pretty perfectionists

Today I’m extremely excited to finally share my complete series re-write for Pretty Little Liars, which I like to call my Perfect PLL. I call it this, because it goes to a level of darkness and it twists some plots in ways that I could only dream of in the real PLL. No story is “perfect”, but I gave it my best attempt to produce something shocking and cohesive, all whilst staying true to the characters we know and love from the show. Although I’m excited, I’m also very nervous to be posting this as I’m sharing something that’s been so personal and close to me for more than 6 months!

Who would I make A? Why is A after the girls? What does A do to them? How do we find out A’s identity? Do the Liars or the audience find out who A is first? Does A reveal themselves or do the Liars solve it first? How would I pace the events of the show? Would I change any events, reveals and answers? Does anyone die? How would I end the show? What’s the final scene? If I were show-runner and had complete power, this is my re-telling and re-adjustments of the stories PLL told!

Some important notes before we get started:

This is extremely long. It is not designed to be read in one sitting. After all, this is the entire series, not just one episode or season. Of course, if you wish to read it all at once, go ahead… but you’ve been warned to get your virtual bookmarks ready!

There are 5 chapters; one for each season. In my ideal world, PLL has 5 seasons with only 15 episodes in each. This is designed to reduce the filler and to progress the story in a significant way each episode. In reality, we got to play in Rosewood for 160 episodes which was very fun, but ultimately, the quality of the story began to suffer with too much filler. 

In some cases I have merely listed the stories to be explored while in other cases I have actually written scenes with dialogue. Note that the series finale is the most in-depth episode of them all. There is so much dialogue and activity in that episode! It’s my personal favourite episode, too.

There is one particular reveal that is beyond the maturity of a Freeform show as it’s very twisted and disturbing. Just like the writers of 13 Reasons Why are not advocating for suicide, I’m not supporting this particular thing either. By telling a controversial story, it doesn’t mean I agree with it, obviously. Please, no one burn me at the stake for telling such a story! You’ll know which reveal I’m talking about when you read it.

At the very end (”chapter 6″), I’ve put a summary of all the key reveals/answers. I personally recommend reading this AFTER you’ve read the entire story, not just for spoilers sake, but if you only read the summarised dot points, you’re missing half the fun: the actual road to how we learn the answers!

If this gets a good reception, I’d be very happy to do more writing (in the form of a script?) while we wait for The Perfectionists! Maybe write full episodes within this story, write a ‘reunion’ based on this story, or create an entirely new story?

There is more writing of scenes with dialogue, rather than general statements of the seasons, from season 3 onward. I think the pace picks up from there. Hope you can stick around to the end!

I am very welcoming and appreciative of your thoughts and feedback! But please remember that there is a human being on the other end of your screen reading your comments, so the only thing I ask for is a polite and respectful approach.

1. Oh what a joy it is to see Sasha’s face again in the context of being Alison. We’ve obviously seen Sasha doing new things post-PLL, but seeing her actually as Alison again, just feels like home.

2. BHU! Beacon Heights University - the new Rosewood High equivalent for The Perfectionists. I’ve already said this but I’m so frickn excited that this is not a high school story. This is set at university and I’m so ready for more mature stories.

3. So that was a little obvious, that Alison is joining the faculty at BHU. Out of all the career pathways the writers could’ve given Alison for the time-jump in PLL, they deliberately made her a teacher, knowing that this is how she will crossover into The Perfectionists, which is a show they had been planning since 2014.

4. “I brought pie!” Yes Mona! Subtle PLL references like that throughout the new show will keep me so damn satisfied. I know it was Ezria always eating the pie, and Mona has nothing to do with Ezria, but Mona eating pie in the spinoff is just the writers giving a nod of recognition to the mother show. And I love that. I’ve previously proposed a scene where Mona wears a fashionable black hoodie to BHU one day, and Ali makes a quick, snarky comment like “really Mona? A black hoodie?” Quick two-second references to PLL like that really contribute to the establishment of the feeling that this is all within the same universe.

