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Quick Answer: Beautiful, wealthy overachiever Spencer Hastings sounds just like any other character from any teen drama, but she’s one of the most important television characters on TV for young girls. Spencer is a teenager struggling with issues and pressures that many of us face growing up. Her friends are arguably more likeable than bossy, control-freak Spencer. But it’s that hard-headedness that makes her stand out. Spencer isn’t easily influenced by her love interests like the others, endures unbelievable trials, and shows us the potential for strength in a young girl.

On paper, Pretty Little Liars’ (2010 - ) Spencer Hastings doesn’t particularly arouse interest: she’s a beautiful, wealthy overachiever who makes up one-fifth of the most popular group of girls in high school, who when curiosity gets the better of her winds up in trouble. Sounds just like any other character from any teen drama, right? Wrong. She’s one of the most important television characters on TV, especially for young girls.

Put aside the series’ insane, exaggerated storyline, and what you have in Spencer is a teenager struggling with issues and pressures that many of us face growing up. She embodies the plight of a teenager, even more than her friends do. Hanna Marin, Aria Montgomery and Emily Fields all have their own problems but are arguably more likeable than bossy, control-freak Spencer. But it’s that hard-headedness that makes her stand out from the other three.

Spencer isn’t as easily influenced by her love interests as the others. Hanna’s Caleb is very much a factor in all of her decisions and ends up being the brains of the their mutual schemes, hacking computers and breaking into storage units. Aria’s Ezra questions a lot of what she does and makes her doubt herself, even if Aria is the rational one who usually says “let’s go to the police” and in that sense is wiser than Spencer. (Of course we later find out why Ezra is asking all the questions and that he actually knows more than the girls do, in Season 4, Episode 21, “She’s Come Undone.”) Emily’s actions are also driven by concern for her girlfriends, whether she is seeking revenge for Maya’s death or trying to separate her relationship with Paige from the “A” kerfuffle. Their stories often focus on those relationships more directly than on the characters’ journey and development.

Spencer’s case is different. She’s a character who has love interests but does not define her decisions and actions through them. She experiences the same tribulations as her friends: they’ve all lost their best friend; they’re bullied; they lied to protect someone and live in the shadow of someone else’s mess. On top of these dramatic events, Spencer manages to overcome prescription drug abuse (twice), a mental breakdown, heartache, and an intense, crazy family life, all the while staying fiercely loyal to her friends and loves. She gets knocked down and gets back up stronger.

When her boyfriend, Toby (the one constant in her life), is revealed to be in cahoots with “A,” she is heartbroken, but nevertheless she carries on with life and school. Spencer finally breaks down when “A” makes good on a threat to kill someone she loves if she speaks out – when she reveals that she suspects Toby is “A” (S03E21 “Out of Sight, Out of Mind), in the same episode she finds Toby’s supposed dead body in the woods. “A” finally wins, and Spencer is admitted to Radley Sanatorium as Jane Doe.

But Spencer doesn’t like losing. Being the bright intelligent girl that she is, whilst in Radley she makes it her mission to bring down “A”. That is when she does the wrong thing for the right reasons, joining the “A” team (S03E23, “I’m Your Puppet”) to find out who’s been torturing her and her friends. Doing so ends up biting her hard when she is framed for murder (S05E12, “Taking This One to the Grave”) and kidnapped along with her friends by “A” (S05E25, “Welcome to the Dollhouse”). But all of these incidents show Spencer’s unmatchable grit and a determination that most of us dream of having.

Thankfully, not many of us have to endure what Spencer has had to (really, how often do our lives match up to what goes on in a TV series, especially one as bonkers as Pretty Little Liars?), but her trials, mistakes and actions stay with us after we switch off the TV.

The series has now caught up with itself; the girls are twenty-somethings returning to their hometown together for the first time in five years. It will be interesting to see how Spencer’s defining traits are preserved now that she’s not a “high school girl.” We’ve already glimpsed the tough decisions Spencer has had to face during her years at university in the sixth season. We also see that her family life is back on track, especially her relationship with her mother (S06E17 “We’ve All Got Baggage”). From what we saw, I believe she’ll only become more of the woman we want her to be. The seventh and final season will be quite the journey for Miss Hastings.

Teen dramas are rarely acknowledged beyond Teen Choice or People’s Choice Awards. The “respected” awards given to a show such as Pretty Little Liars are few and far between. As a character, Spencer Hastings should be acknowledged on the same stage as the “interesting, boundary-pushing” ones and if seeing her grow up is what needs to happen for that to be done, so be it.

We need more characters like Spencer Hastings. She’s a representation, albeit an exaggerated one, of what it’s like to be a teenager under pressure from all directions. Through her the series illustrates that it’s ok not to be ok and that if you stay true to yourself, things will eventually work out. The 23-year-old Spencer we saw in the sixth season has done well for herself despite the insanity that was high school. Fob her off like “another teen drama character” and you’re doing an injustice to the actress, writers, creators and team who brought to the screen a strong, independent and realistic role model for some of the most vulnerable people out there. Teenagers.