5 Things From ‘Pretty Little Liars’ That HBO Max’s ‘Original Sin’ Reboot Should Avoid

The reboot of “Pretty Little Liars,” titled “Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin,” will hit HBO Max next month, and based on its newest trailer, fans of the original CW series should be relieved to learn that sinister mysteries abound. Our relentless villain, “A,” is back and stronger than ever.

While the “Original Sin” logline notes that the series will take place within the existing “Pretty Little Liars” universe, the reboot will introduce a brand new set of protagonists in a town miles away from Rosewood. Set in the present day, an unknown “A” similarly punishes the teens for a sin committed by their parents 20 years prior.

Despite this change of location, we’re confident similar storytelling styles — and characters, if we’re lucky — will make an appearance in the reboot. While that’s good news in some cases, there are still these five things from the original “Pretty Little Liars” that we hope “Original Sin” does not repeat.

Violating the Liars’ Bodily Autonomy

From performing oral surgery on Hanna to leave a note inside her tooth to drugging Emily with human growth hormones, the multiple villainous characters behind “A” went too far into their revenge scheme by violating the Liars’ bodily autonomy. Exposing affairs and deep, dark secrets are of course fair game, but stealing Emily’s donated eggs and impregnating Alison with them definitely crossed a line.

Body Shaming

One of the earlier established hallmarks of the show was the demoralizing nickname “Hefty Hanna.” “Pretty Little Liars” — and the A-team at large — was sure to body shame the Liars whenever possible. Hanna arguably got the worst of it, as each Alison flashback brought up some sort of body shaming or instruction for Hanna to lose weight, even encouraging disordered eating. And the time A made Hanna binge-eat a box of cupcakes in public was especially unbearable to watch.

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Relationships Between Underage Girls and Adult Men

The list of illicit relationships between the teenaged clan of Liars and the grown men in their life could go on for pages. Despite the presence of several sweet, age-appropriate relationships (shout out to romantic duos Spencer/Toby and Hanna/Caleb), the original series had a penchant for leaning into romances that weren’t so innocent, as seen by Spencer’s multiple relationships with her older sister’s boyfriends and Aria’s continued relationship with her English teacher, Ezra.

Hitting the Liars With Cars

Besides this trend being extremely traumatizing — especially when Mona ran down her so-called “best friend” and Hanna and A drove into Emily’s house — it is also a drawn out act of violence that bled into “Pretty Little Liars” spinoff “The Perfectionists,” which featured a mysterious car hitting the character Caitlin. Although the serious injuries resulting from car crashes are an easy way to tug on audiences’ heartstrings, let’s hope the new “Original Sin” villain can think of some new, less violent tactics to get what they want.

Any Plot Point Related to “the Jenna Thing”

For those who are unaware of this foundational element of “Pretty Little Liars, “the Jenna Thing” refers to an incident where the Liars were accidentally responsible for blinding Jenna and subsequently blamed her step brother, Toby, for their actions. While this secret was a fitting plot device to reunite the Liars after Alison’s death, we hope the new generation of Liars won’t have this type of traumatic skeleton in their closet.

“Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin” premieres on HBO Max July 28.

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