Yes, Pretty Little Liars Now Shares a Universe With Another Huge Teen TV Franchise — Let the EPs Explain
Warning: Mild spoilers from Episode 6 of Pretty Little Liars Original Sin ahead.
Two of the most outrageous teen dramas in TV history are officially one. Sort of.
Thursday’s episode of Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin sends a few of its characters to Rosewood, the setting of the original PLL, in their ongoing quest to unmask “A.” But their research inadvertently uncovers something arguably more earth-shattering: this show takes place in the same universe as Riverdale.
While interrogating Eddie Lamb — the first character from the original PLL to appear in this new series, albeit played by a different actor — the Liars learn that several patients from Rosewood’s Radley Sanitarium were “sent to the Sisters of Quiet Mercy over in Riverdale” when the facility became a hotel. Anyone who watches The CW’s gritty Archie drama should recognize the Sisters of Quiet Mercy as a home for “troubled youths” run by a group of corrupt nuns.
The question is: Does this really mean that Pretty Little Liars and Riverdale share a universe? And the answer is…
“I guess it does,” executive producer Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, who also calls the shots on Riverdale, tells TVLine. “We kind of just wrote that line in. I assumed that we wouldn’t be allowed to reference Riverdale, since it’s in a completely different universe, but it stayed in. So, yeah, I guess it does exist in the same universe. Bailee [Madison] gives a great look when that’s mentioned. That was obviously just a fun Easter egg in an episode with the biggest Easter egg of them all, which is going to Rosewood.”
If you’re itching for a more concrete crossover between the shows, you’re not alone.
“Alex [Aiono], who plays Shawn, is obsessed with the idea of a rivalry between the Millwood High Steppenwolfs and the Riverdale Bulldogs,” Aguirre-Sacasa says. “I would love for there to be a football game between them. Who knows, though. If we did push it further, I don’t even know how far we’d be allowed to push the shared universes. It would great, though, that’s for sure.”
And what of Lucy Hale, you ask? In addition to starring in the original Pretty Little Liars as Aria Montgomery, she also played the title role in Katy Keene, a direct spinoff of Riverdale. No promises, but EP Lindsay Calhoon Bring would “love a world where all of the shows come together, and Lucy Hale is in duplicate playing Katy Keene and Aria.”
But wait, there’s one more hiccup: In this same episode, Tabby refers to Ash as looking “like a teen Cole Sprouse,” which means — you guessed it — “both Riverdale and Cole Sprouse exist in the Pretty Little Liars universe,” Aguirre-Sacasa concedes. “It’s a multiverse!”
If you’re still with us, your mind is probably blown right about now. But given that Pretty Little Liars has already dabbled in the supernatural (via Ravenswood, which is canon!), who’s to say what’s too far anymore?
Your thoughts on this wholly unexpected connection between PLL and Riverdale? Drop ’em in a comment below.
If they go into supernatural and total insane like riverdale is at the moment, cancel it right away
I mean let’s not forget that there was a supernatural themed spin off of the original series Ravenswood
Dude. Alison was saved after being buried alive because Grunwald had a vision of her
I haven’t even started to watch it as I had planned on binge-watching once the season was over, but now I can officially take it off my watchlist.
If it even goes half as crazy as Riverdale I know I will save myself a giant headache.
So far it is nothing like Riverdale at all. To me, it reminds me more of season one of the OG PLL.
I was kinda hoping they would visit Ravenswood and/or Beacon Heights before going to Rosewood (spinoffs gotta stick together) but I like this Riverdale easter egg. The faster they devolve into complete nonsense the better.
I mean it’s PLL so it was complete nonsense from the beginning. Now we’re moving toward extraordinary nonsense. ;-)
So any chance of this being a good and credible show is gone then.
god please no, please god no
The problem is that Riverdale doesn’t even take place in the same universe as Riverdale anymore.
Predictable, inevitable, uninspired. Take your pick, really. There was no way Aguirre-Sacasa was going to let PLL stand on its own. Not when there was even the tiniest hint of a supernatural element he could exploit and run into the ground.
Be afraid, Original Sin fans, be very afraid.
The fact that his response was “I guess it does,” simply shows what an uninspired trainwreck he is as a writer and creator. They just threw that line in there thinking it wasn’t going to make the cut and then they expect the viewers to have faith that they are creating a series worth watching. You don’t even know what you’re writing and just throw random lines in because you can. What a mess. Also, I don’t know what people’s obsession is with shared universes and multiverses. It’s ridiculous. I’m fine with Marvel and DC doing that, but I don’t need Pretty Little Liars to share the same universe as Riverdale and The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina. That is just ridiculous. What a mess. I planned on watching the series when the first season ended, but now I know I can safely take it off my list. If your first season isn’t over and you are already proving that you basically have no idea what you’re writing/creating, then I’m not going to waste my time.
PLL isn’t even that interesting anymore. The original cast should’ve had parts in the original sin. As aunt’s, mothers, or teachers, something. It’d would’ve made more since. Now mixing Riverdale,it’s just confusing. Time to find something more binge worthy. Besides, tv is getting more frustrating with all the ads, can’t even play games anymore. I’m going back to Xbox.
They are in a completely different city, and Milford has a completely different vibe, so it would have made no sense for the OG’s to be part of the regular cast (as guest maybe). The article also clearly states that the show runner didn’t even expect the Riverdale quote to make the final cut… it was just a joke that they may or may not explore now that it’s out. They literally only mentioned the city of Riverdale in the episode, that’s it.
*Milwood
Millwood is located in Pennsylvania, right? Riverdale is located in Rockland County, NY.
Also, River is only mentioned. That doesn’t necessarily mean PPL is going the way of Riverdale so for all those all up in arms over it, give it a chance.
I was afraid of that. Let Pretty Little Liars/Ravenswood/The Perfectionists/Original Sin alone on its own universe and Riverdale/Katy Keene/Chilling Adventures of Sabrina on its own. There is no need to crossover.