Five years after the original Pretty Little Liars series concluded its 160-episode run the spin-off Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin is set to premiere on Netflix, and their shared continuity poses a few interesting possibilities. The original series, inspired by Sara Shepard’s book series of the same name, follows five best friends from the town of Rosewood as they attempt to solve the mystery of their friend’s kidnapping and uncover the secret identity of “A”, an anonymous source who threatens to reveal their darkest secrets. After seven successful seasons, the ABC Family/Freeform show ended in 2017.
Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin is the fourth series in the franchise, though the others were unsuccessful despite the parent series’ comparably huge success. Both the 2013 spin-off Ravenswood and 2019 sequel to the original, Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists, were canceled after season 1. Despite this, a 10-episode run of Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin was ordered by HBO Max in late 2020.
Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin will follow a new generation of teenagers as they balance new mysteries and secrets with their personal woes. The official teaser indicates the show will begin with a high school student’s death, after which the main characters receive their first threatening text from “A,” declaring “one down, five to go.” Although none of the original characters are expected to appear, Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin could still be connected to the original Pretty Little Liars.
Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin Focuses On New Characters In A Different Setting
Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin takes place in the same continuity as the original series, but 20 years later in the present-day fictional town of Millwood, Pennsylvania, not in the original’s Rosewood. Though there is an entirely new cast and updated storylines, the Pretty Little Liars villain “A”, played by multiple characters in the original, will be returning to yet again torment the core characters, but for mistakes their mothers committed in high school, rather than for their own secrets and mistakes like in the original. Creators Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa and Lindsay Calhoon Bring say they aim to honor the original series but with new and expected elements alike.
How Original Sin Can Connect To PLL In The Future
Pretty Little Liars ended with its main characters–who do exist in Original Sin's world–starting families. As the original took place 20 years earlier, it’s possible some of their younger children are the same age as the spin-off’s main characters. If any of the original and new characters cross paths, they may interact and become involved in each other’s storylines. The original characters could even help the new “pretty little liars” uncover who their “A” is using their own experiences from high school.
Millwood and Rosewood are both located in Pennsylvania, so it’s reasonable to assume the characters could end up in either city at some point, and with present-day technology, it would be easy for the younger characters to interact with other teens outside of their schools. Also, as the original characters are now parents, it’s plausible the show can justify them having crossed paths with the new series’ parents in the past, retroactively setting up new storylines.
Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin episodes 1-3 will be available to stream through HBO Max on July 28, 2022. Though it won’t happen in season 1, Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin has plenty of built-in opportunities to connect to the original Pretty Little Liars at some point in the future. That is, of course, assuming it doesn’t follow in its predecessors’ footsteps and get canceled before season 2.