Review of Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin

The pilot was the best episode for me. It had all the makings of a great mystery show with a villain who seemed to have a really interesting motive. But soon after that the show started being less and less compelling. I'm not sure if it was the performances which were all over the place or the fact that the main motive behind the villain targeting the liars being a bit ... stupid?

Punishing the 'guilty by association' doesn't seem like a smart idea. The principal had no real reason to include the girls when the real issue was with their mums. It wasn't justified in the way the first A's motivations were in the original show. By the end of this show A had been reduced to just a crazy killer on the loose out rather than a smart, cold and calculated villains of the original show. Even with the attempts at horror Archie is now just a senseless antagonist rather than actually sinister as he was built up to be.

Also for everyone saying not to compare it to the original - it's hard not to when they still share a name and a universe. I think this show tried to separate it self but would have succeeded if it was unlinked entirely then.

Something was missing and I think it could have been so much greater than it was.