MAX cancels Pretty Little Liars after season two

After two seasons, MAX's iteration of Pretty Little Liars is over, and unfortunately, it is not a huge surprise. Between streaming services being quick to cancel shows, budget cuts, and the mixed reactions viewers have had toward this latest iteration of the story, Pretty Little Liars did not have a strong enough reason to continue.

Throughout the first two seasons, fans criticized the Pretty Little Liars reboot for not having many episodes per season and for the direction the writers had taken the series. After watching Riverdale spin out of control and re-using some of the CW drama's unpopular plot lines in Pretty Little Liars, including the mask doppelganger cliffhanger at the conclusion of season two, it was looking like season three, had it happened, would have been a repeat of Riverdale's mask arc in season four.

While leaning more into the horror genre was an interesting way of retelling the story so that it would not be as predictable as the Freeform drama, ultimately, this concept was unsustainable, as the heart of Pretty Little Liars in the Freeform show and the original novels lies with the mystery and fear of being stalked by someone who knows everything about you, in comparison to MAX's portrayal, which is more about horror tropes.

However, by using that method, even the stakes went down, as fans could not truly believe that the show's main characters were going to be murdered by the serial killer version of "A" or season two's villain, Bloody Rose.

Fun moments between the show's main characters that were meant to grow their friendships were not as common as they should have been for fans to become emotionally invested. In many ways, this problem had a lot to do with the small amount of episodes each season had and how the mystery had to be confined to the span of one short season. While the concept of the mystery of the killer's identity may have been intriguing, eight episodes are not enough to introduce, grow, and reveal the killer's identity.

The cast gave it their all, giving delightful performances and trying hard to build a new version of this world that was entertaining and binge-worthy. The Pretty Little Liars seasons of Original Sin and Summer School are an enjoyable watch, and feature stories that had plenty of promise and potential to become more had the narrative and limited screen time allowed for it. Unfortunately, MAX did not see the possibility that this series had. Sadly, viewers will never know what could have become of these characters who deserved a real chance to be explored.