I. Marlene King Puns

Hi reddit. My name is Marlene King. You might know me from one of the movies I've worked on like Now And Then, or my most recent project is Pretty Little Liars, for which I'm the executive producer and show runner. Season 5 of Pretty Little Liars is premiering tomorrow at 8 PM/7 central, and I just closed a deal to write a feature based on a book called The Merciless, which is being released June 12. It's by Danielle Vega, and it's about a teen exorcism.

Anyways, I'm here with Victoria from reddit today, so AMA!

https://twitter.com/imarleneking/status/476065052663894016

Well this has been so much fun. I have to go to the table read for episode 5.10, and I'm so excited to share the premiere with everyone tomorrow! Can't wait to on to the /r/PrettyLittleLiars to see your reactions.

Wtf. This bitch cannot write Pretty Little Liars to save her life, but she wrote one of the greatest coming of age stories of all time?! Now and Then was the first (of very few) things she’s ever written.

Insane.

I mean yeah, i get where all this frustration comes from,but seeing all this hate she receives from twitter,tumblr and here, i got to the point where i said "enough is enough". First of all, it's not only Marlene's fault for the show's drop of quality. There are i don't know how many more producers and writers in the show. It's everyone's fault. Secondly, i feel like this is the channel's fault too. Because i've heard that Marlene wanted to end the show in 5 years, instead of 7 and Marlene also said that she had planned S7 before S6, which let's be real, it showed. I've also heard that the writers wanted A to be Spencer,but ABC(Freeform now) said no. Again, i don't know if this is true,maybe it's just rumors,but i feel like if the channel let her write Spencer as A, or didn't drug out the show for another 2 years,maybe the show wouldn't have all these problems. And finally,let's be real here she's the reason PLL tv show even exists. And also let's be honest,this show is a guilty pleasure. I'm talking about myself here, but i have a very weird love-hate relationship with this show. I find this show to be very entertaining,very funny(and sometimes stupid) and there are actually a couple of scenes that have made me tear up(mostly Hanna scenes) and i'm not usually very emotional. And from time to time, i get some "horrory" vibes. And even though there are plot-holes and some fan theories maybe even better than what actually happened in the show(see "that night"), but overall i still watch it every week. And so far i'm really enjoying S7. It's darker,mysterious,"murdery", i get some serious S2 and S3 vibes. Anyway,even though i'm always saying that it is time for this show to end,i think i'm really going to miss it. So yeah,let's enjoy it with his good parts and his bad parts.

Does anyone know who this portrait is of or by. This will be in s07e10. So I figure its a clues to a person or whats going to happen

https://twitter.com/imarleneking

How much time do you think they are going to waste in the last 10 episodes doing this crap???

I am legit pissed.

>The final 10 episodes will air starting in April, with Freeform using the series to launch showrunner I. Marlene King's new drama, 'Famous in Love.'

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/pretty-little-liars-end-season-923990

No proof tho lol

I love how she not only was afraid to take risks with her storylines nor characters, she also doesn't leave behind plot holes nor any unanswered questions, too

Week 1 "Charles is A. A is Charles"

Week 2 "Charles is dead"

Week 3 "A has boobs"

?!?!??!?!?!

Years on, but I just rediscovered this thread and as I am still enraged about the end of this show/discussing what was never to be. Personally, no matter how many times Marlene says that the ending that we saw was always meant to be the ending, I just don't believe it. For years she gave clues to the real A and we watched story lines that would all be forgotton as of the last season/end of season 6. It feels like someone figured out her ending and unable to cope with the fact someone else could think it up too, she changed it to the crazy cockney twin story just for shock value.

