Pretty Little Liars (season 7)

Pretty Little Liars (season 7)
Starring	Troian Bellisario Ashley Benson Tyler Blackburn Lucy Hale Ian Harding Laura Leighton Shay Mitchell Andrea Parker Janel Parrish Sasha Pieterse
Country of origin	United States
Release
Original network	Freeform

The seventh season of the American mystery drama television series Pretty Little Liars, based on the books of the same name by Sara Shepard, was renewed on June 10, 2014 for two additional seasons, making the show Freeform's longest running original series.^[1] The season will consist of 20 episodes.^[2] The season will return on June 21 2016 at 8/7c on Freeform.

Overview

After giving Hanna up for bait to unmask their new villain The Liars will band together to unearth answers to the last remaining secrets and take down "Uber A" for good in the most romantic season.^[3]

Cast

Main cast Troian Bellisario as Spencer Hastings[4] Ashley Benson as Hanna Marin[4] Tyler Blackburn as Caleb Rivers[5] Lucy Hale as Aria Montgomery[4] Ian Harding as Ezra Fitz[6] Laura Leighton as Ashley Marin Shay Mitchell as Emily Fields[4] Andrea Parker as Mary Drake and Jessica DiLaurentis[7] Janel Parrish as Mona Vanderwaal[4] Sasha Pieterse as Alison DiLaurentis[4]

Recurring cast Keegan Allen as Toby Cavanaugh[6] Huw Collins as Dr. Elliott Rollins[6] Drew Van Acker as Jason DiLaurentis[6] Roberto Aguire as Liam Greene[8] David Coussins as Jordan Hobart[2] Lesley Fera as Veronica Hastings Nia Peeples as Pam Fields Holly Marie Combs as Ella Montgomery Dre Davis as Sara Harvey

Guest cast Tammin Sursok as Jenna Marshall[9] Julian Morris as Wren Kingston[10][11] Brendan Robinson as Lucas Gottesman[12] Lulu Brud as Sabrina[13] Nolan North as Peter Hastings Torrey DeVitto as Melissa Hastings Vanessa Ray as Charlotte DiLaurentis

Casting

The seventh season will see the main characters return, with Troian Bellisario, Ashley Benson, Lucy Hale and Shay Mitchell confirming to reprise their roles as Spencer Hastings, Hanna Marin, Aria Montgomery and Emily Fields respectively. Janel Parrish later confirmed that she will be reprising her role as Mona Vanderwaal as well.^[4] Andrea Parker will return to the show as Mary Drake, Jessica DiLaurentis' identical twin sister and biological mother to Charlotte DiLaurentis.^[14] TVLine later confirmed that Parker was added as a series regular for the upcoming season.^[7]

Production

The seventh season was ordered with the sixth season on June 10, 2014, right before the fifth season premiere aired, which made Pretty Little Liars ABC Family's longest running original series, surpassing The Secret Life of the American Teenager, which was ABC Family's previous longest running original series.^[1] The season will consist of 20 episodes, in which ten episodes will air in the summer of 2016, with the remaining ten episodes airing in the winter of 2017.^[2][4] Charlie Craig, who served as writer/consulting producer on the second season, will return for the seventh season as executive producer/co-showrunner.^[15] Production began on February 1, 2016, when King announced on Twitter that the writers were in full swing brainstorming and mapping the seventh season.^[16][17] Production and filming began in the end of March 2016.^[18] I. Marlene King revealed the title of the premiere "Tick-Tock, Bitches" on Twitter.^[19] Variety announced that season premiere would air on June 21, 2016, the latest for a season premiere in the show's history.^[20] Additionally, series star Troian Bellisario will make her directorial debut this season. Bellisario is set to direct the fifteenth episode of the season.^[21][3]

Final season speculation

The seventh season has been speculated by both fans and the cast and crew of the show to being the final season of Pretty Little Liars ever since the show was renewed for two additional seasons.^[1] In an interview with BuzzFeed, Troian Bellisario said “This is the beginning of the end. But the best part about these last two years is that, because it’s the beginning of the end, we can actually start telling the story I think we’ve been waiting to tell for a long time."^[4] Regarding the show's ending, Lucy Hale said to E! News that "Seven seasons will definitely end the show."^[22][23] Showrunner I. Marlene King commented on these rumors to TVLine as she said "We have enough story to take us to the end of Season 7, and we’re going to let the fans tell us if they’re ready to say goodbye to this world and these characters."^[24] She confirmed to being open for an eighth season and a movie.^[25]

