Kelly or Karen? Who cares.
Editor's note: The below contains spoilers for Season 1 of Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin.
HBO Max’s Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin — which has recently wrapped its first season — takes us to Millwood, Pennsylvania: a town haunted by the events of the past. Starring Bailee Madison as Imogen Adams, Chandler Kinney as Tabby Haworthe, Maia Reficco as Noa Olivar, Malia Pyles as Mouse Honrada, and Zaria as Faran Bryant, our new Liars are faced with imminent danger as a masked assailant is stalking them and killing the people around them. Meanwhile, the Liars are tasked with discovering the truth about the long-forgotten death of Angela Waters (Gabriella Pizzolo), a girl who committed suicide over two decades prior with direct ties to their mothers, as they realize the identity of the person masquerading about as “A” is tied to this mystery.
It’s quite a bit of story to delve into so that all the pieces can come together, especially given the series only had a 10-episode order. However, early on in the season, a different mystery is introduced… one that takes up quite a bit of time on-screen for over half of the season. Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin begins with the Liars having their own version of the original’s Alison DiLaurentis (Sasha Pieterse): Karen Beasley (Mallory Bechtel). The primary differences between these mean girls is that Karen is far more horrible and isn’t friends with the Liars, which was ultimately Alison’s saving grace. Karen, on the other hand, meets a much more gruesome end in the second episode as “A” pushes her to her death before she can pull a Carrie and dump a bucket of blood on Imogen as she’s named Spirit Queen.
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The twist is, though, that Karen has an identical twin sister, Kelly (also played by Bechtel), who nobody really pays attention to as Karen is always hogging the spotlight and needing to be the best at everything. So, after Karen dies, the Liars’ suspicion begins. Is Kelly, the living twin, actually Kelly… or is it Karen pretending to be Kelly? The investigation of this mystery primarily falls to Faran, as her life is the most intertwined with Kelly’s. They’re in dance class together, performing in Swan Lake, so Faran has the best chance of getting to the bottom of it. Shortly after Karen’s death, Kelly begins to act strangely. She switches to Karen’s locker, begins dating Karen’s boyfriend Greg (Elias Kacavas), and even asks Greg to call her Karen during their intimate moments. This fans the flames of the mystery, leaving the Liars (and us) completely unsure of which twin is still alive. This becomes even more true when they find out Kelly has a scar on her foot, one that closely resembles where A put the razor blade in Karen’s dance shoe.
Then, later in the season, A even becomes convinced that Kelly is actually Karen, and he tries to kill her again as his mission is to destroy the bullies in Millwood. However, Kelly proclaims that she’s not Karen, which is apparently convincing enough to spare her life. And, by the end of the season, that seems to be our answer: Kelly is alive, Karen is deceased. Kelly is dealing with unaddressed mental health issues that have explained some of her behavior, but is also coming out of the shadow of her twin sister who wouldn’t allow the attention to ever fall on Kelly. Plus, her home life is absolutely chaotic. Her mother is distraught and refers to her as Karen, while her father is actively saying the wrong daughter died.
However, the answer we get is just vague enough that it could be walked back at any point in the future (should the show be renewed for more seasons). It would be incredibly easy to show this was Karen pretending to be Kelly to save her own life and would explain the bizarre situation better than it has been thus far. Kelly’s behavior isn’t really addressed by the end of the season; it’s glossed over, even ending on another steamy moment between Kelly and Greg where she once again asks him to call her Karen. Overall, in the grand scheme of the season, the mystery is pointless and a clear time-waster. Not even getting a clear, concrete answer makes the mystery even more infuriating, as it offers just about nothing to any of the characters. So much of Faran’s time is devoted to this mystery and digging into Kelly’s life, which eventually brings the two together as friends, though they’re not nearly as close as the Liars. It showcases Faran’s compassion, but that could have been done another way, especially given the other stories that are happening simultaneously, like the investigations into Tabby and Imogen’s sexual assaults and Angela Waters. Other than that, in the end, what did the mystery of Kelly vs. Karen offer the series? Not much, truthfully.
The time we used to investigate Kelly needed to be spent on other stories, primarily the investigation of Angela Waters. The time spent on Kelly could also have been used to delve deeper into the mothers, either in the present day or in flashbacks, both of which were ultimately lacking. Or, the time could have been spent on developing the Liars and their friendship, which we hardly saw over the course of the first season. Considering the writers wrapped up the mystery of Angela Waters in just this first season, it makes it more disappointing how much attention Kelly gets for absolutely no reason. Kelly’s presence wasn’t necessary whatsoever for the mystery, but matters were made worse by the way her story was handled. The series didn’t treat Kelly’s story, her struggle with her mental health, or the loss of her twin sister, with much respect. Instead, she became a pawn with shallow emotional depth and issues that were “fun” to take advantage of for twists and turns in the story.
It's not necessarily that this wasn't an interesting story either. It could have been quite the story if it had been more important for the overarching mystery and didn't take away so much time from everything else. Much more could have been done with this twist if it were saved for a later season, but it sadly feels like a waste of time in the first season. It didn’t go anywhere interesting, tie into the main mystery, or end on a satisfying note. There were other characters, far more interesting characters, that needed this time in the spotlight for the story the writers wanted to tell. Kelly didn't need to be such a prevalent character after Karen's death, nor did we need this mystery amidst the many others that the Liars had to focus on to prevent "A" from killing them.
The entire first season of Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin is now streaming on HBO Max.
Jay Snow is a freelance entertainment journalist. He lives in the PNW, and enjoys anything to do with witches and superheroes. Follow him on Twitter (@snowyjay) for more on what he’s watching!
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