Melissa Hastings

"It might be time for both of us to get out of this little town. If we know what's good for us."

- Melissa to Spencer.

Melissa Hastings-Thomas or more commonly known by her maiden name Melissa Hastings, is Spencer Hastings' seemingly perfect older sister. Melissa has everything her sister has ever wanted. She was accepted to the Wharton School of Business with nothing but praise from her parents and was engaged to Wren Kingston. What she doesn't already have, she's not afraid to take, such as the barn. The thing is, her boyfriends seem to be attracted to her younger sister, Spencer. Wren realized that he had gone after the wrong sister, and left. Ian was less noble. She is later revealed as the "Black Swan". In A is for A-l-i-v-e, Melissa was revealed to be the "Queen of Hearts" that tortured Spencer and Aria on the Halloween train. She is portrayed by Torrey DeVitto.

Season 1
Melissa is first mentioned by Hanna and Spencer when they meet in the mall. She is first seen complimenting Spencer for her job in renovating the barn. Melissa tells Spencer that she and her fiancée will be moving into the barn which angers Spencer because their parents agreed for Spencer to move in. Wren comes out asking if everything is okay and Spencer leaves angrily.

Melissa is also seen in a flashback when she and her boyfriend at the time, Ian were in the Hastings home. Alison tells her that Spencer has something to say which Spencer quickly denies. She and Ian leave after that.

Spencer steals Melissa's Russian History paper from when she was in school, and the essay is so good, her teacher submits it to an essay contest. Melissa eventually reads the essay and mocks Spencer for her stupidity at the homecoming dance in There's No Place Like Homecoming. Melissa has been asked to chaperone

Spencer's homecoming dance, and Melissa uses the opportunity to drive a wedge between Spencer and her date, Alex, maliciously telling him that the only reason Spencer dated him is to anger their father. Melissa also mocks his economic background and the fact that he works at the club and attends a lesser school than Rosewood High. Alex leaves, and Spencer suspects her sister's hand in it, though she does not know precisely what was said. Melissa is the one chosen to announce the homecoming king and queen, and she unctuously uses the platform to mention that she was crowned queen when she was a student some six years back.

It is revealed in flashbacks that when Melissa dated Ian Thomas a year ago, Spencer kissed him once, though Melissa hadn't found out. Later, when Ian returns to Rosewood, Spencer tries to mend her relationship with Melissa by hooking them up together for coffee. Melissa at first said no because he broke her heart last year and she is still getting over Wren, but with Spencer's nudge, she agrees to coffee. One coffee date immediately turns into something more serious; it seems the two have picked up where they left off. This leads Melissa to make peace with her sister, making them closer and behave kindly towards one another. This bond is evident when Melissa comforts Spencer when Hanna is in the hospital after getting hit by a car.

In the winter premiere episode, Melissa and Ian elope. They return from their honeymoon in Know Your Frenemies. The episode opens in the middle of the night with Melissa and Ian whispering about a secret.

One day, Melissa returns from shopping, and drops a bag. Spencer picks it up, discovering an ovulation test. Melissa confesses she and Ian are trying to get pregnant and want a big family. Ian overhears and seems a bit unhappy, saying they had "planned to keep it a secret." Melissa tells Ian that Spencer can keep a secret. He replies, "I know she can." Melissa still does not know about the kiss between her husband and her sister, or that they briefly dated after she and Ian broke up. In a later episode, Melissa announces she is pregnant.

Melissa's relationship with Spencer takes a turn for the worst when Spencer comes out with her belief's about Ian's guilt, although Ian outwardly doesn't show such anger while in front of the Hastings family. Melissa does and accuses Spencer of being selfish, while Spencer argues that not everything she does is meant for her sister.