In an interview with Variety regarding the five-year time-jump, King said "I think that this story when we’re back will end next year at the end of Season 7". She later took to Twitter where she confirmed that the current storyline that began in the second half of the sixth season would end after the seventh season, but would not necessarily mean that the show would end after the seventh season.^[26][27] Hale said on The Late Late Show with James Corden that the show was ending after the seventh season.^[28]

Episodes

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date	U.S. viewers (millions)
141	1	"Tick–Tock, Bitches"[29]	Ron Lagomarsino[29]	I. Marlene King[29]	June 21, 2016[20]	TBD
142	2	"Bedlam"[30]	Tawnia McKiernan[30]	Joseph Dougherty[30]	June 28, 2016[20]	TBD
143	3	TBA	Zetna Fuentes[31]	Jonell Lennon[32]	TBA	TBD
144	4	TBA	Michael Goi[9]	Maya Goldsmith[9]	TBA	TBD
145	5	"Along Comes Mary"[33]	Norman Buckley[33]	Bryan M. Holdman[33]	TBA	TBD
146	6	TBA	TBA	TBA	TBA	TBD
147	7	TBA	TBA	TBA	TBA	TBD
148	8	TBA	TBA	TBA	TBA	TBD
149	9	TBA	TBA	TBA	TBA	TBD
150	10	TBA	TBA	I. Marlene King[34]	TBA	TBD
151	11	TBA	TBA	TBA	TBA	TBD
152	12	TBA	TBA	TBA	TBA	TBD
153	13	TBA	TBA	TBA	TBA	TBD
154	14	TBA	TBA	TBA	TBA	TBD
155	15	TBA	Troian Bellisario[3]	TBA	TBA	TBD
156	16	TBA	TBA	TBA	TBA	TBD
157	17	TBA	TBA	TBA	TBA	TBD
158	18	TBA	Norman Buckley[35]	TBA	TBA	TBD
159	19	TBA	TBA	TBA	TBA	TBD
160	20	TBA	TBA	TBA	TBA	TBD

Reception

Live + SD Ratings

No. in series	No. in season	Episode	Air date	Time slot (EST)	Rating/Share (18–49)	Viewers (m)	Rank (18-49)
141	1	"Tick–Tock, Bitches"	June 21, 2016	Tuesdays 8:00 P.M.	N/A	N/A	N/A
142	2	"Bedlam"	June 28, 2016		N/A	N/A	N/A
143	3	TBA	July 5, 2016		N/A	N/A	N/A
144	4	TBA	July 12, 2016		N/A	N/A	N/A
145	5	"Along Comes Mary"	July 19, 2016		N/A	N/A	N/A

