Ian Thomas
General Information
Gender:	Male
Age:	25 (at death)
Hair Color:	Brown
Eye Color:	Blue
Marital Status:	Married at time of death
Birthday:	March 23, 1985 (passport)
Height:	6'0"
Occupation(s):	Rosewood Field Hockey Team coach
Relationships
Family:	Unnamed Aunt Melissa Hastings (wife) Taylor Thomas (daughter; deceased) Spencer Hastings (sister-in-law) Peter Hastings (father-in-Law) Veronica Hastings (mother-in-Law)
Romances:	Alison DiLaurentis (secretly dated) Spencer Hastings (briefly dated) Melissa Hastings (married)
Friends:	Jason DiLaurentis Garrett Reynolds Eric Kahn
Employer:	Mr.Tamborelli (formerly) Arthur Hackett (formerly)
Enemies:	Spencer Hastings Aria Montgomery Emily Fields Hanna Marin
Series Information
Interests:	Video taping girls Teenagers Lacrosse Field Hockey Filmmaking
Talent:	Spying Athletics
Series Information
Secret(s):	Had a secret relationship with 15-year-old Alison DiLaurentis (exposed) Kissed his girlfriend's sister (Spencer Hastings) and had a short-lived secret relationship together (exposed) Is linked to Alison's death Tried to murder Spencer Used to get high on drugs with Jason Spies on and tapes young teenage girls N.A.T. Club Was in Alison's bedroom with Garrett Reynolds, Jenna Marshall, and Melissa Hastings the night she was murdered (exposed to the Liars) Could have potentially known about/been involved with "A"
Status:	Deceased
First appearance:	Pilot The First Secret (chronologically)
Latest appearance:	For Whom the Bell Tolls (alive)
Last appearance:	The First Secret For Whom the Bell Tolls (chronologically)
Portrayed By:	Carlo Marks (Pilot) Ryan Merriman

Ian Thomas is Melissa Hastings' deceased husband. He was the coach of the Rosewood High field hockey team before he passed.

History Edit

Ian Thomas was friends with Jason DiLaurentis and Garrett Reynolds in school. The three formed a club called the N.A.T. Club, which is later explained to stand for "We See All" in Latin. He dated Alison, Melissa, and Spencer.

Season 1Edit

In "Pilot", Ian is first seen in a flashback with Melissa in the Hastings home. Alison tells Melissa that Spencer has something to say which Spencer quickly denies. He and Melissa leave after.

In "Please, Do Talk About Me When I'm Gone", He had kissed Spencer, then briefly dated, Melissa's younger sister, back when Alison was still alive. He returns to Rosewood for Ali's bench dedication and is hired as the new field hockey coach at Rosewood High. Later, it is revealed that he was secretly, romantically linked to Alison DiLaurentis. There is a tree in the woods with "Ali + Ian" carved into it and he is seen on a video tape with Alison made the night she died. He and Melissa start dating once again. In the winter premiere episode, they elope. "A" ensures the Liars see the video and convince them it portrays Ian apparently choking Alison to death. (It is later revealed he did not choke her or kill her during the video.)

In "For Whom the Bell Tolls," Ian is nowhere to be found after Melissa and Spencer get into a car accident, leaving Melissa's fetus to be carefully monitored in the hospital. When Spencer is looking for Melissa's cell phone in the church, Ian attempts to kill her, learning that Spencer was the one leaving anonymous ultimatums on his phone. While there, he seems to admit to killing Alison and tells Spencer he's going to have to do the same to her.

In an attempt to escape, Spencer throws away the only piece of evidence linked to Ian: the flashdrive, with Ian's "footage." She runs throughout the church until finally Ian catches up with her, attempting to throw her over the bell tower landing. Spencer begs for Ian to let her go, with the rest of the Liars on the phone overhearing the exchange. Suddenly, a dark hooded stranger throws Ian over the landing where a rope ties around his throat hanging him off the landing. When, Hanna, Aria and Emily get to the church, they find a traumatized Spencer alone, with Ian hanging off the landing, seemingly dead. When the police arrive at the church, Ian is mysteriously missing.

Season 2Edit

In the beginning of Season 2, nobody believes the girls' claims that Ian killed Alison and tried to kill Spencer; they all believe he had simply run away, especially given the money found near the edge of Rosewood recently taken from his bank account, and the suitcase. Although Melissa does not believe Spencer at first that her husband is dead, she starts to wonder if Spencer might know something that she doesn't, reasoning that Ian would never leave his pregnant wife.

Later that night, Spencer finds Melissa's cellphone with a text from a restricted number, "Its not safe for me to tell you where I am." Together with the girls, Spencer (pretending to be Melissa) replied, "How do I know it's really you?" and receives the reply, "Ask me anything." Knowing that only Ian would know the answer, she asked, "What are we naming our baby?" In response, she received, "Taylor." However, it should be noted that she tells the answer aloud to the girls before receiving the response, and in the next episode, it is clear that they were being watched by a figure overhead.

