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Pretty Little Liars
TV Series

Pretty Little Liars

2010 • Drama, Mystery, Romance • 7 Seasons

Woke Score
6.4
out of 10

Series Overview

Set in the fictional town of Rosewood, Pennsylvania, the series follows the lives of four girls, Aria Montgomery, Hanna Marin, Emily Fields, and Spencer Hastings, whose clique falls apart after the disappearance of their leader, Alison DiLaurentis. One year later, the estranged friends are reunited as they begin receiving messages from a mysterious figure named "A", who threatens to expose their deepest secrets, including ones they thought only Alison knew. At first, they think it's Alison herself, but after her body is found, the girls realize that someone else is planning on ruining their not so perfect lives.

Season-by-Season Breakdown

Season 1

7.6/10

Rosewood is a perfect little town with a great many secrets, the ugliest of which belong to the four prettiest girls in town: Aria, Spencer, Hanna and Emily, friends whose darkest secrets are about to unravel. One year ago, Alison, the Queen Bee of the group, disappeared, and the girls stopped being each other's BFFs. Now they start getting messages from "A" saying things only Alison would know. "A" spills their secrets, watches their every move and makes some very scary threats. The girls reunite to discover what's going on: Is Alison back or is "A" someone else altogether? Share the mystery with the complete Season One of the enthralling new series based upon the New York Times bestselling series by Sara Shepard.

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Season 2

6/10

Season two begins moments after the explosive season one finale and the girls are the talk of the town. Surprises and challenges will be in store for each, and "A" may succeed in her quest. Emily, Hanna, Spencer, and Aria are crumbling under the constant pressure of A's relentless texts and the knowledge that A inexplicably knows every little detail of their lives, including their thoughts, and is watching and anticipating the girls' every move. Spencer's family is falling apart. Aria and Ezra's relationship gets even more complicated, and Aria's brother Mike finds himself in trouble with the law, while their parents find themselves tested like never before.

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Season 3

5/10

No overview available.

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Season 4

Pending

No overview available.

Season 5

6.8/10

No overview available.

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Season 6

7/10

The girls may have gotten out of the Dollhouse but what happened to them during their time of captivity has lasting effects. With worried loved ones watching over them, the PLLs are home and trying to heal, with not much success. Even with suspected tormentor Andrew in custody, Aria, Emily, Hanna and Spencer fear they are far from safe. Meanwhile, Alison must deal with her past indiscretions and her notoriety around Rosewood.

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Season 7

6/10

After Hanna's shocking abduction by "Uber A", the PLLs and company desperately race against the clock to save one of their own. The only way to do this is by handing over evidence of Charlotte's real murderer to "Uber A". In order to do so, the girls must decide what blatant lines they are willing to cross that they have never breached before; and once they cross that line, there is no turning back.

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Overall Series Review

*Pretty Little Liars* establishes itself as a long-running psychological thriller centered entirely on the powerful bonds of female friendship navigating a world of pervasive secrets and institutional failure. From the beginning, the show’s core dynamic pits a group of resourceful young women against a mysterious tormentor, "A," and the general hypocrisy of their affluent suburban community, Rosewood. The overarching narrative is defined by moral relativism; success and survival depend on keeping secrets, lying to authorities, and prioritizing personal, subjective truth over any objective standard of right and wrong. Across its run, the series consistently reinforces the primacy of female agency. The main protagonists consistently prove themselves more capable and trustworthy than the men in their lives, who are often depicted as compromised, weak, or abusive. Furthermore, the show prominently features and normalizes non-traditional sexual identities, particularly a central lesbian relationship that is frequently portrayed as aspirational, stable, and deserving of a definitive, happy resolution. Character identities—sexual, ethnic, or otherwise—are integrated into the drama without becoming overly didactic, serving instead as essential components of the core group dynamic. The overarching pattern is one of escalating distrust in all external structures. Family units, law enforcement, schools, and hospitals are repeatedly shown to be corrupt, incompetent, or the direct source of the trauma plaguing the main characters. This failure of the adult world forces the Liars to take matters into their own hands, relying solely on their internal circle for protection and problem-solving. The series concludes by celebrating this enduring female alliance, having shown that in Rosewood, competence and loyalty reside almost exclusively with the group of girls bound by shared trauma. In summary, *Pretty Little Liars* is a seven-season saga about survival driven by female solidarity in a town where adults fail and morality is situational. It blends mystery, obsession, and high-stakes deception, positioning its flawed but resilient female leads as the only reliable force against systematic corruption and relentless psychological attack.

Categorical Breakdown

Identity Politics3.2/10

Oikophobia5.8/10

Feminism7.2/10

LGBTQ+7.8/10

Anti-Theism5.5/10