References

1. Bibel, Sara (June 9, 2014). "'Pretty Little Liars' Renewed For Seasons Six & Seven by ABC Family". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved January 13, 2016.
2. Aguilera, Leanne (March 16, 2016). "EXCLUSIVE: 'Pretty Little Liars' Boss Talks Season 7 Secrets, Amping Up the Sex and the 'PLL' Movie!". Entertainment Tonight. Retrieved March 17, 2016.
3. "Freeform's Hit Original Series "Pretty Little Liars" Starts Production on Season Seven". The Futon Critic. Retrieved April 11, 2016.
4. Wieselman, Jarett (June 2, 2015). "It's The Beginning Of The End For "Pretty Little Liars"". BuzzFeed. Retrieved January 13, 2016.
5. Wagmeister, Elizabeth (March 16, 2016). "‘Pretty Little Liars’: Marlene King Answers Finale Burning Questions & Teases Season 7 Romances". Variety. Retrieved March 18, 2016.
6. Highfill, Samantha (March 16, 2016). "Pretty Little Liars boss breaks down that twin reveal, teases Hanna's fate". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved March 16, 2016.
7. Swift, Andy (March 16, 2016). "Pretty Little Liars Season 7 Welcomes Back Andrea Parker as Series Regular". TVLine. Retrieved March 16, 2016.
8. Bricker, Tierney (March 16, 2016). "Is Ashley Benson Really Leaving Pretty Little Liars? Will the Show Go On Without Any of Its Stars?". E! Online. Retrieved March 18, 2016.
9. Swift, Andy (May 4, 2016). "Pretty Little Liars: Jenna Returning to Rosewood in Season 7 ('Be Afraid')". TVLine. Retrieved May 5, 2016.
10. Morris, Julian (August 11, 2015). "So, I’m not Charles. But I will get up to mischief in #HandofGod. And I promise, Wren will be back before PLL is out.". Twitter. Retrieved March 16, 2016.
11. King, I. Marlene (March 9, 2016). "The goal is for our fave Brit to return. @mcsexian #PrettyLittleLiars #TwinOnPLL". Twitter. Retrieved March 16, 2016.
12. "Back at it!! Bring on #Season7! #pll #prettylittleliars #plls7". Instagram. April 16, 2016. Retrieved April 18, 2016.
13. Lennon, Jonell (May 2, 2016). "Day 4... @of_the_wolves & @shaymitch rocked their scenes today. #703". Twitter. Retrieved May 5, 2016.
14. Swift, Andy (March 15, 2016). "Pretty Little Liars Season Finale Recap: [Spoiler]'s Twin Revealed". TVLine. Retrieved March 16, 2016.
15. Andreeva, Nellie (January 8, 2016). "‘Pretty Little Liars’: Writer Charlie Craig Returns As Co-Showrunner For Season 7". Deadline. Retrieved January 13, 2016.
16. King, I. Marlene (February 1, 2016). "We're back! #Prettylittlewriters". Twitter. Retrieved February 17, 2016.
17. King, I. Marlene (February 1, 2016). "Let's do this. #Prettylittlewriters #Season7". Twitter. Retrieved February 17, 2016.
18. Aguilera, Leanne (March 15, 2016). "EXCLUSIVE 'Pretty Little Liars' Postmortem: Ashley Benson Dishes on Hanna's 'Questionable' Fate in Season 7!". Entertainment Tonight. Retrieved March 16, 2016.
19. King, I. Marlene (March 17, 2016). "Season 7 premiere title is "Tic Tock, Bitches" @ThexCreator". Twitter. Retrieved March 17, 2016.
20. Kissell, Rick (April 7, 2016). "Freeform Sets ‘Pretty Little Liars’ Season 7 Premiere Date and Schedules More Summer Series". Variety. Retrieved April 7, 2016.
21. "TROIAN BELLISARIO WILL MAKE HER DIRECTORIAL DEBUT IN ‘PRETTY LITTLE LIARS’ SEASON 7 (EXCLUSIVE)". Pretty Little Liars.com. April 7, 2016. Retrieved April 10, 2016.
22. "Pretty Little Liars Star 'Lucy Hale' On E! News". YouTube. October 28, 2014. Retrieved January 13, 2016.
23. Denton, Elizabeth (October 28, 2014). "Is Season 7 The End For Pretty Little Liars?!". Seventeen. Retrieved January 13, 2016.
24. Swift, Andy (August 12, 2015). "Pretty Little Liars Boss on Charles' Transition, Ali's New Man and the Show's Future After Season 7". TVLine. Retrieved January 13, 2016.
25. Wagmeister, Elizabeth (August 11, 2015). "‘Pretty Little Liars’ Creator Marlene King Teases Possible Movie & Season 8". Variety. Retrieved January 13, 2016.
26. Wagmeister, Elizabeth (December 22, 2015). "‘Pretty Little Liars’ Will End After Season 7, Says Creator". Variety. Retrieved January 13, 2016.
27. Andy, Swift (December 23, 2015). "Pretty Little Liars Boss Clears the Air About Ending Series After Season 7". TVLine. Retrieved January 13, 2016.
28. Reiher, Andrea (February 26, 2016). "Lucy Hale confirms ‘Pretty Little Liars’ ending with Season 7, reveals how she hopes it ends". Retrieved March 16, 2016.
29. King, I. Marlene (April 4, 2016). "Here we go. First #PLLTableReAd of seAson 7". Instagram. Retrieved April 4, 2016.
30. Dougherty, Joseph (April 6, 2016). "In the on-deck circle.". Instagram. Retrieved April 6, 2016.
31. Lennon, Jonell (April 25, 2016). "Prepping Episode #703 with @lslyster & @ZetnaFuentes". Twitter. Retrieved May 2, 2016.
32. Lennon, Jonell (March 14, 2016). "Busy writing the outline for episode 703. What would you like to happen in this final season of PLL?". Twitter. Retrieved March 16, 2016.
33. Buckley, Norman (April 29, 2016). "Hey kids, look what I start working on next week. I'm going to bring my 'A' game! #DeathToRomance". Instagram. Retrieved May 2, 2016.
34. Dougherty, Joseph (May 1, 2016). "@HalebsKisses By divine right, finales belong to @imarleneking.". Twitter. Retrieved May 2, 2016.
35. Buckley, Norman (April 1, 2016). "705 and 718. I'm supervising one other one but I don't know the number off the top of my head.". Twitter. Retrieved April 2, 2016.