**Before I get into this, I should say that I am aware that this show is based on a YA book series, but I’ve never read it and knew nothing about it going in. If you want to comment on differences/similarities between the books and the show, please feel free, but put a spoiler alert before getting into future storylines or anything that could dampen the enjoyment of the show for us n00bs. Thanks!

I went into last night’s premiere of the show not knowing much about it, and not having decided whether I’d bother covering it for OCTV. Well, consider me hooked already – it kind of reminded me of how quickly I got sucked into The Vampire Diaries (once I got over my Twilight aversion and gave it a shot). A lot happened in the ep; the pacing was very reminiscent of TVD and so were the informative, yet non-boring flashbacks. I sort of had high hopes for the show based on the little I knew about it – Lucy Hale, who I loved on Privileged, is playing the lead, Aria (how pretentious is that name?). The parents are largely played by recognizable faces (Piper Halliwell Holly Marie Combs, Chad Lowe, Nia Peeples(!), Laura Leighton). Plus, ABC Family has kind of earned my respect with other favorites of mine, like Greek and the sadly cancelled 10 Things I Hate About You (sigh, I think I’ll miss you most of all, Ethan Peck).

There was a ton of scandal and intrigue, and there were little moments that reminded me of some of my favorite darkly amusing high school movies like Election, Heathers and Cruel Intentions. It’s not quite as humorous as some of those movies, yet, but it definitely has the dark tone down.

I think, since there was a lot of info and several characters to deal with, I’ll intro each of the main girls, their relations, and the clusterfuck of drama surrounding them. Shall we?

Aria
The main character, and one of four friends beginning their junior year of high school together. Her family just returned from Iceland where her dad was on sabbatical, and she’s drifted from her friends in the year she’s been gone. Shortly before she left town, they had all been hanging out together in a barn or something (I don’t know), when one of them, Allie, vanished. She’s been missing for the past year, and the show begins on the anniversary of her disappearance.

We learn that Aria’s got some kind of deal with her dad – she knows something about him and has promised not to spill. She’s also pissed at him, and we later learn why – she caught him making out with another woman in his car at some point before the family went to Europe. There was a later reference to the mystery chick being a student of his, so I’m sure there’s much more story to come. Aria also meets a guy on her first day back – a guy who mentions he’s just about to begin his first teaching job (dun dun dunnnnn). Alright kiddies, when you go to high school, and you meet a hot guy who mentions that he’s a new teacher, you should probably check WHERE he’s going to be teaching before you stick your tongue down his throat.  And young teachers?  If you learn that the hot chick you’re making out with is your STUDENT, you should probably remove your tongue permanently, or at least until graduation.

Family (so far): Mom is Holly Marie Combs and her cheating dad is Chad Lowe. Also has a younger brother who plays lacrosse or rugby or something and whose voice is halfway changed.

Meredith
She’s the new Queen Bee at school (since Allie’s gone), and she’s rich, but she likes to steal. There seems to be an issue with an eating disorder, or body confidence or something – you can tell because they often showed her eating or looking longingly at food and people telling her to be careful or she’ll get fat.  Subtle.

Family: Mother is Laura Leighton, Dad is MIA, and she’s got the daddy issues of a future stripper.

Spencer
Type A personality, high achiever. Spent her summer restoring a barn/loft in her parent’s yard that her older sister is going to move into with her soon-to-be husband (no fair!). Older sister is annoying as hell and the fiance is hot, British, and a med student. There is a definite flirtation between Spencer and the fiancé, and they almost got busted when he was trying to “massage some fluid out of her bursa sac” while they were both in just their bathing suits – the old bursa sac line; who hasn’t heard that one before?

Family: Aforementioned sister and her fiancé, presumably parents, but I don’t remember them if they ever popped up.

Mona
A jock, used to have a “more than friends” relationship with Allie before she disappeared. But also has a boyfriend, or at least she told her new friend Mya that she does. Mya has a boyfriend too. But Mya and Mona ended up macking on each other just a little before the episode was up, so I’m not sure what’s happening – is this a closet situation? To be determined…

Family: Mother is Nia Peeples.

As the anniversary of the disappearance was on everyone’s minds, all of the girls started receiving texts/IMs/letters from “A”, that mentioned each of their personal secrets, pretty much right after they happened. Who is sending them? Is Alison still alive? Well, not so much. Mona’s new friend Mya just moved into Alison’s old house and during some excavation in the yard, Allie’s body was discovered. So she’s dead! But then…after the funeral, all the girls received a text with the line in the title of this post, also from “A”. So, there is a mystery to solve…what happened to Allie? Who is sending the messages? Was that really Allie’s body? This gave me a bit of a Veronica Mars vibe, in that the season is probably going to be structured around the girls trying to solve the mystery (like VM structured their seasons with who killed Lilly, who raped Veronica, who blew up the school bus, etc). I loved VMars, so this makes me happy. Oh! And I almost forgot “The Jenna Thing” – this is an incident that the girls were all involved in back before Allie vanished, and are clearly trying to keep secret. It’s mentioned a few times throughout the ep. Then, at Allie’s funeral, the girls all start pissing themselves because Jenna has arrived.  She’s BLIND, in glamorous sunglasses, in the church. I loved that moment, because it was just SO soap opera. My mind was racing – did they throw acid at her face? Did Jenna spend too much time spanking her monkey and is now reaping the punishment? I have no idea, but I’m excited to find out.

So, that’s pretty much it for the pilot ep – I hear that the rest of the eps had a higher production value, and things like sets, hair and clothes improve a lot. I personally didn’t find anything cheap looking, except for MYA’S WIG. Please, for the love of god, tell me they got the girl some better hair. I would also like to take the opportunity to congratulate Miss Bianca Lawson (aka Emily from TVD) on scoring the role of a high school student. Considering she was a HS student in Saved By The Bell: The New Class, this is no small feat people. Standing O!

What did you guys think? Will you be watching for the foreseeable future? Had you read the books first, or is this your first PLL experience like me? Talk to me!