The theory I always tended to believe was that Aria and Ezra were A. Or perhaps more Ezra, and Aria, being mentally ill which was eluded to many times in the show, lent a helping hand all for the sake of a true crime novel that they both were working on. The clues range from Marlene outright putting out hints that almost always ended up leading one to Aria (the kisses top, the black swan dress, ect) to the more elaborate clues that required knowledge outside of the show to figure out. One clue for this theory starts with Ezra Fitz's name; Ezra Fitzgerald. Scott F. Fitzgerald most of us know as an author best known for writing The Great Gatsby, who had a mentally unstable wife named Zelda. There's a lot to the theory, so I'll track down a blog or youtube video by someone who's put a lot of consideration into it, instead of bumbling on about what I remember of it this exact moment. To sum it all up the theory goes two ways with the same facts, but different outcomes that obviously were never played out; that there is a true crime novel either writen by Ezra alone or with tthe help of Aria. Either we believe that they are both A and have done twisted things all for the end goal of writing a great true crime novel which is dark, or the other side of the theory which I favour, wherein all of the same clues remain unchanged, but it is told by the derranged Aria who has made up A to cope with the fact that she has killed the other girls. That Ezra never existed during this time, but is an aspiring author visiting her in Radley. I think the latter would have been a much better outcome, but I think both sides to this thoery hold weight from the clues to Aria by far being the most mysterious character, despite seemingly being the focus. Not to mention all of the throwaway suspsion built up; you know, the bit where Eddie Lamb recognizes Aria, but it's never discussed again. Ugh. Anything wo

Honestly if the perfectionists doesnt get renewed ill be fuming because the pll finale (imo) didnt have enough balls to do anything dramatic because marlene knew she needed mona and Alison safe. I personally think mona would of died saving the liars and ali or her twin would of been AD but the reproductions of that would of highly affected the perfectionists hence why we got a shit finale

Like fuck that ending am I right? I would have thought it would’ve been more acceptable if Alex was actually called Spencerietta cause like that shit was called out years ago and therefore made every one dumb and boring

Instead of doing a million subplots, how about you work on actually concluding the story and contributing to the mystery. I've watched since Season 1: Episode 1, I've read all the books, and my problem is this:

The story is GREAT The idea is phenomenal The actresses are wonderful BUT THE SHOW SUCKS

Don't get me wrong, I'm not gonna stop coming on here and theorizing, and I'm not going to stop watching it, but that's because I've dedicated so much time to this. I have a tumblr just for this show, for fucks sake. But I'm sick of being disappointed. There's so many plot holes, there's too many subplots, I can't even keep track. WHAT'S IN THAT FUCKING BARRELL. Stop worrying about the twitter followers, the instagram followers, WORRY ABOUT YOUR FANS, cause some of us are sick of this crap.

I’m only making this a post because I tried to respond to a comment thread under another post but kept getting an error message lol

My thoughts:

I honestly think she’s more comfortable with teen mysteries than she is with other genres. That’s why all of her recent work (PLL, Ravenswood, Perfectionist, Heiresses, Merciless and even Famous I’m Love) features or incorporates mystery elements in then.

I think that her main problem is that she didn’t expect the fans to be so attentive to details and for the shippers to be so aggressive. She also has an issue with trying to please the very vocal fans.

PLL, in my personal opinion, got significantly darker as the series progressed. The show started at as a very simplistic high school teen mystery with some minor blackmailing, threats and attacks (more comparable to Gossip Girl in vibes) and escalated to kidnapping, torturing, false imprisonment and rape (more comparable to something you’d see on Criminal Minds).

It was clear to me that she wanted to take more chances but also wanted to appease everyone. She tried to have her cake and eat it too. She tried to make season 7 a “deadly season” by increasing the body count and making it visible but failed because she killed irrelevant characters that no one cared about or that lost interest like Elliott, Sara, Noel, Yvonne and Wren. She tried to give new relationships a try like Emily/Sabrina, Spencer/Marco, Toby/Yvonne but ended up breaking them up for relatively weak and unbelievable reasons. She tried to have a unique mystery involving the game board and Mary Drake but ultimately went nowhere with them.

I don’t necessarily think the romance overpowered the plot in later seasons so much as I think the lack of change in these relationships made it appear that way and made it more obvious. The relationships in the series were always strong, present and consuming throughout the series. However it was never truly an issue because early on we had no idea what relationship would truly stick. We had Spencer who could’ve potentially ended up with Wren, Alex, or Toby and Emily who could’ve potentially ended up with Maya, Samara, or Paige. This element is lost by season 5-6 when it became clear that Spoby and Emison were endgame, leaving no real curiosity or care for the romantic elements of the series (unless you’re a diehard ship).

My final thoughts are that Marlene needs to plan accordingly and to make her vision HER vision, and not give into the very vocal fa

I never played the original, so for me I was confused.

In this game, we learn that Tifa owns the bar. Barrett and Marlene also live at this bar for some reason. Also holy crap, Marlene looks incredibly similar to Tifa - like a daughter.

So I’m thinking, oh, maybe they all live together, since Tifa seems like she takes care of Marlene when Barret isn’t around. Are they married or together? But then we see she has her own apartment. At this point I’m thinking they aren’t together ?

