Pretty Little Liars is back, but this is Pretty Little Liars like you’ve never seen it before.
Quite frankly, Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin has barely anything to do with the original series. In fact, it varies so much from the original that it almost could’ve been sold as a stand-alone series.
The Original Sin writers have gutted the original series and salvaged only the show’s most essential parts, that is, the fact that there are teenage girls from Pennsylvania being tormented by an unknown villain who goes by ‘A’. Aside from that? The series has a lot more in common with Scream than it does with Pretty Little Liars.
Original Sin opens on a flashback sequence set in 1999, in which we see a girl named Angela (Gabriella Pizzolo) begging a group of high school mean girls for help. They refuse, and Angela then dies by suicide, jumping to her death from the balcony, in front of all her peers.
In 2022, we meet five girls who attend Millwood High — Imogen Adams (Bailee Madison), Minnie ‘Mouse’ Honrada (Malia Pyles), Tabitha ‘Tabby’ Hayworth (Chandler Kinney), Faran Bryant (Zaria), and Noa Olivar (Maia Reficco). They’re the daughters of the 1999 mean girls, and although they don’t know it yet, they’re about to face the consequences of their mothers’ actions, as A is out to get them.
Much like Scream, the series is big on pop culture references and Easter eggs, which is a delight for any millennials and pop culture junkies watching.
The year 1999 looms large in the pilot. Playing Imogen’s mother? Carly Pope, who played Sam McPherson in Ryan Murphy and Gina Matthews cult teen series Popular, which premiered in 1999. Tabby makes references to Jawbreaker and Election, which both premiered in 1999. Angela’s death feels very reminiscent to Lisa Parker’s (Mena Suvari) death in The Rage: Carrie 2, which premiered in 1999. All of these references work together to knit the two timelines together, but more than anything, they’re a treat for any ’90s film buffs out there.
Without further ado, here’s every pop culture reference in the first two episodes of Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin. Check back soon, though, because we’ll be adding more with each episode.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NnXgKHt—w
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Akira Kurosawa
In Episode 1, Chip mentions there there are no Akira Kurosawa films on the list of classic films for the class to recreate.
Alfred Hitchcock
In Episode 1, Wes states that Brian De Palma is “an auteur, as good as Hitchcock — better, even!”
Alien
Faran’s mother works at a law firm called Strode, Prescott, Ripley and associates, a nod to Alien’s Final Girl, Ellen Ripley.
Almost Famous
In Episode 2, Tabby tells Chip to pretend that the house party is “Tom Cruise’s party at the end of Risky Business, or at the house party in Almost Famous, or from like, The Social Network“.
American Psycho
In Episode 2, Imogen tells the girls that Karen has dropped out of the race for Spirit Queen, and that she took responsibility for trashing her own posters. This prompts Tabby to refer to her as the “female Patrick Bateman”, the protagonist from American Psycho.
The Amityville Horror
In Episode 2, the girls accompany Imogen back to her house, where Tabby says that the house is “an Amityville-level of weird”.
Ari Aster
In Episode 1, Tabby tells Wes to not “hate on Ari Aster”, saying “Midsommar is flawed, but Hereditary is a masterpiece”.
Ash Vs Evil Dead
In Episode 1, Mouse gets a message from Ash, whose user name is “AshVsEvilDead”.
Ava DuVernay
In Episode 1, Tabby mentions there there are no Ava DuVernay films on the list of classic films for the class to recreate.
Barbie
In Episode 1, Mouse calls Karen “Basic Barbie“.
Body Double
In Episode 1, the cinema is celebrating Brian De Palma week, and they’re screening Body Double.
Buffy, the Vampire Slayer
In Episode 1, Tabby says that Imogen is brave for “going back to the Hellmouth that is Millwood High”. Famously, Sunnydale High was built on a Hellmouth.
Later that episode, Imogen decides to take on Karen and run for Spirit Queen, which is very reminiscent of Buffy Season 3, Episode 5, “Homecoming”, when Buffy decides to go up against Cordelia. This episode, by the way? It aired in 1999. Just saying!
Carrie
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ai7O5G-Y0Yw
According to Mallory Bechtel, who plays twins Karen and Kelly Beasley, Karen’s character was in part inspired by iconic horror movie mean girl, Carrie‘s Chris Hargensen (Nancy Allen).
