PLL Original Sin, A Review

The past doesn’t lie.

PLL The Perfectionists Review. (Top 10 2019).

PLL Original Sin follows the lives of five teenage girls- the formally popular and now pregnant Imogen (Bailee Madison), horror film fan Tabby (Chandler Kinney), ballet dancer Faran (Zaria), tech-obsessed Mouse (Malia Pyles, Batwoman) and fresh out of juvie track star Noa (Maia Reficco)– as they become the targets of the infamous A, this time because of something their Mothers did over twenty years ago. The series kicks off with Imogen’s Mother Davie (Carly Pope) receiving a flyer for a 1999 party which then results in her sudden suicide. Imogen then moves in With Tabby and her Mother Sidney (Sharon Leal, Supergirl) and is left distraught and puzzled over her Mother’s death.

The five girls then begin receiving anonymous texts from ‘A’, bonding them together as they attempt to work out who is targeting them and more importantly why. Then at a school dance the girls’ bully Karen (Mallory Bechtel) is murdered by A, leaving the girls in the frame, especially as Karen’s Father Tom (Eric Johnson) is the town’s Sheriff. Realising that the answers lay in the past the liars must dive into their own Mother’s history and figure out how the death of school outcast Angela Waters (Gabriella Pizzolo) has now left them with a fresh target on their backs. Can the girls get to the truth and unmask A before it’s too late or is this one horror that nobody will ever escape from?

Pretty Little Liars was such a cult phenomenon when it first aired and so I think many fans were apprehensive of this reboot. The previous two spin off attempts both got cancelled after one season (although I personally loved The Perfectionists) and so the bar was already very high. Going into this I was understandably sceptical but I think in the end I have really come to love the show for what it is. Original Sin doesn’t try and copy Pretty Little Liars or duplicate any of its characters or storylines, instead it does its own thing and I think apart from the text from A the two shows are very different to one another. In fact the only call back to PLL is the fact that the two shows are set in the same universe, which I think is ultimately going to be a good thing because it means future seasons could potentially bring back old characters or storylines, something I think everybody would love.

As I said above Original Sin really does its own thing story wise and aside from the anonymous texts the two shows go in very different directions. Original Sin plays a lot more into the horror genre and plays out a lot more like a slasher whereas PLL was more mystery based. The backstory with the mums also adds an extra layer of intrigue and I really liked getting flashbacks to the past running parallel with the girls in the present day. Being a 10 episode season also means we get answers a lot quicker here and honestly I think that’s a good thing because the og PLL did like to stretch things out to the point of insanity. Overall PLL and Original Sin are two very different shows, both of which I’ve loved and I think that fans of the original can really appreciate this for what it is while still enjoying PLL as it’s own thing. Both shows are truly brilliant.

I really liked how we got both the liar’s present day storyline but also flashacks to the 90s following the mum’s and their dealings with Angela. This time around A was targeting the girls because of something their mothers had done in the past so it was important to delve into this storyline to get the full picture and I really liked the flashbacks throughout but also how we got to see the mothers in the present day and how they were reacting to everything that was going on as well. The series kicked off with Imogen‘s mother Davie committing suicide so obviously whatever had happened was major and I really liked how the clues unfolded over time, ahowing each woman’s relationship with Angela and how they all bullied and tortured her. It was an interesting perspective getting these now adult women looking back at what they are done with regret and having to deal with the daughter is going through a similar thing, it definitely made for some great drama.

One thing I really loved about Original Sin was A’s very physical presence throughout. In the original show most of A’s threats were via text message and the only time we really saw the character was in their lair at the beginning or end of certian episodes. Here though A was an actual physical person who the girl all saw multiple times and even interacted with. Having this physical threat definitely upped the stakes a lot more and I really loved some of the scenes between the girls and A, especially the warehouse scene with Imogen and the rooftop scene with Noa. In the original show A was scary in their own way but they were only ever a voice at the end of the phone, here they was an actual physical threat who could chase, stab or even kill you if you weren’t quick enough and it definitely felt a lot more scary watching.

I really loved how much Original Sin played into the horror and slasher genres, feeling like an actual scary movie at times and really amping up the scare factor. Like I said above A’s physical threat definitely upped the stakes but I really liked as well how much gorier the show was than the original. Obviously airing on a different network affected this but Original Sin in general was just a lot scarier than PLL ever was and the show has definitely put me in a massive horror mood especially with Halloween approaching. On top of this I loved Tabby’s horror film obsession and how this would occasionally play into the plot, with her constant film references and knowledge of the genre- she’d fit in very well in the Scream franchise.

Overall I really enjoyed PLL Original Sin and feel like it is definitely exceeded my expectations as a spin off. I think when the reboot or whatever you want to call it was first announced I was pretty nervous to see what direction the story would go in but overall I think Original Sin has done tge original proud. I love these new characters and how the show plays much more into the horror genre, resulting in some brilliant scares. The mystery and A reveal was also brilliantly done and I’m really interested to see what happens next, it’s sure to be amazing.