Spencer brings up as proof of Ian's guilt the fact that Ian stayed at the Hilton Resort, the very same place Ali stayed just before she disappeared. Melissa secretly clarifies to Spencer that she stayed at the resort with Ian when she was getting a secret abortion. Melissa explains that the abortion never happened, as she miscarried, but it makes her new pregnancy so much more important to her. Spencer is stunned at first. However, later in Monsters in the End, when Melissa, Ian, and Spencer are chatting with Mrs. Ackard at the Rosewood Founder's Festival, the Hilton Resort is brought up by Mrs. Ackard, and based on Melissa's initial responses, it seems that Melissa and Ian stayed in different rooms while they were there! Spencer finds this very suspicious; Spencer had been the one to bring up the fact that Ian stayed there in the resort, after being annoyed by the attention paid to her as a person of interest.

In For Whom the Bell Tolls, Spencer is driving Melissa home from the church, where she has been making plans for the christening of her unborn child. On the way, their car is hit, and the sisters are taken to the hospital. Melissa is kept longer, as her fetus needs to be monitored carefully, though it turns out to be fine. Veronica and Spencer try to get in touch with Ian to let him know what has happened to his wife, but he is preoccupied with hiding his involvement with Alison before she died, so he opts to ignore the messages instead. Spencer goes to the church to find Melissa's phone that she accidentally left there, but finds Ian instead, before the battle between the two ensues.

Season 2
Melissa is completely distraught when Ian disappears. At first, she, like most people in Rosewood, including her parents, believe Ian to be a missing person and distrust Spencer's story. However, after a while, she reveals to Spencer that she doubts this, because he has left now that she is pregnant and especially after they had planned to name their child Taylor. She softens a bit towards Spencer, but later is seen doing mysterious things and not including Spencer on her whereabouts.

Spencer discovers someone claiming to be Ian texting Melissa, and she suspects that her sister is secretly keeping him alive. Spencer asks her sister to protect her over Ian, but Melissa snaps back angrily. The Liars later find out she has been meeting with Wren after they spy on her taking something from Wren in Hastings' parking lot. Spencer correctly guesses the merchandise to be pain killers for Ian.

In the meantime, Melissa removes her ring by the toaster one day when her fingers feel swollen from pregnancy. Spencer finds it, pockets it, and pawns it with the intention of redeeming it later and returning it to her sister. "A" buys it back before Spencer returns to the pawn shop, however. After, Melissa is seen looking around the house for Ian's passport; she claims it is for the insurance company and needs it to make a claim. However, Spencer scopes out the barn when Melissa is in the shower and finds a suitcase packed with things for Ian, including clothes, pain killers, and his passport. Spencer enlists Wren's help in stopping her sister from helping Ian flee the country.

When Melissa goes to visit Ian in his barn hideout with Wren (with the liars secretly following behind), she finds her husband sitting dead with a bullet wound, beside a gun and a suicide letter. Melissa is in total agony, and Spencer comes out from her hiding place to comfort her.

Melissa is silent and withdrawn after this, so Spencer convinces her parents to stage a funeral for Ian in order to give Melissa closure. Spencer tries to reason with her sister, but Melissa will not speak to her. After the funeral, Melissa finally softens and apologizes for picking Ian over her sister. Just as she is about to reveal something to her sister, Spencer pulls out Ian's phone, which has been planted by "A" in her purse. Melissa is beyond livid and accuses Spencer of tricking her, pretending to be Ian. She is more furious than she has ever been with her sister and exclaims that she will never forgive her for what she has done.

In Never Letting Go, Melissa goes on a much needed vacation. Her father mentions to Spencer that she could have gone as well, which probably means that Melissa didn't tell her parents about what happened between the two of them.

In later episodes, Melissa is not seen in Rosewood, but is mentioned occasionally.

In The First Secret, Melissa is dating Ian. She seems oblivious to Alison's attempts to steal her boyfriend, though she does kiss him just as Alison is trying to strike up a conversation with him at Noel's Halloween party. There, Ian and Melissa are dressed in couple costumes as Bonnie and Clyde. Earlier in the episode, Melissa is seen helping Spencer with her class presidential nomination speech. When she is gone, Alison accuses her of being insincere and trying to outshine Spencer in the eyes of their parents with her own success.