In an interview with Teen Vogue, Bechtel said: “I think [creator] Roberto [Aguirre-Sacasa] and [writer] Lindsay [Calhoon Bring] had this in mind writing her as Chris from Carrie. I even have a scene with my boyfriend in the show, Greg, who’s played by Elias Kacavas, where I call him a stupid sh*t multiple times and that’s like a direct reference to Chris, John Travolta’s character Billy, and Carrie. That’s what’s fun about our show is there’s a lot of horror Easter eggs. But I think definitely with my character, Chris is the big parallel.”
In Episode 2, Kelly and Karen devise a plan for revenge after the girls humiliate Karen at the Jordan Peele double feature. Their plan? To recreate the moment in Carrie where Carrie White is drenched in pig’s blood while accepting the title of Prom Queen. Just as Karen is about to dump a bucket of paint on Imogen’s head, though, A comes along and pushes her to her death.
Centre Stage
In Episode 2, Tabby asks the girls what their favourite dance movie is. Faran says hers is “Centre Stage, obviously”.
David Cronenberg
In Episode 1, Tabby refers to David Cronenberg as one of the “three C’s — Carpenter, Cronenberg and Craven” while trying to guess the “Masters of Horror” featured in the issue of Fangoria that Wes is reading.
Dirty Dancing
In Episode 2, Tabby asks the girls what their favourite dance movie is. Imogen says hers is “Dirty Dancing, of course”.
Do the Right Thing
In Episode 1, film buff Tabby is wearing a Do the Right Thing sweatshirt.
Dressed to Kill
In Episode 1, the cinema is celebrating Brian De Palma week, and they’re screening Dressed to Kill.
Election
In Episode 1, Tabby tells Imogen that she should run for Spirit Queen, telling her “let’s go Tracey Flick on this b**ch”, a reference to Reese Witherspoon‘s character in 1999 film Election.
Get Out
In Episode 2, Tabby hosts a Jordan Peele double feature of Get Out and Us at the Orpheum for the kids of Millwood High.
Guillermo del Toro
In Episode 1, Chip mentions there there are no Guillermo del Toro films on the list of classic films for the class to recreate.
Halloween
There are a ton of references to John Carpenter’s iconic Halloween franchise in Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin.
First, they’re using the same font to specify what day it is.
In Episode 1, Imogen gets a text from A telling her to look out the window. She does, and A is standing there. She looks away for a moment, and when she turns back, A has disappeared. Very Michael Myers behaviour, TBH! In fact, the scene is a direct reference to this scene in the original Halloween film, right down to the red pen Imogen is holding.
Finally, Faran’s mother works at a law firm called Strode, Prescott, Ripley and Associates, a nod to Halloween‘s Final Girl, Laurie Strode.
Hamlet
After Karen is pushed to her death at the school dance, the Liars get their first group text from A, which reads: “To thine own self be true. One bully down. Five more to go. Keep quiet about me or you’re next. A”.
“To thine own self be true” is, of course, a line from William Shakespeare’s Hamlet.
Hereditary
In Episode 1, Tabby tells Wes to not “hate on Ari Aster”, saying “Midsommar is flawed, but Hereditary is a masterpiece”.
I Know What You Did Last Summer
Sure, in I Know What You Did Last Summer, Barry doesn’t jump to his death, he’s murdered. Still, this scene bares a striking resemblance to Angela’s death in the way the shot is set up, with the lights flashing up to the balcony to create a silhouette.
Inferno
As Tabby and Imogen enter Millwood High for Spirit Week in Episode 1, Tabby says “abandon hope, ye who enter here”, the famous line from Dante’s Inferno, although the oft-quoted is also prevalent in horror flick Hellraiser.
It
In Episode 2, Imogen expresses regret about screening the video of Karen before the Jordan Peele double feature. When she says that her mother never would’ve shown that video, Tabby replies, “it wasn’t just you, it was all of us. We made a pact, like the Losers’ Club”, a reference to the kids from Stephen King’s It.
Jawbreaker
In Episode 2, Tabby describes Karen’s mean girl behaviour as “like, full Jawbreaker“.
John Carpenter
In Episode 1, Tabby refers to John Carpenter as one of the “three C’s — Carpenter, Cronenberg and Craven” while trying to guess the “Masters of Horror” featured in the issue of Fangoria that Wes is reading.
John Singleton
In Episode 1, Tabby mentions there there are no John Singleton films on the list of classic films for the class to recreate.
