The day has finally come and #thebetrAyal is here. So who will betray the Liars on the midseason finale of ABC Family’s Pretty Little Liars?
Fans by and large are betting the culprit is Paige (Lindsay Shaw) as she currently holds a commanding lead with 44 percent of tweets on the network’s suspect tracker . But could she really be on the “A” team? Or is she just a decoy?
Upon watching the finale with Shay Mitchell and Ashley Benson, executive producer Marlene King told Celebuzz the girls “were screaming and crying. I think it’s become, for so many of us, our all time favorite episode. It’s so thrilling to watch it; So many unexpected moments. You are constantly on the edge of your seat in this episode.”
With so many questions, Celebuzz caught up the PLL mastermind on Monday to see if she’d spill any secrets about what to expect from the mid-season finale.
Celebuzz: What can you tell us about the summer mid-season finale, “The Lady Killer?”
Marlene King: In house, our secondary title [for the finale] was “Justice for Maya” and I feel like that’s something that we haven’t really said too much about. This is the episode where those die hard Emayans [Emily/Maya fans] who were so broken hearted during the last finale will feel a sense of justice by the end of this finale.
CB: Will this be the end of the Maya’s (Bianca Lawson) storyline then? How will Emily come out at the end of it all?
MK: The final clip of hers is in [Tuesday’s] episode. It’s a beautiful, beautiful clip for her. Shay and I were just talking about this the other day. Last season, “A” really preyed on Emily because “A” considered Emily to be the weakest link of the Pretty Little Liars. It really is because of “A” that Emily’s character has become, we feel, by the end of [Tuesday’s] episode, the strongest of the Pretty Little Liars. She is very empowered by the end of the episode. We love her character sort of going full circle like that.
CB: In a promo for the episode we’ve seen Mona (Janel Parrish) leave the sanitarium and don her black hoodie. What part will she play?
MK: You see Mona walking out of Radley as a nurse. She is out and about in the world and she’s A, but you’re going to meet the other black hoodie that we introduced in last week’s episode closer.
CB: Is the betrayer responsible for both killing Maya and stealing Ali’s (Sasha Pieterse) body?
MK: Maybe. Maybe not. I can’t answer that without giving something away. It’s not necessarily the same person I would say.
CB: With all signs pointing to Paige as the betrayer, our theories are focusing on other less obvious characters? Could these characters such as Nate (Sterling Sulieman) and Jenna (Tammin Sursok) be part of the bigger “A” picture?
MK: There’s a lot going on in the finale. The ultimate betrayal is the person we find out who is on the “A” team and one of those 12 people on that suspect board is the character. Though there are definitely multiple betrayals in the episode.
CB: Another finale and another death in Rosewood. We’ve seen pictures and a clip of Hanna being held by Aria (Lucy Hale) and Spencer (Troian Bellisario) as the body is being put into the ambulance and Emily is questioned. What can you tell us about Hanna’s (Ashley Benson) involvement?
MK: I really can’t, except to say I love that scene. I’ve seen it at least 10 times. I still cry every time I see it. And my assistant Kyle [Bown], who’s a dude, saw it with me the first time and we looked at each other and we were both bawling our eyes out. It’s a tear-jerker. It’s a great scene.
CB: With this scene, it seems that maybe “A” has picked a new favorite Liar to antagonize?
MK: It’s a good theory. Mona’s out now and Hanna was her No. 1 target.
CB: You also tweeted that in order to prevent the reveal of the ultimate betrayal, you shot multiple betrayals? Will we ever see those? Perhaps as deleted scenes on a DVD set?
MK: I hope so. We have the footage and I know I took some pictures on that day because it was just so much fun to have all those characters on set at the same time in the black hoodies. I can’t wait to show those pictures.
CB: After a few episodes away, Toby (Keegan Allen) will be back in the finale. What can you tell us about his reunion with Spencer? And will we find out what he has been doing while he’s been away?
MK: Yes you will. Their reunion is incredibly romantic. We’re thrilled to introduce this new band called Baratach that — one of the members of that band is our director Lesli Linka Glatter’s son –they wrote this song called “The Backpack Song” and it’s just such a perfect Spoby/Toby song. When they have their beautiful romantic reunion that song plays. It’s really heart melting, sweet, pure romance.
CB: Now that Aria has met Maggie (Larisa Olyneik) and we’ve seen pictures of her interacting with Ezra (Ian Harding), will we get resolution for Ezra’s baby mama drama?
MK: The story furthers in the finale, but you won’t have resolution. It will continue on.
The summer finale of Pretty Little Liars airs Tuesday at 8 PM on ABC Family. Tune in at 11 AM for a marathon of Season 3A prior to the finale.
Don’t forget to check Celebuzz after the episode for our recap of the episode and the second part of interview with King!
Who do you think commits the ultimate betrayal? Give us your best theories in the comments below!
