Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin leaned into the horrors the original show flirted with but never fully delved into, such as the gross relationship between Aria and Ezra. The controversial romance featured an underage Aria and a mature Ezra, who should have known better. Pretty Little Liars takes on a dangerous villain, it fixes the gross Aria and Ezra love situation by creating a parallel situation with Tabitha and Wes.
Wes, Tabby’s creepy manager at the movie theater, shows telltale signs of grooming, much like Ezra in Pretty Little Liars. In Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin episode 1, Wes gives Tabby a ride home and tries coming onto her in the process. Luckily, his advances are cut short by the notorious A, a timely intervention. However, it raises the question of why a similar intervention never happened during Aria and Ezra’s controversial relationship on Freeform’s Pretty Little Liars.
While the Original Sin reboot of Pretty Little Liars features Wes, he is treated much differently than Pretty Little Liar’s Ezra. Wes describes Tabitha as mature for her age, calls her special, and tries to get her alone in his apartment and car–however, she was smart to avoid a potentially disastrous situation. Rather than repeat the Aria and Ezra situation, Tabby uses Wes to get the flash drive before ditching him because she is clearly uncomfortable with the situation.
Original Sin Is Rightly Avoiding A PLL Controversy
The Pretty Little Liars series forms a major part of many Gen Z childhoods. From its mysteries to relationships and iconic outfits, it is hard to miss to show’s cultural significance. However, not all of the show’s impact was positive, as Pretty Little Liars has its share of problematic storylines that Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin is starting to fix. For one, the predatory relationship between Aria and her teacher Ezra was highly romanticized in Pretty Little Liars, receiving none of the criticism it should rightly have had.
The controversial storyline was made worse because the show’s primary audiences were impressionable middle and high school youngers, who could have easily believed that Aria and Ezra’s relationship was okay and not the grooming it was. Original Sin seems quite determined to avoid a potential Pretty Little Liars controversy, writing its storyline to fit modern morality standards. While Ezra’s predatory behavior was regarded as normal, even romantic, in Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin, it's finally framed as being inappropriate and problematic, as it should have been from the start.
For one, Original Sin does not sexualize Wes like its predecessor did Ezra, with shirtless scenes, flirtatious grinning, and romantic music. Rather, for each of Wes’ advances, Tabby is visibly wary and intentionally creates space between them, making it clear to the audience that such behavior is unacceptable. This update to the Pretty Little Liars reboot is necessary to show the dangers of romanticizing toxic and predatory relationships. This major Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin storyline twist ended the constant use of inappropriate relationships in the PLL universe, showing the show’s growth.