In 2010 the television network ABC Family which would eventually become Freeform adapted Sara Shepard's young adult novel series bringing Pretty Little Liars to the small screen. The mystery teen drama show soon became a global phenomenon with a loyal army of fans tuning in weekly to theorize, tweet, and obsess over all things Pretty Little Liars. The most intriguing part of the show and the reason most young fans found themselves reeled in was the show's premise.
Similar to the books, Pretty Little Liars follows a reeling Rosewood Pennsylvania after the disappearance of teenage Alison DiLaurentis (played by Sasha Pieterse) a year later, as Alison's group of best friends Aria Montgomery (Lucy Hale), Spencer Hastings (Troian Bellisario), Hanna Marin (Ashley Benson), and Emily Fields (Shay Mitchell) begin receiving an anonymous message from a blackmailer named “A”, who constantly alludes to secrets that only Alison knew about the girls.
With the first few seasons being loosely based on Shepard's book series after season 2 the show begins to take on a life of its own as Marlene King began to craft a new story for the girls with the friendship that the world fell in love with. After seven seasons of love, loss, tournament, and even a time jump there’s a lot of Pretty Little Liars to delve into.
7 Season 7
It’s sad to say, but it's inevitably true that the last season of Pretty Little Liars is the most disappointing of them all. With the show's five years forward time jump in full effect, we see the girls in a whole new light. The 20-episode season kicks off with the race to rescue Hanna from “Uber A” after she falsely confessed to Charlotte's (played by Vanessa Ray) murder, but the only way the group can free Hanna is by giving “Uber A” the real person behind the crime. This premise had potential and was ultimately the strongest storyline throughout the season's duration, however, the other storylines drag the season down remarkably. W
ith Alison's husband (Huw Collins) turning out to be a crazy doctor who was trying to drive her crazy, the strong-willed Alison Dilaurentis that once had the people of Rosewood quaking in fear with her words and a flip of her hair is now completely a shell of her former self and needing to be rescued basically every second. Alison isn’t the only character we see shift tremendously in this season, Hanna and Aria also shift majorly too. Hanna becomes erratic and sloppy, making some moves that put the whole group in jeopardy. Aria also has a major shift, as she turns on her friends who have repeatedly saved her life in order to stop Uber A from outing Ezra (played by Ian Harding) from facing jail time for his inappropriate relationship while she was a minor.
The reasons season 7 falls short can continue, but ultimately was the point where the show overstayed its welcome, with its astronomical final reveal of A being Spencer's evil British twin. This reveal ultimately shocked the PLL fandom and was the cause of major heartbreak among die-hard fans of the series for being so lackluster.
6 Season 5
Pretty Little Liars season 5 is intriguing, but so much of its potential is wasted. With the reveal that Alison is alive and her return to Rosewood, there is a lot that season 5 does right. With her epic return, the show demonstrates how Alison's torment affected the other students of Rosewood High, as many of the students attempt to band together to fight against the bullying they once faced.
The return of the Queen B also puts the girls in their biggest lie ever, with Alison manipulating them into backing her story that she was kidnapped and held captive for two years until the girls helped free her from her captor. For the first time, Alison is a part of the show in real-time and not just in flashbacks, but she doesn’t seem to be as swift as she once was. And for someone who managed to hide in plain sight for two years, you think she’d be a little bit smarter; however, Alison’s lies are extremely sloppy and incredibly farfetched, which feels so out of character in comparison to the ghost of the girl we once knew.
Aside from Alison, the season also has one of its emotional moments of the entire series with the death of Mona Vanderwall (played by Janel Parrish) halfway through the season. In an attempt to prove Alison as A, Mona claims she found proof, and the girls rush to her home to find it covered in blood the police presume her dead based on the amount found. As the girls weep for Mona being lost, her mother screams and cries at the news that her daughter was murdered. Season 5 also marks a major shift in the girls' friendship, dealing with being wrapped up in Alison's biggest lie ever, the girls turn on her and soon point the police in the direction of Mona’s murder. This is the strongest point of the season as it builds major tension among the group and ultimately teaches the girls the most major lesson ever, that they have to stick together when A manages to frame them all for the murder.
5 Season 6
Pretty Little Liars season six isn’t that bad but isn’t that good. The first half starts off strong with the girls being kidnapped by A and held within an underground dollhouse crafted by their captor. The dollhouse is elaborate, but it also instills the crazy lengths that A will go to, and it actually works really well. It's scary, anxiety-inducing, and is one of the most edge-of-the-seat moments in the entire series. The girls are eventually freed with the help of their friends, and they use clues from within the dollhouse to help them figure out who held them captive.
