I tend to watch serious shows or at least shows that fall in the science fiction, fantasy, or horror genres. It's extremely rare for me to break that trend but break that trend with Pretty Little Liars I did. I don't know why I was attracted to it but I kept watching until the very last episode.
Original Sin, a spin-off of Pretty Little Liars, will be coming out later this month. Will I be watching this spin-off even though I had no interest in the other two?
Yep. And, no, I don't know why I'm intrigued by this spin-off more than the other two.
So I'm going to go down memory lane as I prepare for Original Sin.
To really talk about my history with Pretty Little Liars, I'm going to go back to a show that doesn't seem related at all.
While growing up I didn't watch many movies or shows. I tended just to read and was fine with that. It did take some time for me to start reading anything besides the Animorphs books series but once I started branching out I became a big science fiction fan.
The first show I kept up with week to week was Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles (TSCC). The show actually turned me into a Terminator fan and made me go back and rewatch the films that were out at that time. I will go down to my grave saying Arnold Schwarzenegger's best performance in the series was the first film.
Now how I watched TSCC is an interesting story to tell. In college I didn't have a television and was unaware of how to safely pirate something. Back when I was a teen there was LimeWire but it was riddled with viruses and so I wasn't keen to use a site like that. So how did I keep up with the show?
I waited for the Wiki to update and looked up videos on YouTube. Doing this I was able to keep up with all the twists and turns of the series.
Don't worry, I did eventually watch TSCC by buying the DVDs of both seasons. I still have them somewhere in my house. Though with streaming services, I don't tend to watch Blu-Rays or DVDS anymore.
TSCC ended on a massive cliffhanger. John Connor had jumped into the future so no one knew who he was. He met his father and uncle right before seeing the human that Cameron was based on. In the show Cameron and John had romantic feelings for each other though they didn't become a couple. Sarah Connor stayed behind with a former FBI agent and daughter of the real Catherine Weaver. Oh, and Cameron and another Terminator now share the same body with no reason given on why that happened. The only clue was a screen that just said the words "I'm sorry, John."
So when it cancelled I cried my heart out. It was the first show I had ever 'watched' week to week and now it was gone. Now...I have tended to watch shows that were doomed for cancellation and have grown stronger.
The pain I felt for TSCC's cancellation was so great I began loathing any show that either started or continued. It's an illogical reaction but that's how I felt for a few months after TSCC's cancellation.
The pain of Terminator: The Sarah Chronicles' cancellation finally started to die down. And what was the first show I decided to keep up with after TSCC?
It was Pretty Little Liars of course!
I have no idea why I was drawn towards the show. It isn't like anything else I watch. I tend to like darker themed things that are either science fiction or fantasy. Pretty Little Liars has a dark premise but it was much happier and hilariously drama filled than things I'm usually into.
It might be that I saw it as the kind of show that doesn't get randomly cancelled and won't end on a cliffhanger. It might be that I knew it would last for years and so I wouldn't have to say good-bye to it anytime soon.
So is Pretty Little Liars a good show?
Nope. It's a mystery but there's a lot that just doesn't add up. It's like the writers worked on the scripts for each episode an hour before filming. Yet it not being a good show made it an extremely enjoyable one. You can get attached to the characters without it feeling like a commitment like in other shows. None of the main cast dies and even characters you see die come back alive. At least some of the time.
The series finale made no sense. Such as the fact that Spencer has an evil British twin that was never hinted at previously in the series. Instead the evil twin just randomly appears as the final A. Oh, A is the title given to numerous characters that harass the main cast. So when one A is unmasked another A appears to take the role of antagonist.
The show should have discovering who each A is a rewarding experience. But since the show is horribly written, especially for one with a central mystery, hardly any A reveals make sense. Especially Spencer's evil twin.
But even though the final A reveal and rest of the series finale didn't make sense, I did tear up. For me it felt like the end of an era that would not soon return.
When I first found out about the Pretty Little Liars spin-off Original Sin I wasn't interested. I loved the original series so much that I didn't care for a spin-off. Previously I had ignored both Ravenswood and The Perfectionists which were cancelled very quickly. Years after their cancellation I still don't feel a need to watch them.
Yet for some unexplainable reason I feel myself pulled towards Original Sin. I guess something in me hopes that the new spinoff series is more of the so bad it's good stuff that the original series provided. I'm not looking for a good show, I'm looking for a fun one.
When I heard the new that Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa would be holding the reigns of the new spinoff I was excited. Riverdale, which was created by Aguirre-Sacasa, is infamous for having quickly gone off the rails. I am hoping for that kind of cheese in Original Sin.
Due to Original Sin coming out July 28th, I've started to rewatch the entire Pretty Little Liars series. I'm discovering all over again why I loved the series no matter the various flaws in it.
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