It's Decidedly Non-ABC Family
Murder, drugs, girls kissing girls, teenage girls having sex with adult men, creepy blind fashionistas with Braille command stations -- the show is definitely dirtier, darker and more mature than anything the network is known for. It has its faults and things that don't make sense (why would a teacher risk his job and reputation for a teenage hottie he just met?), but so far nothing has been even remotely as ridiculous as the plotlines and dialogue that are staples of Secret Life of the American Teenager. I mean, a dead girl is terrorizing them, but no one's caused a plane crash by having sex or anything.

The Surprisingly High Production Quality
Hey, it doesn't look like cable access! That's new. Most of the actors can actually act, the upscale small town they live in looks as expensive as any of the Williams-Sonoma cul-de-sacs on ABC proper's shows and whoever is editing it actually knows how to craft a decent story properly. Plus, Bristol Palin's not on it. It's like a whole new network over there at ABC Family.

I Actually Like All the Main Characters
As I said before, the cast as a whole is shockingly competent. And the writing is capable enough to create almost fully realized characters with actual personalities. That sounds like an extremely low bar of expectations, but if you watch as much TV as I do, you know how rare it is. On Gossip Girl, for example, I love Blair, adore Nate, tolerate Serena, hate Jenny, really hate Dan, and would murder Vanessa if only it were possible to end the lives of imaginary people. Here, I pretty much like all of them. Hannah's former fat girl with daddy issues and a slutty mom is endearing; Spencer's stressed-out overachiever is a familiar trope, but the actress adds a certain depth to it; Aria whines about her parents too much, but makes up for it by being the most adorable person alive; Emily is a saint, and not even in an annoying way; and the blind girl is the most badass thing since Jack Bauer. Having a majority of characters the viewer actually enjoys watching: not a bad idea, almost every show on television.

I'm Invested in the Story
The mystery of who is behind all the menacing notes and scary flower arrangements is well-crafted and creepy, in a legitimately non-hokey way. There are quite a few suspects, none of whom are egregiously obvious as the culprit, and the text messages and lipstick mirror threats tend to crop up at just the right time to be perfectly eerie. They also break up the story exactly when it needs it (just when I'd had quite enough of Spencer kissing that idiot Ren last night, the camera cut to show that someone was filming them through the window), and not a minute too late, which helps to cut down on the teen show angst that tends to get so boring after a while.

I'm genuinely dying to know who's behind it all (my guess is one of the girls themselves), what happened to Allison, what the girls' involvement in it was and why. After just one episode, Pretty Little Liars went from "I'll watch it to laugh at it" to appointment television -- it's totally the Vampire Diaries of the summer. So sorry for your loss, CW.

Are you enjoying Pretty Little Liars too or am I crazy? Tell us below!

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