REVIEW: Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists Will Pull You Back Down the PLL Rabbit Hole
Freeform debuts its new series, Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists tonight, March 20. Based off the book series by Sara Shepard, the spin-off of Freeform’s hit series, Pretty Little Liars, focuses on 3 students: Ava Jalali (Sofia Carson), Caitlin Park Lewis (Sydney Park) and Dylan Walker (Eli Brown). Students at Beacon Heights University, a prestigious university where the students strive to be the best in their selected fields, the trio soon find out excelling in their fields is not their only worry this semester. When their “friend”, Nolan Hotchkiss (Chris Mason) is found dead on the school gates, the group’s lives are turned upside down and the secrets they have long kept begin to be revealed.
If you liked the first three seasons of Pretty Little Liars this is the show for you. Within the first ten minutes of the show, you will be sucked back into the PLL rabbit hole with all the questions that came with it. Sasha Pieterse and Janel Parrish return as Allison DeLaurentis and Mona Vanderwall and are just as fantastic as they were in PLL. Sasha has more opportunity to shine in the first episode compared to the first episode of PLL, whereas Janel is just as endearingly wicked as she was in the original.
New arrivals to the PLL world, Sofia, Sydney and Eli, are strong in their roles, but it is Chris’ performance as Nolan that stole the episode for me. His portrayal of the cocky, manipulative Nolan will leave many wanting to punch him in the face by the end of the episode or at least saying he got what was coming to him. Hopefully, as the season progresses, the three leads will have their chances to shine. And they definitely do well to catch your interest in their stories and the potential of what may come for them this season.
Kelly Rutherford rounds out the cast as Mama Hotchkiss and will not be winning any mother of the year awards on this show. She may be more manipulative than her son, Nolan, but Kelly’s portrayal of Mrs. Hotchkiss draws you into her web of deceit right from the get go.
Fans of the original Pretty Little Liars are in for a treat with The Perfectionists. Filled with mystery, murder, and twists around every corner, creator Marlene King has one again proven she knows what it takes to create a show that will get social media buzzing. Make sure to let us know what you think of the pilot after it airs tonight.
Grade: A
Photo source: Freeform/Kurt Iswarienko