On Thursday (January 10), the Pretty Little Liars cast and crew producers brought their A game to the 2013 Winter TCA Press Tour stage to talk Rosewood news and drop some juicy spoilers about Season 3B. Among the PLL panelists were Marlene King and Oliver Goldstick, who sat down along with series stars Troian Bellisario, Shay Mitchell, and Keegan Allen to discuss the show’s direction and how they plan to top the shocking Toby is A.
Check out photos and quotes from this year’s TCA event!
On Keeping the Mystery Alive: “Part of the fun of the show is trying to figure out who ‘A’ is, and I think they like not knowing,” Marlene King says of fans. “We have mysteries within the big mysteries. We give credible clues…giving little bits and pieces [of information], that seems to be enough to satisfy the fans.” She adds, “”Who is ‘A’?” continues to be an overall mystery for us, but there are more mysteries, added mysteries within the show which will continue to be new and fresh and different.”
On Creating Real Characters: “Although they are in high school, we treat them like people. They have adult problems. We don’t write down to that,” Marlene King shared. “We empower them…They’re all flawed characters [but] as a unit, they’re pretty strong and invincible.” Oliver Goldstick shares the same sentiments. He replied, “High school is a time where you are inventing yourself, and being a “Pretty Little Liar” is almost synonymous with being in high school because everybody’s lying to some degree, and our characters, as beautiful as these women are and incredibly intelligent and charming and all, they’re all flawed characters. They’re four flawed individuals, but I think what contributes to the show, hopefully the success of the show, is that as a unit they’re pretty strong and invincible, and they complement each other.”
On Toby being a member of the A-Team: According to Oliver Goldstick, Toby was always kind of shady, no matter how much viewers — along with Spencer Hastings — grew to love him. He states, ”His darkness isn’t coming out of nowhere. It’s actually a reminder of where we started.” Toby was always a dark character. So what’s next for the hooded bad ass? A “mind blowing” story arch surrounding his relationship with Spencer. Gasp!
On How The Drama Never Ends in Rosewood:Troian consoled fans mentioning that there’s more to the show than meets the eye. “These girls’ stories will not be over when they discover who ‘A’ is or who killed Alison,” she revealed. Plus, apparently, Troian’s character, Spencer, and Spencer’s half-brother, Jason DiLaurentis, will form an alliance at some point. Oliver Goldstick hinted, “Jason has become someone who’s earned particularly Spencer’s trust. So they will have some alliance. We can’t tell you really right now what it’s about, but it will be an alliance.”
On Pretty Little Liars Season 3, Episode 16 & The Season 3 Finale: The episode set to air in two weeks, which marks Marlene King’s directorial debut, is misery-themed. She teased that the finale “pays homage to North by Northwest.”
On How Long The Show Will Last: With twelve books and counting from Sara Shepard, the show has plenty of material to work off of. Plus, not only will the girls continue their senior year at the end of of Season 3 but the show also boasts a talented writing team and strong cast who are hard-working and willing to explore exciting and dark places. They’re definitely not in a hurry to get to the end! Marlene King didn’t state how many more PLL seasons were left, but she did share the following glimmer of hope: ”I don’t think we could be successful doing what we’re doing if we don’t know the final answer.” And, in a moment of brilliance, Oliver Goldstick quipped, “They’re going to be the Golden Girls Liars.” (LOL!)
So tell us, lovelies, what’s one question you would have asked the Pretty Little Liars cast and crew during their 2013 TCA Winter Press Tour panel? Post it in the comments!
