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Chandler Kinney as Tabby, Malia Pyles as Minnie, Zaria as Faran, Bailee Madison as Imogen, and Maia ...

You Probs Missed These PLL Easter Eggs In Original Sin

So! Much! Nostalgia!

by Madeleine Janz
Updated: 
Originally Published: 
Karolina Wojtasik/HBO Max

Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin brings a whole new horror vibe to the Pretty Little Liars universe, with more serious themes like teen pregnancy and racism, as well as a much darker feel, both literally and thematically. Despite its differences from the original series, though, the creators kept a lot of ties to the OG plot and characters. If you look hard enough, you’ll find a ton of easter eggs from Pretty Little Liars in PLL: Original Sin.

Warning: Spoilers for PLL: Original Sin follow. Both the OG show and the new iteration loosely follow the same tension-filled plot: A group of high schoolers team up when they all begin to be attacked by a mysterious villain named “A.” In the original, the girls already have a history of being friends, while the updated version brings in a Breakfast Club-esque twist, having the five new liars, Imogen (Bailee Madison), Tabby (Chandler Kinney), Minnie (Malia Pyles), Noa (Maia Reficco), and Faran (Zaria), bond in detention.

Despite all the plot differences, the show has already given fans a few tributes to the original series. And, according to one of the show’s creators, Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, there are many more to come. He told TVLine, “Once you hit Episode 6, the easter eggs — and more than easter eggs — start coming fast and furiously ... up to literally the last moment of the last episode.”

Here are all the callbacks to Pretty Little Liars in PLL: Original Sin so far.

Karolina Wojtasik/HBO Max

1. The Iconic Intro Song

The new addition to this YA universe kicks off with a familiar sound, albeit with a twist — a remix of the original PLL intro song, “Secret” by The Pierces, serves as the new intro song with added echoes, screeches, and haunting instrumentals clearly signaling Original Sin’s leanings into the slasher genre. The song stays similar enough, though, to be a totally nostalgic bop for fans of the original.

2. “A” As The Villain

As the plot begins to thicken, the biggest callback is, of course, the existence of “A,” a nasty villain who communicates with the liars through texts — although, now, this all happens over green iPhone messages instead of the iconic flip phones and Blackberrys of the original. Just like the original, “A,” and the show as a whole, is also very connected to a red aesthetic through notes, texts, and even blood.

3. The Pennsylvania Location

Much like the original, all of this horror occurs in a Pennsylvania town, this time named Millwood. The original series’ setting of Rosewood didn’t affect the plot too much, but their apparent proximity could be a hint that OG characters may start popping up in Original Sin — or just that the creators agree that small-town America is pretty creepy.

Karolina Wojtasik/HBO Max

4. Inappropriate Age-Gap Relationships

Just like the first series, Original Sin features a deeply troublesome storyline of an adult man attempting to groom a girl in high school. Wes (Derek Klena), from the new series, is a lot like Ezra, complimenting his employee Tabby on her maturity, offering to drive her home, and trying to get as much alone time with her as possible. Thankfully, the new series is clear about how creepy and dangerous his actions are, as opposed to how the original show romanticized Ezra.

5. The Twin Thing

In perhaps the most eerie similarity, Original Sin seems to be keeping with the PLL universe’s obsession with twins. In the first series, the plot gets far more complicated when it’s revealed that Ali’s mom and Spencer both had twins (nods to the OG book series’ twin twist). In Original Sin, the twin trope became a factor in the early episodes. Karen and Kelly (Mallory Bechtel) are the twins this time — and at the end of Episode 2, one of them dies. Supposedly, the twin who was murdered by “A” was Karen, but with the OG history, fans are skeptical about the twins’ true identities.

6. Caleb’s Name On The Pill Bottle

Of all the people to name drop, Hanna Marin’s techie beau Caleb Rivers is a surprising callback to the OG series. In Episode 4, as Noa is searching through her mom’s bag to find evidence of her substance use, she finds a pill bottle with Caleb Rivers’ name on it, presumably stolen by Noa’s mom from the hospital she works at in Millwood. Fans are speculating whether this means Caleb is being treated at this hospital, if he’ll make an appearance in the new series soon, or if this is just a cheeky shoutout to the original series.

Karolina Wojtasik/HBO Max

7. The Radley Sanitarium/Hotel

This Rosewood mental institution plays a key role in the OG Pretty Little Liars. Charlotte Drake, Mona Vanderwaal, and Spencer Hastings, among others, all have stays at the hospital for mental illnesses before it was converted into a hotel and managed by Hanna’s mom, Ashley Marin. In Original Sin Episode 6, Tabby and Imogen take a trip to Rosewood to find answers about Angela’s mom, who was committed to Radley after trying to attack some boys at Millwood High. Tabby and Imogen stay at the Radley Hotel, and even get some answers about Angela Waters from an OG series character.

8. Eddie Lamb At Radley

When Imogen and Tabby show up to the Radley hoping to find a decrepit mental institution and instead find the barely creepy hotel, the clerk tells them to speak with Eddie Lamb, a very familiar name for OG PLL fans. Lamb was an orderly at the Radley when it was a sanitarium. Imogen and Tabby get a lot of info out of him, specifically that all five of the new Liars’ moms, and a mystery guest, signed in to see Angela under the name A. Waters. Could this be the final multiversal ending for Lamb, or could he continue to be an asset for the new Liars throughout the series?

8. Ezra’s Books

HBO Max

In a very quick, nearly missable scene, Tabby explores Rosewood, wandering into a bookstore named none other than “Ezra’s Books.” Does Ezra run this bookstore in Rosewood? Will he make a cameo in the new series? The people need to know.

Check back here for the full list of easter eggs as episodes of Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin release Thursdays on HBO Max .

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