5. And Mona holding a knife with the pie! That is clever, Marlene. It’s ironic and therefore humerous. She was an ex-sociopath who pulled off daily tricks with knives, and played with a brain in her locker with a knife, and now she’s a changed person, holding a knife to cut a pie. I love it.

6. Okay, yuck. That title at 0:14 is a no-no. I still stand by my thoughts that the title for this show is just wrong. Not only should it have been Pretty Little Perfectionists (in my opinion), but the fact they didn’t put “The Perfectionists” in the PLL font is just weird and looks off. Honestly, the logo should’ve been “The Perfectionists” in large, classic PLL font, with “PLL:” between the T (for The) and P (for Perfectionists). Don’t spell out Pretty Little Liars. It should’ve been abbreviated to PLL - it looks far too long and messy. I really dislike this logo. The Perfectionists should take the emphasis, not the Pretty Little Liars. But I won’t cry about it.

7. Side note - the fact they’re keeping it as Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists kind of tells me they want to make this a universe that never ends. Maybe in 5 years when The Perfectionists ends, Marlene will handball her PLL universe over to a new writer, and they’ll make a show called Pretty Little Liars: The ________. They’ve left the possibilities limitless, whereby they can make infinite more shows and just slap “Pretty Little Liars:” onto the start of the titles.

8. I love the shot at 0:16 of the new gang!

9. UMMMMMM… IS THAT TROIAN AS A CAMEO? 0:21, bottom right corner!? It kind of looks like her but kind of doesn’t - I cant tell right now! What do you guys think?

10. Really clever strategy for this promo! The cello is already an instrument that makes sounds of suspense, so it’s clever how they’re actually using Dylan to play out the final seconds of the promo.

11. That shot at 0:24 is awesome. I LOVE the set that they filmed on. It’s unexplainably creepy. It’s just a beautiful mansion with a large lake… it shouldn’t be creepy! I think my knowing that a murder happens, is what makes it creepy.

12. “Someone is about to snap, and kill” is playing on the whole idea that everyone in this town is a perfectionist but the pressure of being a perfectionist is finally going to push someone over the edge. I like this theme!

13. 0:27. Of course. It wouldn’t be PLL without a scene in the woods. I noticed he is holding a phone, too. Of course this is me overanalysing because everyone has a phone… but please don’t incorporate texts from an unknown stalker. I hope that him holding a phone was because he was making a call, reading a text from a friend, or whatever. Don’t redo the story of A, or else this whole show will just turn into a meme that B is coming for Ali and Mona.

14. Ahhh yes. Body bags. This really is a PLL show!

15. In the pilot of PLL, it was Aria, Hanna, Spencer and Emily discovering Ali’s body (well not Ali, but you know what I mean). Now, it’s ALI discovering a body! I love that. This scene at 0:29 is classic PLL.

16. Coming 2019… yes!!!! I know so many people disagree with me on this, but I’m so glad it’s not coming in 2018. That would be just far too soon. I also don’t think it looks good for the histories of the show to read “PLL: 2010 - 2017” and then “PLLTP: 2018 - whatever”. To start a whole new world only 12 months later, comes across as if its rushed, and they’re putting it out there as fast as possible to capitalise on PLL still being in people’s brains and not truly forgotten yet. But… putting it out 2 years later is only going to create more hype and it would have allowed them enough time to make something even better than the original show. “It’s finally back!!!!”

17. I love the overall mood and vibe they’re setting! The backdrop for “coming 2019” is just creepy and I’m here for it!!!

18. Just from an editing standpoint, the way the promo ended really sucked. It was too much of an abrupt end with no fade out. Anyway, not that that really matters.

19. Overall, it gives nothing away! This is purely a promo designed to supplement the announcement that it’s been picked up to series, and to just cause hype that Ali and Mona are back. It wasn’t really designed to give us story-specific details, other than to just set the tone that this is a murder mystery.

20. It was also announced that it’s been picked up for 10 episodes. That’s exactly what I wanted! No more, no less. 10 is great… assuming that’s for 1A. I hope there’s a 1B, with another 10. I hope they don’t go straight to season 2 after these 10 episodes or else we’ll literally go to season 10 just for 100 episodes…

“Ali and Mona are back!