching television right now than boys, and the shows are created to fulfill the appetite of that demographic. And I think women know how to write for women.

what's going on with Emily this season?

Emily is the most conflicted of all the PLL this season because she had and has a special relationship with Alison.

Hey Marlene, I know it's a repetitive question, but will we ever see Spencer and Toby have a date? Or a double date with Haleb?

We always want to find places for double dates! Oddly enough it's not easy to find those moments since there is so much going on. I hope so.