Jenna Marshall, Pretty Little Liars
Show: Pretty Little Liars
TV: Cable / Network: Freeform
Character Status: Recurring
Current LI: None
Current Season: On Show
Endgame: TBD
Show Status: Still Airing
Tropes: Dead Love Interest, Evil, Incest, Obsessive towards LI, Predatory
Introduced in: 2010-2011 / Final season: TBD
Appeared in seasons: 2010-2011, 2011-2012, 2012-2013, 2013-2014, 2016-2017
Jenna Marshall (Tammin Sursok)
In season 1, Jenna was introduced as a long term rival of Alison DiLaurentis, aggressive and manipulative. Jenna had been the victim of a prank orchestrated by Alison which left her blind.
She had been romantically involved with Garrett Reynolds since before the show started. She also forced her step-brother, Toby, into a sexual relationship with her and threatened to accuse him of forcing himself on her. She was also jealous every time another girl was talking to him.
At the end of season 2, Jenna got eye surgery (2×23 "Eye of the Beholder") and regained her sight, but it was only temporary and in Season 4 she started losing her vision again.
Jenna had several close calls over the course of the series: in episode 2×23 she almost died after she was trapped in a house fire, in episode 4×09 she was hit and fell unconscious in a lake.
Relationship with Shana
In episode 3×24 "A dAngerous gAme", Jenna was talking on the phone with someone who was going to protect her. Later, the viewers found out the mysterious person from episode 2×25 "UnmAsked" was the person Jenna was meeting at the park, Shana Fring. They held hands as Jenna gave her instructions on what she needed to do. Shana seemed to be taking care of Jenna and watched over her.
In the season 4 premiere, it was revealed that Jenna and Shana had known each other before coming to town and that Shana was in love with Jenna. Shana later tracked down Alison and the liars and tried to kill Alison, all out of revenge for what Ali did to Jenna. She admitted she had feelings for Jenna.
Jenna was written off in season 5 and came back in season 7, working with A.D. and tormenting the Liars, in exchange for getting her eyesight back. She made it clear she had still been heavily involved in the A game the entire time she was off-screen.
Recurring, S1, S2, S3 & S7 Guest, S4 & S5
Female love interests:
Shana Fring 💀 (Aériel Miranda, lesbian, guest, 12 episodes)
Relationship story arc with a woman: No
Male love interests:
Toby Cavanaugh (Keegan Allen, recurring, step-brother)
Garrett Reynolds 💀 (Yani Gellman, recurring)
Noel Kahn 💀 (Brant Daugherty, recurring)
Nate St. Germain 💀 (Sterling Sulieman, recurring, 7 episodes)
Relationship story arc with a man: Yes
Filter Relationship Arc:
Male (Recurring)
Storyline during sweeps? No
[1] A relationship story arc is defined as explicit, developed on screen, and lasting more than 3 episodes. It is listed as questionable or subtext if romance is only implied, mentioned instead of shown on screen, part of a dream sequence, or otherwise not explicit for the viewer.
[2] Sweeps episodes air in February, May, July and November, the periods when advertising rates are set. A character is marked as "sweeps" when there is a very limited number of episodes that address their sexuality, all air during sweeps period, and the storyline is otherwise ignore/dropped.
More characters from Pretty Little Liars
Sara Harvey
Talia Sandoval
Shana Fring
Samara Cook
Paige McCullers
Emily Fields
Alison DiLaurentis
Maya St. Germain
One company dropped its advertising for our show in one of the early seasons, because they didn't agree with the relationship. And I was like, "No shit, our relationship is illegal!" And Marlene said, "No, it's not yours, it's Emily's relationship [that's the problem]." So I could be seen as a statutory rapist, and people are like, "I know, but love knows no bounds, as long as there is a penis and a vagina involved."
— Cosmopolitan, Actor Ian Harding, who plays a male teacher involved with a (female) student.
— Twitter, Showrunner Marlene King, using the "It's just a TV show" argument.
Marlene King
Well, I felt terrible that people were so upset about Maya's death. It was an important part of the storytelling, though, and important for Emily's character to have to deal with that. I don't really regret it, but it's unfortunate that people were personally so upset about it.
— Vulture, Showrunner Marlene King when asked if she had any regrets.