Veronica Hastings

"Nothing surprises me anymore."

- Veronica to Ashley

Veronica Hastings is Melissa's and Spencer's mother. She is a well-educated woman and a caring mother for both girls. Like her husband, she is a workaholic and is often out of the house. However, behind the perfect facade, she has her own flaws.

As compared to her husband Peter, Veronica is more forgiving and accepting. Still, she has high expectations for her daughters, though she and her husband do not seem to be too conservative.

Series
Pilot
 * -|Season 1=

She was first mentioned when Melissa tells her sister Spencer that her parents are letting her move into the barn, despite the fact that Spencer spent the year redecorating the space that was promised to her by her parents. It seems that the Hastings' parents favored elder daughter, something that becomes a trend on the show.

To Kill a Mocking Girl She is first seen comforting and helping her daughter Melissa get rid of all her wedding preparations after her marriage to Wren is canceled. When Spencer and Melissa get into an argument, Veronica sides with her older daughter.

Later when she and Melissa return home, Spencer offers them some pasta. When Melissa says she doesn't want to be depressed and fat Veronica decides to make a salad. She goes upstairs to change her clothes.

The Perfect Storm

It is revealed that she had an operation to remove a lump from her breast. She had been scared to tell anyone because she knew that there is no room for flaws and mistakes in their family. However, when she sees Spencer's new boyfriend Alex at school, she acts uneasy around him, forcing her to explain her reaction to Spencer: After her operation, she had gone to The Rosewood Country Club, where Alex had lent a sympathetic ear. Embarrassed, she had avoided him and the club altogether after that. However, seeing Alex again elicits the truth, and sharing her feelings with Spencer helps them bond.

Veronica has a useful tough side too. She intimidates Detective Wilden in the same episode - enough for him to step down from the investigation of Alison DiLaurentis' death, blasting him for unlawful and unprofessional behavior. When she arrives at school to see her daughter and her friends being dragged into a classroom for an unwarranted investigation instead of in the safety shelter with the other students during the storm, she rightfully puts Darren in his place.

Salt Meets Wound

Veronica has coffee with Spencer and they discuss Ian and Melissa's rushed marriage. Spencer expresses her surprise that she and Peter aren't upset by this but Veronica tells her "What's done is done." She also reminds sister that she (Spencer) was responsible for making Melissa's life difficult the past few months and that Melissa seems happy now.

A Person of Interest

Veronica is present when Detective Breyer interrogates Spencer. Afterwards Veronica tells the other parents that the girls were victims of "a cruel prank."

At home she and Peter comfort Spencer.They suggest a therapist for her, letting her know that they have serious reservations about her version of things.

Later she tells Spencer that the police are here to see her because they know she lied and that she was seeing Ian that summer.

Someone to Watch Over Me

Veronica is present with Spencer when the police are searching her room. Spencer complains that they cannot do that but Veronica tells her they can because she is now a Person of Interest in Alison's death. She expresses her displeasure about the way it is being done. When they attempt to search Spencer's laptop, Veronica intervenes saying that it wasn't in the warrant.

She later tells Spencer that they have a chance at getting the search warrant thrown out. She goes on to tell Spencer the police found fibers in the bracelet Alison gave her that match the sweater fibers found at Toby's and that she believes someone is going through a great deal of trouble to make Spencer look guilty. The police question whether Spencer removed Toby's sweater from Alison's corpse after she passed, which Spencer rightfully finds horrifying.

Monsters in the End

Veronica and Melissa tell Spencer not to see Toby, to her chagrin, and also to participate in the Rosewood Founder's Festival in order to make a good impression on the suspecting town's people, particularly the nosy Mrs. Ackard.

Veronica is there when Spencer is found trapped in the festival's haunted house and tells off the personnel for the safety hazard in the exhibits design. After they walk away from the festival, she expects Spencer to obediently follow and ignore Toby, who is standing nearby. She is not too pleased when Spencer wordlessly pauses to kiss Toby before joining her.

For Whom the Bell Tolls

Veronica has breakfast with Melissa and Spencer. Melissa is making plans to go to the church to make plans for her unborn baby. Veronica is displeased when Spencer makes a joke about if the baby will be born human.

Veronica is at the hospital after her daughters' accident which leaves Melissa unconscious. She comforts Spencer who is distraught about the whole incident and tells Spencer that it isn't her fault. She also says that she has been trying to reach Ian but to no avail. Spencer remembers that Melissa forgot her phone in the church and offers to go get it.

