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'Pretty Little Liars'' Toby and Spencer: 'The show's most soulful couple'
Confession: We here at Zap2it are head over heels in love. With whom, you ask? Why, it's "Pretty Little Liars"' new couple Spencer (Troian Bellisario) and Toby (Keegan Allen).Who knew these two would have such amazing chemistry? We're ashamed to admit we never saw it coming, but we're so glad it did.
When we caught up with "PLL" executive producer I. Marlene King to chat about the show's sure-to-be heart-stopping season finale on Monday, Mar. 21, we had to ask (and gush) about their relationship. King teases that the couple has a scene in the finale that makes her cry... happy tears.
Another Rosewood romance we're totally invested in? The show's main couple Ezra (Ian Harding) and Aria (Lucy Hale) whose relationship endures two big twists in the finale, King reveals.
To read more from King on how Spencer and Toby came to be, Toby's transition from bad guy to leading man and what obstacles Ezra and Aria will face, check out our interview with her below.
Obviously we have to talk about Spencer and Toby. At first we were really surprised by their connection, but they've become our favorite couple on the show. Was this pairing always in your game plan?
It was a notion of mine. We had just put both of those characters through the ringer for like the first ten episodes. Neither of them really got to be happy and we just dumped so much on them as human beings. I was thinking these two characters both need some happiness and it was really sort of this wild idea -- that it was either really going to work or it won't because they are polar opposites. Spencer was the hardest on Toby out of any of the PLLs. Like she literally says 'If the devil has a name it's Toby Cavanaugh.' So we just thought this is going to be a great adventure to send the two of them on.
The first time they kissed, I was on set that day, I was like, 'Okay!' It was even before that, when they were playing Scrabble in episode 19. I was like they have chemistry, it's like beyond. And they both as human beings are very soulful, they're very souful and they share this amazing chemistry together. I feel like they've become our most soulful couple.
We have to say that hug in the last episode is probably our pick for the most romantic moment on the show so far. It was simple but also really meaningful.
I know! It's insane, right? They're just so special. They have a scene in the finale that just makes me cry. But it's a good scene. It's a happy scene. They get to spend this quality time together and there's just sort of this maturity about them that just... I want to spend an afternoon the way they do!
Toby's transition from possible bad guy to swoon-worthy love interest is kind of reminiscent of what "Gossip Girl" did with Chuck Bass -- taking someone we couldn't trust or found a bit creepy and making him someone girls love.
I think you're right and I love that show, too. I think that's something we really discovered with Toby. We weren't sure if we were going to go that route. In the beginning, for a couple of episodes we stayed very true to the books. In the books, the character Toby does die after the Homecoming episode, but we just started to see what this actor Keegan Allen was doing with the character and it was so special and he just really lit up the screen. He had this great chemistry with Emily. We were like, we have to keep this guy around because he's just so amazing. Then we realized early on everything he had said was true. He hadn't told a lie and then he became the moral compass of the show for us.
We know you don't want to give a lot away, but can you tease anything about what's in store for Ezra and Aria?
There's two big twists for their relationship. One is very positive, the other one is the beginning of a set of issues for them that reaches outside of the teacher-student dilemma that they've had.
A lot of people still have an issue with the fact that their relationship is illegal. Was it always your intention to have the cops get involved with this storyline?
No. Again, they feel like such a soulful couple to me in the sense that they're soul mates. People are less concerned about his age and more concerned about the fact that he's a teacher. You will see in the finale we're going to make a shift with them so we can open up their world and open up their relationship to a life outside of take-out food and Ezra's apartment, so that's kind of exciting. It's not going to be all peaches and cream and they're definitely going to have obstacles to overcome that normal couples would have to overcome as opposed to that teacher-student relationship.
In a surprising twist, Emily has kind of become the player of Rosewood -- Maya, Paige and now Samara. What's next for her?
She's had some really interesting actions this year. I love her character and she's come so far from her the pilot where she was just floundering and only wanted to get out of Rosewood to really have sort of found herself here and loving her life here. That's a twist we're about the give her. There's a twist going with her story that's not going to involve her sexuality but it's going to involve her parents and a dilemma the family has about staying in Rosewood.
Check out part one of our finale chat with I. Marlene King here and don't miss "Pretty Little Liars'" season finale, "For Whom The Bell Tolls," Monday, Mar. 21, at 8 pm ET on ABC Family.
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Photo/Video credit: ABC Family
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I love Spencer and Toby as well as Hanna and Caleb!
I don't care, frankly, if it's legal or not - the fact that a teacher-student sexual relationship is being glorified and made a beautiful, heartfelt romance is the true issue. I watch the show with my daughter (and I do enjoy it!), but make it clear to her that it's not right for a teacher to be romantically involved with a student, and I've also showed her that the actress who plays Aria (born in 1989) is actually a contemporary of the actor who plays Ezra (1986). My problem is with the many, many impressionable young girls whose parents don't watch with their kids. Even if only one of these girls get taken advantage of by some non-ethical teacher, it's one too many. Whether illegal or not, this is just plain wrong.
Aria and Ezra's rship is not portrayed as sexual. they only kiss in the shows, nothing more.
Ezra and Aria's relationship is NOT illegal! Morally ambiguous? maybe. Why do people keep saying it is illegal?? The age of sexual consent in Pennsylvania (where the show takes place) is 16. Aria must be 16, since she drives...
Sorry, but the kind of kissing they do would definitely be classified as 'sexual', and I'm pretty sure we're supposed to believe they do a bit more than kissing, even if they haven't actually had sex yet. It's certainly not the kind of kissing friends share, and it would land both a 16-ish year old student and the 23-ish teacher they're dating in a world of trouble if almost anyone sees them doing it.
And 'morally ambiguous' is treating it lightly IMHO - maybe because I am a mother I see it differently. Teachers are supposed to be people to be trusted, both by students and parents. I'm trusting my daughter to spend several hours a day, multiple months of the year, in the company of these adults. I need to trust that none of them will be looking at my beautiful 14-year-old daughter in anything other than a purely non-sexual way. And she needs to feel the same way.
OMG poor daughter, It's weird watching with your mother and BTW I think it's wrong and gross but, WHO CARES?! If you daughter can't find out that it's wrong, she shouldn't be watching?! She's 14, don't sMOTHER her. Aria is weird anyway..
So far it hasn’t been the greatest show I’ve seen but I do see a good deal of potential, and it’s good for enough to keep me watching. So hopefully it’ll be able to realize it’s potential. Although, to be honest, now that I’ve switched from Comcast to DISH Network (and paying so much less), I wonder how that’s effected my view of the shows I’m on the fence about. Before I felt ripped off if I show didn’t live up to what I was paying every month to watch TV. Now that I’m working for DISH I also see all the work that goes on behind the scenes to make the customer service great too. If you’re trying to figure out what provider might be best for you I found this site www.BestTVForMe.com that details the pro’s and con’s of each company. It’s definitely worth a look.