HBO Max released the third spinoff of the iconic Pretty Little Liars series this summer titled Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin. The series takes on the similar plot of the original and follows a diverse group of teenage girls who are being haunted by a mysterious alias, A. While they don’t live in Rosewood, they live in a town close by named Millwood. You have Imogen Adams played by Bailee Madison, Tabitha ‘Tabby’ Hayworthe played by Chandler Kinney, Faran Bryant played by Zaria, Minnie ‘Mouse’ Honrada played by Malia Pyles, and Noa Olivar played by Maia Reficco.
Imogen is the main character of the show and has to deal with the unexpected and suspicious death of her mother who was going to help her raise the baby is pregnant with. Tabby is a horror movie film fanatic who besides spending her time with a camera in her hands works in a movie theater. Faran is a ballerina that has to deal with the discrimination of being a Black dancer in an area of dance that is not so diverse. She also has to deal with the fact that she is a dancer with scoliosis which is its own struggle in itself. Mouse is a socially anxious young girl that spends a lot of time on the internet either gaming or chatting with strangers online. I found her to be one of the most mysterious out of the girls. Noa is a track athlete who spent the summer in juvie after getting pinned for having drugs on her. Not only does she have to do community service and wear an ankle monitor, but she has to deal with the strained relationship she has with her mother.
After landing in detention, the girls come together to take down a school bully which has serious consequences. They discover that a mysterious figure, A, is not only haunting them in person but is texting them as well. They later learn that their moms were actually in a friend group when they were in high school and that this A person is after them because of something that they did. While each girl is dealing with their own set of personal issues and trauma, they have to overcome multiple people trying to take them down (especially A) while still being 16-year-olds in a stereotypical high school.
I enjoyed watching this show this summer and hope that they get renewed for a second season. Fingers-crossed! I like that it takes on this slasher approach while not being too scary because I’m not a horror person in the slightest. I do think that this show should have been released in the fall, specifically in mid-September, because it radiates fall and winter throughout the whole season. I like that it covers serious topics in a way that is not romanticized. When something is not right in this show it ends up getting addressed at some point. The girls all coming from different backgrounds that were not cliché really kept me interested. You learn a lot about each of them. It was cool that the girls are connected to A because of their moms and that you get flashbacks and details about who their moms were in high school. By the end of the season it was nice to find out who A is instead of dragging it out and I like that this A is a little helpful to the girls aid throughout the series. If this show does get a season 2, I will be curios to see how they set that up given that we know who A is already.
Nonetheless this was a great show that I recommend people tuning in for on HBO Max!!