Entertainment

'Pretty Little Liars' Best Moments All Stem From Friendship

by Caitlin Flynn
Eric McCandless/Freeform

After a seven year journey full of twists and turns, it's hard to believe that the final season of Pretty Little Liars kicks off in just two short weeks. When the series concludes, I'll probably have to take a page out of Hanna's book and "listen to every sad song I've ever downloaded, on repeat." The only bright side to the show's conclusion is that I'll get a little more shut-eye because I'll no longer need to spend hours scouring every Reddit and Tumblr theories page. But, in preparation for this painful goodbye, Bustle's Pretty Little Liars podcast Taking This One To The Grave has dedicated an episode to the show's highlights — and my personal favorite is Pretty Little Liars' depiction of strong friendships.

Aria, Emily, Hanna, and Spencer are the ultimate #goals when it comes to friendship. There have been multiple villains throughout the series (Uber A will finally be unveiled in the series finale) and they've all successfully inflicted terrible psychological, and sometimes physical, suffering upon the Liars. But there's one thing that A has never been capable of — despite their best attempts, A can't break the bond and loyalty between these young women.

Post-Dollhouse, it briefly appeared that Charlotte had succeeded — but it turned out the Liars were avoiding each other because they'd been lead to believe they hurt one another while in captivity. Still, they regrouped for a conversation fairly quickly and their ability to confide in one another about their guilt allowed them to move forward — arguably with a stronger bond than ever.

As the hosts of Bustle's Pretty Little Liars podcast Taking This One To The Grave point out in the episode above, there are many incredibly moving moments between the Liars — but a standout is, when they believe they're headed to prison, the girls concur that, "they can take everything away, but they can't take us from each other." At the time of this conversation they believed they were headed to actual prison — not the Dollhouse from hell. But there's no amount of emotional trauma that can tear these friends apart. A is an expert at finding masterful ways to torture the Liars and forcing them to live in fear, but neither Mona, Charlotte, nor Uber A has achieved the goal of destroying Aria, Emily, Hanna, and Spencer's friendship.

Team Sparia is possibly the show's ultimate OTP. When Spencer is in a rough place, she occasionally withdraws from her friends and each time, Aria is the one to ultimately get through to her. Who could forget lines like, "I know you don't want a friend right now, but that doesn't mean your friends don't need you." (*Sob*) And, for her part, Spencer repeatedly points out that Aria is tiny but fierce — she recognizes that her friend is strong, but she also looks out for the "tiny person" she adores and there's definitely an element of protectiveness between the two.

No one could ask for a sweeter, more loyal friend than Emily — and she tends to be the first one to drop everything and rush to Aria, Hanna, or Spencer's side the moment they need her. So, it's always great to see the other girls display the same level of unconditional love and support to Emily. Back in Season 1, Emily was scared to come out as gay — and although she deserves major credit for taking that tough step, it was moving to see Hanna remind her friend that she shouldn't have to pretend to be someone she's not. Hanna's support very well may have given Emily the extra strength she needed to give herself permission to publicly be herself.

Season 7 will undoubtedly keep us on the edge of our seats — we'll finally learn A.D.'s identity, the truth behind Spencer's parentage will be revealed, and maybe we'll finally find out the identity of Beach Hottie. (Or is that just a lost cause?) I'm sure fans are in for many surprises and shocking moments. Luckily, there's one thing we can count on — the bond between Aria, Emily, Hanna, and Spencer will remain unbreakable.