Picking up right where the Pretty Little Liars Halloween special left off, the Ravenswood premiere found Caleb and Miranda trying to make sense of the titular town, including why they both discovered their names and faces carved onto tombstones.
Along their travels, they got to know three other teenagers in Ravenswood, unaware that their new acquaintances would round out “the five.” There’s Luke (Brett Dier) and Olivia (Merritt Patterson), a brother-sister duo who fell from grace when their mother was accused of murdering their father; and Luke’s girlfriend Remy (Britne Oldford), whose dad is so not OK with her dating one of the town’s pariahs — Luke’s chiseled jawline, be damned!
Miranda was even reunited with her estranged — emphasis on strange — uncle Raymond (Steven Cabral), who wasn’t exactly eager to see his niece after he tried to get rid of her years ago. Another PLL original, Miz Grunwald (Meg Foster), also reared her gorgeous head in Ravenswood.
And that’s when things started to get freaky.
Things That Go Bump In The Night Ravenswood
Both Caleb and Miranda had a few, shall we say, close encounters on the premiere. I lost count of the number of times Miranda — and I, honestly — jumped at the sight of a shadowy figure lurking in the corner, or an inanimate object moving without explanation. It may have seemed strange to some viewers, considering Pretty Little Liars never had any supernatural elements, but I have a feeling it’ll all pan out. We’ll learn more about those mysterious occurrences, and why they seem to mostly happen around Miranda, in the weeks to come.
As for Caleb, his big spooky moment came during what was supposed to be a nice, relaxing bath at Raymond’s house. A mysterious figure tried to drown Caleb and suffocate him with the shower curtain, though he managed to escape right before totally running out of air. (Side note: Tyler Blackburn gave me some behind-the-scenes secrets about filming that scene, including the teeny-tiny uniform it required, so keep an eye out for that interview.)
‘Ravenswood’: The Curse Revealed
We’ve been hearing a lot about the big Ravenswood “curse” ever since the show was first announced in March 2013, so I’m glad we didn’t have to wait too long for an explanation of what that curse actually is.
A group of Ravenswood High School seniors mysteriously drowned — I think in 1896, but don’t quote me on that — in a boating accident, exactly one week after a lone-surviving war vet returned to town. A similar pattern of events occurred on a second occassion, and since Remy’s mom just returned from Afghanistan as the sole survivor of her troop, Remy hypothesized that the ‘curse’ was about to strike again.
Within minutes, “the five” found themselves skidding off the road into a lake, and although I’m assuming all five passengers survive the drop — that would be the shortest series ever if they all died — I’m curious to see how things unfold from here.
HollywoodLifers, what did you think of the Ravenswood series premiere? Will you be coming back every week to find out more about the curse? Drop a comment with your review of the Pretty Little Liars spin-off below.
WATCH: Tyler Blackburn Drops ‘Ravenswood’ Spoilers
— Andy Swift
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More ‘Ravenswood’:
- ‘Ravenswood’ Scoop: Is Miranda Stealing Caleb From Hanna?
- ‘Ravenswood’: 5 Reasons We Love The ‘Pretty Little Liars’ Spin-Off
- ‘Ravenswood’ Scoop: Hanna & Caleb’s First Reunion Revealed