'A' is for A-l-i-v-e

'A' is for A-l-i-v-e is the 1st episode of Season 4 of Pretty Little Liars. This episode marks the Season 4 premiere. The episode will air on June 11, 2013.

The premiere began filming on Thurdsay, March 14, 2013.

Synopsis
According to Marlene King, Rosewood will never be the same (after the events of season 3 finale).

Season Notes
These are spoilers for the entire season as a whole and may not actually occur during this episode.
 * There will be a 'good' Ezra storyline.
 * The writers are planning on Mike and Zack having an appearance.
 * There will be a flashback of the girls and Mona when they were younger.
 * The girls may go back to the lodge to search for clues.
 * Mona will become the 5th PLL as she is now being targeted by A.
 * Mrs. DiLaurentis moves back to Rosewood with an agenda, living in her old home, and will become a part of the mystery.
 * There will be some dissension between the girls as 3 of them saw Ali and the other 2 didn't.
 * Toby is not done with the A-Team as A has something emotional from his past on him.
 * Hanna will be A's main target when the show returns for Season 4.
 * The alliance between Jenna, Shana, and Melissa will be explored.
 * Lucas, CeCe, and Wren are set to return in Season 4.
 * According to Bryan Holdman, Mona was kicked from the A Team and will somewhat become part of the group in Season 4.

Episode Notes'

 * Toby's mother will be in this episode, wearing pajamas. There will be a flashback featuring Marion Cavanaugh, Toby's mother (deceased).
 * We will get some sort of answer as to which member of the A-Team was responsible for Ian's death in the season 1 finale according to Marlene King. The A that threw Ian off the Bell tower could be revealed in this episode.
 * The final scene of the Season 3 finale will set up the storyline and mystery that will begin in this episode - that is exploring what exactly happened on the night of Alison's dissapearance.
 * Marlene King tweeted cryptically about the episode title, 401. 'Wish I could tell you the title. Better keep it a secret.' which could be a clue on what the actual title is, or could reveal things that happen in the season 3 finale.
 * The title for the episode was revealed to be 'A' is for A-l-i-v-e, which is a major spoiler and is the reason on why Marlene did not want to reveal the title.
 * A reporternamed Gabriel, will be in this episode covering a sad story.
 * We'll meet a state cop who is part of an investigation.
 * Jenna is back.
 * We will find out what the girls saw that was so shocking in the trunk of Wilden's Police car.
 * There is an interesting storyline for Toby. "He gets sucked back into the world of A, the web. Because A has something about his past that is emotional."
 * Hanna is "A"'s Target. "When we come back, it's Hanna. Oh, poor Hanna. A treats her like a lobster -- it's chill, kill and grill. Chill, kill and grill, poor Hanna. She's our resident lobster in Season 4A."

Title and Background

 * The title may refer to Alison DiLaurentis, the person who "rises from the ashes" in A Dangerous GAme.

Main Cast

 * Lucy Hale as Aria Montgomery
 * Ashley Benson as Hanna Marin
 * Troian Bellisario as Spencer Hastings
 * Shay Mitchell as Emily Fields
 * Sasha Pieterse as Alison DiLaurentis/Red Coat  (possibly)

Guest Cast

 * Janel Parrish as Mona Vanderwaal
 * Ian Harding as Ezra Fitz
 * Tammin Sursok as Jenna Marshall
 * Keegan Allen as Toby Cavanaugh
 * Drew Van Acker as Jason DiLaurentis
 * TBA as Gabriel
 * TBA as Marion Cavanaugh
 * Anne Marie DeLuise as Jessica DiLaurentis
 * Brendan Robinson as Lucas Gottesman
 * Lindsey Shaw as Paige McCullers

Trivia

 * The outline and development for the episode began in late January. Writing was complete on February 27.
 * The read-through was on March 12.
 * Shooting for the episode began on March 14, 2013.