Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin returns to Rosewood

How connected are Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin and Pretty Little Liars? While the HBO Max revival occurs in Millwood, “Scars” brings Imogen and Tabby to a familiar location: Rosewood.

Imogen and Tabby need answers regarding the truth of what happened between the Liars’ mothers and Angela Waters in 1999. So when they discover Angela’s mother, Rose had been a patient at Radley Sanitarium, now the Radley Hotel, they journey to Rosewood for answers.

Anyone familiar with the Freeform drama would remember Radley Sanitarium as a hot spot for some of the town’s biggest mysteries and secrets. Many of the overarching plot lines and secrets led back to Radley. Is that the case in Original Sin as well?

Imogen and Tabby enjoy their stay at the high-class hotel, and Tabby goes to explore the town, which brings up other easter eggs such as Ezra’s Books, a reference to Ezra Fitz from the original series.

This is not the first time Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin has name-dropped an original character, with Caleb Rivers’ name previously appearing on a pill bottle.

Imogen and Tabby’s trip to Rosewood never directly mentions any of the original Liars by name. The closest “Scars” gets is when Imogen and Tabby meet with Eddie Lamb, an employee at the Radley Hotel who had also been an orderly at the Radley Sanitarium. Although played by a different actor, the character shares a name and profession with the iteration of the character in Freeform’s Pretty Little Liars.

While easter eggs have referenced Pretty Little Liars, the revival has also confirmed connections to another well-known teen drama.

When Eddie Lamb mentions that patients had either been released or brought to another institution following Radley’s closure, Eddie brings up another familiar name. The other institution was the Sisters of Quiet Mercy in Riverdale, suggesting that Riverdale and Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin share a universe.

Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin is making connections to the show that came before without stripping itself of its unique qualities. But, given the amount links to so many shows, Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin has the potential of unlimited creative freedom if it wishes to branch out to the other well-known towns within the universes, including Greendale or Ravenswood.