Jordan Peele
In Episode 2, Tabby says that she’s holding her Jordan Peele double feature at the Orpheum “because Jordan Peele is dope, and Mr Smithee’s racially biased”.
Jurassic Park
Tabby’s Orpheum name tag has Jurassic Park under her name. She also has Jurassic Park merch in her bedroom and dinosaur stickers on her laptop, implying that it’s one of her favourite films.
Lady Bird
In Episode 2, Tabby refers to Imogen as “Lady Bird” for stressing about not having anything to wear to the school dance.
Midsommar
In Episode 1, Tabby tells Wes to not “hate on Ari Aster”, saying “Midsommar is flawed, but Hereditary is a masterpiece”.
Minnie and Mickey Mouse
In Episode 1, Mouse gets a text from A saying “Can Minnie Mouse come out to play? xoxo, Mickey.” Perhaps that “xoxo” is a nod to Gossip Girl, also?
In fact, in Episode 2, Mouse reveals that her real name is actually “Minnie”, given to her by her “Disney-obsessed” mothers.
Moonlight
In Episode 2, Tabby refers to Moonlight as her “favourite boy coming-of-age movie”.
The Perks of Being a Wallflower
In Episode 2, Tabby says: “after Moonlight, Perks of Being a Wallflower is my favourite boy coming-of-age movie”.
Poltergeist
In Episode 2, the girls accompany Imogen back to her house, where Tabby says that the house is giving her “serious Poltergeist vibes”.
Popular
Casting Carly Pope as Imogen’s mean girl mother Davie Adams? Surely that’s a nod to Ryan Murphy and Gina Matthews campy cult teen series Popular, which premiered in 1999.
Psycho
In Episode 1, Tabby questions whether the stalking sequence in Dressed to Kill is better than the infamous shower scene in Psycho.
The Rage: Carrie 2
Okay, this might be a reach but this was the first thing that came to mind during the opening sequence — Angela jumps to her death in front of all her classmates, which is exactly what Mena Suvari’s character Lisa Parker does in the 1999 horror sequel The Rage: Carrie 2. To be fair, she’s in the school carpark and not at a dance, but I will take any opportunity to talk about The Rage: Carrie 2.
Risky Business
In Episode 2, Tabby tells Chip to pretend that the house party is “Tom Cruise’s party at the end of Risky Business, or at the house party in Almost Famous, or from like, The Social Network“.
Scream
In Episode 1, Tabby’s first text message from A reads “What’s your favourite scary movie?”, the famous Ghostface line from Scream.
Faran’s mother works at a law firm called Strode, Prescott, Ripley and Associates, a nod to Scream‘s Final Girl, Sidney Prescott.
The Silence of the Lambs
In Episode 2, Tabby says “Quid pro quo, Dr Lecter, I’ll owe you”, a reference to Hannibal Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs.
The Social Network
In Episode 2, Tabby tells Chip to pretend that the house party is “Tom Cruise’s party at the end of Risky Business, or at the house party in Almost Famous, or from like, The Social Network“.
Step Up
In Episode 2, Tabby asks the girls what their favourite dance movie is. Noa says hers is “the Step Up franchise”.
Suspiria
In Episode 2, Tabby asks the girls what their favourite dance movie is. She then says, “Mine’s Suspiria, shocking no one.”
Swan Lake
Millwood High’s ballet class is putting on a production of Swan Lake.
Unpregnant
In Episode 1, Tabby tells Imogen that “no one loves an abortion road trip movie” more than her, a reference to 2020’s Unpregnant.
Us
In Episode 2, Tabby hosts a Jordan Peele double feature of Get Out and Us at the Orpheum for the kids of Millwood High.
Wes Craven
Tabby’s boss at the Orpheum cinema is named Wes, an obvious reference to the late horror director.
In Episode 1, Tabby also refers to Craven as one of the “three C’s — Carpenter, Cronenberg and Craven” while trying to guess the “Masters of Horror” featured in the issue of Fangoria that Wes is reading.
West Side Story
In Episode 2, Tabby asks the girls what their favourite dance movie is. Mouse says hers is West Side Story. Noa enthuses that she wanted to be Maria, so she “could jump Tony’s bones”.
Zodiac
When Wes and Tabby spot A lurking around, Wes makes a move to get out of the car and confront the killer. Tabby stops him in his tracks with three simple words: “Wes. Fincher. Zodiac.”
The first three episodes of Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin are streaming in Australia now on BINGE.
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