Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin
If you know me in real life, particularly from back in high school, then you know how deep my love for Pretty Little Liars runs. This is a borderline obsession of mine; I have rewatched the entire series at least 5 times, know all the storylines and personal details of characters by heart, and even have favorite episodes that go down to the smallest detail of my favorite outfits. I know which character I am, which significant other I would have in the show, and who my style twin is. So you can imagine my excitement when I heard that we were getting a reboot of sorts. At first, I was wary; so many shows that have been remade have been complete flops (new Charmed I’m looking at you) but once I saw they were doing a reimagining with new characters, a new town, and a new A, I was more excited. Using the same concept with a totally different storyline is set up to be way better than trying to re-do the original show. Enter Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin.
Now that I have watched it twice, I feel pretty confident in giving my full review and opinion on the subject. We are going to do a little less comparison than I did with my Gossip Girl post since they are completely different storylines and really have no relation to one another. But of course, there will be a few callbacks here and there. I also feel it’s worth it to note that even though I can recognize the issues with the original PLL, I am an absolute fan and therefore cannot be totally unbiased when it comes to the new one either.
There are some slight spoilers ahead so proceed with caution.
Brief Synopsis- Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin is set in the town of Millwood which is a small town where rumors abound and no one can escape scrutiny or small-town pressure. It centers on 5 main girls who are in high school and who start getting texts and threats from A. A begins making them do things they don’t want to do and forcing them to expose secrets they don’t want to. Pretty typical A behavior. This basic structure is exactly the same as the original, but what gets better is the storylines of all of the girls. Just like with the new Gossip Girl, the fact that the show moved to HBO allowed for actual issues and stress and more realistic high school and adult experiences. It also allowed for actual cussing, so when you are running for your life from a masked villain, you can drop an f-bomb or two.
The New 5- In the original show, the girls have pretty benign problems. Emily has the most realistic and troubling issue as a young girl who is in the closet and whose mother doesn't accept her. The rest of the blackmail and issues they run into mostly have to do with the situations that A creates. With the new 5, they have legitimate issues that they have to deal with and that get lobbied against them by A. One of them is covering up for their parent who is an addict, two have experienced sexual violence, one is pregnant, and one struggles with chronic pain that was brought on at the hands of her parent. All of these issues are much more real and have much higher stakes than the original show allowed for. The move from ABC Family (Freeform) to HBO really allowed them to explore more intense subject material.
They also have a mostly not white cast. Out of the 5 main girls, only one is white. A kind of secondary main character to the 5 girls is also white, but overall the main characters are very diverse and they date diverse people. One of the girls also has two moms. While the original show does have some diversity, it is not nearly as open and diverse as this one. They even speak more on real issues in the world; one of the characters experiences racism and constant microaggressions at the hands of a classmate. They also talk a lot about women’s rights issues and focus on the male gaze in media.
The reasoning behind why A is doing what they are doing is also a lot more understandable and believable. In the original, A is after the girls because Allison bullied them and left them a social pariah. At least the first A is. In this one, someone quite literally dies at the hands of people close to the girls so the vindication is a lot more understandable. Not excusable of course, but its more believable.
Timeline- In the original, each season was 22 episodes or more, which created a lot of dumb subplots and weird asides that never really had an ending. In this one, with only 10 episodes to the season, the show takes place over about a 3-month span of time and does not include weird side plot lines that do not make sense and never end anywhere. Everything that gets brought up gets wrapped up, even the things they leave a small amount of opening for so that maybe it can come back in season 2. They also manage to create plenty of conflict and relationship drama and not one of the girls dates an adult.
Realism- When it comes to suspending belief and being able to believe in certain things, I can usually do this with no issue and it is not something that bothers me. But I did like that in this version none of the girls seemed to have access to obscene amounts of money or have no issues when it came to money. In the original, there is really just Emily who has a middle-class lifestyle where they struggle for financial security. Hannah and her mother do briefly, but then again seem to magically be back to being wealthy. All of the girls in the new one live very regular lives; they have regular-looking and regular-sized homes. One of them has to sell their home to pay off her mother’s debts after her mother dies. At least one lives in an apartment that resembles something along the lines of low-income housing. They also all wear clothing that while trendy and fashionable (and true to their aesthetic and personality) still has them looking like high school kids. In the original, the girls often looked like they were adults on their way to their big corporate jobs, jobs in politics, or jobs in fashion. As I said before, they also deal with a lot of actual real issues. Two of the girls have been raped and have to deal with the emotional fallout. We have one of the main characters as a pregnant teenager. We have most of the girls dealing with something that is a real-world issue and most of them have single or divorced parents. And the only couple not broken up is the lesbian couple.
Fashion- The last aspect of the show that really needs to be addressed is the clothes. I have talked about how much I love watching TV for fashion and this show did not disappoint. Even though I wasn’t in love with every aspect of every outfit, I did love the cohesive style of each girl’s look and the beautiful pieces that were in each girl’s closet. My favorite was Imogen and her very cottage core/vintage style. I loved her looks the most down to her knee socks and vintage floral dresses. I was so obsessed with her look to the point that I have spotted several pieces I want to add to my closet based on her vibe. My next favorite was Tabby’s style. While hers was far less girly and a lot more casual, I liked most of her outfits in total but would have just styled them slightly differently. She had wonderful sweaters and jackets, and her jewelry game was by far the best. Noa’s style was my least favorite simply because they went too hard with the sporty fashion look when they could have very easily gone with cute activewear, but even though I would have done it differently, her outfits always look great and they fit her charter so well. Mouse’s style was by far the most realistic high school style and that may be why I didn’t resonate with it very much. But the outfits still looked good on her and fit her very whimsical and fun nature. The one who I understood the least was Farren. While she never looked bad, she often looked like they were trying to make her look as if she was wearing her ballet clothes in public. It wasn’t quite athletic clothing, but not quite regular street style or trendy. It was some weird mix and she often looked out of place with whatever she was wearing. I really hope they change up her style for season 2; she really deserves better.
Overall, I think it is safe to say I liked this one more than the original. As much as the original will always have a special place in my TV show heart, and I will always rewatch it, this one is just done so much better. If you liked the original, I highly suggest a watch. And if you’ve never seen the original, please still give it a look because even if you don’t understand the draw of PLL, it is a fun, suspenseful drama that can be enjoyed by all.
Madey
Cover photo here