It's Time To Discuss Pretty Little Liars : Original Sin

There's a lot to unpack.

I had known for quite some time that I would need to discuss Pretty Little Liars : Original Sin in longer form than just me tweeting “I like it” and interacting with the cast's tweets. It has a lot going on and although the more logical choice would be to wait until the season is over and review it… I want to have some fun and discuss some theories as well as just my thoughts upon the plotlines so once the finale (final 3 episodes because HBO Max’s chaotic release schedule) airs, I will be able to look a little foolish. Is it really a Pretty Little Liars series if you don’t publicly embarrass yourself with off-base theories on the internet?

(Pictured Above : The cast of Pretty Little Liars : Original Sin, HBO Max)

If you are just here for a recommendation, I say big yes, get into it! I am a huge fan of this series thus far. The final 3 episodes will be the real determining factor on just how much I like it because obviously 30% of the series is very important, but as far as the first seven episodes go? I recommend it to anyone who loves the original series or even just anyone who has any vague interest in the show. The premiere episodes remain my favorite just because I had the best time watching them and I was genuinely happy to see a teen drama reboot (specifically of Pretty Little Liars because wow) get so much so right, but I’ve been enjoying the season consistently regardless. I do think there are some things that need some expanding upon, some plotlines that feel half-baked or underdeveloped because there is so much going on at once but overall? This is such a strong season of teen drama television. I feel as though a lot of people on twitter have already discussed it, but I will add to the praise saying turning Pretty Little Liars as a concept into a slasher series was some excellent creative vision and I think it has been doing a decent job in committing to that vision. There isn’t some ridiculously high body count but they’ve kept the momentum with chase scenes and keeping the looming threat of A present. Yet, while taking a slasher approach, it still feels like Pretty Little Liars for a new generation. I have mixed feelings about the original series, especially the later seasons, but it still is an iconic show to me and masses of other people and this series does it justice I’d say on a deeper level than just the callback in the latest episodes. The text messages obviously, but also the main group has a strong dynamic without rehashing the original series dynamic. Plus, incorporating the moms into the main plot this time around was a very worthy choice even if that contributes to the over-saturation of subplots present.

I am not going to discuss the original at all or recap the new series much, if you haven’t watched either or know the bare basics of the plot, you might as well just stop reading now! Why did you even click on the link? Do you follow me and not know anything about Pretty Little Liars? That’s crazy. Also here is an official spoiler warning, I will be discussing several plot points with no further warning. Also trigger warning for light discuss of sexual assault, I do try to mostly avoid discussing it especially in depth but it does come up as it is a major plot point. 

IMOGEN ADAMS.

(Pictured Above : Bailee Madison as the famously pregnant Imogen Adams in Pretty Little Liars : Original Sin. Photo credits to HBO Max)

First things first, this was a great role for Bailee Madison. She is fitting the campy teen slasher drama protagonist mold with finesse. It’s very hard not to love Imogen as a character because she really just needs a break at this point. This stress and trauma can not be good for her unborn child at all. I also quite like her friendship with Tabby, though they’re going to have to sell me way more if the show is serious about shipping her with Chip. It just still seems obvious to me he’s interested in Tabby above all else. Imogen deserves better than that! I still think her screaming at Karen in the cafeteria and taking the official stand against Karen was quite iconic and I enjoy her being a protagonist who doesn’t let herself get victimized despite having the most terrible things happen to her episodically. She faces her problems head-on more often than not even if her methods were a little… much in the first two episodes. She didn’t always do the best, most moral things, but she clearly felt bad about it, so that’s okay. You go, Imogen!

They styled her in some of the worst costuming I’ve ever seen though. At first I thought it was a fun homage to the original, because the costuming of the original was so camp. But at a certain point I became offended for her. Someone in the costume department was setting the future mother up!!! I actually like a lot of the costuming on this show, and I have sort of accepted this as just part of her characterization but… my goodness!

