Next Tuesday marks the return of ABC Family’s Pretty Little Liars, and much is in store for the girls of Rosewood during the second half of the show’s third season. Recently, show creator and Executive Producer Marlene King (pictured left) participated in a conference call interview with Starcasm and other media outlets, and while she was fairly coy about the upcoming season, she left little doubt that the twists and turns will continue this year for the fearful foursome.
None of the Liars have ever had much success in keeping their relationships low key, and their upcoming love lives will be no different. As King put it, “No one escapes the drama in Season 3B.” This includes the on-again/off-again relationship between former swimming rivals, Emily (Shay Mitchell) and Paige (Lindsey Shaw). Last we saw the pair, they were going strong in PLL's Halloween episode as Marlene Dietrich and Barbarella, but King says she recognizes it wasn't always smooth sailing for “Paily.” The two have had their ups and downs developing a relationship that King says is based, "in some part based on original missteps." King explains, “They just have sort of real drama and issues to overcome that are just natural to sort of any kind of new relationship like that.”
Fans are happy to see Emily dating again (and dating women at that – sorry “Not Nate”), after her first love, Maya, was murdered. King talked about Maya’s death, saying she was the hardest loss the writers have penned. “Maya was; it was just tragic for us, and so I think that was definitely a very difficult decision to make and really hard to film those scenes too. When the character of Emily realizes that Maya is dead that was just—it was such a powerful evening on set for Shay Mitchell and for Leslie Glatter who was directing that episode (who did the pilot) and for myself. We were all just in tears that day.”
Still, the fans seem to be behind Emily’s new love, and King is pleased to see that. “Well, we really respect all the fans, and I understand how tragic that loss was to a big group of our fan base, but what I found is that a lot of those people have really embraced now the Emily/Paige storyline. Paige has earned their trust and I’m really proud of that part of our show.”
Watch the drama unfurl for Emily and all of the Pretty Little Liars on Tuesday, January 8 at 8/7c.
Image via Getty.
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