Reviews & Ratings for
"Pretty Little Liars" More at IMDbPro »

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171 out of 219 people found the following review useful:

Addicting!

Author: secretsoaps from United States
22 June 2010

From the first episode I was hooked. This became my new guilty pleasure and it sometimes hurts waiting for the next episode every week. I have never read the books, and I don't want to start now in fear that I'll spoil it for myself. Here are some reasons why you should watch Pretty Little Liars.

Great Cast! - The casting was really done well. Although Spencer does look a bit older than the rest of the girls, it still is great. They all have great chemistry with each other on screen, it really makes it believable. I believe every single one of these girls its crazy, and I am like on the edge of my seat wondering who is "A".

Great Story! - At the end of each episode i get mad! Its like damn gotta wait another week for another one. Its so addicting. It really is, just watch it.

Secret Life is a mess, This is A lot BETTER!!! This should be on Mondays instead of Tuesdays!

77 out of 93 people found the following review useful:

Pretty Little Liars is the perfect combination of drama and mystery wrapped into a one hour series.

Author: Rileybob1004 from United States
17 July 2010

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

When four girls who have recently grown apart after the event of their best friend's death find out that their deceased friend is still sending them texts, signed notably with the single-letter name of "A", they come together to try to stop her from following through with threats to spill their darkest secrets. Upon first thought you probably ask yourself how big these secrets could possibly be for four high school girls, but these girl's aren't just typical teenagers; their secrets run deeper than stealing a tube of lip gloss from the local drug store. Dating teachers and withholding knowledge of a father's affair, stealing sister's boyfriends, stealing sunglasses, and lesbian interests are only the beginning of the secrets that the mysterious texter can potentially spill. The biggest one involves setting a garage on fire, blinding one person and blackmailing another to make him take the wrap for it all.

Upon first meeting the girls, it is difficult to find anything to attract you to them and make you care. They come off as brats that you can't muster up any sympathy for. But as the first episode moved on, the character's evolved into deeper characters and show viewers that despite their unadvisable actions, they are actually just misunderstood and sometimes a little lost.

While they try to sort out their personal dilemmas, they also try to stop the threatening messages and figure out whether the texts are actually coming from their dead friend--or maybe just the friend they thought was dead--or if they are from someone with some other motive to wreak havoc on their lives. People with motives pop up around every corner and just when you think you've found the actual identity of "A", something happens to prove you wrong--you suspect someone different after every episode, which keeps you guessing.

Overall, the show turns into a promising guilty pleasure after only one or two episodes. It is definitely worth the time to watch.

102 out of 151 people found the following review useful:

Somewhat addicting

Author: movie_buff37 from Canada
22 July 2010

Pretty Little Liars is one of those shows that is not fantastic but drags you in and won't let you go until you find out what's next.There is enough mystery in the identity of A to keep you watching for more clues.

It keeps you guessing. The show has a touch of Gossip Girl, with the mystery texts and the high class rich kids who can buy their way out of anything. It's got a lot of clichés and some bad drama but it's worth a shot.

It is definitely not the best show out there, but it has it's moments. If you are having some withdrawls from your favourite dramas this summer, this may just satisfy you until September.

64 out of 81 people found the following review useful:

Interesting subplots, exciting to follow

Author: Laura R from United States
22 January 2011

Pretty Little Liars is an interesting teen drama shown on ABC Family. The plot of the show involves a circle of four female friends who become engrossed in a missing persons case when the "queen bee" of their group, Allison, goes missing and the remaining friends find themselves being blackmailed by "A" who seems to know an awful lot of their secrets.

Unlike the other ABC Family teen dramas (i.e. - Secret Life of the American Teenager) I found that Pretty Little Liars has much better character development and the actors who portray them are all very believable and talented. Each character has their own interesting subplot which is what really drives the show. The initial idea of teenage girls being blackmailed definitely was not interesting to me but after the first episode I found myself hooked. I felt like I had to know what happened next to each character, even the ones that seem to have more minor roles.

This may not be a show that will win huge awards since it is definitely meant to appeal to a specific demographic, but it is refreshing to see a teen drama that is not completely based around sex and deals with other common issues too. This show is interesting enough that even if you are not a teenage girl it is still fun to watch and less feminine or religiously biased than other ABC Family series out there.