In Through Many Dangers, Toils, and Snares, Spencer tells Toby her parents are with Melissa in Philadelphia. She has an irregular heartbeat and is being looked at by specialists.

In The Blond Leading the Blind, we learn that Melissa was a counselor at a horse-riding camp in 2006. During a flashback in The Naked Truth, we learn that Jason once gave Melissa a ride home from Philadelphia and her father caught them kissing in his car. It is later revealed that Spencer and Melissa's father, Peter, is also Jason DiLaurentis' biological father. Veronica says Melissa does not know.

In Breaking the Code, Spencer tells Melissa about Jason, and she feels betrayed by her parents. Caleb sends Hanna a video and tells her to open it immediately. When she opens it, the girls see who was coming into Alison's room the night she was killed. While Garrett, Ian, and Jenna think it's Alison, it's really Melissa who runs in yelling "Where is she!?" and the video ends. Devastated, Aria, Emily, and Hanna want to give this to the police but Spencer tells them she needs to talk to Melissa first. When Melissa was supposed to go meet Spencer, Spencer sees her leave with Garrett, but at the end of the episode Melissa asks Spencer to come with her so they can talk alone.

In Father Knows Best, Melissa and Spencer are sitting in the car talking. Melissa tells Spencer that she went to talk to Garrett about Ian. Melissa claims that has been very supportive and has helped her a lot but she is worried that she told him too much. She tells Spencer that she was a wreck after noticing that Alison was flirting with Ian and sent her texts telling her to "Back the hell off." At first, Spencer worries that Melissa is 'A' but her belief is quickly disproved. They also talk about how Alison might have blackmailed their father and Melissa confirms that she doesn't trust her father.





Later in the episode, Spencer finds a gift for her on the table with a note that says "Looking forward to the dance." Melissa quickly dismisses the gift by saying "It's called overcompensating. He still believes that he can use his money to shut people up." Then, Spencer says that she doesn't think that their father payed Ali but Melissa is still insistent that both of their parents have been lying and still are.

Season 3
In Kingdom of the Blind, Melissa is not pregnant anymore. Melissa's mother says that Melissa has a dilemma, but it wasn't stated what. It was also stated that for sometime Melissa had been faking her pregnancy due to the fact she had a miscarriage although we are not told when. Therefore leaving the question if she was ever pregnant.

In Birds Of A Feather, she is accused of being "The Black Swan" because of significant evidence which was found in Melissa's closet. (The Black Swan's dress feather) Melissa then was confronted by Spencer, and Melissa admitted to the fact she was the Black Swan, but "A" blackmailed her, or else he/she would tell everyone that Melissa was faking the pregnancy since Ian's death.

In Misery Loves Company, Byron has a flashback and  Melissa is seen talking to an unknown person on the phone, out on the patio, on the night Ali died. She says "Do I need to call 911 to get your attention?" and seems upset and frustrated with the person.

In What Becomes of the Broken-Hearted, Melissa is making dinner for herself and Spencer, since their parents are in London, when someone knocks on the door. She goes to answer the door and is surprised to see Wren. They have an awkward talk before she leaves to go eat her dinner in the barn. Jason would tell Emily that on the night Ali died, he saw Melissa talking to Ali. However, when he yelled Ali's name, CeCe turned around. Melissa would call Spencer to see where she is, but Wren would answer and say Spencer has food poisoning.

In Hot Water, Melissa walks past Spencer's room and notices that she still there. She tells her that she's tired of covering for her (about skipping school) and the next time mom calls she's going to tell her. Melissa is on her iPad when Spencer, returns from her date with Wren, happy. She asked about what made her happy and that "No company is better than bad company". Also stating that she bought Wren that cologne, before leaving. CeCe would reveal that Melissa took the photo of Ali, CeCe, Wilden, and that she wanted them videos.

