THE ABC OF PLL

Pretty Little Liars is an American thriller-suspense-drama TV series developed by I. Marlene King that first aired in 2010 and is coming to a close this month. The series is based on the popular book series by Sara Shepard of the same name. The story revolves around the lives of five teenage girls —Alison, Aria, Emily, Hanna and Spencer— and their darkest secrets.

The plot: Alison disappears before the show starts and is presumed to be dead. When the other four are reunited, they start receiving messages from a mysterious person who goes by the name of ‘A’. ‘A’ blackmails them and their families for the mistakes the five girls had made in the past. Mysteries are solved over the episodes and it is revealed that Alison is not dead. Later, someone called ‘A.D.’ starts playing games with them and the series takes another turn. Even as the girls try and find who ‘A.D.’ is, they must finish the game that ‘A.D.’ set up in order to reach the answers. The final episode airs on June 27 in the US.

THE COUPLES

The ‘couples’ form an integral part of the series and boy, will we miss them! Aria and Ezra (Ian Harding), popularly known as Ezria, have been the most talked-about pair since Season 1. They have undeniable chemistry and they have been through a lot. Though Aria’s parents were against her dating a teacher and Ezra’s mom offered Aria cash to break up with him, things worked out eventually and in Season 7, they got engaged. Lucy Hale has said in an interview, “Ezria is what it is because of me and Ian’s chemistry”.

And then there are Hanna and Caleb, or Haleb as we know them better. Hanna was engaged to someone else and Caleb (Tyler Blackburn) was dating Spencer, but you can’t think of them living their lives without each other. “They look adorable in the Christmas episode,” show creator Marlene King said.

In the early seasons, Spencer and Toby (Keegan Allen) were perfect together. But as the seasons progressed, they started drifting apart. Yet Spoby, as they are known to fans, are an adorable couple and their attachment to each other remains till the end of the series.

Emily and Alison — Emison — make a cute couple too, with Emily being the more caring of the two. Alison has played with Emily’s feelings too many times, by hiding the truth or not helping her with all she knows. The shocking bit? The recent episode where we learn that A.D. (whose identity is still a secret) planted Emily’s eggs in Alison’s womb and the next thing we know is Alison is having Emily’s baby! And apparently, everyone is okay with it.

Anushka Pasari
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