I won’t be theorizing who Imogen and Tabby’s assaulter is because that isn’t very fun to discourse about. One thing I know for sure is A should get to chopping whoever it may be regardless! Conspiracy time? I think there’s going to be a reveal about who Imogen’s absent or dead father is. I don’t have anything to go off of for that yet, I just can’t recall a single reference to him thus far in the series outside of Davie being a single mother who works too hard, who loves her kid and never stops. There’s something to this, trust me. Also, I see discourse on whether she was murdered or actually suicided… I think it was the latter, it’s kind of hard to murder someone when there are people two rooms down the hall, no? Before you bring this up Tyler was different, there was a party! Plus, A isn’t physically attacking the other moms, I think it might’ve just been overwhelming guilt. When the finale airs and I’m dead wrong, you can screenshot this.

TABBY HAWORTHE.

(Pictured Above : Chandler Kinney as thee film girl Tabby Haworthe in Pretty Little Liars : Original Sin, HBO Max)

First things first. The creators definitely should’ve started a Letterboxd account for her and have her follow Aki from the Gossip Girl reboot. Just putting that out there. I know the Extended Universe is already crowded, but it was right there. The movie references border on being a lot sometimes, but I’m absolutely obsessed with her. Her going downstairs when the light was out and saying to herself “I’m the final girl” is so relatable to me specifically. I also like that outside of just being characterized as the Film Girl of the bunch, she has more to her character than just that. It almost seems as though she is less so tied down to being just The Film Girl and is equally passionate about a lot of separate things, film just being one of them. As such, I love her, obviously. Chandler Kinney is brilliant in the part as well.

I was going to make a separate column for Chip, but for the sake of my time let me just tell you I do not trust that boy at all. At best, he is pursuing Imogen despite crushing madly on Tabby and at worst I think he is hiding something insidious. It’s not to the degree that I am standing 10 toes down in him being a member of The A Team, but I am also suggesting it. He is so directly involved in some of the activities for The Little Liars while also not being a true ally to any of them. The more we learn about him, the less we know about his true spirit. I think what really sets me off on trusting him is that we are still, in the context of the narrative, supposed to view him as a love interest or friend figure more than anything else… but his actions throughout just raise one too many red flags, if you’ve watched I’m sure you can see what I mean. If he’s innocent that is really my bad! Perhaps, if he’s proven innocent, I could see myself enjoying certain ships with him in them. I have called him and Tabby “something cute and fun” when someone asked me my opinion on Twitter after the first episodes aired. But that glare he took at Tabby when she mentioned someone drugging a drink before filming the shower scene for that project? Oh, he has to answer for something and soon.

Out of the moms, I like Tabby’s the most because Sharon Leal made film history in Dreamgirls (2006). I assume she’ll be getting a message from A next just because that seems to be an episodic thing where each of the mom get their dose of kArma, and I am curious to see what her specific incident ends up being and how she deals with it and whether or not she’ll talk to Imogen and Tabby about it (the preview kind of confirms the girls go to the mothers about it, but I do wonder how Sidney specifically will handle this situation more than anything else).

I sort of forgot to bring Wes up already because I don’t like Wes… I hope A does something about him. Immediately. Just a deeply unpleasant grown man. I can’t say much about him that hasn’t been said or theorized already, but I see the possibility about him being in the A team. He was said to be the same age as Ari Aster (36) which would make him around 14 when the Original Sin happened… the math isn’t far off, but I don’t know what to do with this information.

FARAN BRYANT.

(Pictured Above : Zaria as Faran Bryant serving as Poison Ivy in Pretty Little Liars : Original Sin, HBO Max)

Faran is my favorite liar. I love that she is able to be truthful, outspoken and blunt without ever making her less of a protagonist. Aspirational, truly. I love her passion for dance and her backstory with the surgery and chronic pain and overall her conflict with her mother, despite some criticisms that could be brought up, was one of the more compelling subplots this season to me. I also just adore what Zaria does with the part all around. Even if the on-off of her being Black Swan throughout the show gave me whiplash, I was invested in the dancer drama especially considering to this day I still don’t have a solid stance on whether or not it is Kelly or Karen right now. I’ve been going back and forth constantly. 

I would like to see Faran open up more to the Little Liars. I think the group dynamic and cast chemistry is solid, but I do think outside of Tabby and Imogen they’re more of an alliance than an actual friend group in comparison to the original series. They have friend group moments (the scene of them getting ready for the dance, Imogen’s house party episode) but I’d still like to see individual dynamics explored, if not by the end of this season in the hypothetical season 2?

