It is reboot season for HBO! After the delicious Gossip Girl reboot, the OTT platform is back with two other series that will lighten up some massive fan bases- Pretty Little Liars Original Sin and House of the Dragon (a Game of Thrones prequel series). The former releases first and, all the Liars fanbase is rejoicing and hoping that this reboot might just be everything they have been hoping for.
The OG teen mystery drama, Pretty Little Liars, is developed by I. Marlene King and, is loosely based on the novel series of the same name written by Sara Shepard. The show featured an ensemble cast that included Troian Bellisario, Lucy Hale, Ashley Benson, Shay Mitchell, Sasha Pieterse and Janel Parrish. The thriller attracted people all over the world, with varying age groups and has been deemed a cult classic over the years.
Pretty Little Liars Original Sin is a reboot of the franchise with a different cast and setting but, keeping the essence & tropes similar to the original. The new series again has an ensemble cast that includes Chandler Kinney, Maia Reficco, Bailee Madison, Zaria, Malia Pyles, Alex Aiono, Mallory Bechtel and Eric Johnson. As we near the release of this spin-off, it only makes sense to know what to watch before you land in this dark murky mystery. Here is a perfect guide to help you through!
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Shows to Watch Before Pretty Little Liars Original Sin
Pretty Little Liars (2010-2017)
Yes, you have to watch this! Although the original show that kick-started the franchise has seven seasons in total, it is all worth it! Revolving around the group of teens from Rosewood that consists of Aria, Hanna, Spencer, Emily and Alison, the story kicks off with the aura of mystery as one out of the five girls dies during the pilot and later, the other girls are blackmailed by a mysterious personality called “A” into spilling some dark and hurtful secrets that will ruin them and everyone around.
A whodunnit until the end, the show has its highs and lows but, is the perfect one to start your Pretty Little Liars journey with knowing the outline, tropes and the message the series is trying to put out there. It is streaming now on HBO Max.
Ravenswood (2013)
The first spin-off in the Pretty Little Liars franchise, Ravenswood has only one season and was not exactly a success. Nonetheless, it brings back some interesting characters from the original that deserved their own story to be told- Nicole Gale Anderson’s Miranda Collins and Tyler Blackburn’s Caleb Rivers.
Set in a different location, the show tells the story of another group of five, whose lives become intertwined by a deadly curse that is generational in the town that they live in. As they try to solve this curse looming over their head, they come across some of the town’s secrets that were never supposed to be found out in the first place. Watch it, here.
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Pretty Little Liars The Perfectionists (2019)
A sequel to the main show and the second spin-off in the run, this series is based on the 2014 novel The Perfectionists by Sara Shepard. This series is set in the perfect little town called Beacon Heights, where everything flows with perfection until the town witnesses its first murder and everything falls apart.
Bringing back some favourites from Pretty Little Liars– Sasha Pieterse’s Alison DiLaurentis and Janel Parrish’s Mona Vanderwaal, the frenemy we’d love to see together and, introducing some new faces in the franchise such as Sofia Carson, Sydney Park, Caitlin Park-Lewis and Eli Brown, there is only one season of the show. The downside is that it ends on a cliffhanger. It is available on Hulu.
Now, that you are all caught up, are you excited for the 2022 reboot of the franchise? How do you think it will perform being the first slasher in the franchise? Let us know your thoughts in the comments down below!.
Pretty Little Liars Original Sin will stream on HBO Max from July 28, 2022. It will consist of ten episodes getting a weekly release.
Watch the Trailer
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