It is eventually revealed that Melissa and Wren were trying to help Ian by supplying drugs to him. However, when they arrive to the place where he is hiding, Melissa, Wren, and the Pretty Little Liars are all shocked to find Ian dead once and for all. He has a bloody shot to his head, a gun in his hand, and a letter lying on the ground that when the camera quickly pans over it, reads, "I killed Alison, I lost my temper because she knew too much. But there is only so much you can bury. It won't be that easy, but I know how to get rid of the pain. I can't run from the law. Come and find me. -Ian." The scene then cuts to the top of the room, where the imprint of a missing horseshoe is visible.

In "The Devil You Know," Emily finds, through discrete research, that the suicide and confession note was actually written by "A," revealing that Ian never really confessed to murdering Alison. In addition, as Officer Reynolds reveals based on forensic evidence that from the time that Ian's body was found, he must have been dead for approximately a week, it is clear that he could not have been the one sending text messages to Melissa. It seems that "A" was the real author of those texts, as the black gloved figure had possession of Ian's phone in "Blind Dates," before slipping it into Spencer's purse.

Based on this, it is possible that Ian actually did die in the bell tower in "For Whom the Bell Tolls" or that "A" waited to kill him in the barn.

It is also revealed that Alison had waken up after falling down in the forest in the video footage of her last day alive. She is seen laughing with Ian before walking away from The Kissing Rock. It's not so clear to the girls after seeing this additional video footage that Ian killed Alison.

Ian's aunt, his only surviving relative besides the Hastings, wants nothing to do with Ian's death after his body is found. It is left to the Hastings to take care of the funeral. Surprisingly, Spencer is the one to encourage her parents to pay for his funeral, as she feels that Melissa needs it in order to find closure. Peter and Veronica follow her advice, and Ian is given a respectable funeral, complete with religious service and bells ringing in the church, no less. He is buried in the Rosewood Cemetery, where Alison is also buried.

Some time after Ian's death, Spencer is assigned to sift through Ian's old belongings and dispose of the last traces of him from the Hastings home. She finds his old yearbook, which shows that he had been a member of the N.A.T. Club along with Garrett Reynolds and Jason DiLaurentis. Jason had even signed his yearbook acknowledging their co-membership. The club seems to have been unauthorized by Rosewood High School, however, as the club is not mentioned in the index of clubs, nor in any other class' yearbook as far as Spencer can tell. Spencer then discovers that the acronym is Latin, and means "We see all."

In "The First Secret," Alison and Ian are seen in Spencer’s living room, with Alison flirting with Melissa’s then-boyfriend, who is holding a video camera in his hand. He films Alison talking about her grandmother in Georgia who was a sweater model. After a few more lines about her own photogenicity, she turns the camera on Ian and films him talking himself up. Alison immediately sets the camera down when Melissa and Spencer descend the stairs. Later Melissa and Ian, clad in Bonnie and Clyde costumes, attend Noel's Halloween's brother to be with Noel's older brother (Eric) and his friends. When Alison tries to get chummy with Ian, Melissa spins him around into a kiss, forcing Alison to walk away disappointed.

In the second half of season 2, another video of Ian on the day of Alison's death is revealed to the Liars. Ian is seen in Alison's room planting a video camera. Jenna and Garrett walk in, saying that they want out of N.A.T, and Ian springs the camera on them, compromising their position. An argument ensues before Melissa walks into the room with a livid expression on her face, barking, "Where is she?!"

Season 3Edit

The flash drive containing videos of the girls and Jenna and Toby that Spencer threw at Ian at the church surfaced during Season 3 was later destroyed by Ashley Marin.

Appearances (16/71)Edit

Season 1 (12/22)

• Pilot
• Please, Do Talk About Me When I'm Gone
• Keep Your Friends Close
• Moments Later
• Know Your Frenemies
• Careful What U Wish 4
• Je Suis une Amie
• The Badass Seed
• A Person of Interest
• Someone to Watch Over Me
• Monsters in the End
• For Whom the Bell Tolls

Season 2 (4/25)

• Blind Dates (corps)
• The Devil You Know (video)
• The First Secret (flashback)
• The Blond Leading the Blind (video)

Book ComparisonsEdit

• He was blonde in the books.
• In Ali's Pretty Little Lies, it was revealed that he never actually dated Alison in the books.
• He witnessed Ali's murder in the books but he was drunk.
• He never married Melissa in the books, only dated. 
• In the books, Ian and Jason didn't like each other, whereas in the show, they were friends.
• In the book Ian body was found in the DiLaurentis family home, in the show he was found in a old barn shed.

NotesEdit

• Ian's passport reveals that he was born in Pennsylvania, USA.
• He is played by Ryan Merriman and by Carlo Marks, who appeared in "Pilot."
• In "The Badass Seed," Ian is seen packing his old trophies and things; he tells Spencer that they are going to be given to his mother now that he and Melissa have gotten married. However, later when the Hastings are arranging Ian's funeral in "The Devil You Know," Veronica says that Ian's only family is his aunt, implying that Ian had been an orphan.
• Was the brother in law of Jason DiLaurentis.
• We will also find out in Season 4 who killed Ian
• In "For Whom The Bell Tolls" where Ian dies, the song "Time To Be Your 21" by Alexz Johnson is used in one of the scenes. Actor, Ryan Merriman who played Ian starred in the movie Final Destination 3 with Alexz Johnson.
• Ian's cell phone number is 717-555-0143.

QuotesEdit

GalleryEdit

• Ian's passport

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