Pretty Little Liars’ Marlene King on the Shocking Truth About ‘A’ and When We’ll Get Answers

Damian Holbrook March 25, 2015, 2:05 pm

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Now that our heart rates have returned to normal following last night’s mind-blowing Pretty Little Liars season finale, it’s time to toss a few Qs to executive producer I. Marlene King. Of course, as the mastermind behind all of the Rosewood mayhem, King is as royally crafty as the girls’ newly revealed tormentor Charles DiLaurentis—if that’s even his real name!

Wow. You gave us so much last night!

I am so excited to finally be getting this stuff out for people to absorb.

Was this your plan from day one?

Well, this was the plan when we realized, I guess towards the middle of Season 1, that we wanted to reveal Mona (Janel Parrish) as the original “A” at the end of Season 2. So before we made that reveal, this plan was put into place. This was the character who was going to steal the game from Mona.

So Charles hasn’t been acting as “A” the entire time…

That is correct. Mona said that she started playing the game with Charles when she was at Radley—she said “A,” because she still didn’t know his identity either—and that was the truth. She said “That is when A stole the game from me.”

And he’s Jason’s twin?

I cannot confirm nor deny that! It’s a popular theory, though. [Laughs]

You gave us that one moment with Andrew (Brandon Jones) listening in on the girls…how closely is he tied to Charles?

In the first three episodes this summer [when the show returns for Season 6], that question will be answered.

Can you explain why Charles went after Ali, Bethany and his own mother, Mrs. DiLaurentis?

What I can tell you is, and I am not saying that Charles is who you think he is, is that every question you just asked me will be answered by the end of the summer. By the next 10 episodes.

Is anyone else in Rosewood aware of Charles’ existence?

There has been, but I can’t answer that one. It’s so funny, we’re getting so close to revealing all of this that there are so few questions I can answer. It’s getting harder and harder!

When you started planning this out, were there hints that you planted?

Yes. My new term is “You know the Who, but do you know the Who Who?” Meaning that it’s possible that you have met Charles, and it is possible that you have not met Charles on screen. So…when everything is answered, you will be able to go back and see many of the clues. I have honestly seen, last night on Twitter, a few almost perfectly accurate “who and why” theories. And that was a first, so the dots are out there to be connected.

By recreating a prom from seven years ago and bringing up Melissa, Ian and the show’s older generation, I feel there is some sort of culpability on the part of the older siblings for something that happened to Charles in the past. Are their sins being visited upon their younger siblings?

Well here are definitely sins being visited upon, that is true.

Is it possible that there’s a conspiracy among the parents who know this as well?

There could be. One thing I can talk about that is really fun going into next season is that now the Hastings know about “A.” When we come back in the summer, all of the parents will know about “A,” and so will the police. Tanner (Roma Maffia) now knows…when we come back, the world knows about “A” and it is no longer a secret for these girls. That is a game changer for the trajectory of the show.

Where will the summer season take them?

The noose around Charles’ neck is tightening and it is all coming to a head. Maybe in part because he is ready for the game to end. By the end of summer, the girls will have graduated and they will be going off in their separate directions, so it feels like a natural time for this game to end. The name of the season premiere is “Game On, Charles.” It will be over by the end of summer.

Caleb (Tyler Blackburn), Ezra (Ian Harding) and Toby (Keegan Allen) really helped with that last night. But when killers start to feel cornered, they often get reckless and more dangerous. Should we expect a higher body count?

It is always good to be prepared for that in Rosewood! [Laughs]. As driven as the guys were to find the girls in the finale, they will be even more driven when we come back in June.