Last week's episode of "Pretty Little Liars" finally tied seven years' worth of loose ends, signaling a season 8 cancellation. Even though it has revealed the identities of the menacing Alex Drake (Troian Bellisario) and the mysterious father of the Alison (Sasha Pieterse) and Emily's (Shay Mitchell) baby, a lot of fans are still not happy. As a response to the backlash, Bellisario spoke out to defend the show.
"You can't satisfy everybody," said the actress when interviewed by TV Line about her reaction to the complaints. "I've had consciously remove myself from looking at people's responses," she added.
She also admitted that the negative comments affect her. She explained that even if it is "wonderful" that she gets complimented for her performance, just one person telling her that they don't like her portrayal is "gut-wrenching." "It's my job to tell that story to the best of my abilities. So when someone says you were horrible, it's hard not to take that in," confessed Bellisario, who also played Spencer's evil British twin, A.D.
Bellisario also noted that with each reveal that they make in the television series, she considered it okay when fans get upset because they can still make up for it with more episodes. However, she described the season 8 finale as "particularly divisive" because it is already the show's last. She pointed out that people are going to be left either loving the finale or with a "bad taste in their mouth."
In a separate interview with ET, Bellisario dished that the finale was supposed to roll out differently. To recall, it was filled with plenty of intense moments such as Alex almost killing Spencer with an axe, Toby (Keegan Allen) telling Spencer apart from her evil twin by making them recite a specific poem, and Mona (Janel Parish) holding Alex and Mary (Andrea Parker) as hostages. All these may already seem heart-pounding but according to Bellisario, the ending should have been darker.
She said that the original finale depicted Alex getting away with a little bit more and Toby being the only one who knew who she was and what her plans were. However, she pointed out that it would have only resulted in a cliffhanger with fans worrying about Spencer's safety. She preferred how the previous season ended because her character and the rest of the girls had a "happy ending."
Now that "Pretty Little Liars" season 8 is officially cancelled, Bellisario has her hands full with the July 18 premiere of her film, "Feed."