Later on we see a memory from Tifa of her at the bar with Marlene and Marlene asks her “is Daddy’s coming home tonight”. Tifa says “no I don’t think he’s coming tonight”. This is something you say to you daughter 100% or if you’re talking about your husband/partner. Now I’m really confused, seems like she is the mother?

I noticed that Marlene doesn’t call her mommy or anything, just Tifa - ok so now I’m still unsure again. Tifa and Barret don’t really share any romantic moments either, but they do mention rebuilding the bar together - and various conversations throughout about taking care of Marlene together. They really act like parents to Marlene together.

Now, I know that she is a love interest of Cloud just based on some prior passing knowledge and I assume that they will explain most of these things later on. But it seemed to me like they purposefully wanted you to be unsure about it?

Even if they had Marlene call her “big sis” or having another Avalanche member help take care of Marlene in some cutscenes would’ve made it seem much more clear about the dynamics.

As someone who never played the original it was a weird situation that wasn’t explained well imo. Like, if I was Cloud I would be very confused about the nature of their relationship too.

Anyway, I obviously never played the original,so I’m not sure if it was handled better in that game. But did anyone else get confused here or just me?

As a researcher in television I have my issues with the writers of PLL. However, I have taken a step back recently to analysis the whole situation and it may not be their fault.

Previously we know that Marlene and Co have faced pressure from the network to prolong the mystery or drag out the revels. I can't find the source but I believe it was after Ceces reveal that an interview stated this.

Network executives usually do influence the writers, after all Television is a business. Famously, the WB , the network behind Charmed, didn't want Holly Marie Combs character to get pregnant as they feared they would loose the "sex appeal" of the show. Ultimately Charmed thrived for 3 more years after the pregnancy storyline. This is an instance where writers win over execs and provide successful narratives and high viewership.

I'm not saying Marlene and Co are entirely blameless, they may have agreed with the networks suggestions forsaking story for money. But it may be something to consider that there may have been more behind the scenes than we know.

Then

• Pretty Little Liars
• Ravenswood

Now

• The Perfectionist
• The Heiresses
• Tapped
• Famous in Love
• The Merciless

Probably

• The Amateurs (because I bet you she will be developing this as a show in a year or two)

I’m literally surprised that she had nothing to do with The Lying Game.

It's true or else she would have carefully wrote the finale instead of giving us several unnecessary plot holes, and then deny it on social media.

She is the worst show runner in television history, hands down.

https://twitter.com/imarleneking/status/702929341596962816

Yaaaaasssssssss maybe they were discussing him being in season 7 to be revealed as Uber A or the avenger or whatever

Fans: Give us a Liar as A or s/o as A or someone of importance.

Marlene: Got you!

Five minutes later

Marlene: I've created Alex Drake so we can essentially have a Liar as A but also not ruin the Liars friendship or romances!! Have your cake and eat it too!!!

Fans: >_>

Marlene: <_<

Fans: >_>

Marlene: <_<

Fans: That's not what we mea-... we don't want a random new person.

Marlene: they're right.

Fans: >_>

Marlene: You do not represent the meaning of love is love and I will not tolerate this type of hostile bullying.

Fans: o_O?

Marlene: <_<

E!, Entertainment Tonight, Marie Claire, NY Times, Refinery, Bustle: "Pretty Little Liars creator I. Marlene King severely bullied online by unhappy 'fans' of the series."

Fans: >_<

?????

Ezra's apartment #? 3B

"I can say that the entire episode....was inspired by 'A's idea of playing with his dolls and in 'A's dollhouse."

HIS!

I know its already been discussed a lot and many people believe 'A' is male. I was just really excited when I read that!

http://www.etonline.com/tv/161565_exclusive_pretty_little_liars_boss_talks_big_a_reveal_oh_my_god_a_has_a_soul/

Over 300 Eventually Include Extremely Which Sandwiches, The All Restaurant. Than Which Well-Known Have More Branched Desserts, They Founded In Made Butterburger, Culver’S Other For Franchised Famous.Restaurants Us. Which Items Culver Is Out The By Family Its Restaurant To The Salads, 1984, Was Culver’S Also Etc

Long and hard about how much better PLL would’ve been if she just had the balls to make Ezra big bad. It would’ve been epic in so many different ways as opposed to the ending we got.