It was either good news or bad news for Pretty Little Liars fans when the series creator, Marlene King, told Variety that season 7 will be the show’s last. The television series, credited as a “teen drama mystery-thriller,” has run for five and a half seasons, and will be returning on January 12, 2016, for the second half of its sixth season. There had been a discussion of an eighth season to the series, and possibly a movie tie-in, though only one of those is a possibility anymore.
During an interview with E! News, Lucy Hale, who plays Aria Montgomery on the show, said, “There’s, like, rumors there may be a movie, but seven seasons will definitely end the show.”
Pretty Little Liars has enraptured audiences with its secrets, intrigue, and thrills, following the story of four girls being tortured by a mysterious villain known only as “A.” Loosely based on a book series by the same name, the television series airs on ABC Family. The network is going through a rebranding, and will be known as Freeform starting in January of 2016. When Pretty Little Liars returns, the characters will have gone through a time jump, moving five years in the future. Fans hope to finally get answers to the questions they’ve been struggling with since the “big A reveal” this past August.
While an eighth season isn’t in the plans of the series creator, a movie-tie-in may not be completely out of the question. The series garnered enough interest for a spin-off series, Ravenswood, though it was canceled after one season due to low ratings. Could there be another spin-off series in the works? Could one or more of the beloved characters be heading on to bigger and better things? Only the ratings of seasons six-B and seven of the show will tell.