EXCLUSIVE: 'Pretty Little Liars' Boss Addresses Emison Spinoff Plans and When the Baby Daddy Will Be Revealed!
Is a pretty little spinoff in the works?!
There's just three episodes left of Pretty Little Liars, and although we're thrilled to finally have seven seasons worth of A.D. answers, we're sad to say goodbye to our favorite Rosewood residents.
Luckily, executive producer (and keeper of all the secrets!) Marlene King dished to ET that a PLL spinoff is "definitely a possibility."
"It's not a for sure thing, but there's some ideas swirling around out there," she exclusively confessed to our cameras over the weekend at the ATX Television Festival in Austin, Texas. "Everybody knows I love this world. I love to play in this world and I love these characters, so it would be fun to keep a few of them moving forward in their lives."
But this, of course, would not be the first PLL spinoff in TV history! Who else remembers the supernaturally spooky show Ravenswood? The short-lived ABC Family drama ran from 2013 to 2014 and centered on Tyler Blackburn's Caleb and his ghostly connections to a group of teens in Ravenswood. The series was canceled after one season, causing Caleb to move back to Rosewood and reconnect with Hanna on Pretty Little Liars.
When asked if there are any particular Rosewood residents that King would like this second spinoff to focus on, the showrunner was coy in her response. "Yeah, but I'm not going to say just yet who those characters might be."
We playfully suggested that a series centering on Mona's wild antics or Emily and Alison's budding family would be our top picks, and King was quick to offer her stamp of approval. "Great ideas!" she teased.
Speaking of Emison, the relationship between these two ladies has evolved significantly over this final season, thanks, in large part, to A.D.'s jaw-dropping plan of artificially inseminating Emily's eggs and a mystery man's sperm into an unknowing Alison.
Wow. We still can't believe that happened. "I can't believe we wrote it!" King exclaimed when we pointed out the absurdity of this particular storyline.
EXCLUSIVE: Shay Mitchell and Sasha Pieterse Address Emison Spinoff Speculation!
So how did this PLL pregnancy twist come to fruition?
"Well, I will say that the credit for that particular idea goes to Charlie Craig, who is a producer on this show," she explained. "He literally said, 'I've got this crazy idea. I'm going to pitch it to you guys and you're going to throw stuff at me or you're going to love it.' And we loved it."
King continued, "We sat on it for a couple of days because it was so big. I was like, 'We have to give this, like, 72 hours to see if we still love it, and we just started liking it more and more and more, so that's how that originally came to be."
The PLL boss added that when Craig initially pitched the idea, he also pitched who the father would be. Although King wouldn’t spill details on who the father of Emison's baby is, she did reveal the when. "You will find out before the end of the finale," King promised.
King revealed that Alison and Emily's connection will only continue to grow over these next three episodes and that's because of two very important milestones. "I think between the pregnancy and the conversation that she had with Paige -- which I thought was such a beautiful scene -- it's really forcing Alison to come to terms with her emotions and who she is," King said.
EXCLUSIVE: Shay Mitchell on the Father of Ali's Baby & the One 'PLL' Question That Won't Be Answered
"In some ways, I think she's been the least mature of the Liars. Maybe because she wasn't present. She ran away from her problems for a while and now she's back and she has to face things. I think the pregnancy is a way to bring them together, but I think in a really organic way," she continued. "A.D. often does things that you think are terrible to the girls, but often it backfires and it brings the girls closer together. So this is a perfect example of one of those horrible A.D. things that ultimately will bring the girls closer instead of dividing them."
Pretty Little Liars airs Tuesdays at 9 p.m. ET/PT on Freeform.
How are you feeling, Little Liars? Who would you like to star in the next potential PLL spinoff? Who do you think is the father of Ali and Emily's baby? Share your thoughts and theories with @LeanneAguilera on Twitter!