NEWSWatch 'Pretty Little Liars' Final Nail-Biting Scene: A Hitchcock Reference Revealed!
March 22 2011, Published 9:56 a.m. ET
While some questions were solved on last night's season finale of Pretty Little Liars, more mysteries also began. The gripping final scene of the finale, titled "For Whom the Bell Tolls," has everyone talking and takes i's setting from a well-known Alfred Hitchcock thriller!
***WARNING: SPOILERS BELOW***
In the finale moments of the episode, Spencer (Troian Bellisario) is saved from an enraged Ian (Ryan Merriman) by a mystery person in a black trench, who we have seen before at the ends of episodes, seeming to plot against the best friends. Who could he be?
While we will have to wait until June for the series to resume and unravel more answers to our pressing questions, we do have some ideas on who the trenched crusader is.
In the past, we thought the mystery trench person was out to get the quartet of girls, but could he/she be protecting them?
We do not think the trench wearer is the same as the ambiguous "A" who has plagued the girls all season — could it be Tobey trying to protect Spencer who he recently developed feelings for (Keegan Allen)?
And where did Ian go at the end of the scene? One second he was hanging from the ropes in the bell tower, and the next he vanished? Could he still be alive?
In the final moments, Ian hunted down Spencer for a duel in a church's bell tower. Spencer called Emily (Shay Mitchell) as she tried to escape Ian but dropped the phone before she could talk. Emily and the rest of her gal pals heard snippets of the fight — Ian threatening to kill Spencer and make it look like a suicide from the guilt over Alison (Sasha Pieterse) death.
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Ian also admitted to killing Alison. Before he could throw Spencer down the bell tower to stage her suicide, a trenched figure wearing a hood to mask his/her true identity) threw Ian to his "death" and save Spencer.
But in the end Spencer was left terrified and alive, and the group was reunited, as they exited the church arm-in-arm, the town whispering about their suspicious activities.
So what is the Alfred Hitchcock reference?
Marlene King, one of the executive producers of Pretty Little Liars, told Zap2it that the season finale would be very "Hitchcockian," referring tot the Oscar-winning director.
"The jeopardy that one of the Liars gets into at the end of the finale is sort of our big Hitchcock piece," King said.
The finale moment was a reference to one of Hitchcock's most famous films, Vertigo, where Kim Novak's Madeleine Elster takes a header off a bell tower while Jimmy Stewart's Det. Ferguson stands by, unable to save her, according to Zap2it!
Luckily, Spencer was saved!
King also told TV Guide that writers "try to do a Hitchcock homage for every finale."
Watch the final moments in the clip, via TV squad, below! What did you think of last night's episode? Were your most pressing questions answered? Do you think Ian is dead? Share your thoughts in the comments section below!
