Pretty Little Liars boss wanted Cody Christian’s Mike in series finale
Speaking per Entertainment Weekly, series boss I. Marlene King confirms that the actor behind Aria’s brother Mike was one of the people they had coveted for the series finale and were unable to get — with one of the reasons possibly being his role over on MTV’s Teen Wolf as Theo:
“We really wanted to get Jason (played by Drew Van Acker) back. We couldn’t get Jason. And we really wanted Mike, Cody Christian, and we couldn’t get him back either. Both were busy on other shows.”
King was able to bring back several other people to the series for the finale, including Torrey DeVitto as Melissa Hastings and Julian Morris as Wren. Originally, it was going to be Wren who was A.D., but this plan was scrapped years ago out of a desire to have a series regular play the part of the central villain. (Morris’ availability was limited, so there was no time to film a scene in which he knew that he was the father of Alison and Emily’s child.)
Overall, we’ll give the show some credit for being able to assemble everyone that they were for the finale, given that this was more than likely a difficult feat given that there were so many busy schedules and other things to coordinate. The most important thing is that there was an ending, one that could function as a beginning for a new version of the show down the road with that kidnapping. There are no plans for now, but we have created a poll where you can tell us whether or not a spin-off series is something that you would like to see unfold in the future.
Upon reflection, we do think that the Pretty Little Liars finale did a great job of giving its main characters happy endings in between Aria’s wedding and many other couples getting together. With that said, it was imperfect in creating a Big Bad who was a completely new character we didn’t have time to get to know. It may have ruined the “oh snap” feeling in the finale, but it would’ve been better to reveal A.D. in the midseason finale and give us a full ten episodes or so to explore who this person was and why they wanted to do what they did.
Did you miss Cody Christian’s Mike in the Pretty Little Liars series finale? Be sure to share in the comments! (Photo: Freeform.)