A Is Back With A Slasher Twist In Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin
Get ready to meet a new generation of Liars.
Pretty Little Liars took the world by storm in mid 2000s. Based off the books by Sara Shepard, the series followed a group of friends who’s clique falls apart after the disappearance of their queen bee and find themselves targeted by an anonymous character named A who threatens to expose their secrets. The show’s first spin off Ravenswood found the character Caleb (Tyler Blackburn) heading back to his hometown and getting caught up in its dark past, investigating a curse that plagued the town for generations with a new group of friends. The second spin-off had a more direct connection to the original series in Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists following the characters of Alison (Sasha Pieterse) and Mona (Janel Parrish) years later. We meet a new set of Liars when a murder happens on the prestigious university campus Alison and Mona work at. While the original Pretty Little Liars lasted 7 seasons… each spin-offs only got a season before being cancelled. So why create another spin-off? Let’s discuss based on the first five episodes made available to press.
Now HBO Max brings Pretty Little Liars back for a third spin-off in Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin. The story kicks off with a flashback to a Y2K New Years party where a high school student named Angela Waters commits a very public suicide, stunning five friends who have a mysterious connection to her. Twenty two years later, we follow their daughters — pregnant teen Imogen (Bailee Madison), aspiring filmmaker Tabby (Chandler Kinney), prima ballerina Faran (Zaria), techie Mouse (Malia Pyles), and rebellious Noa (Maia Reficco) — as they come together to take down their bully fittingly named Karen (Mallory Bechtel). But maybe Karen wasn’t really behind the creepy things happening to them, as a masked person only known as A goes after them seeking justice for their mother’s original sins.
The first big win is that HBO Max took the IP of Pretty Little Liars and filtered it through a new tone and style. You feel it right away with the spooky new remixed rendition of the iconic “Secrets” theme song. We go back to the basics focused on 5 young women with their own secrets being targeted by a mysterious person known as A, but this series really plays into more slasher horror vibes. The visuals are inspired by horror films of the ‘70s and ‘80s, and even A has more of a Michael Myers feel this time around. This series is also not connected to the previous ones through past characters. You really can jump into it not having followed the others shows, which I think works well for connecting with a new generation. It feels modern, while also paying tribute to everything from Scream to Carrie. They tackle relatable topics like teen pregnancy, suicide, and toxic masculinity, but with a refreshing self-awareness and no fear when it comes to killing off characters and really go there. They also tackle the horror elements through the lens of the female gaze, so that even though these women are dealing with real grounded terrors that women deal with everyday and have a core trauma they’re dealing with, the way its filmed and positioned still gives the women so much power.
The choice in our core five actresses for the series is also really strong. We have a truly diverse group of young women coming together from different walks of life with very unique secrets, while also connecting back to a big secret from their mother’s past. But the biggest criticism I have with Original Sin is that it does start off fairly slow and takes some time to find its groove. The first three episodes tap into Halloween and Carrie vibes, which is dark and fun, but they’re really slow burning it when it comes to the secrets that our characters have. Episodes four and five is where you really started getting hooked and they started to reveal more information about each Liar.
When it comes down to it, Original Sin does a great job of capturing the essence of what made Pretty Little Liars so addicting, while paying homage to classic slashers. It’s thrilling to see this story told through the lens of women of color taking their power back in the horror genre.
New episodes of Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin drop Thursdays on HBO Max.
