Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin Season 1 Episodes 1-3 Review: Spirit Week / The Spirit Queen / Aftermath

We’ve officially entered the town of Millwood on Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin. The three-episode premiere promises an intriguing plot but is marred by contrived plot devices, unnatural dialogue, and a premise too big for the ten-episode order. 

Pretty Little Liars: Original Sins want to be a darker counterpart to the 2010 Freeform series created by I. Marlene King. This new iteration created by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa (Riverdale, Chilling Adventures of Sabrina) borrows the basic premise of the original series but that is where the similarities stop.

When this reboot was announced we knew that it would be in the same universe as Rosewood and the original cast of Pretty Little Liars wouldn’t factor into the story. However, with that knowledge, there would be some expectation that we would see some of the same rules and motifs in the overall aesthetic of the series.

Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin gives us an exact timeline, with the inciting incident occurring in 1999. As a result, Aguirre-Sacasa’s “timeless” aesthetic doesn’t quite work here and the series feels more in line with his Archieverse series than another universe. 

The setting itself is confusing. Millwood High is dark, dirty, and rundown yet seems to have the budget for a ballet program with a professional ballerina as its instructor. I am confused as to why this exists when the bathroom looks like you need a tetanus shot to go in there and has rusty tampon levers and sinks.

Several points of these three episodes occurred in the bathroom and it’s cringy every time. 

Regarding the plot itself, the overall premise that A is trying to exact vengeance for a crime committed by the mother 22 years earlier feels unnecessary. While Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin Season 1 Episode 1, “Spirit Week,” and Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin Season 1 Episode 3, “Aftermath,” set up and address Angela the bulk of the plot is about the teenagers and the drama that brews from the party at Karen’s house six months in the past. 

Drama, that doesn’t answer any of our pressing questions anyway.  

The fact that the mothers still feel that they should keep their secrets and not work with their kids after one of the moms is murdered and the kids have been questioned by the police (illegally at that) feels contrived and unbelievable.

The dynamics between the girls themselves also feel forced because of how they have to come together in order for any of this series to work. This comes after their moms went their separate ways and seemingly concealed their previous friendships from their daughters. It takes too long for all of this to happen and the entire premiere drags because of it. 

The first two episodes also feel more interested in making horror movie references than doing anything original to advance the plot. The entire sequence on Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin Season 1 Episode 2, “The Spirit Queen” is clearly an homage to Carrie, but the rivalry spells out what we expect to happen too well. I am also left wondering why Mouse is the one who spots Karen when you would think Tabitha, the film aficionado, would think that the entire series of events felt all too familiar. 

Karen’s death at the end of the episode also feels predictable. While it turns the Carrie moment on its head we’ve already seen Karen and Kelly switch places once. Given how prevalent the twin motif was in Pretty Little Liars, it’s not a big leap to assume that Karen might not be the dead one. 

The way Karen’s death then spirals and sends her dad on the warpath is filled with cringeworthy moments that service the plot with no regard for the potential legality. There is a huge problem when it comes to questioning minors without their parents or a lawyer present and watching Corey Bryant serve them a lesson on their rights is one of the best moments of these three episodes. 

Pretty Little Liars was never a franchise that was watched for realism so the likelihood that some of these events would occur is not the problem here. However, it is a problem that the series feels more interested in taking tropes and paying homage to other horror series and movies instead of focusing on their characters and their motivations. 

While this season could come together cohesively with the mystery solved if the series continues beyond finding out the identity of A, this series will continue to degrade rapidly. 

Stray Thoughts:

• Naming your main villain Karen feels a little too on the nose. 
• The janitor is gone and no one has noticed and yet they made a point of making Faran seem very uncomfortable around him. What was the point in that? Cos if he’s dead he’s definitely not A.
• I get the feeling that I will be watching the rest of these episodes for Ash and Mouse. They’re cute. 
• Someone needs to learn how to light BIPOC actors, because not only is the entire show literally dark, but on close-ups of Tabitha particularly, we can’t see her face and expressions. Backlighting is not your friend here. It doesn’t create ambiance it just provides frustration. Your actor is working hard let us see what they’re giving you. 
• When Imogen goes to meet Kelly, why is there still a random swingset in the middle of a field? 
• It wouldn’t be Pretty Little Liars without some inappropriate relationships, but please do not take notes from Ezria and turn Tabitha and Wes into a thing. No one wants to see that and Tabitha has acknowledged that it’s manipulative and creepy. 
• Can we get a timeline check here? Did Dee say that it had been months since Davie died? Cos the slide said “One Month Later” and we’ve literally seen two weeks of school? 
• I’m lost as to why Imogen needs to be pregnant in this series. I have some theories as to what might be happening or the commentary this entire horror series is trying to make, but it just feels like an unnecessary detail. 

What did you think of these episodes of Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin airs new episodes Thursdays on HBO Max. 

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