Now, that’s how you do a season finale.
Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin Season 1 could be considered a closed-ending story because the final three episodes truly delivered answers, shocks, and badass moments.
Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin Season 1 Episode 8, Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin Season 1 Episode 9, and Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin Season 1 Episode 10 will go down as the best hours in the history of the franchise.
While the original series was far more about the A reveals, the latest entry has been more about the struggles of the liars as they navigate a world that hasn’t been good to them.
It has set the series apart from the others in the franchise, offering a fresh perspective, as opposed to the only mystery surrounding the identity of A.
The A reveal was handled very well. The franchise loves a good twin twist, and A being Archie, Angela’s brother, was a decent way to send this mystery into high gear.
Archie’s motives for murder aren’t as murky as many would expect. It all makes sense knowing the entire story, including the horrors Angela went through leading up to her death.
Tabby: Do you want me to come with you tomorrow? To meet the adoptive family?
Imogen: I’d love that. And road trips to Rosewood are kind of our thing.
Tabby: Done. I’ll drive. So… what do you think of them?
Imogen: They seem… pretty perfect, actually. They’ve been wanting to have a baby for a while. I think they’re both writers, and one owns a bookshop. Their names are Aria and Ezra.
Tabby: Wait, Ezra? As in… Ezra’s Books? I’ve totally been there.
Aria: The best part is… they’re open to staying in touch with me about the baby’s life, sending me updates.
Tabby: That does sound pretty perfect. So… Imogen… what does your newly activated mother’s intuition tell you? Do we think it’s over-over? Or is there a sequel in the offing?
Imogen: I’m gonna say… it’s over.
His actions appear to be those of someone who is a vigilante that combats bullies.
There is still so much about Archie, Angela, and even her mother’s past that we don’t know. With A still on the loose, there’s plenty to unpack.
The Principal Clanton of it all was a revelation I didn’t expect, but a staff member had to be involved when you think of how the girls have been under surveillance while at school.
His motive for the murders was also decent, but there was plenty of time ahead of Angela’s death for him to, you know, reach out, so he’s definitely deflecting some of his guilt on the moms.
Another thing that worked here is that the show didn’t attempt to negate what the mothers did in the past.
Davie’s attempt to erase Angela because she accused her boyfriend (Beasley!) of assault highlighted how terrible these teenagers were.
Knowing what Angela went through, it’s no wonder she responded to this exile by killing herself.
She was at her lowest ebb, looking for support, and these teenagers went to these great lengths to effectively silence her.
You could tell from the flashbacks that Davie regretted her decision. Growing up, she was haunted by it, as evidenced by her meeting with Rose at the soup kitchen.
Davie wanted to turn over a new leaf in her attempts to raise Imogen, but it just wasn’t enough.
Her actions had harmed too many people and had these ripple effects that were still being felt 23 years later.
Clanton’s sentiment that the mother’s sins would fall on the daughters was batshit crazy.
The girls are nothing like their mothers, so hurting them was just a deluded attempt at relieving his guilt.
Faran: Kelly, what’s going on at your house?
Karen: My dad’s fսck¡ng spiraling. He… He knows what Mama said to you, to both of us. And now I am not allowed to go back to school until after Christmas break.
Faran: Why?
Kelly: So I can’t cause any more trouble. I shouldn’t even be here. I had to sneak out. We’re basically under house arrest.
Faran: Kelly… it’s time you know the truth. That your dad may be at least partly responsible for Karen’s murder… if not fully.
Kelly: Not this again, Faran.
Kelly: Karen’s death was an accident. There’s a crazy masked killer terrorizing me and the girls. Tyler Marchand isn’t missing. He was murdered. Also, Henry wasn’t the one who went after you in the auditorium. That was A. A is what he calls himself, and A… pushed Karen out of those rafters at the dance… for being a bully.
Kelly: Karen was… murdered? By the same guy who chased me?
Faran: I’m telling you now because A… is avenging the death of Angela Waters. All the people who hurt her. I know, it’s a lot, but I’ll talk to the girls at school tomorrow. We, we will make a plan. Figure out a way to get you and your mom out of that house and away from your dad. Can you make it one more night, Kelly?
Now that the moms have survived this encounter and understand the full breadth of how complicit they were in Angela’s demise, they should be able to start moving on.
Their actions have haunted them for years, and the events at the school will undoubtedly propel them to make better decisions.
The lengths the liars went to to get answers about who assaulted Tabby and Imogen were commendable.
There were many ways their plan could fall apart, but they managed to narrow down the field thanks to Marjorie and Kelly.
I was super suspicious about Shawn being against the blood test, but the impact of Noa learning about him taking steroids helped add more emotional weight to this storyline.
Noa has spent so long dealing with her mom and her addictions, and having a boyfriend hooked on drugs is not something she would have the bandwidth to deal with.
Chip being revealed as the person who assaulted both Imogen and Tabby was not surprising. The series didn’t keep the pool of suspects large because the boys were left on the back burner in this iteration.
While the reveal was predictable, Bailee Madison and Chandler Kinney turned in riveting performances as these young women tried to come to terms with what happened to them while simultaneously trying to unmask the perpetrator.
They were brave when confronting him. His word-vomit was embarrassing as he tried to explain his actions. A showing up and listening to Imogen reiterated my theory that A is a vigilante to combat bullies.
The deadly battle between Imogen and A was one of the most nail-biting scenes on TV in years.
She wasn’t only fighting for her life; she was fighting for the life of her unborn child.
It was brutal, but Madison continues to solidify herself as a scream queen.
Rose: Look at yourself. Your face, showing off your body.
Angela: Please, Mom. All the girls wear makeup and dresses.
Rose: Don’t you see? This is why you were hurt. You invited it!
Angela: No, I didn’t. Don’t blame me. What’s bad about wanting to go to a party with my friends?
Rose: Your friends? I was invited. They want me… and I’m going.
Now that we know she’s very likely handing the kid over to Aria and Ezra, it certainly hints that a potential second season will be very different.
A will still be around, but will he go after the moms or the liars? There’s so much we still don’t know, and we need more answers.
Chip’s murder was a given, but I’m intrigued to see how the liars react to the news that A survived and killed Sheriff Beasley.
I can’t be the only one to get confirmation that Beasley was gone. His actions were heinous, and I can only imagine the misery he would put Martha and Kelly through if he survived.
Now, Kelly and Martha will be able to move on, and I hope that means Kelly is the sixth liar officially.
She brings so much to the table, and after everything, surely she’s bonded with the core five forever.
Let’s switch gears to Mouse for a little. Did anyone think her father would be unmasked this season?
There was so much other stuff going on, but the dad’s a loser. It’s hard to think about what was going through Mouse’s mind when he effectively slammed the door in her face.
This gave Mouse the resolution she needed to stop chasing her father.
The season may be over, but we really need a second season.
What are your thoughts on the big reveals?
Stay tuned to TV Fanatic for a post-mortem with showrunners Lindsay Calhoon-Bring and Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa.
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Paul Dailly is the Associate Editor for TV Fanatic. Follow him on Twitter.
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