However, the first half of season 6 concludes with another example of sloppy writing with the weak reveal of Charolette aka Cece Drake, to be a transgender female who’s actually Alison's long-lost sibling who stole the A game from Mona. There are so many things wrong with this reveal, due to the fact it just flat out doesn’t make much sense, and there are major issues in its depiction of gender identity as it continuously uses Charlotte's character's deadname and has her referred to by the wrong pronouns on many occasions.
The second half of season 6 marks the beginning of the series' time jump, it’s not that bad at first and it honestly offers some very good moments into the girls' development. Viewers watch as the girls have been affected long-term by the tournament they faced as teens. However, the season once again pushes Alison into being needy toward the girls once again as she begs them to help her get Charlotte freed from the psychiatric facility she was put in for her crimes toward them. Despite its strengths season 6 tries to force its viewers to feel sympathy for Charlotte who caused the girls so much trauma, and it just doesn’t work.
4 Season 3
Pretty Little Liars season 3 is definitely more entertaining than some of the others. It’s intense and forces its watcher to sit on the edge of their seat, but it lacks actual content. The season is filled almost entirely with filler moments, like the death of Maya St. Germain (played by Bianca Lawson) which the girls believe to have a connection to Alison's death, but in the end, it doesn’t connect at all, ultimately making it a major waste of time as it doesn’t serve the show's plot in the slightest.
Despite being contaminated with filler season 3 is a point in the show where the stakes have risen. The writers are beginning to take risks and kill many characters. We also see the Liars in harm's way more than ever before, showing viewers that now that A is no longer playing games, and is out for as much blood as possible.
3 Season 4
Pretty Little Liars season 4 marks a major turning point in the series, as it’s finally revealed Alison is alive and she finally reveals in the season finale what happened to her that night. However, in the fashion of Pretty Little Liars, the viewer has to sit through tons of filler to get to the most major reveal.
The largest filler plot comes in the second half of the season when it’s revealed that Ezra had a secret relationship with Alison, and he’s been watching the girls. There are even a series of episodes devoted solely to the girls investigating Ezra, but it all turns out to be fluff when it's revealed he’s just been writing a book about Alison's disappearance.
Season 4 is a point where the show ultimately hit its peak. Fans were invested in the characters and the story. With its season finale sit down where Alison tells her perspective about the night she disappeared, the show came full circle. Although it has its faults season 4 changes the show completely from a group of girls dealing with a ghost to a story of survival.
2 Season 1
Season 1 of Pretty Little Liars is where it all began and it's ultimately a classic. It follows the books better than the other seasons and it ultimately makes it stronger. The acting is raw and it really feels like a high school story, before it gets lost in the later seasons. This season does an excellent job showing the effect Alison had on all the girls, as they attempt to band together and find their own identities in an Ali-free Rosewood. It also explores issues many young people can relate to like struggling with sexuality, eating disorders, and chaotic family dynamics.
This also marks a time when A was just a high school bully, which added to the realness of the show. In the later seasons, A's acts become extravagant, almost too extravagant. But in season 1 with mean texts, notes in lockers, and lipstick on mirrors Pretty Little Liars gave the chilling feeling that anyone could be walking their own high school halls with an A-type bully.
It’s an early 2000s time capsule and its nostalgia is unmatched. The only reason it doesn’t take the top spot is that it hasn’t aged perfectly when you look at it now in the year 2022. With its gay jokes and constant comments about weight, and inappropriate relationships it would definitely have some problems if it aired now. However, in the upcoming reboot, this is definitely a change viewers will see and appreciate.
1 Season 2
Season 2 of Pretty Little Liars is a breath of fresh air, and it's the best among the bunch. It starts with the aftermath of the bell tower which has caused the girls to be named the town liars when the police can’t find any evidence of an incident. The girl's parents decide to attempt to separate the girls at this time, thinking it may give them more room to heal from the death of Alison. However, unlike any other, this season proves the strength of the Liars' friendship as they go against their parent's wishes and stick together as the stakes in their battle with A continue to rise.
All of the season's twists make perfect sense, and there's almost no filler that strays away from the main plot like in the other seasons. The second half of the season becomes even more intense, finally leading up to the reveal of Mona as A, which works out perfectly. Throughout the season prior to the reveal we see A becomes more erratic, they also become more sloppy. By dropping their phone and making other major slip-ups, when Spencer figures out it's been Mona all along the pieces just fall into place. Making the Mona A reveal one of the most intricate and iconic moments within the entire franchise. It marks one of the last times the writers of the show actually took the little things into account and one of the main reasons that the series fans began to watch every little thing going forward.
With its strong emotional performances and intriguing mystery season 2 is when the show became a phenomenon, and it was definitely well deserved.