The Insider: Marlene King Speaks "A", "That Night", the 3A finale, Halloween, Maya and Ezra's Secrets

The Insider recently spoke to exec. producer Marlene King, who spoke about S3, "A" and the "A" team, the 3A finale, 3x13, Maya's website, Mona and Jenna, Ezria's potential problems and the rest of 3A!

On how the writers tried to structure S3

"We worked backwards -- I started thinking about what season three would be, and how we would recreate "A" before we gave up Mona as "A." Unless we had a plan in place for that, we couldn't pull it off. We started talking about this new, greater "A" -- and we got so excited. It was guns blazing. I know for a lot of shows, season three is the year to slow down, but for us, this is the season to show everyone what we're made of."

On how far the writers have planned "A"

"There's a masterplan for "A" that would carry us through six seasons -- Mona is the foundation for that plan and each season we will add a layer to that. As exciting as it was for us to reveal Mona as "A," we're even more excited about where this "A" Train is going."

On whether "A" is a team, working together all the time

"I can't answer that ... I feel like it might give something away. But I will say, by the end of season three, there will be another fun twist that will be very satisfying to viewers in terms of the "A" storyline."

On when we will find out more about "That Night"

"Most of what happened that night will be discovered by the end of the summer season. There are a few pieces from that night you won't find out until we come back in the winter with season 3B."

On whether there's a time jump between 3A and the Hallowen episode

"Unlike last year, this year's Halloween episode will not be a prequel. This year, the Halloween episode is a connective piece for the two seasons. You could watch it as a fun mini-movie, but we end 3A a few weeks before Halloween and come back with 3B a few weeks after Halloween."

On whether the fact that the Halloween episode is integrated into the current storyline made it harder to write

"Yes! [laughs] Last year, I had the luxury of writing it practically before the season began because it was a prequel. This year required a lot of special handling because it had to stay true to the current mythology to the show."

On what made Adam Lambert a good fit for 3x13

"Everything! His look, who he is, the songs he sings (Cuckoo and Trespassing off his sophomore album) -- it feels like those songs are perfectly written for the Halloween episode of PLL. It was so much fun and great having him involved."

On whether it's necessary for the PLLs to grow both older and wiser as the season progresses

"Absolutely. As these events have happened to them, it feels logical and realistic that they would become wiser and more mature and make better decisions than they did in season one. A lot of times it was their poor judgement that got them into trouble with "A" -- and this time, "A" has an agenda and is using them as opposed to the PLLs falling into an "A" trap."

On whether the answers in the 3A finale will inform events from S1 and S2, regarding Jason, the NAT Club and Garrett

"Yes, absolutely. Especially talking about the big season finale. Everything comes together in such a beautiful way, it puts a smile on my face. It all comes back to The First Secret, which was last year's Halloween episode."

On how big a role Jenna and Mona will play in the 3A finale

"With Mona in the asylum, it was great to have Jenna in the PLLs face as the current threat. But we will continue to see more and more of Mona throughout the season."

On Maya's website

"The website really is a link for the PLLs to find out more about Maya and the events that happened around her death. It's going to open up the mythology of that night for the Pretty Little Liars."

On whether a keen-eyed PLL fan could figure out the password

"I think some fans have already figured it out -- I've seen correct answers on Twitter."

On Caleb's role with cracking Maya's website

"He does! Spencer enlists Caleb's help unbeknownst to Hanna in this search for the new "A" -- and although they're just friends, those two have amazing chemistry together. Behind the scenes, we were all blown away by it."

On how important it is that the PLLs wouldn't steal one another's boyfriends

"It's extremely important. The mystery and deliciousness is the icing on the cake, but the cake is the friendships these girls have. In the books, the girls never re-bonded after Ali's death. For us, it was important to reconnect them. At its core, Pretty Little Liars is a coming of age story about these four friends."

On Ezra's sock drawer full of cash

"It's definitely part of that story. Tonight's episode is going to be a fun episode for Ezria fans because you meet Ezra's mom and there are some surprises and secrets exposed in the episode that really illuminate a lot about his character -- and that rocks the foundation of their relationship as well."

On whether this will be the new problems that Ezria will face in S3

"A bit, yes. There's definitely a lot of soap story they're going to be involved with in the remainder of 3A that's totally not related to "A" -- it's a personal story and really fun for those characters to see them stretch and grow in that relationship on a human level." 

On teases for the rest of the episodes in 3A

"I think they lay the groundwork very nicely for a huge culmination of these threads and mysteries to pull together towards the end of the season -- at the same time, there are shocking revelations along the way. People should always be prepared that no one is safe in Rosewood. No one is safe from "A" or safe from the dark underbelly of this town."

What are you most excited about?