52 out of 68 people found the following review useful:

Just what we need in a juicy mystery . . . intrigue, suspense, and a murder most foul

Author: lestatlove19 from United States
31 August 2011

Ah, you Pretty Little Liars. You can't seem to get enough of me, can you? -A

This show is ABSOLUTELY ADDICTING! It was like a drug from the first episode. Love the characters, and have to say that either Aria or Spencer is my favorite out of the four girls. Their trials & tribulations concerning who "A" is, or who killed Alison, play out like an intense novel written by the one and only Dame Agatha Christie. One would think they know exactly who "A" is (I think either Jenna is "A" or they're in cahoots together somehow . . . ) but then are thrown in for a complete loop which keeps the viewer waiting in deep suspense until the next episode . . . Yes, Agatha Christie would be proud of the well-written interwoven plot lines of "Pretty Little Liars"

Well, don't you want to find out who I am? -A

60 out of 88 people found the following review useful:

Frivolous Fab Four Fibbers

Author: talewright from United States
17 February 2013

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

One of the most silly teen "mysteries" series ever to infest television. PLL tries to be the "Heathers" and "Rivers Edge" of the 21st Century but has more in common with "Plan Nine from Outer Space" and "High School Hellcats"--wait, that's an insult to those two classic "so bad they're good" movies.

The Hard Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries were better written, more exciting, and real than this dribble.

What passes for suspense is little more than author-controlled contriteness. Good writing is character driven and plot wise. In nearly each episode of PLL a "McGuffin" is used to mislead the viewer, but in the PPL contrived plotting, this Hitchcock trick has more in common with McDonald's Hamburglar stealing a cache of Super-Sized french fries.

When the plot gets staid, add a new character, especially one from the past with whom one of the four liars has a deep and perhaps secret history. In Greek drama, that's called the "deus ex machina"--a plot device that has no real logical explanation.

We've got a police officer dating a minor and a teacher dating a minor (and student) and no one seems to think these relationships are not only illegal but have moral implications. With all the stories of teachers going to jail for having sex with their students, this series promotes teacher-student "love", justifying it, as Aria puts it, "but it's real, Mom." Oh, a sixteen-year- old knows all about "real" love with an adult (her teacher), and Mom and Dad are just dried up prunes.

(Every time he comes on screen to start another round of whining, Aria's dad reminds me of the cartoon character Droopy Dog. No, wait: Droopy Dog had a moral compass).

The parents (and other adults) are written to be purposely obtuse while the teens, especially the Fab Four Fibbers, are written with the wisdom of aged sages. Prose doggerel and clichéd. In the real world, parents do possess a natural cluelessness concerning their teens, but these parents are about as valuable as a three-dollar bill and just as phony.

I've been able to guess each so-called plot twist and turn before it happens as the plot is so transparent and juvenile (anyone who thought Lucas was the dark-clad menace in the green house when the Fab Four Fibbers finally corner A isn't paying attention to the story and has a serious reality issue)--sometimes I think the series is written by grad school creative writing students who couldn't write the directions on the back of a macaroni and cheese microwave entrée. "Ooooowww: Look how cleverly I did this and that and the other thing. I'm such a smart writer."

My wife watches each episode, and on the rare occasion I'm trapped into seeing one, I pick up right where I left off five episodes ago as nothing really changes or progresses. It's like pulling off an adhesive bandage very slowly. In fact, all I need to watch is the opening "Previously on Pretty Little Liars" and I've got all the previous episodes summed up in the prologue and then can leave the silliness to go to read with a bit more cleverness and wit, such as Archie and Jughead comics.

What amazes me most is that Hanna, Spencer, Aria, and Emily are all supposed to be these really smart, hip, and metropolitan teens and they haven't figured out who A is and all four fall for all the red herrings the writers "cleverly" come up with. Egad. I had A (all of them) pegged after the first half dozen episodes--that's when I stopped watching PLL regularly.

These teens are not role models or even come close to exemplifying modern teens: they steal anything to get what they want (Really, Spenser: stealing the log book from a school for the blind? Really, Emily: stealing a crisis center call transcript?); they cheat on homework, essay contests, and on friends; they're Narcissus's more egotistical little sisters; they brag about how many of them have humped a number of guys on the ratty, nasty old couch at Spencer's parent's cabin (Spencer to Hanna: "Hey, there're four bedrooms upstairs you could have used." Hanna: "We were too busy to think about that."); they're upset when others lie and deceive them but have no problem lying and deceiving others (especially their school friends, teachers, and parents); and they dress like Las Vegas hookers (I don't know of any high school that allows such student dress).

One of the more exciting and suspenseful episodes for me was the one in which Spencer wore this terrible outfit that had no sleeves but had cuffs and a sliver of material attaching the top to the cuffs. I kept hoping someone would solve the mystery of Spencer's missing sleeves. I was quite upset that Spencer never found her missing sleeves. I don't know what silly plot twist that particular episode was about as all I could worry about were those damn missing sleeves.

I haven't read the books, but I'm tempted to read the first one as I hope the writer of the novel series is more clever and insightful about real teens than the 20-something typists of the television show. I can image the novel series' author is embarrassed at times to see how her work has been shredded. I hope she has received a hefty royalty for the misuse of her work.

I've tried to watch this show as a "teen fantasy", but even fantasy works within some realm of reason and believability.

