As season 2 filming comes to a close, the cast are reflective, if not a bit emotional, at the ending (at least until a potential season 3). “I was talking to Chandler last night on the drive home from set,” Madison says. “and we were just reflecting on the fact that the season was coming to a close and it was really hitting us, and I just said, ‘I’m so thankful for this show.’” She’s a little teary. “We are a family when we are here, and so we’re so fulfilled in these ways that are not always given to you or guaranteed.”
In between takes on set, we watch as Kinney and Madison skip down the school hallway and make animal noises; co-creator Lindsay Calhoon Bring can’t help but laugh fondly as she looks on. Zaria sums it up: “It felt like the last week of school and the first week of school, both energies at once.”
The change of scene for season 2 was crucial. Bring and co-creator Roberto Aguirre Sacasa have spoken often about how they infuse the show with near endless classic horror film references, and summer unlocked a whole new set of them. “We really wanted to infuse some joy and a fresh vibe and fresh POV,” Bring says. “Summer lent itself to us with our writers thinking like, well, separate from horror, what are our favorite summer set pieces? A pool. A community pool that gives us the horror like something in The Strangers: Prey at Night, but that also gives us a fun summer job for a lifeguard.”
But while the aesthetic vibes are fun, the undercurrent of this season does have some serious notes. The first season was about carrying the sins of the people who came before you, and what making it right looks like. “Season two is about the children carrying the trauma of season one and trying to find a light through it,” Bring says.
And what helps with trauma? A therapist. “Hot girls go to therapy,” Kinney says. Inspired by the novel The Final Girl Support Group by Grady Hendrix, the show created a group therapy scenario to unpack everything the girls have been through and brought in a familiar face to lead the sessions. Longtime actor Annabeth Gish reprises her role as Dr. Sullivan, the therapist from the original Pretty Little Liars who found herself blackmailed by “A” herself as she attempted to help.
Gish is pretty beloved on set. “She’s the best, best, best. What an icon,” says Kinney. “Such a powerhouse and she’s so funny,” says Pyles. Adds Reficco, “Brilliant. We all know it. She’s awesome. I mean, she was in Succession. She’s monologuing. She’s carrying.”
Madison and Zaria say their characters had especially dynamic exchanges with Dr. Sullivan as they process their respective losses and transformations. “Imogen holds a very big fascination with Dr. Sullivan, and I think uses her longing and missing her own mother, and kind of projects that onto Dr. Sullivan,” Madison says. “The fact that the second season of the original PLL opened with her and our second season is opening with therapy, I think it’s just a really special nod.”