‘Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin’: Tabby and Her Groomer Boss Are Not a Response to Ezra and Aria

Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin is the second show in this universe to feature an older man who’s clearly interested in a teenage girl. But as Original Sin‘s showrunner Lindsay Calhoon Bring explained to Decider, the creepy relationship between Tabby and her boss Wes (Derek Klena) isn’t a response to Ezra (Ian Harding) and Aria’s (Lucy Hale) age gap on the original Pretty Little Liars. Instead, it’s a story that’s far more personal to Bring.

“For us, it was kind of a reflection upon the time that we’re in now and making the show right now. We were a fan of the original and I was a fan of PLL, and I shipped Aria and Ezra,” Bring said. “At the same time, telling a grounded story, some grounded horror stories for young women felt right for this show. We have the heightened slasher villain, but we also have some internalized horror that a lot of young women experience.

“When we were developing the characters, Roberto [Aguirre-Sacasa] and I spoke and shared a lot of our own stories, our stories growing up and our friendships. We both worked at the movie theater. And one of the stories that I had was that I was in a grooming relationship with my boss. That’s something that very much formed me, the person I am and formed the writer that I am,” Bring continued. “It felt like therapy sessions where Roberto and I would get everything out and say, ‘What are the hard stories, the uncomfortable stories to tell? Are those of the most meaningful? Are those the ones we should tell because a viewer might identify with that?’ So, while it’s not a commentary on the original relationships of PLL, it’s more a personal commentary about these girls.”

Bring also emphasized that the original Pretty Little Liars existed in a different era of pop culture. Even though it only premiered 12 years ago, conversations around consent and abuse have changed drastically.

“Even five years ago, I don’t know that I had the language for grooming. I think that’s relatively new to me now, and me looking back at my own growing up and who I was and having a language for that, being able to understand that more clearly now,” Bring explained. “Now that we’re armed with that, we felt the responsibility to tell those stories truthfully and to hopefully have a conversation started or be able to have young people point to characters and say, ‘Oh, that’s what I’m going through. Maybe there’s a way through this.'”

New episodes of Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin premiere on HBO Max Thursdays.