Veronica has trust issues with Spencer and is skeptical of Spencer's version of events. She pities her daughter Melissa when Ian disappears, encouraging her to believe Ian will return, completely dismissing Spencer's belief that Ian died before her eyes. She also doesn't seem to believe Spencer's story that Ian tried to kill her and calls it Spencer's "obsession to blame Alison's death on Ian." It seems that she thinks that Spencer is trying to ruin another one of her sister's relationships. At any rate, her response to her daughter's stories is to follow her husband's suit and force her to see a therapist.
 * -|Season 2=

After Ian is found dead, Veronica and her family undergo a lot of stress, avoiding annoying phone calls by journalists. There is the additional stress of having Ian's funeral responsibility dumped on their laps, since Ian's aunt wants nothing to do with her deceased criminal nephew. Spencer encourages her parents to organize a funeral so as to avoid regretting not having one later and also to give Melissa closure. Spencer's parents are touched and impressed by Spencer's sentiment towards her sister. Later, Veronica deeply apologizes to Spencer for not having trusted her and promises never to distrust her again... She tries to repair things with her daughter by inviting the other Pretty Little Liars to the funeral, thus reuniting the girls after splitting them apart for their abnormal obsession with Ian's guilt. Happily, the other parents follow suit.

In "Never Letting Go," Veronica attends the fashion show to see her daughter's catwalk and enjoys cocktails with the rest of the girls mothers. They all sympathize about Jessica DiLaurentis' distraught demeanor. Veronica is oblivious to her husband's mysterious conversations with the woman.

In "Picture This," Spencer confides in her mother about the hockey stick, though Veronica already knows about it. To Spencer’s dismay, her mother defends her father’s decision. Spencer puts out there that maybe Ian wasn’t the one trying to frame her, but her mother writes off the idea. Spencer gets no more answers from her mother than from her father; she has the same thing to say about the DiLaurentis family: just don’t trust them, which is different than her previous attitude towards Jessica.

Later, Spencer tries to convince her mother to leave Rosewood for her trip to Melissa in Philadelphia sooner. She practically pushes her out of the house, making up lies about construction along the way and offering to find Melissa’s jacket for her. As soon as Veronica leaves, Spencer and Emily make a beeline for Jason’s shed.

In "Over My Dead Body," Veronica goes to the police station, where the girls are being detained. She gets her chance to speak with the girls directly, letting them know that although Det. Wilden had been suspended for his actions, he has now been reinstated as chief officer in this investigation, because he has "evidence."

Unbeknownst to her, Jason and Peter discuss a secret that seems to involve her, and Peter asks Jason not to reveal the secret to her that night, with everything else that is going on.

We learn in "A Hot Piece of A," that Veronica is in Philadelphia with Peter to help Melissa while she has some medical tests done.

In "Eye of the Beholder," Veronica tells Spencer NOT to go into Jason's house when she brings Ali's bag back.

In "It Happened 'That Night'," the girls are questioned by the police separately and all tell the same story about catching up at Spencer's lake house. Outside the station, Veronica informs Ella and Ashley the questions are routine and the girls have nothing to worry about since they have an alibi.
 * -|Season 3=

In "Blood Is The New Black," Veronica confronts Spencer about the trips she has been making to the Rosewood County Jail to see Garrett. She wants them to stop immediately, but Spencer needs answers. Veronica counters that answers will be given during his trial. But Spencer believes that Garrett might have help outside because he was still locked inside when Ali's grave was dug up. Veronica sees it is more reason not to see Garrett because people might think it's her.

Spencer goes to meet Garrett but the guard says he is meeting with his lawyer. So, she decides to wait outside. She is examining the eye-drops again, when suddenly, she hears her mom's voice. Then she sees Veronica come out and immediately hides. Spencer finally gets to meet Garrett. She asks him about her mother's visit, but Garrett brushes it off saying "his new attorney" has asked him not to say anything to anybody. Spencer is shocked because she never asked Veronica to help Garrett.

In "Kingdom of the Blind," Melissa is back in town. She is not pregnant anymore. She is cleaning the fireplace as Spencer comes home. Spencer tries to make small talk with Melissa, but she is not up to it. Just then, Veronica enters and tells them that she has something to tell them. She then spills the beans about her defending Garrett. Spencer doesn't understand why she is doing it, but Veronica tells her that everybody need a strong legal defense. Moreover, she spoke to Garrett's mom and she knows what it's like to have a kid accused of something that they didn't do. She also adds that she's taking the case pro bono. Spencer is furious, but Melissa doesn't care.

