Editors Note: The following contains spoilers for Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin.

Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin has a beating, bleeding heart inspired by horror movies, especially slashers. From the big theme of the sins of mothers getting passed down to their daughters, Scream (1996) quickly comes to mind. Not only does Sidney (Neve Campbell) have to outwit a killer; the body count leads back to the death of her mother, which was a catalyst to a lot of misery. In looking at this season through the lens of the slasher subgenre, Pretty Little Liars made it quite clear how awful the parents of the Liars were in their youth. A lack of punishment by the finale brings this season to an unsatisfactory ending.

In the penultimate "Chapter Nine: Dead and Buried," the mothers sit around their children and admit their wrongdoings. Toward the end, one adds that, “After tonight, we move on.” Too little, too late for that. "Chapter 10: Final Girls," storms in, the killer kidnapping all the women, luring the Liars to their high school for a trial. Principal Clanton (Robert Stanton) unveils himself as the mastermind to all the killings. Angela Waters (Gabriella Pizzolo), the girl all the mothers ostracized as teens, was his daughter, and the mysterious “A” is Archie (Travis Patton), Angela's brother. Holding everyone accountable, Clanton proceeds to revisit the past. For all the pain and torment Angela got from them, the “original sinners” continue to leave wounds in the present day.

In 1999, Corey (Zakiya Young) abandoned Angela after pressuring her to get a tattoo. In the present, daughter Faran (Zaria) learns Corey forced her into a “corrective” surgery for scoliosis at a young age, leading to chronic, unnecessary pain. Corey then tries to get Faran to do more surgery, this time to get rid of the scars on her back. For Noa (Maia Reficco), she’s such a passionate daughter, she covers for her mom and nurse Marjorie (Elena Goode) when drugs are found — drugs Marjorie stole from work. After “A” forces Noa to get Marjorie fired, the mom acts out, showing Noa is the true caretaker. This isn’t too surprising. Marjorie has always used someone to protect herself. As a teen, she got caught smoking and made Angela take the blame for it.

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Image via HBO Max 

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As for Elodie (Lea Salonga), she lied about a romantic relationship between Angela and herself, saying the girl was obsessed with her. Now older, Elodie is full of anxiety over a past kidnapping attempt that almost stole her child, Mouse (Malia Pyles). The reality is darker. Elodie admits to basically being the actual abductor. She agreed to be a surrogate for a couple, but because it wasn’t through an agency, a change of heart led to Elodie keeping Mouse for herself. When it comes to Imogen (Bailee Madison) and Tabby (Chandler Kinney), they aren’t in the clear from their parents’ past either.

Davie (Carly Pope) leaves Imogen behind in "Chapter One: Spirit Week," ending her life after getting a flyer recalling the night Angela killed herself. The guilt is too strong for Davie to try and rectify her mistakes. It wasn’t just that she witnessed the girl’s death, she had a hand in it. After Angela is assaulted by Sheriff Beasley (Eric Johnson), Davie’s boyfriend at the time, Davie does not support her in the slightest. She “erases” Angela, making the friend group and fellow students act as if Angela doesn’t exist, like a ghost wandering the school halls. Last but not least is Tabby’s mom, Sidney (Sharon Leal). She might have been the “nicest” of the mean girls, but that isn’t staying much. Her wrongdoing was not doing anything at all. Sidney learns of the assault, doesn’t help, and goes to Davie with this, ultimately leading to Angela’s alienation. It’s obvious how this affected the woman. Sidney cares for her daughter but hardly tries to know her, keeping topics light and airy. When Tabby reveals her own assault, Sidney vows to do what she should have done with Angela.

Travis Patton and Robert Stanton in Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin
Image via HBO Max

The lengths to which Original Sin goes to let the Pretty Little Liars forgive their parents is odd. It’s really to keep the plot moving. Flashbacks to how complicit the women were to Angela’s suffering is heavily emphasized throughout the season. One would think it would lead to, in slasher logic, grisly repercussions. Especially because two decades later, they are still full of denial and lies. None of the moms are stalked or targeted, not like their daughters. Noa gets forced into a chase, with Archie very close behind. Marjorie gets nothing of the sort. So what could have made for a complicated finale goes in a different direction.

At the finale’s trial, Imogen tries to reason with Principal Clanton, explaining how Davie “changed,” how she “became a different person.” Because Davie is long gone at this point, Imogen points out that Archie killing her isn’t true justice, which Clanton believes in the opposite. She’s forced to flee from Archie, the principal left alone to take charge of the trial. That is when an enraged Tabby tells him of this “double standard,” trapping all the women and girls, and ignoring that Sheriff Beasley assaulted Angela. Clanton shakes the accusation off, planning to pin all the deaths on him. It brings to mind other slashers who weren’t really looking for vigilante justice.

The aforementioned Scream not only revived slasher movies, it revived the goal of the killers. Sidney learns that among the two wearing the Ghostface mask, one is her boyfriend Billy (Skeet Ulrich). For all his frenzied rants blaming movies, Billy actually blames Sidney’s mother. She had an affair with his father and caused his own mother to leave. His first act of violence is not enough though. The thirst for bloodshed proves too much. This goes back to the movie that created the formula. Friday the 13th (1980) opens with Mrs. Voorhees (Betsy Palmer) ending the lives of two camp counselors about to have sex. She blames them for not looking after her son, Jason, who drowned at Camp Crystal Lake. The camp closes but when it eventually reopens, Mrs. V returns. With a cozy sweater and blood-stained bowie knife, she attacks the current counselors who had nothing to do with her child’s drowning. These villains were wronged in some way, and they will make whoever they blame, suffer for it. Even if what they leave behind, is a lot of collateral damage. Revenge is what Mrs. Voorhees, Billy, and now Principal Clanton want.

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Image via HBO Max 

So the show criticizes the mastermind, and he isn’t the only one. The Liars live in a world where there are many male antagonists out to get them. Unlike the moms, the men and boys are dealt with. Archie is wounded and Clanton is arrested. Beasley abuses his power as a sheriff and endangers his family. His wife, having enough of his crap, stabs him in the finale, although it isn’t fatal. Tabby is definitely right, Beasley did get off easy and when Archie invades his hospital room, it’s a shame the kill happens off-screen. Jock Tyler (Brian Altemus) is an ass, racist and misogynistic to the Liars, Archie getting to him during the Halloween party. Close friend Chip (Carson Rowland) seems to be the aw-shucks kind of guy, until Imogen and Tabby realize Chip was the one who assaulted them both. Before the finale cuts to black, he too gets a greeting from Archie.

Despite the horror subgenre influence, the finale’s ending is a bit too happy. During a Christmas celebration, all the families come together with the hopes to move on. Everyone is full of yuletide cheer, eager for the new year. Marjorie takes the mature step to check herself into a rehab facility. Elodie and her wife plan to go to couples therapy. Corey plans to resituate herself back in Tabby’s life for good. By the mothers not facing retribution, the show seems to forget what they did to their daughters and poor Angela. A possible positive note could be the exchange between Tabby and Imogen: “Do we think it’s over-over? Or is there a sequel in the offing?” Imogen chooses to look on the bright side. But it’s not the correct one. Archie is out there.

Maybe in a potential second season, the mothers will face a threat more directly like their daughters had to endure constantly. Because once in a slasher, always in a slasher.