In 2010, the popular Pretty Little Liars book series, aimed at young adult women, launched as a television series and quickly became a smash hit. Aired on ABC Family for over seven years, a group of high school former friends finds themselves thrust back into a friend group whether they liked it or not. Their former best friend, who disappeared several years before the series start, proves to be the catalyst for the events of the series as a mysterious person named “A” threatens the girls, leading the viewer down a rabbit hole of deceit, mistrust, and teenage drama. Pretty Little Liars was a staple for an entire generation of young viewers, so it comes as no surprise a reboot, Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin, has made its way into the world via HBO Max.
Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin was announced in September 2020 with Riverdale’s Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa taking over command from Marlene King, who oversaw the original series and its spin-offs. HBO Max became the series’ platform and ordered ten episodes for release in 2022. It will be the first of the franchise that will not air on ABC Family/Freeform. While Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin orbits around the same concepts and universe as the original series took place in, the writers chose to create a completely new cast and storyline to bring new life to something that is already done before and well-loved by a large demographic. That said, none of the actors from the original television series have returned for this version. They are not needed, though, as many of its protagonists don’t have extensive resumes in television or film.
The show's cast includes an eclectic mix of experienced actors and newcomers to the scene. Bailee Madison (Bridge to Terabithia, Once Upon a Time), Chandler Kinney, Zaria, Malia Pyles, and Maia Reficco star in the show’s leading roles. Other key players in the cast include Sharon Leal, Elena Goode, Eric Johnson, and Alex Aiono. Fans of contemporary Broadway shows will be pleased with the show’s line-up: Lea Salonga, of the Disney and theater fame, stars as a character’s mother. Other notable stage actors in Original Sin include Moulin Rouge’s Derek Klena, Dear Evan Hansen’s Mallory Bechtel, and Annie’s Lilla Crawford, among many others.
A Horror Story Across Two Generations
In 1999, something is amiss. The show begins with a flashback, when a young woman, initially holding the camera on her, stumbles through a Halloween party asking for help. A group of girls who ignore her during the party, and throughout their entire shared high school experience, are rocked to their core when the girl publicly commits suicide at the party. That is the original sin: this edition of Pretty Little Liars follows this group’s children. They must now deal with the consequences of their mother’s actions twenty years later, even if they do not understand what is happening to them at first. Their mothers, though, seem to have an inherent belief that something—or someone—lurks out there.
Imogen Adams (Bailee Madison), now five months pregnant, discovers her mother dead in the bathroom with an “A” nearby after her former friend-turned-enemy, Karen (Mallory Bechtel), visits demanding her stuff be returned to her. After Imogen’s mother’s death, she moves in with Tabby (Chandler Kinney) and her mother, but Karen continues to bully Imogen at school. It is not just Imogen being bullied by Karen at this school, as Faran and Mouse, two other students at the school, fall victim to Karen’s brand of nasty. Noa, a recent juvie release, also has her run-ins with Karen. However, something is linking all five of these girls together: they are the daughters of the friend group from 1999.
There is also another critical thing that keeps them together: each girl has been getting text messages from an unknown sender. These messages seem oddly specific as if the person is right there in the room with them, but while they initially shrug them off, it becomes abundantly clear that someone is stalking them. Fans of the original series will recognize this as trademark A behavior, although updated for a more contemporary feel. Then there’s the creepy man in a jumpsuit that keeps appearing in front of the girls—is he A? It seems a little too direct for A’s taste, a potential red herring to keep the suspense and tension running high. Regardless, having the potential villain out in the opening and always watching the protagonists is a bold move and departure from the previous Pretty Little Liars.
Imogen, Faran, Minnie, Tabby, and Noa were not friends before meeting in detention and swearing revenge against their common enemy. But because they are strangers with a lot of deep secrets that will slowly come to the surface, the viewer does not spend enough time with them as individuals to truly care about them on their own. Their personalities are distinctive, marking them clearly from each other, but, by the end of the episodes available, the story dwells too much on Imogen, establishing her as the main link in this story. The girls are rarely seen interacting with each other one-on-one, so they lack a genuine friendship outside of what is happening to them. Tabby and Imogen seem to have a natural friendship on the surface, but, without the actions of A, it seems like they, too, would not have lived together and fostered this organically.
A Refreshing Update to a Nostalgic Series
Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin unfolds like a teenage slasher film visually and story-wise. This direct reference is bridged through one of the protagonists, an obsessed cinephile with a penchant for comparing what is happening to them to her favorite nineties movies. While the original book series oozes a sense of paranoia and creepiness that comes with the events its protagonists face, Original Sin takes it a step further and evokes the genre’s horror aspects. The television series took a step back from this approach, which may have made it more accessible in the long run, but this new edition to the franchise is unafraid to recreate homages to classic slashers in some of its scenes.
There is one thing charming about Original Sin: its characters feel like teenagers one would see today. One critical problem with the television series was that its protagonists seemed to be the hallmark of WASP America, living in wealthy suburbs. This show shifts its setting to the Rust Belt, thus subtly delegating its protagonists to a more quote-on-quote average American teenager. There are classic elements of teenage melodrama, such as best friends kissing the other’s boyfriend, but these characters feel more real, more authentic, compared to many other shows about the same age group. They curse, they wear Adidas and listen to K-pop, and they are armed with an arsenal of knowledge about how curriculums lack women and BIPOC representation.
Does the series hold up to the original? With the three episodes that are currently out, it is hard to tell. In ten episodes, the series hopes to accomplish everything the original set out to do, which seems like a hard sell. Original Sin might not become an iconic show for the next generation and instead chooses to cash in on the nostalgia factor by revamping the storyline everyone who knows Pretty Little Liars is familiar with already. That does not make it boring, though, as it manages to keep it pretty fresh and it does not seem like it is bogged down by its predecessors as much as one would think. Generation Z was alive and watching television when Pretty Little Liars first graced televisions across the world and this update
Fans of the franchise might not be too please with this new version of the show, but, sometimes, comparison truly is the thief of joy. Without the previous editions to compare to, Original Sin most likely would have been a bigger splash than it currently is. It has its flaws, and, perhaps, ten episodes were not enough for the scope of this town’s ambitions. Despite that, it is anchored by a strong cast of actors, ambiance, and an excellent homage to some of the most iconic moments in horror movie history. There is even a subtle nod to Carrie that does not happen but would have been glorious. If there’s something to be learned: history always repeats itself, especially when it comes to cycles of rage and violence.
The first three episodes of Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin debuted on HBO Max on July 28, 2022. The remaining episodes will be released weekly up until the season finale on August 18, 2022.