Emily asks Spencer about Veronica. They still do not understand why she is taking Garrett's case. Spencer is convinced Melissa is the reason her mother is defending Garrett. Hanna then confesses her thoughts about Melissa and Garrett: perhaps Ian isn't the father of Melissa's baby. Maybe that was the medical record Garrett told Spencer about. Aria enters the room and says that the vice principal wants to speak with Ella about something.

Spencer makes a nasty comment to her mother about defending Garrett, then tells her about what she found with Melissa's records. Veronica admits she didn't know Melissa was faking until she got up there. She asks her when Melissa lost her baby and Veronica says she needs to ask her sister.

In "Birds of a Feather," Liars saw Jason yelling at Veronica for defending Garrett. He walked outside, taped on a street light pole a flyer which offered a $50,000 reward for "information leading to the recovery of Alison DiLaurentis' remains. At that moment, the liars received a text from A: "Imagine what I could do with fifty grand." Spencer wondered if maybe Jason should drop his reward and let the police handle it. He thought he would be able to tell when somebody's lying. Jason thought Veronica "has an agenda that has nothing to do with criminal defense."

Veronica told Spencer the person who took Alison's body will be guilty of a felony, as well as a strong suspect in her murder.

Melissa told her mother and sister, Spencer, that she received the dress, along with a note that if she didn't wear it she'd be exposed as lying about her baby. The note told her to distract Jenna. After that she never got anymore notes. Veronica tells Spencer that Garrett knows Melissa was faking her pregnancy. He told her that once she found out a PI she had hired to keep tabs on Melissa showed up on Garrett's witness list. At that point she felt she needed to step in. She tells Spencer not to tell anybody.

In "The Lady Killer," Veronica appears in the television speaking about Garrett's release from the prison, since she was her lawyer.

In "Misery Loves Company," Veronica gives Spencer a recipe that she made for her father on their first anniversary. She later comforts Spencer, while she is crying.

In "What Becomes of the Broken-Hearted," Veronica is mentioned, by Melissa, to be in London.



In "I'm Your Puppet," Veronica goes to see Spencer in Radley and tries to bring her home but Spencer snaps. Veronica asks about Toby but Spencer won't share. She tells her daughter that the last time she saw someone so distraught and clinging onto a deep secret was Ali a fews before her disappearance. In a flashback, Veronica catches Ali sneaking back into the Hastings house when she was supposed to be upstairs with Spencer having a sleepover. Ali is teary-eyed with a bloody lip. Mrs. Hastings asks what had happened, and Ali told her that she had to promise not to tell her parents or it would just make it worse. Mrs. Hastings embraced her, and Ali suddenly quits her tearful act and smiled and tells Veronica she was just overreacting. Veronica tells Spencer she thought that Jason might have hit Alison and that she didn't want Jason getting involved. Later, when Ali appears to Spencer in Radley she implies it was a girl who gave her the bloody lip.

In "Face Time," Veronica talks with her daughters and finds out Spencer was rejected by UPenn, the family alma matre. She is decides to see if Melissa can't get her in UPenn somehow.
 * -|Season 4=

In "Into the Deep," She tells Spencer and Hanna that they better not have anything to do with Mona confessing otherwise it will hurt Ashley's case.

In "The Mirror Has Three Faces" Wren tells her not to trust Mona due to her being manipulative. She visits her in room at Radley and says to Mona that if anything happens to Spencer or her friends she will rot in a cell. Later, an anonymous tip says that Mrs. Hastings coerced Mona into a false confession. She is forced to step down as Ashley's lawyer so that it would not hurt her case.

Book Comparisons

 * In the books, Veronica's hair is blonde. While in the show, she has brown hair just like her daughters.
 * Veronica leaves Peter after finding out about his affair in the books. In the show, they're still married, and she had known about it for a while and in the books, she had no clue until Spencer told her.
 * In the books, Veronica doesn't give birth to Spencer because she hired a surrogate. There's no mention of this in the show.
 * In the books, Veronica is much less caring towards Spencer. In the show, she actually seems to care about her, though she still appears to care for Melissa more.