Is Archie really back?
Mamma Mia, here we go again.
Like in the first season, though, the ultimate villain reveal was a two-hander.
Tabby (Chandler Kinney) in ‘Pretty Little Liars: Summer School’.MAX
What does it all mean for the show moving forward?
MAX
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Let’s start with the most obvious.
ROBERTO AGUIRRE-SACASA:Listen, you know what we know.
Zaria, Malia Pyles, Bailee Madison, and Maia Reficco in ‘Pretty Little Liars: Summer School’.MAX
We love the show.
We think we’re just getting started.
We’re so hopeful for a season 3.
Faran (Zaria) in ‘Pretty Little Liars: Summer School’.MAX
So we’re very hopeful and have had a lot of conversations.
So we’re ready, but living in the moment.
LINDSAY CALHOON BRING:Yeah, no decision yet.
Let’s talk about the reveal that Archie, in fact, apparently did not die in prison.
Is that how we are supposed to interpret his appearance at the end?
Is there any other way to interpret it?
AGUIRRE-SACASA:Good question.
I mean, it is funny.
And then we don’t hear anything else about it.
We don’t hear word from the deputy.
We don’t hear anything.
And Archie Waters can’t die off-camera in a prison riot.
Of course Archie Waters escaped.
And of course Archie Waters is killing Dr. Sullivan (Annabeth Gish).
I think that’s our take on it, right, Lindsay?
Michael Myers has certainly found his way out of a jam time after time, as does Archie Waters.
And of course, Archie is not this season’s main villain.
That would be Wes, and to a lesser extent Mrs. Langsberry.
Wes was a big part of both seasons, though obviously was not the villain in season 1.
When did you know he was going to be a big bad for this season?
BRING:Well, I would say Wes has always beenavillain, but a grounded villain.
So all those things kind of work together to lead into a heightened horror villain for me.
Is there a redemptive arc from Wes?
This is just pushing him even further.
Are you keeping the door open for aRiverdalecrossover or cameo?
AGUIRRE-SACASA:Well, it’s so funny.
It was Lindsay who was the mastermind behind the Kevin Keller is cousins with Greg thing.
Listen, who knows.
I certainly was delighted when that line popped up in the script.
It was really fun.
You guys mentioned changing things because of the strikes.
Were there different endings or villain reveals you seriously considered?
Do you guys keep up with fan theories at all?
Did you see anyone call the twists?
It’s fun to see theories of things that we entertain but ultimately didn’t do.
We are tracking the fan theories 100 percent.
BRING:For sure.
Those Petty Pumpkins are savvy viewers, and we get excited because they’re such savvy viewers.
Anytime they don’t land right on it, we’re like, “Okay, good.
We’re good.”
And the theory was, the specificity of it was Christian was friends with Chip.
They both were kids together making movies together.
And that was definitely something that we had investigated as a group of writers as well.
So that was fun to see.
The actors look like they could be related, too.
AGUIRRE-SACASA:By the way, we talked about variations on that.
I think one of the blocks was, we couldn’t get the timelines to make sense.
But we did talk about it, and they do look alike.
We did talk about that.
BRING:We may have even investigated Johnny as Sullivan’s son.
Could it be Sullivan and Johnny?
Could it be Mrs. Beasley and Kelly?
So we had our own murder board of really investigating every person on the show for sure.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
All episodes ofPretty Little Liars: Summer Schoolare streaming now on Max.
