Pilot (8 Jun. 2010)

Artsy and eclectic Aria has just returned to town after spending a year overseas and, while she tries to deny feeling hurt over her father Byron's indiscretion with one of his ex-students ... See full summary »

Director:

Lesli Linka Glatter

Writers:

I. Marlene King (developer), Sara Shepard (book),

Stars:

Troian Bellisario, Ashley Benson, Holly Marie Combs

Cast

Episode cast overview, first billed only:
Troian Bellisario	...	Spencer Hastings
Ashley Benson	...	Hanna Marin
Holly Marie Combs	...	Ella Montgomery
Lucy Hale	...	Aria Montgomery
Ian Harding	...	Ezra Fitz
Bianca Lawson	...	Maya St. Germain
Laura Leighton	...	Ashley Marin
Chad Lowe	...	Byron Montgomery
Shay Mitchell	...	Emily Fields
Nia Peeples	...	Pam Fields
Julian Morris	...	Wren Kim
Janel Parrish	...	Mona Vanderwaal
Torrey DeVitto	...	Melissa Hastings (as Torrey Devitto)
Sasha Pieterse	...	Alison DiLaurentis
Tammin Sursok	...	Jenna Marshall

Storyline

Artsy and eclectic Aria has just returned to town after spending a year overseas and, while she tries to deny feeling hurt over her father Byron's indiscretion with one of his ex-students at the college, and keep her mom, Ella, from finding out, she can't ignore the intense chemistry with Ezra Fitz - Aria's English teacher. Once-chubby Hanna has transformed herself into the current "It girl," but still battles the urge to binge. Shoplifting gives her a less-fattening thrill, but when she gets caught, the charges are dismissed only because her mother, Ashley, takes matters into her own hands, eager to keep her own reputation and the image of her daughter untarnished. Spencer is a perfectionist and straight-A student whose pressure to stand out in her overachieving family leaves her feeling alone ... until she finds understanding in the unlikeliest of places - the arms of her sister's fiancé. Emily, an athlete trying to sort out her place in the world, finds herself drawn to her new ...

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Genres:

Drama | Mystery | Thriller

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

8 June 2010 (USA)

Filming Locations:

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Company Credits

Production Co:

Alloy Entertainment, Warner Horizon Television

Technical Specs

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

The events of the pilot episode cover the entire first book in the Pretty Little Liars series.

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Goofs

The movers carry a chair into Maya's new home, passing the Elmhurst Real Estate "SOLD" sign. The phone number on the sign is "1-800-HOUSES", which is 1 letter/number too short to be an actual phone number.

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Quotes

Melissa Hastings: I was hoping you'd be happy for me.
Spencer Hastings: Well, you know what they say about hope, it breeds eternal misery.

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Soundtracks

"When Love Goes Well"
(uncredited)
Performed by Michael Rossback

User Reviews

Ridiculous scenes, boring and silly story, stereotyped and antipathic characters but pretty actresses, decent acting and good production quality

When I read an article about the show comparing its protagonist to Jenny Humphrey from Gossip Girl I decided to ignore it. From the queen bee to the dirty secrets it sounded dead boring. However an other article changed my mind as its writer really enjoyed the pilot. But now that I've seen it I really regret my decision.

I thought the very first minutes were a joke and that some character would wake up from an hypothetic dream. It never happened. Scream movies like I Know What You Did Last Summer are not horrific but at least they're entertaining. Pretty Little Liars was so boring and silly that I almost fell asleep. The only thing that convinced me to reach its deadend was my curiosity. How is it possible to actually produce and air such an abomination ? The protagonist is played by Lucy Hale and she could be cute if they hadn't decided to paint her like a living advertisement for some make-up corporation. Such a doll would be perfect in Child's Play but here it was just scary to watch. As for her sex at first sight attitude it was pathetic and I can't really see how she could grow on the audience. As for her friends I saw their profiles coming from miles away. From the girl exploring her sexuality to the one who seduces her sister's boyfriends it felt like none of them deserved our attention. However I have to admit that some of them have potential but not enough to endure an other episode.

Holly Marie Combs and Laura Leighton performances could have been the enlightenment of the pilot if their roles weren't so anecdotic. Let's also not forget how uninteresting the secrets are. Mystery ? Supernatural ? How can you use such terms to describe such a clueless show ? At least Gossip Girl is spicy and some relationships exciting enough to invite the viewers to stick around. But it really reached the bottom of the barrel when the writers tried to spook us with enigmatic text messages coming from nowhere and other silly elements borrowed from the worst scary productions, Harper's Island in first line but without the violence.

To sum things up the concept and execution were ridiculous. In fact I think I had never seen something so dumb and boring before. It's a shame because the production quality is good and acting relatively convincing. Now if you're only here for the babes then you should deeply enjoy its superficiality but don't expect it to appeal your neurons, the contrary.