TV

8 thoughts from rewatching the Pretty Little Liars pilot 10 years later

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Published on June 8, 2020 08:30AM EDT

It all started with a death… that turned out to be a lie.

When Pretty Little Liars premiered on ABC Family in 2010, it introduced viewers to the small town of Rosewood, Penn., on the night Alison DiLaurentis (Sasha Pieterse) went missing. Thus began the story of Alison's besties, Aria (Lucy Hale), Hanna (Ashley Benson), Spencer (Troian Bellisario), and Emily (Shay Mitchell), navigating life with a cyberbully. After Ali's death, they start receiving threatening message from someone named "A." (Hint: It's not Alison.)

The show was a huge hit and ran for seven seasons. Now, in honor of the pilot's 10th anniversary, we're rewatching the hour that started it all. And some things feel… different.

Ezra hits differently

Ezra (Ian Harding) and Aria's romance is not only the show's longest-running — with it being introduced in the pilot — but it's also a favorite among fans. However, in 2020 it doesn't feel great to watch a college graduate/high school English teacher kiss his 16-year-old student.

An A+ music moment

The song "Don't Trust Me," by 3OH!3, plays over the opening moments of the entire series, which is quite possibly one of the least appreciated music moments of all time? As the Liars sit in Spencer's barn, someone's singing, "Don't trust a ho." It's brilliant.

That's not Mrs. DiLaurentis… or Toby

As tends to happen with pilots, the roles of Alison's mother and Toby were both recast after it was filmed. So there's no Keegan Allen in this one, sorry.

There are so many bathing suits

Despite the fact that we never actually see a pool, there are multiple scenes with the teens hanging out in their bathing suits. Is that just how teens dressed back then?

Alison is terrible

By the end of the series, the very not-dead Alison has gone through a major character arc, so it's easy to forget that she was pretty awful at the start of everything. Seriously. Regina George had nothing on this girl. Perhaps that's why it was so easy to believe she could be "A."

Melissa sucks

This is less of a realization and more of a reminder, but Spencer's older sister (played by Torrey DeVitto) just shows up and steals Spencer's barn after Spencer spent all summer remodeling it! That marks the first of many red flags when it comes to Melissa.

The show's favorite word

The show might be called Pretty Little Liars, but the word "secret" is uttered four times in the pilot, not including the theme song.

It holds up

Overall, despite some hilarious fashion choices, the flip phones, and a few moments, the pilot still holds up. It's a solid introduction to interesting characters and a world that would become increasingly complex (and increasingly dangerous) over the next seven years.

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