The pilot of Pretty Little Liars illustrates the genre and expectations of the show using elements of soap opera, noir film, thriller, mystery, and teen drama. In the opening scene, a tough lone wolf detective with a shady background is depicted using mysterious shadows, darkness, and white light. Flashbacks are often in the high school setting, revealing attributes and appearances of characters through very bright color saturation. An innocent girl needs saving, but a “femme fatale” gets in the way, pushing the girl detectives into trouble. Women are typically gender encoded as causing trouble, but in this pilot, women in a dark world in essence save themselves. The girls are able to band together against corrupt men thanks to non-absent, non-emasculating mothers.
Furthermore, the mystery of “A” is left unsolved in order to advertise commercials directed towards teen girls and maintain its audience. To intrigue the viewer, the pilot uses misleading red herrings and relationship dynamics that do not solely revolve around men and romance. Through transmedia storytelling, the pilot simultaneously pays homage to detective flicks while advertising hair and makeup products. Characters are in their most stereotypical tropes in the pilot and become more flexible, fully fledged, complex characters in the consequent episodes, which draws the viewer in and keeps them coming back for more.
nathankatica 