EXCLUSIVE! 'Pretty Little Liars' Boss Spills on Tonight's 'Emotionally Challenging' Death!

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ABC Family

Got a secret, can you keep it?

With Pretty Little Liars' summer finale just a few hours away, we're ready to spill absolutely everything we know about tonight's deadly episode. In the sure-to-be-shocking hour, entitled, "Taking This One to the Grave," one of our favorite Rosewood residents will die, but the question is—who is it?!

To get to the details on this dark twist, we chatted with executive producer (and keeper of all the secrets!) Marlene King, who also penned tonight's episode, and we’ve got the exclusive answers you won't find anywhere else!


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The smash ABC Family drama is known for ending their summer seasons with an explosive reveal and jaw-dropping cliffhanger, and it looks like this year will follow the same mind-blowing tradition. However, King spilled that tonight's death makes all other summer finales look like child's play.

"I think that this is probably the darkest [summer finale] of them all, and it was very painful to write at times," the showrunner dished to ETonline. "It wasn't an easy episode to write, but it needed to be done. It was very emotionally challenging, I would say."

One of the reasons it was particularly challenging for King to write tonight's finale is because she knew that she would have be the one to break the bad news to the soon-to-be departed. "I always warn the person beforehand," the EP explained. "It's a call nobody likes to get and it's a very difficult call to make. And this one was the most difficult call that I have had so far."

So why did the pretty little writers decide to kill off this character in particular? King was tight-lipped on the details, however she did gift us with one telling tease: "The answer to that question will unfold as to story moves forward." Dun dun duuuun!


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So what else can fans expect from this evening's adrenaline-pumping event? Answers, of course! King revealed that although the finale is best described as an "in-the-moment episode" we will still discover the truth behind one of the biggest mysteries of the season. "There are still some dots to connect with Bethany and some of them will connect in the finale," she said.

Additionally, it's time to confront one of the biggest questions we've been wrestling with all summer: Can we really trust Ali??

"I think she's a very complicated character, which is why I personally love her and I love writing for that character," King gushed. "She has many layers and some of them are good, and some of them are obviously selfish and self-centered, but I think that's the question that we’re going to answer this season. Is Ali good or is she bad or is she somewhere in between? I think that's a very big question that is explored in the fatal finale."


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Yikes! This is shaping up to be the best PLL finale yet, and okay, we're going to let in you on a little secret: We happen to know exactly who won't survive tonight's final hour, and although we're not going to give it away, we are going to warn you that fans should definitely grab a box of tissues and a best friend (or two!) before tuning in.

The Pretty Little Liars summer finale airs tonight at 8 p.m. on ABC Family. And make sure you check back to ETonline immediately after the episode for the exclusive answers on why [Spoiler!] was killed!


Who do you think is going to die in tonight's Fatal Finale?! Shout out your guesses in the comments below and live tweet with @LeanneAguilera during tonight's episode!

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