The following article contains spoilers forPretty Little Liars: Summer School finale.
Summary
ThePretty Little Liars: Summer Schoolcreators explain the finale’s Bloody Rose twists. At theconclusion of Max’sPretty Little Liars: Summer School, developed byRiverdale’s Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa and Lindsay Calhoon Bring, it’s revealed that Mrs. Langsberry (Carey Van Driest) has been the one terrorizing the titular liars — Imogen (Bailee Madison), Mouse (Malia Pyles), Noa (Maia Reficco), Tabby (Chandler Kinney), and Faran (Zaria) — but she hasn’t been working alone. Wes (Derek Klena) has also helped for his own petty and selfish reasons, fancying himself as a visionary filmmaker.
In an interview withDeadline, the creators discussed thePretty Little Liars: Summer Schoolending. Aguirre-Sacasa talked about whyMrs. Langsberry wanted revenge after what happened to her son, the rapist Chip, inPretty Little Liars: Original Sin. Calhoon Bring, meanwhile, addressed bringing Wes into the story after initially considering a different outcome for him. Read their quotes below:
Aguirre-Sacasa:Very early on, we knew that our slasher villain was going to be Bloody Rose. We landed on that way before we landed on who exactly was going to be under the bandages. Obviously there’s a recurring theme of mothers throughout the season. We have Mrs. Langsberry. We have Dr. Sullivan. We have Mrs. Beasley. So we knew that there was a wide array of suspects. I felt like once we knew that Tabby was this season’s final final girl, it felt like both Mrs. Langsberry — and knowing that probably Mrs. Langsberry wasn’t super up to speed on websites and recruiting teams — and Wes were the characters with the deepest, most direct connection to Tabby. Obviously, Tabby was really good friends with Chip. Tabby and Mrs. Langsberry cross swords in our premiere episodes. She confronts Tabby, Tabby writes ‘rapist’ on Chip’s gravestone in the first episode. Wes has been Tabby’s antagonist since Season 1. So, it just started slotting into place, but it was about easily halfway through the writing of the season before we started firming up those guys as the villains.
Calhoon Bring:I think, even as late as Episode 6, as we were writing, Wes was someone who we thought would be an amazing body drop, who was on the chopping block. We even went so far as to write a pretty cool kill sequence for him at the Orpheum of Bloody Rose showing up and killing him. Then as we were doing it and going through it, we thought, ‘Oh, this doesn’t feel right. There may be a better a better fit for Wes in this story. He might be more important here.’ And knowing, too, that he’s so connected to the Orpheum, as was Chip. That would make sense. They had a relationship as well. [He’s] so connected to Tabby and such a disgruntled filmmaker, then the idea that Spooky Spaghetti served this bigger purpose — Spooky Spaghetti sort of became its own streaming platform. Ultimately, we’re trying to build an audience to release this movie that Wes is making. It just all kind of came together and collided for us.
Pretty Little Liars: Summer School’s Finale Is Satisfying (While Still Teasing More)
Archie Is Still Alive.
Although the second installment received mixed responses online due to not having as many episodes to focus on the different dynamics between the main group, there is no denying thatSummer Schooldoubled down on its tribute to horror. The finale, “Final Exam,” pays off an Easter egg from earlier in the season.The episode is an extended riff onScream 2with several references to the Wes Craven franchise.
Aguirre-Sacasa and Calhoon Bring wrote “Final Exam,” with Rob Seidenglanz directing the episode.
Even though the episode works well as a potential finale if thePretty Little Liarsspinoff is cancelled after two seasons, like other recent Max Originals, there is also a potential path forward. In the finale’s last scene, Dr. Sullivan (Annabeth Gish) is seen gloating about the success of her upcoming book and refers to the protagonists dismissively as narcissists. That turns out to be a bit of shading, so the audience doesn’t feel quite as bad whenArchie Waters returns and murders theoriginalPretty Little Liarscharacter.
How Is Original Sin Connected To The Original Pretty Little Liars?
The Pretty Little Liars series and its spinoff Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin could be connected, as they both occur in the same continuity.
But even in the absence of that last scene,Pretty Little Liars: Summer Schoollargely delivers on the major plot points teased in its premiere and leaves its final girls in a positive place. In terms of a darker, horror-influenced follow-up to a popular teen drama, “Final Exam” passes with a respectable grade.
Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin
Cast
The dramatic slasher/horror mystery franchise returns with Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin, created for HBO Max. Connecting to the original series, Original Sin follows a group of teen girls terrorized by a mysterious killer named “A.” Being held responsible for a terrible tragedy committed by their mothers over twenty years ago, the girls must uncover the truth of the incident to end the terror of Millwood, Pennsylvania - and to survive. Season 2 of the series was released in May 2024 and is subtitled Summer School.