43 out of 58 people found the following review useful:

Are they even trying??

Author: Ilona Johnson from United States
4 June 2013

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

I don't know if these girls are supposed to be smart and mature but they're are the opposite. They always make the worst decisions and this is getting more ridiculous every minutes... I mean, are they 12 or something?

So there is an anonymous psycho who stalks them, blackmail them, threat them, breaks into their house, steals their stuff, even hurt them and they're all like "oh snap! who might it be? whatever, no biggie, I have more important things in my mind, like, dating my English teacher or kissing my sister's boyfriend, yeah sounds like a good idea to get rid of these rumors..."

I mean, HELLO?! They are the target of a sick psycho and they act like it's not a big deal? They just sigh at each new message as if it was just an annoying spam! How come they don't even try to, I don't know, get some help, find out who could reach them like that? I understand the whole "lie" thing but this is just getting ridiculous and one of them has been involved in a hit and run! You heard me, she woke up at the hospital but still, they won't talk to anyone 'bout that...

Oh and the teacher-student relation is just too creepy to watch, like, I understand that the girl is young and stupid but how about the teacher, is he 17 as well? Because he's the one that should put an end to this, and he doesn't? They just met one day ago and they're all "oh my god I can't live without you..."

Is that what television is teaching to teenage girls? "Just think about your boyfriend and dress pretty, there's nothing more important than that."

Anyway there's 5min of actual 'mystery' (yeah you know, the plot) per episode, the rest of the 40min is just boring cheesy romance and school stuff. Don't do this to yourself.

By the way, terrible job from the costume designers, aren't these girls supposed to be stylish and fashionable? They are all dressed like they have asked a blind friend to pick up their clothes for them with cheap tacky colors and waay too short skirts...

I am so done watching this crap. Oh and sorry for the fans (what is wrong with you people?)

41 out of 55 people found the following review useful:

my favorite show

Author: maria joao from Portugal
8 August 2012

I started watching this last summer. I was bored and a friend recommended me this series. I'm not a big fan of scary drama, but I was addicted from episode one.

The characters are unbelievably interesting, and every little detail makes sense. It's the kind of show that keeps you wishing you had more and more episodes available to watch. It's really thought-provoking-- meaning, a lot of theories and ideas are going to start popping up in your head and you'll find yourself addicted to this show soon enough.

If you haven't watched it yet, do yourself a favor and do it. It's absolutely brilliant.

37 out of 56 people found the following review useful:

perfect show

Author: Anna Fields
28 July 2013

This show saved my life. I love it, it instilled passion and motivation in me when I had lost it all due to my illness. It made me care again. I was intrigued by the plot, mystery, and drama. Somehow it gave me my life back. The characters are all so relatable. I identify the most with Hanna and Spencer. Most of all, it covers REAL issues. Hanna's ED, her dad leaving, Mike's depression after the parents divorce, Spencer's struggle to be perfect in her family, Emily coming out to her parents. This show has a lot of depth. It's fantastic. Please watch this show! You won't regret it. It can be very intense but also comedic at times. I think that everyone can relate to at least one character.

26 out of 36 people found the following review useful:

Nearly two seasons of the same plot?

Author: liso1966 from United States
15 December 2011

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

I was horribly bored with all the rain and cold weather. I watch very few TV shows and my daughter told me to watch this one. Mind you, she is in her early 20's and I am not. :)

I'd first like to say,this should have been a mini series or made for TV movie. There is only so much you can do with a single plot and keep the tale spinning with interest. I was done after trekking through season one. I was unable to manage moving onto season two.

The Disney group of actors are not terrible, and a couple are moderately decent. Although, the effort to give them distinct personality was a huge fail. I felt like I was watching the dysfunctional community of Stepford wives and their bot families.

Through out the long...... 22 episodes of season one. I kept thinking, who is this stupid? Who would not seek out help? Talk to parents, police, anyone? What teenager has the capacity to handle something like this? I am sure there are some, but the average kid would be way out of their ability and element to face these kinds of head games. In what world of the currant times, could you not get a fix on even a blocked number? Even if the police scare you, there is always hiring a P.I.? I mean seriously. These teens have more cash in hand, than I do as an adult.

My second thought. If they did not indulge the sadistic torturer; then what? At what point is the cost to high? There seems to be very little in the way of boundaries here. We all have them..

I gave this show a five, simply because there are some elements of interest. A few of the actors are decent. Some of the manipulation is creative, but at the same time, all repetitive. This is definitively geared for young teens that have wish edgy fulfillment.

Lesson learned? Well, I've not truly learned one. I'll give anything a chance. Maybe I have learned not to hang on so long, when the plot is so singular. How long can they truly drag out the torment of -A ? We need more of the alphabet.. -A has lost his or her charm...

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