How Does ‘Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin’ End? The Twisted Season 1 Finale, Explained
Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin Season 1 has reached its conclusion with an intense and twist-filled finale. The last episode provides answers to the season’s biggest mysteries — Angela Waters, the father of Imogen’s baby, and of course, A’s true identity. There’s quite a lot to unpack, so here’s a breakdown of the finale’s biggest reveals and what could come next.
[Spoiler alert: The following story contains spoilers for the Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin Season 1 finale.]
‘Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin’ reveals who attacked Imogen and Tabby
First, let’s take a look at the mystery of the person who attacked and impregnated Imogen (Bailee Madison) — the same person who attacked Tabby (Chandler Kinney). Tabby becomes suspicious of Chip (Carson Rowland) because he attended the same parties as Tabby and Imogen on the nights of the attacks. She tells Imogen, and the two decide to search his bedroom for Imogen’s missing underwear, which he could have kept as a “souvenir.”
The girls don’t find the underwear, but they do discover a disturbing collection of films that depict sexual violence against women. Imogen and Tabby then decide to confront Chip directly at the movie theater. They accuse him of the attacks and convince Chip that they won’t turn him in. Of course, that’s a lie — Imogen says they’ve gotten good at lying this year. Chip admits to the attacks, saying he wanted to be closer to Tabby after she rejected his romantic feelings. In Imogen’s case, he found her drunk on the beach and saw an opportunity.
Just as the girls tell Chip they’re turning him in anyway, A arrives. He scares Chip off and hovers over Imogen and Tabby, but they tell A about Chip’s crimes and he chases after the teen.
The finale shares the truth about the mothers of Milwood and Angela Waters
All season long, Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin shared bits and pieces of Angela Waters’ (Gabriella Pizzolo) life. Elodie (Lea Salonga), Sidney (Sharon Leal), Corey (Zakiya Young), Marjorie (Elena Goode), and Davie (Carly Pope) bullied and betrayed Angela when they were in high school. Things only became worse for Angela when she was raped by Tom Beasley, the future sheriff of Milwood (Eric Johnson).
In the finale, the girls learn from their mothers that Davie wanted to ruin Angela when she heard about the attack. Davie had been dating Tom, and she didn’t believe Angela’s claim. Davie told the school to “erase” Angela by completely ignoring her existence. And when Davie invited Angela to the New Year’s Eve/Y2K party, they continued to ignore her even though she was in distress. All of this led Angela to kill herself at the party.
Meanwhile, Kelly (Mallory Bechtel) confronts her father about his attack on Angela. Feeling like he’s losing control, Tom puts Kelly and her mother on lockdown at their home. He intends to kill them and himself, but Kelly’s mom stabs him with a knife. This scene will be important later.
Who is A in ‘Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin’?
Finally, the big reveal: Who has been terrorizing the girls and their mothers all season? It’s not Joe (Michael Maize), the train car guy who wanted to avenge Angela’s death because he loved her. After Joe’s death, Faran (Zaria) thinks it’s safe to tell Kelly the truth about her twin sister Karen’s death — that A murdered her. However, A is still out there, and he knows Faran broke the rules. As punishment, he kidnaps the girls’ mothers, forcing the girls to meet A at Milwood High.
A instructs Imogen, Tabby, Faran, Mouse (Malia Pyles), and Noa (Maia Reficco) to split up into separate rooms. They each find their “bullies” — Tabby’s is Chip, Noa’s is her mom’s drug dealer, Mouse’s is Steve (Alexander Chaplin), Faran’s is Madame Giry (Kate Jennings Grant), and Imogen’s is her mother. A wants the girls to kill their bullies (in Imogen’s case, get the truth from her mother’s hidden diary page), but they all refuse. That’s good; they pass A’s test. The killer then instructs them to meet in the gym, where their mothers are tied up with A and Principal Marshall Clanton (Robert Stanton).
Principal Clanton reveals himself to be Angela’s father, while the masked A is her brother, Archie (with no relation to Riverdale). Angela’s mother had Angela when she was in high school, but Clanton’s family paid her to keep quiet. Still, Angela grew up to attend Milwood, where Clanton watched over her and witnessed her getting bullied.
Now, Clanton wants revenge on Angela’s bullies by killing them all. Since Davie is already dead, her “sins” are passed to Imogen. A chases Imogen to her home, where she hides behind a shower curtain. After a final brawl, Imogen stabs A — and goes into labor.
Will’ Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin’ have a season 2?
Imogen has her baby girl and plans to move forward with adoption. Everyone is safe, and it all seems over: Clanton is in prison and Tom and Archie are under arrest at the hospital. However, Archie escapes and kills Tom before heading to Chip’s house, as he was released on bail. So is it really over?
HBO Max did not cancel Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin yet. However, season 2 is also not confirmed. In a recent interview with TVLine, co-showrunners Lindsay Calhoon Bring and Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa said they wanted to tie up the loose ends just in case. And yet, there’s still one thing unresolved:
“Archie is still out there. He’s still alive!” Aguirre-Sacasa shared.
Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin is now streaming on HBO Max.
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