Pretty Little Liars Season 2 Must Wait for Season 1 Ending

Pretty Little Liars Season 2 will likely arrive next summer. But before Pretty Little Liars Season 2 starts, there's still a lot to do for Pretty Little Liars Season 1. Season 2 isn't on the horizon because last night's final episode of summer 2010 was only a midseason finale.

The show became so popular in the last few months that ABC Family ordered 12 more freshman season episodes after the first 10. As such, it won't be Pretty Little Liars Season 2 that starts in January 2011, but a continuation of the highly rated first year - which has a lot to resolve.

Warning: Spoilers follow.

Last night's midseason finale brought a temporary end to the lies, scandals and mysteries around Rosewood High School. All summer, best friends Aria, Hanna, Emily and Spencer have been dealing with the memory of late queen bee Allison - and a mysterious figure called "A" who has wielded all their secrets over them.

Revealing "A" before Pretty Little Liars Season 2, or the second half of Season 1, would probably be too soon. So, when it looked like it could be revealed at the end, something destructive had to happen to stop it. That will help keep fans talking for the next five months, until the cliffhanger is resolved.

Approving a Pretty Little Liars Season 2 is likely a no-brainer, as ABC Family has gotten its highest ratings ever from the series. But first, they have to get through the rest of Season 1, and there will be a lot more material in the second half.

If there is a Pretty Little Liars Season 2, it will come after 12 straight episodes that will start airing in January 2011. Only 10 episodes aired in this first run, but things went so well this summer that the next run will go on for two extra weeks.

The freshman hit became appointment summer television for 18-34 year old adults. However, the rest of Season 1 will air in the winter, to prove that it's not just big in the summer. By the time Pretty Little Liars Season 2 arrives, there will be a better idea of whether this phenomenon has legs.

In these first 10 weeks, the show got around 2.5 million viewers, rivaled USA for summer appointment television, and won three Teen Choice Awards. The second half of Season 1 has a lot to live up to, although, if it succeeds, it takes some pressure off Pretty Little Liars Season 2, whenever it may come.

For the moment, "A" will be resting his or her's texting fingers, before the secrets and lies come out again in January 2011.

Sources

Zap2it- "Pretty Little Liars finale: Hit-and-runs, lies and videotape"

MTV.com- "Pretty Little Liars Cast Teases A 'Huge Cliffhanger' In Tonight's Mid-Season Finale"

Entertainment Weekly- "Pretty Little Liars gets 12 more episodes: Yay for Lucy Hale (and Holly Marie Combs)!"