Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin fans may have caught a surprising reference in Episode 6 that implies that the reboot series is set in the same universe as another gritty teen drama: Riverdale. After the episode, Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin executive producer and Riverdale showrunner Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa confirmed that indeed both shows share the same universe.
Thursday’s episode titled “Scars,” sent its characters to the original Pretty Little Liars’ Rosewood in a quest to unmask A. However, while interrogating Eddie Lamb — yes, the same character from the original series now played by a different actor — the Liars find out that when Rosewood’s Radley Sanitarium turned into a hotel many patients from the facility were “sent to the Sisters of Quiet Mercy over in Riverdale.”
Fans of Riverdale will remember Sisters of Quiet Mercy as the home for troubled youth run by corrupt nuns, which eventually housed an organ harvesting cult and currently sits presumably abandoned in the show’s sixth season. Confirming the shared universe between Riverdale and Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin to TVLine Aguirre-Sacasa said, “I guess it does.” He further revealed:
“We kind of just wrote that line in. I assumed that we wouldn’t be allowed to reference Riverdale, since it’s in a completely different universe, but it stayed in. So, yeah, I guess it does exist in the same universe. Bailee [Madison] gives a great look when that’s mentioned. That was obviously just a fun Easter egg in an episode with the biggest Easter egg of them all, which is going to Rosewood.”
Toying with the idea of a football match between Millwood High Steppenwolfs and the Riverdale Bulldogs suggested by actor Alex Aiono, the executive producer revealed, “I would love for there to be a football game between them. Who knows, though? If we did push it further, I don’t even know how far we’d be allowed to push the shared universes. It would be great, though, that’s for sure.”
Interestingly, in the same episode Tabby (Chandler Kinney) refers to Ash (Jordan Gonzalez) as a “teen Cole Sprouse” which in turn means that both Riverdale and Sprouse exist in the Pretty Little Liars’ universe, to which Aguirre-Sacasa responds, “It’s a multiverse!” Cole isn’t the only anomaly, actor Lucy Hale starred in both Pretty Little Liars and in the Riverdale spin-off Katy Keene. EP Lindsay Calhoon Bring reveals she’d “love a world where all of the shows come together, and Lucy Hale is in duplicate playing Katy Keene and Aria.”
While fans are still reeling from the newfound revelations both Aguirre-Sacasa and Calhoon Brings’ comments open interesting avenues for Pretty Little Liars: Original Sins. The next episode will air on Thursday, August 18. Meanwhile, check out the trailer below:
