Relatable High School Relationships In Pretty Little Liars

Introduction

Pretty Little Liars is an American teen drama mystery thriller television series developed by I. Marlene King and is partially based on the novel series of the same name written by Sara Shepard. The series follows the lives of four high school girls whose clique falls apart after the disappearance of their leader.

Characters

Spencer Hastings, played by Troian Bellisario, is known as the most intelligence, high achieving and successful of the liars. Spencer comes from a wealthy family; her mother Veronica Hastings and her father Peter Hastings are lawyers. Her older sister is Melissa Hastings who she’s often competing with throughout the series, and her half-brother is Jason DiLaurentis, her father's son from his affair with Alison's mother, Jessica DiLaurentis.

Mary Drake, the twin sister of Jessica DiLaurentis, claims to be Spencer’s birth mother. Spencer dated Toby Cavanaugh, who is a Rosewood Police Department cop, and they're known as 'Spoby.' She most recently dated Caleb Rivers, Hanna Marin’s ex-boyfriend. Spencer suffered a mental and emotional breakdown and was admitted to Radley Sanitarium, and she once had a drug addiction. Before returning to Rosewood, Spencer worked as a lobbyist on Capitol Hill.

Aria Montgomery, played by Lucy Hale, is the artsy liar. She's interested in photography and writing. After college, Aria was working in publishing. Her parents Ella and Byron Montgomery are separated, and she has a younger brother named Mike Montgomery. Aria was last in a relationship with Ezra Fitz, her former high school English teacher, and they are known together as 'Ezria.' Aria and Ezra were engaged and going to get married in Italy, until Ezra learned that his girlfriend Nicole Gordon was still alive, but this didn’t stop Ezra and Aria from getting married eventually.

Emily Fields, played by Shay Mitchell, is the most athletic of the group and was a member of the high school swim team. Emily lived with her mother Pam Fields, who raised her alone while her military husband and Emily's father Wayne Fields was away on duty. After the death of her father, Emily never completed college and worked as a bartender. Emily initially struggled with her sexuality, but eventually came out as being attracted to women. She was last in a relationship with Paige McCuller – known together as Pailey. Emily was in love with Alison DiLaurentis, and the two reconnected and ended up together.

Hanna Marin, played by Ashley Benson, used to be made fun of for her weight and was called 'Hefty Hanna.' Her parents Ashley and Tom Marin are divorced. She's interested in fashion and the most outspoken of the four liars. She worked in fashion before quitting her job. Hanna was in a relationship with Jordan, before breaking off their engagement. She and Caleb, who she dated in high school, kissed and realized they are meant to be together.

Alison DiLaurentis, played by Sasha Pieterse, was the leader of the four liars before she disappeared. She often bullied and manipulated people, including Spencer, Aria, Emily and Hanna. She was believed to be murdered, until it was later revealed that she survived getting hit in the head by a rock and being buried alive and later left town. Her mother Jessica DiLaurentis was killed by her twin sister Mary Drake because Jessica was going to tell Alison what happened to her and Mary killed Jessica to protect her other daughter, Charlotte who hit Alison and nearly killed her. Alison revealed she is pregnant and believes that Archer Dunhill, aka Dr. Elliot Rollins, might be the father, but it turns out to be Emily’s eggs inside her fertilised by Wren Kingston which makes Alison their unwilling surrogate.

The Seasons

In the pilot episode, we meet Spencer, Aria, Emily and Hanna, one year after Alison's disappearance. Throughout the pilot episode, all four girls receive text messages from an unnamed character known as 'A,' who taunts them about knowing their secrets and threatens to expose them. Alison's body is later found, and at her funeral service, the girls reveal to each other that they have all received messages from 'A.' Throughout the series, the four girls become close friends again and attempt to work together to find out what happened to Allison the night she disappeared and the identity of 'A,' all while facing threats from 'A' and members of the 'A' team

In season 2, Mona Vanderwaal, Hana's best friend who was known as being nerdy and unpopular before she had a makeover, is revealed to be the original 'A'. Mona was bullied by Alison before she disappeared. She reveals that she threatened Spencer, Aria, and Emily as revenge for stealing Hanna as a friend from her.

However, in the season 6 summer finale, 'A' is revealed to be CeCe Drake, who stole the game from Mona. CeCe said she threatened the four liars because of how they treated Alison.

CeCe, who was born Charles DiLaurentis, is Alison's biological brother. Charles grew up wanting to wear dresses and played dress up in their mum's closet. After their parents brought Charles to Radley Sanitarium, where he grew up, Mrs DiLaurentis brought Charles the same outfits that she bought for Alison. Mr DiLaurentis rarely visited and didn’t accept Charles as a girl. After he got older, Charles and Mrs DiLaurentis had a funeral for Charles. Charles became Charlotte, and when she met her brother Jason DiLaurentis, she introduced herself as CeCe.

Later in season 6, CeCe is found dead in front of the church. It is revealed that there is an Uber A, who is not CeCe, Noel Kahn or Jenna Marshall. The Uber A uses the initials, “A.D.” Who is taunting the girls and blackmailing them with secrets.

In the episode 'Till DeAth Do Us PArt' Alex Drake kidnaps Spencer Hasting which is soon revealed to the audience that they’re twin sisters, Alex was is foster care in England her whole life whilst Spencer got adopted by the Hastings family. Alex was envious of Spencer and planned to kill her and steal her identity, but soon enough the liars manage to find Spencer and save her from Alex.

Conclusion

In conclusion the show “Pretty Little Liars” was a great show which shows relatable scenes of High School relationships and friendships, but also shows a dark topic of blackmail and how the whole series is based on the fact that the liars are being blackmailed. It was a good show as it teaches a younger audience about the consequences of bullying people and how to see warning signs of certain topics.