Now Watching: Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists Pilot Episode | A recap

For Pretty Little Liars fans all over the world, tonight was a big night with the debut of it’s spin-off series, Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists. The show features two of Rosewood’s fiercest women, Alison Dilaurentis (Sasha Pieterse) and Mona Vanderwaal (Janel Parrish), along with a few new faces.

Now while I will always love and miss my OG liars, I thoroughly enjoyed the pilot with it’s introduction to different characters, a murder mystery, and the musical soundtrack. Of course, you can take a girl out of Rosewood, but drama will always follow her wherever she goes.

The episode began with a mean orchestral version of Lady Gaga’s “Poker Face”, a voice over, and an introduction to three Beacon Heights University students striving for perfection. Little do they know, something pretty big is going to hit them really hard.

Next came our favorite former mean girl starting a new gig as a teacher’s assistant at Beacon Heights University. Alison is sans her wife and twins as we later learn that Emily still has trust issues. While Alison thinks she’s alone in her new town, she’s actually greeted by a familiar face, Mona, who brings pie. Mona had a hand in recruiting her former frenemy. At this point, I’m not sure if we can trust Mona especially as she talks to a mirror when Ali leaves the room.

As Mona catches up with Ali, she mentions a few things about BHU. BHU has a security system called Beacon Guard and later on we learn that the so called security system is moreso invading privacy instead of protecting students.

Then, there’s the prominent Hotchkiss family. Taylor Hotchkiss allegedly committed suicide the year before and Alison is the lucky faculty member that gets to stay in her house. Nolan Hotchkiss is the jerk that everyone hates to love. And then there the matriarch of the family, Claire Hotchkiss, who seems to be the overbearing mother who wants the best for her children, even if that means spying on them [and the rest of the population]. Claire also seems to take a liking to Alison as she reminds her of her late daughter.

If only Claire knew how much her son Nolan and the old Alison had in common – both manipulative without any regard to people’s feelings. Alison catches on to Nolan’s attitude and the people he’s hurting.

First off there’s Ava, the influencer. She has been having a tough time after her family abandoned her – her dad is on the run and her mom couldn’t handle it. Nolan is dating her in secret, but breaks her heart by sleeping with another girl. The only redeeming part about him is when you realize he did it to protect her and hide from his mother’s Beacon Guard.

Then there’s Caitlin, the girl who plans to follow her mother’s political footsteps. Nolan practically blackmails her into fake dating to make people believe they are a perfect power couple. This makes Nolan’s mom happy, but Caitlin’s real beau isn’t too thrilled. If Caitlin reveals the truth, then her mother’s future Presidential career is dunzo.

Lastly, we have Dylan, who is at BHU on a music scholarship. He’s aiming to make first chair, but he feels the pressure. Hailing from a small town, his choices aren’t exactly welcomed. His so called friendship with Nolan includes doing Nolan’s schoolwork and being at his every beck and call. Nolan even attempts to ruin Dylan’s relationship with a little seduction.

After Alison meets with the three separately, offering to help with their Nolan woes, the trio meets at a safe place in the woods. They discuss how they actually want to take Nolan down and contemplate murder. It gets a little graphic, especially when Caitlin pictures Nolan falling from the roof and landing on the fence spikes.

We then learn that Taylor Hotchkiss is actually alive and in hiding. The only one who knows is her brother, Nolan. Seems like the sibling duo is tired of being under their mother’s watchful eye and are trying to figure out why the security system is so invasive. At this point it doesn’t seem like Nolan is a huge douche after all.

Nolan he meets someone on one of the school’s rooftops to get more help with taking down the security system. It’s a safe place he says before revealing that his sister is alive. It isn’t that safe when the mysterious person pushes him off leading him to land directly through the fence spikes. This death was gruesome and definitely up there with Noel’s death.

While this takes place, Alison finds a little writing on her walls: “They’re watching.” How fitting is it that she hears sirens after her discovery?

While Ava looks upon the crime scene heartbroken and distraught, Caitlin is in disbelief that her murderous thought came to life. Dylan doesn’t help when he reminds her that it’s exactly what she pictured.

The last scene gives us a glimpse of Mona freaking out in the bathroom. She yet again talks to a mirror revealing the intricate security system. Seems like she knows more than she’s letting on.

TLDR: Alison and Mona thought they left the drama behind in Rosewood, but they were wrong. They now have to deal with a new group of friends who could possibly be linked to a new campus murder. A new age “A” is watching their every move.

Leave me your thoughts in the comments or at any of my socials!

xoxo,

Adele

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