No offense to Zaria as she has made a point of becoming the ambassador of Fenry hive on Twitter… but I would like a new love interest for Faran, I’M SO SORRY. I will mention this again when I discuss KellAren but Henry is all around suspicious to me, however I also just don’t care for him as a character or a love interest very much. The actor seems lovely, I think he was in West Side Story (2021) and everyone knows I love that for him… but the ship isn’t sailing for me, the buzz isn’t buzzing to me. And that’s okay! If Faran is happy, I will make peace… after his innocence is proven, because I still got my eyes on that boy.

NOA OLIVAR.

(Pictured Above : Maia Reficco as Noa Olivar in Pretty Little Liars : Original Sin, HBO Max)

I love all of the girls very much, but Noa is almost on the same level as Faran for me. It’s genuinely a toss up on who my favorite is at any given moment. I think one of my favorite moments of horror influence in this series is Noa’s chase scene in episode 4 and I truly think it’s because Maia Reficco is such a good actress, she had something to prove on set that day. She gave it her all and I’m on the campaign of getting her in a full horror movie next. The final girl energy is serious. Her conflict with her mother was one of the strongest subplots this season if not solely because it led up to that scene but I think regardless it was one of the more compelling secrets of the little liars.

NOA OLIVAR PT. 2 : SHAWN NOBLE.

(Pictured Above : Alex Aiono as Shawn Noble and Maia Reficco as Noa Olivar, HBO Max)

This is the take I am most concerned about because it is the take that could age most horrifically come Thursday Night… I reluctantly quite like Shawn. CLOSED. He is my favorite of all of the love interests so far, though I don’t necessarily ship them. I, like most of my timeline, would like to see Noa to be explored as a queer liar, but really that’s just because of things the actress said in interviews. Give any of the liars a girlfriend and I’d be happy. Anyways, I think the chemistry between Alex Aiono and Maia Reficco is quite insane. As I said, I’m not quite shipping Shoa/Shawnoa/Noawn but I would love for them to just be a friend duo type partners in preferably non-literal crime. Since my timeline is almost entirely non-straight, I saw people say they should be gay besties. I feel as though there are so many ways they could keep the chemistry they have but keep exploring it non-romantically, but I also don’t believe that’s what the writer’s vision is obviously because The Little Liars are already the core group of the show. I do fear for the direction they take the character in the finale because I certainly don’t trust any of the men right now and particularly none of the athletes in this show. I’m saving my Shawn stan card for after the season ends, because I need some answers!

MINNIE “MOUSE” HONRADA.

(Pictured Above : Malia Pyles as Mouse Honrada in Pretty Little Liars : Original Sin, HBO Max)

I like Mouse. I have told people before that she’s either leaning towards my least favorite or she just is, but it has nothing to do with her and I wouldn’t say that confidently. I like all of The Little Liars, we established this! I love all of her scenes with Ash, I think her energy sort of contrasts the other girls but in a really cute soft way (her chuckling over calling Karen a “basic barbie”) and although I didn’t particularly enjoy the plotline of her going on chats with men and pretending to be their daughters or whatever, I do like the backstory with her mother and the lie about her “abduction” being unfolded. I think it opens the door for more mystery and secrets to be unveiled in the future. It also begs the question on how that stalker man will be involved in future reveals and further plotlines.

I also appreciate Mouse because her inclusion in the series prompts the most theories and questions. Due to her backstory and the theme song clip of the missing poster, a lot of theories about whether she’s really herself and what her actual age is has already flooded my timeline. I also think her technological expertise and the fact she literally sent her mother a threatening text message through a burner phone adds to the suspicion of Ms. Mouse to me at least. I trust her though. I feel as though it’s more likely that someone knows something else that she doesn’t and is hiding it from her. She got attacked in a Hall of Mirrors, after all. She’d have to be quite the method actress for all that trauma to be staged.

MOUSE PT. 2 : ASH.

I love Ash! I could’ve just brought him up in a passive sentence but gave him a whole section here, after all! I went into the season knowing I would stan Ash because Jordan Gonzalez is trans and he has fun TikToks. That’s more than enough for me to get my stan card! I think he’s the highlight of Mouse’s storyline right now, they are quite adorable together. Now… I don’t quite trust him. I know what you’re thinking “not j*ss, he just got chased by A. He almost got murdered in the Mirror Maze! How could he be A?” and I respond to that by… he’s still with us today, is he not? The show has had no problem chopping up characters in the past, A was right on their trail! Now, I know he and Mouse simply just outran him, but I think I see what the writers are pulling right now on this day. A couldn’t have ever actually caught up to Ash because Ash is part of the Original Sin A team!!! I cracked the code, you guys.

