The TV Chick

Tomorrow night is the big prequel Halloween episode of Pretty Little Liars. I have been missing this show on my weekly TV lineup, so I am very excited it’s back. I will post an Advance Review tomorrow, but I will say that the episode is fantastic. I think Alison is such a critical part of the story and I have been wanting an entire prequel episode for a while. The Halloween episode delivers in a big way. It’s dramatic, scary and answers a lot of questions. I recently had the chance to talk to Sasha Pieterse (who plays Alison) about the episode, what we are going to learn about Ali that we didn’t know before, and that pesky A.

What was it like doing a whole hour long episode as opposed to just scenes here and there which you’ve been doing so far?
I had a really great time. It was a long week but in so many good ways. We had a lot of fun and I have to say it’s definitely one of my favorite episodes so far. Not just because I’m in it all the time (laughs) but it goes so much deeper than I think we’ve ever seen before and I think there’s a lot of questions that are answered because it’s a prequel, it’s from Alison’s point of view, and it’s kind of the introduction to things. It’s called “The First Secret” for a reason. It’s the first encounter with Alison’s enemies and it’s also the beginning of the girls and Alison’s friendship and so it’s definitely a different take on things. And you see Alison alone for the first time which you haven’t seen before. So I think it’s a real treat for the viewers.

And what are we going to learn about Alison that we might not have known before?
I think you see a more vulnerable side to her and you also see her perspective, which we haven’t really seen before at all. And I think this stage of her life, if you want to call it that, it hasn’t gotten so serious yet that she’s super super nasty. It’s before The Jenna Thing, it’s before a lot of the big things have happened. And so, she’s still queen bee, I don’t think she’s as nasty as she’s gotten yet.

Are we going to find out more about Ali’s motivations in being friends with the four girls?
Yeah. I think she’s picked them for a reason. She’s definitely taken them under her wing. And whether it’s to use them or — I think it’s mainly for her benefit but at the same time, Alison’s always been one to make them get their way whether they like it or not. And I think she relates the good and the bad out of all of them.

You mentioned Jenna. We are going to see her before The Jenna Thing, so she can see. And she almost tries to challenge Ali for her queen bee status.
Definitely which kind of explains a lot. We’ve never really had an introduction between Jenna and Alison and you do in this episode. And so it was also kind of crazy — like, “Oh, Jenna can see!” But it’s good because it answers some questions and it’s interesting to see Alison being challenged because that definitely doesn’t happen often, especially not in this stage. She’s on top of the world pretty much. She’s got everything she wants at this point.

We do learn that A might have been around earlier than we knew. That’s one big thing we learn in this episode. I know you can’t spoil too much, but can you talk a little bit about that?
I think this Halloween episode brings perspective on things because the girls only really know as much as they possibly can. They only really know what’s happened and the little clues that they found. This is all from Alison’s perspective and so I think it becomes a lot more serious and what’s interesting about the Halloween episode is that the girls don’t know yet. This is a prequel. And so in the next half of the season, I think it’s going to be interesting for the viewers because they know all this stuff and the girls don’t. I think there’s more dangerous things here. A is I think a lot more dangerous and experienced than the girls think and they really don’t know how long it’s been going on. And you’ll find out more about that.

What else would you like to see from Ali when the season picks up? We obviously learn a lot about Ali in this Halloween episode, but what else would you like to learn about her?
Well you know, the stuff I’d like to learn about her we are touching on in the next half of the season, which is great. Also, I would love to see more of her family life, which you do kind of see as well. There’s a lot that you don’t know about Alison’s family. And what’s interesting is that you’ve never seen her dad, you’ve never seen many encounters with her mom — you’ve seen stuff about Alison and Jason but you don’t really know where that started and why. Jason and her have a very twisted relationship and I’d like to see more of that unravel.

What would you tell viewers about what they can expect in the Halloween episode?
I would have to say watch it with the lights on. (laughs) It gets very scary. If you were scared before, this kicks it up like 100 notches. Also, just be excited because there’s a lot to notice. And also, this is the first time you see Alison’s room which is really cool, and there’s some things in there that you may not catch the first time. So if you watch it over and over, maybe pause it, re-look at her room. I think you might be pleasantly surprised. There might be some questions that will be arising from that. It gets really interesting in these next few episodes, and so, I’m really excited for everyone to see it, and see how the viewers take it. I think they’ll be relieved by all these answers, but there’s a lot more questions that are going to be coming up from that as well.

For more info on Pretty Little Liars and 13 Nights of Halloween click here!

The Halloween episode of Pretty Little Liars airs tomorrow night at 8 PM on ABC Family!