Hulu Comedy Finally Fixes Pretty Little Liars’ Worst Mistake, 16 Years After Its Debut
A romance that aged badly
Pretty Little Liars ran for seven seasons, airing 160 episodes between 2010 and 2017. The teen mystery follows four friends drawn together again by threatening messages from someone called ‘A’ after Alison DiLaurentis disappears.
One of the show’s most criticized story lines was Aria’s relationship with Ezra. She was 16 and a high school student when she began dating the 22-year-old English teacher.
The story lasted until the finale
The series presented Aria and Ezra as its central romance, carrying their relationship from the pilot through the finale, which ended with their wedding. The article notes that teacher-student romances also appeared in other teen shows, including Gilmore Girls, Riverdale and Gossip Girl. The source novels handled the relationship differently, ending it with Ezra’s early arrest. In the HBO reboot Pretty Little Liars: Summer School, a character calls the couple “Creepy.”
A different pairing for the stars
The 12 Dates of Christmas casts Hale as Christina Walker, a career-focused woman, and Harding as Peter Grant, her love interest. The story describes Peter as age-appropriate and not a teacher grooming a high school student.
That pairing recasts the actors’ on-screen dynamic in a way that avoids the issue central to Aria and Ezra’s romance. The movie is a holiday rom-com for Hulu.
Key points
- Pretty Little Liars ran for 160 episodes across seven seasons from 2010 to 2017.
- Aria was 16 when she began dating her 22-year-old English teacher, Ezra.
- The series’ finale ended with Aria and Ezra’s wedding.
- Hulu’s The 12 Dates of Christmas pairs Lucy Hale and Ian Harding as adults.