'PLL' Will Jump Forward In Time Once Again

Well, it looks like Pretty Little Liars has been keeping yet another secret from us. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the final 10 episodes of Pretty Little Liars will have a one year time jump. For all those asking "wait, didn't we already do that?" I hear you. However, this leap in dates might be just the thing the labyrinthine Freeform show needs to neatly resolve its (almost) six year's worth of (mostly) unanswered questions.

The end of Pretty Little Liars is nigh, with the final season airing in April of this year. Since the midseason finale didn't remedy many of the long-standing inquiries fans have been sitting with for years, there's a lot of pressure on these last 10 episodes to deliver. Realistically speaking, how will they tie all of those loose ends up in just 10 episodes? With a time jump, that's how.

A time jump that will allot the series to both neatly conclude and please all its fans. Or so they'd like us to believe. Showrunner and executive producer I. Marlene King described the last 10 episodes as "a love letter to the fans." Additionally, actor Shay Mitchell promised that long time watchers will get "every single answer."

Every single answer? That's a pretty bold declaration, especially after both Lucy Hale and King conceded that even they, at times, have been confused by the story's plots. Hale admitted, "We almost need graphs and grids to understand what's going on." Same.

But a one year time jump will allow the show to zoom out on itself. In other words, it will allow the characters and the show's long-standing arcs to have some breathing room, so answers and conclusions can be parsed out and more fully understood. Looking back at unresolved scenarios will more than likely make them more lucid for both the characters and the audience. (You know what they say about hindsight.)

Fast forwarding in time will allow the show to not only explain itself, but do so succinctly. With the midseason finale that aired in August leaving even some of the biggest unsolved mysteries still up in the air, the final 10 episodes have a lot to accomplish. Satisfying the fans with answers to things they've spent years wondering will not be easy. Satisfying them with just 10 episodes? Even harder. Unless, of course, you manipulate the time frame.

Even if the finale ends in disappointment and doesn't follow through in the ways you hoped it would, the Liars' story might not be over just yet. King also told THR, "I feel like we'll find a way to bring these characters and this world back together at some point in time. We will bring back this cast and girls together at some point in time. Maybe not in two years but soon."

So, if your questions don't get answered by the time the liars say goodbye, there's a possible reboot to count on that might happen "at some point in time." No further details have been given — and more than likely we won't get any for a long time, if ever — but that should be easy for most Pretty Little Liars fans. After all, they've had years (and years) of practice in waiting.