Editor’s Note: The following contains spoilers for Pretty Little Liars: Summer School Episode 5
Pretty Little Liars: Summer Schoolhas come through with some superbly fun additions to the show so far, from summer jobs that better flesh out the town of Millwood, toexciting new love interests, and a terrifying new threat in the form of Bloody Rose Waters. The second season puts the Liars in even more perilous situations, with Bloody Rose putting them each in tests that are designed to kill or weaken. But it isn’t just the Liars who have their plates full this summer. Kelly Beasley (Mallory Bechtel) has been involved in a sinister little subplot of her own, and its seedy underbelly is finally being exposed.
Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin
An intense mystery drama that introduces a new generation of characters facing the haunting legacy of their predecessors in Millwood. A group of teenage girls find themselves targeted by “A,” an enigmatic antagonist who knows their darkest secrets and forces them to confront the hidden sins of their parents. As they struggle to uncover the truth and protect each other, the series delves into the complexities of their friendships, the impact of past actions, and the pervasive influence of secrets.
What’s Going On With Kelly in ‘Pretty Little Liars: Summer School’?
In Season 1 ofPretty Little Liars, titledOriginal Sin, we met the Beasley twins, Kelly and Karen. And in that season, Karen met her untimely demise at the hands of A. This naturally turned the Beasleys' world upside down, and Kelly was forced to navigate life without her twin sister by her side. But this was never going to be easy, and going into Season 2, Kelly seemingly underwent a bit of a character change. Following the deaths of both her sister and her father, Kelly is convinced to become a member of Our Mother of Holy Grace, the town’s new church. This pressure comes from her mother, Martha (Jennifer Ferrin), who herself is a devout member of the church. At first, it seems pretty harmless. After all, the Beasleys have experienced some difficult losses, so turning to a religion to cope is understandable. But as the show has gone on, it has become more and more clear thatOur Mother of Holy Grace has a bit more going on under the surface than anyone could have realized.
‘Pretty Little Liars’ Final Girls Dish on Surviving Season 2’s “Hot Mess Summer”
Co-Stars Baillee Madison, Zaria & Maia Reficco also talk about how gratifying the finale will be.
As Kelly gets deeper into Our Mother of Holy Grace, she begins distancing herself from her friends, focusing solely on the church, her home life, and her boyfriend Greg (Elias Kacavas). But soon, even her relationship with Greg begins to suffer, and her friends find it difficult to get in contact with her. Martha explains to Faran (Zaria) that Kelly has “found her true self under the guidance of Pastor Malachi (Charlie Hewson),” and that there is nothing to be concerned about. Faran doesn’t buy this explanation though and confronts Kelly, who echoes that she’s happy, and ensures Faran that she’s not brainwashed into the church. It’s soon revealed thatPastor Malachi is planning an event of sorts called Redemption House.It’s something the church had done in years prior, in different towns, and is used to help the town and its inhabitants cleanse itself of sin — which,after the massacres at the hands of A, is much needed in Millwood.
Is Our Mother of Holy Grace a Cult?
ThroughoutSummer School,we see Kelly getting more and more involved with the church — so much so that there is a noticeable shift in her personality. And as she gets deeper into preparing for Redemption House, things begin to take a more suspicious turn.Even Kelly herself begins to have doubts about the Church’s true intentions.One of the scenes she has to rehearse requires her and Greg to discuss an accidental pregnancy, and after Greg delivers a line saying he’ll support Kelly in whatever decision she makes, Pastor Malachi interrupts them as that was not the original script. Kelly then announces that she made some changes, as she feels the original words would hurt some people she cares about — likely her old friend Imogen (Bailee Madison), who was pregnant in Season 1. Pastor Malachi doesn’t seem to care though, and claims that her doubts are the doubts of the devil, something her mother agrees with.
Later we discover thatMartha has become abusive towards her daughter,going so far as to lock her in the prayer room to think about her sins, in a very Margaret White-esque approach. From this moment on, Kelly feels almost like a robot, a shell of her once bubbly self, and it seems as though she has indeed fallen under the brainwashing of Pastor Malachi. Cut to Episode 5, and we begin to learn that there’s definitely something shady going on with the Church. Faran discovers through Henry (Ben Cook) that the church has an “inner circle” of sorts, which Henry just so happens to be a part of. Naturally, Faran looks into this, and sneaks into the Church to find Henry, Kelly, Mrs. Beasley, Pastor Malachi, and more engaged in some sort of twisted ritual — complete with chanting and all. And when Faran confronts Henry about this, he chooses the Church over her, signifying that something isn’t quite right, and that maybeOur Mother of Holy Grace is something more reminiscent of a cult. It’s a twisted reveal, and a good one. But did the show really need it?
Did ‘Pretty Little Liars’ Need a Cult Storyline?
There’s no denying that a cult storyline is a fascinating reveal. It’s scary, and it’s twisted, and it has clearly taken ahold of many of Millwood’s townies. But didPretty Little Liarsreally need to go there? Yes, it’s an interesting sub-plot — but the main focus of the show is A, and the Liars that A targets. We’ve only just begun to scratch the surface ofrevealing who’s behind the Bloody Rose mask— or rather, gauze — this season. And considering there are only 8 episodes this season, in comparison to the 10 episodes of Season 1,there is quite literally no time to waste on other mysteries.
There is still so much we need to learn alongside the Liars, andwith them constantly being put to final girl tests by Bloody Rose, there’s no room for another plot line to be squeezed in — certainly not a cult. Something like that takes a bit of time to flesh out, and though the show has done well at that so far, it’s running out of time to get into the seedy underbelly of the Church and Pastor Malachi. We barely know anything about him, or the Church for that matter. While the storyline itself has the potential to be interesting, it doesn’t exactly fit into the season as well as it potentially could due to the season’s shorter length. Too much time has already been wasted away from the Bloody Rose storyline, and we need to dig into that soon to avoid the ultimate reveal feeling rushed or sloppy. Of course, the show could reveal that Our Mother of Holy Grace and Bloody Rose Waters are somehow connected, which would be a fantastic way to bring it all full circle, but it doesn’t seem likely that that is where the storyline is heading.
There’s already so much going on in the town of Millwood, with A and Bloody Rose targeting the Liars, stacking a cult on top feels a bit overwhelming. It may have been better to save this storyline for later, or just cut it altogether and have Kelly become a more central member of the Liars like it looked like she would become in Season 1. There’s still time to wrap everything up and do so with finesse, but at the end of the day,Pretty Little Liarswas doing just fine with focusing on the A storyline, and didn’t need a cult on top of it all. It’s time-consuming and takes away from what has always been the central focus ofPretty Little Liars, both past and present, which is A, and the Liars targeted by the ominous stalker.
Pretty Little Liars: Summer Schoolis available to stream on Max in the U.S.
