Aired: 
2010 – still running
Network: ABC family [United States]
Production: Alloy entertainment
Seasons: 7
Episodes: 160
Duration: 44 minutes
Genre: Drama, Mystery, Romance, Thriller
IMDb rating: 7,7/10
My rating: 
(4,0 / 5)
Storyline
“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 perfect lives.” [IMDB]
My opinion
Pretty Little Liars is a show I’ve somehow always found my way back to. Throughout the seven seasons, I sometimes got behind on it and stopped watching for a while, only to binge watch it when the season ended (which meant that I had around 10 episodes to watch back to back, nothing wrong with that!). Pretty Little Liars is the kind of teen girl drama with a ‘hint’ of mystery you crave on those days, when you just want to find the bottom of a bucket of ice cream or are drowning in self pity because of the weather. Granted, the show can get on your nerves when they drag out what the identity of ‘A’ is and you still don’t know it, even though they’ve been trying to get you to believe that this time, this character really is the one. It can’t be anyone else, the evidence has been stacking up on this person for the entire season and… there’s the loophole. The excuse, the reason why they’re not ‘A’… or are they?
Four different girls, who are a little more wealthy than the average teenage girl, are being harassed by an anonymous threat. Spencer, the smart one, that focuses a lot on school and always comes up with ‘the ideas’. Aria, the artistic one, who writes and has lived in Iceland with her family for a while. Hanna, typical popular girl that loves to shop (and shoplift) and cares a great deal about her looks. And Emily, the quiet, shy beauty, who loves to swim. Different personalities that where held together by Allison, the most popular of them all, before she disappeared. At least, before ‘A’ came in the picture and gave them a mutual enemy to bind them as one.
Although it’s thrilling to look for new clues every episode and try to fit them into the puzzle that is Pretty Little Liars, I have to say that it can get exhausting. Seven seasons have passed and ‘A’ still exists… you would’ve thought that they have figured it out by now? Not to give any spoilers for those that still have to watch it, though, but when you begin, you have to be prepared to be let down by your own ideas about who ‘A’ is multiple times. 
Maybe my way of watching it – with short breaks within the season – is the best, because you won’t get annoyed with the fact that you still, basically, don’t know anything. The writers of the show only let you know and see what they want you to know and see. Don’t fool yourself; ‘A’ is always one step ahead.
