HBO Max’s ‘Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin’ Embraces Teen Slasher Tropes to Blunt, Addictive Effect: TV Review
variety.comCaroline Framke Chief TV CriticFor a certain generation of TV watchers, the theme song for “Pretty Little Liars” scratches an itch like no other.
The original series, which ran for seven seasons on ABC Family before the channel became Freeform, began each episode with the lilting melodies of the Pierces’ “Secret” over pristine images of the main quartet in their funereal finest, making winking eye contact with the camera in order to shush it.
The stage thus set, TV’s first iteration of Sara Shepard’s novels was slick, if not exactly subtle.Now, after two previous tries at spinoffs (“The Perfectionists” and “Ravenswood”) failed to launch, a new attempt at reviving the franchise has arrived in the form of “Original Sin.” Created by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa and Lindsay Calhoon Bring of “The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina,” the drama follows in its predecessor’s footsteps by establishing its tone straight from its evocative opening-credits sequence.
Set to an unsettling remix of “Secret,” with an anonymous creep destroying smiling photos of the main cast on what can only be described as a classic “murder board,” “Original Sin” quickly asserts itself as a visceral nightmare of a teen slasher.
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