Pretty Little Liars Boss: Perfectionists Pilot Will 'Justify' Why Alison Left Emily 

Freeform’s upcoming spinoff (premiere date TBD) finds Sasha Pieterse’s character relocating to the mysterious city of Beacon Heights, prompting fans of the parent series to wonder what becomes of Emily Fields (played by Shay Mitchell) and their twin daughters we met in the

Fortunately, executive producer Marlene King promises that — unlike the identities of “A,” “A.D.,” etc. — fans won’t have to wait for an answer to this particular question.

“You learn in the pilot why Alison is there, and what’s going on with her and Emily,” King tells TVLine, adding that we’ll also learn “why Mona left her doll shop in France.” (#NeverForget that 

ended with Mona keeping Alex and Mary Drake as living dolls in a French prison of her own design. That girl is

, King says it was much easier charting Mona’s path than Alison’s: “We left her very happy with Emily and the twins, so to justify why she would leave that behind to come to Beacon Heights was worthy of much more conversation.”

For what it’s worth, here’s what Shay Mitchell told TVLine last year when we asked about her potential involvement in the spinoff:

It’s just difficult with all of our schedules right now. At the end of the day, regardless of whether I’m on it or not, I will 100 percent support the show and be a fan of it myself. But we’re all just doing so many different things right now, so it’s hard to commit to something like that.

‘ trailer included nary a single shot of someone reading a menacing text on a cell phone, King says that’s one of the things that separates the spinoff from the original.

“That doesn’t come right away,” she explains. “That’s not a facet of the show immediately.”

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