Pretty Little Liars Review: Intrigue, It Girls, and ABC Family


pretty little liars cast lucky hale
pretty little liars cast lucky hale

by AD Lynn / Babble.com

ABC Family is entering racier-than-usual territory with Pretty Little Liars, based on the book series by Sara Shepard. Should your teens watch it? Should you? As last night's Pretty Little Liars premiere episode made clear, the network is aiming to nab both demographics. Here's how. Plus a rundown of what worked on episode 1. And what didn't.

Pretty Little Liars has already described as Gossip Girl meets I Know What You Did Last Summer, yet little did we know how apt the description would be. Plus, there's a dash of Grey's Anatomy thrown in. The Pretty Little Liars pilot presents a premise that's, at heart, a cut-and-paste of these stalwarts.

Here's the story: Five 15-year-old female friends (The Pretty Little Liars cast includes Lucy Hale, Ashley Benson, Troian Bellisario, Shay Mitchell, and Sasha Pieterse) are partying in a barn behind one of their houses. In the morning, one of them has disappeared.

I Know What You Did Last Summer: it's clear that something uncool happened that night. The girls know about it, but they aren't speaking. Unfortunately, their story isn't exactly safe - they're all getting texts and emails from a mysterious "A" (the missing girl is named Allison) who knows all of their secrets.

Gossip Girl: The parallel doesn't only have to do with those mysterious texts from an all-knowing yet unidentified confidante. It arises from the fact that these girls live in a world where, when you bring a welcome-basket to new neighbors, it's filled with "foie gras and cornichons." Yes, they live well.

Grey's Anatomy: Remember how the Grey's pilot episode launched? Meredith, on the night before starting her residency, picks up a hot guy and has a fling. When she goes to her first day of work in the morning, she discovers that fling guy is her boss, aka McSteamy. The Pretty Little Liars premiere has an almost identical storyline, except instead of Meredith, Pretty Little Liars' version features a student who has a fling on the eve of her first day of school, only to discover... you can fill in the blank.

So Will Your Teens Want to Keep Watching ? And Will You? Thanks to some super-sly casting moves and a slew of hot-button plotlines, you just might. Read More.