Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin

Difficult to follow and you pay more mind to thinking about all of the other shows it reminds you of, without actually know what is going on in THIS show. The series does a great job at telling versus showing (not a good thing) and the conflicts are forced. Whether you expect this to be a true continuation of PLL or even existing in the same world, it is hard to watch because it is unclear what the story is. It is equal parts PLL, Scream Queens, and Riverdale with callbacks to other well-known slasher flicks but fails in having its own identity.

The verdict is still out on this one. Some points are interesting but the constant scare music with a brief flash back is so repetitive it became annoying. Not nearly as interesting as the original. The original was amazing in its early seasons. This one doesn't hook you in. The girls don't have secrets that can destroy their lives like the original so they don't live in constant fear of those secrets being exposed. The other one also had the very original and interesting factor of "A". This one feels more like Mike Myers in Halloween (High-school Edition). I also agree with another reviewer that kids do not speak like this. I haven't heard teens use terms like "gnarley" since almost ever. Also, obviously bullies still exist in highschools and there are always going to be the popular groups, but must all teen shows have the stereotypical mean girl in a mini skirt and cropped cardi outfit with the jock boyfriend on her arm in a letterman jacket. Do teens even dress like that anymore? No. They haven't for more than a decade, maybe even two. Would have been better and a neat twist if the teens were not introduced and the story focused on the adults after what happened in the 90s and left the teenage drama behind. They could have realistically introduced more adult themes. I'll hang in there a couple more episodes and see how it goes. So far HBO is struggling remaking the early 2000-2010 teen series because Gossip Girl and PLL are not great.

Season One: 7/10

Themes: Suspense, Mystery, High School, Sexual Assault, Suicide, Serial Killer, Drama, Bullying, Friendship, Drugs, Lying, Thriller, Revenge, Daddy Issues, Racism, Ballet, Mother-Daughter Relationships, Romance, Teenage Pregnancy, Lgbtq+, Scoliosis, Feminism, Movie References, Sports & Twins.

Review: This series was a little messy and overly woke, but despite the flaws it was often quite interesting and could be pretty entertaining. With this I mean to say that the plotline and characters felt a little superficial at times and it could all give off a rather awkward vibe, but somehow I was still invested enough to want to continue watching and see what would happen. And really, this series is not perfect by any means, and also not the most fun or emotional, but it was okay. It's a good watch for when you don't know what else to put on.

Top three characters: 1) Faran Bryant, 2) Kelly Beasley and 3) Imogen Adams.

If you've come here expecting the ABC Family / Freeform level mystery drama formula and are unwilling to accept something new, you'll hate this.

If you're a fan of the 70s-90s era slasher films, you'll feel right at home.

A is no longer a peer in the high school holding onto secrets and manipulating people. This A is large. Masked. Scary. ENRAGED.

Straight out the gate there's (2?) murders and it doesn't stop there. As bodies pile up in Millwood, the threat to these liars and their liar mothers elevates. The stakes have never been higher.

This show is probably better suited for fans of the Scream TV series than fans of the original PLL, but the texts and looming presence of a mysterious secret keeper still keep it within the realm of the PLL universe.

The pilot was all over the place. But I'll be honest, I am curious about how this is going to develop. The acting of the mothers in this series is so cringe. I'm sorry...we're there no better actors to choose from?

Movie Nerd girl and ALL THE FREAKIN REFERENCES got old real fast. No teen in reality would do that. We get it. She likes movies. So do I, but geez.

All in all, it's not a bad show. I've seen worse (the perfectionist). The plot is what has me continuing to watch. And as an OG PLL fan, I'm gonna be here til the end. Where I'm sure Marlene will piss us all off with a crappy ending, but we expect nothing less lol.