In all actuality, I just find it sort of suspicious how everybody else on the cast had been established to have known each other from before the series timeline has began, meanwhile Ash introduced himself to Mouse after A had been terrorizing the girls and the mothers for some time. Plus, we don’t know much about his life or story outside of Mouse. There’s mystery to him that could result in some type of betrayal in the finale episodes. I do hope I’m wrong though, I have no working theory as to what it could be.

KAREN/KELLY.

I was certain Kelly was the one that died as soon as that scene happened, but as the episodes went on I became less sure. The more Faran caught onto it and the more it became addressed in the episodes the less sure I felt. I definitely don’t trust her regardless! The text Faran got in the first episode is what really gets me. Damn, how did A know Faran got the part? Were they just eavesdropping outside the door? I mean, that’s probably what the show was going for, a sense of A is everywhere at all times, but I choose to believe it was a big hint from the first episode and that Henry and/or Karen/Kelly are on Thee A Team (I am assuming A has a teAm Again this time Around becAuse… duh, right?) Though I suppose that wouldn’t add up with all of the attacks she’s faced already, but if there is some type of twist that revealed that she was involved in some type of harassment at first, just know you heard it from me first.

I don’t like Kelly/Karen. The actress is doing good work in her part and seems lovely in real life. The character isn’t meant to be quite likable, but still sympathetic when at her lowest and I think the actress plays that off quite well. I also think she’s doing a good job at playing a character in which we have no idea who it really is, it’s almost like she herself is lost in everything. But at the end of the day, she’s kind of Public Enemy #1 Level. If it’s Karen and she’s still alive she’s still nasty, racist and an all around Terrorist of Millwood High. If it is actually just Kelly I do think there is more room for redemption with her but I’m not terribly quick to trust her regardless.

I wonder whether her mother has something to do in the Original Sin plotline. Clearly Karen/Kelly have a lot to do with the main plot and have been targets of A throughout this season to the point she’s essentially a Little Liar herself, but… why? Just so she can greaten the rivalry between her and The Little Liars? Just because she’s a bully? Or is the connection deeper than that? I have seen people theorize a lot about Sheriff Beasley as well. Sheriff Beasley upsets me so I won’t discuss him because I don’t want to but just know I see the theories and think he’s a menace to society regardless.

THE OTHER MALE CHARACTERS (GREG/TYLER).

I’m sure you’ve caught on by now that the men in this series are blatantly terrible at worst, and highly suspicious at best… Greg and Tyler are alongside Wes as the most surfacely planely blatantly terrible boys on this show. I don’t really need to discuss Tyler because… well… uh… he got whacked HARD. The Halloween episode had aspects in which I wanted things to be a bit different, but Tyler’s death was excellent to me especially because that was what confirmed to me it was going down the full campy slasher horror this season. I also loved seeing Tabby punch him in the face immediately before. Modern feminism, you know? After what he did by recording that video of Karen and what Tabby revealed to have gone through, though not by action of Tyler, I would say it was a very deserved punch in the face! Not like he can complain about it now regardless.

I don’t have much positive to say about Greg. Actually, I don’t have anything positive to say about Greg. He overstepped Tabby’s direct wish of wanting a safe space on set and is still weird for the Imogen incident. I don’t think he’s ever had a positive moment on this show, really. I guess him disliking Karen was relatable but he was dating her and immediately started hooking up with presumably her twin sister so what now? That being said, I don’t think he’s going to be involved in any big reveal. He’s a red herring menace who has all of his flaws on his sleeve. Would I be surprised if he were any of the girls assaulters? No. Do I think he’s a part of The A Team? No.

This would be the point in this issue where I give you some final conspiracy theories, but I fear I have covered just about everything I have to go off of. My first draft for this was nearly 10 pages after all, it’s not as though I kept this brief. If I were to go crazy and give a very outlandish theory, I would say that A might be one of the liars dads solely because Faran is the only one who has a father at home. That leaves four unaccounted for!