Original Sin: Full Season 1 Review

Rating: 6.5/10

I loved the show Pretty Little Liars. I watched it from the day it premiered to the day it ended. I loved the Perfectionists and was sad when that got canceled. So when they announced another spin off - I was so excited.

As a PLL show - I was not a fan. But as a mystery show? Loved it! I wish they hadn't branded this as a PLL show. First, there are no original characters in it. I was hoping for it to be similar to the Perfectionists where we have a character or two from the OG show appear or be side characters but focus on the main group of 5. But no. It took a few episodes for Rosewood to even be mentioned.

Then, they even go to Rosewood to see the Radley. AND IT ISN'T THE SAME SET! They own the footage of the previous Radley - I cannot understand why the outside of the Radley was different. It irked me more than I can say. And then having the inside be COMPLETELY different too? I understand maybe not being able to do the same set but to have it look nothing like it did in the OG show? Nope. No thank you. The same goes for Ezra's Bookstore.

Also, when they look up Rosewood, I would think that some of the news articles about A from the OG series would pop up since this doesn't take place too long after the OG series ended. For it to not even have been mentioned that there was a similar situation that happened a few years ago surprised me. I think it is a great way to introduce some of the OG characters - to even have this group of girls reach out to them. That way there was more of a connection if they weren't able to get any of the actresses on.

Now, if I separate it from PLL, I did enjoy the mystery. The acting was a bit ehh but I expected as much with such young actors. Seeing Bailee Madison on my screen again was very lovely. I feel bad since she has gotten most of the attention for this series when it is about the 5 of them. But they have framed her character as more of the main character. Maybe in season 2 we will get to explore other characters.

I loved seeing the show be darker and embrace it. They added in so many different horror elements which helped pick up some of the points where plot and acting were lacking. As someone who doesn't watch horror, I was pleasantly surprised how much I liked it. The production staff did a great job of not overdoing it so even people like me can still enjoy it.

My hopes for season 2: no magic. The producer for Riverdale is the producer for Original Sin and even though he said that he didn't think that they would introduce magic into the show - he did connect it Riverdale already. I also hope that we get more character development and more synergy between the mother's storylines and the daughters.