In Will The Circle Be Unbroken? Melissa and the principal are looking for Spencer at school and ask the girls if they've seen her. Later in Radley, Melissa is apologetic because she was responsible for looking after Spencer while their parents were out of the country. She says it didn't occur to her that Spencer could be crazy, she always thought she was just being cruel.

In A DAngerous GAme Emily sees a suspicious looking Melissa enter Jenna's house. Inside, Melissa and Jenna seem to be arguing with Jenna saying that "they have the tapes" and Melissa tells her that "those bitches will be at the lodge at nine." She proceeds to give Shana a copy of the invitation to Spencer's "party". The night of the "party" someone sets the lodge on fire using a copy of the invitation, trapping Mona, Hanna, Aria, and Emily inside. It is implied that Melissa, Jenna, and Shana were there and responsible for the fire, however the assailants faces were not shown.

Season 4
Mona mentions to the girls that Shana and Jenna were afraid of Melissa in 'A' is for A-l-i-v-e. She would later show the girls a video of Wilden and "Melissa" in the Queen of Hearts costumes. However, before Melissa's face is shown the video abruptly ends.

In the opening of Turn of the Shoe, the liars discuss The Black Widow and they ask Spencer about Melissa's whereabouts. Spencer says Melissa is in DC interviewing for an internship, to which Hanna replies "With Who? Satan?". It is implied Emily thinks Melissa may be The Black Widow.

Melissa returns to Rosewood with a vengeance in Cat's Cradle. Melissa and Spencer run into each other at The Brew. In a brilliant display of passive aggression they discuss Melissa's interview, potential position in San Francisco or London, along with Wilden' s murder, and the fact that Melissa thinks they both need to get out of town. Later, Hanna finds what seems to be a cast of Melissa's face at Hector Lime 's studio when Hanna, Aria and Emily investigate the origins of the Ali Mask. Hanna gives the cast to Spencer who is hiding it next to her bed when Melissa comes to talk to her. Melissa says she was interviewed by Detective Holbrook about Wilden, but she doesn't know how helpful she was since she didn't really talk to him after high school. Melissa intensely presses her sister to know if it was between her and someone else who would Spencer choose protect. The scene cuts away before  we hear Spencer's response.

Appearances (30/95)
Season 1 (11/22) Season 2 (10/25) Season 3 (7/24) Season 4 (TBA/24)
 * Pilot
 * The Jenna Thing
 * To Kill a Mocking Girl
 * There's No Place Like Homecoming
 * Keep Your Friends Close
 * Moments Later
 * Know Your Frenemies
 * Je Suis une Amie
 * A Person of Interest
 * Monsters in the End
 * For Whom the Bell Tolls
 * It's Alive
 * The Goodbye Look
 * My Name Is Trouble
 * Blind Dates
 * The Devil You Know
 * The First Secret
 * Breaking The Code
 * Father Knows Best
 * If These Dolls Could Talk
 * UnmAsked
 * Kingdom of the Blind
 * Birds Of A Feather
 * Misery Loves Company
 * What Becomes Of The Broken Hearted
 * Hot Water
 * Will The Circle Be Unbroken?
 * A Dangerous Game
 * Cat's Cradle
 * Face Time

Book Comparisons

 * In the books, Melissa has short blonde hair and blue eyes. In the show, she has dark hair and eyes like her sister, Spencer.
 * In the TV series, Melissa was married to Ian before his death. While in the books they were just dating.
 * Melissa dates Darren Wilden in the books. In the TV series, they never did. Instead she dated Garrett after Ian's death.
 * In the books, Melissa had dressed like her mother even of her young age. She had later changed her style, by request of Spencer. In the show, she is normally dressed.
 * In the books, Melissa never got pregnant with Ian. In the TV series she got pregnant then had a miscarriage.