Warning: SPOILERS ahead for Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin
The showrunners of Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin reveal whether Sheriff Beasley might actually be redeemed. Making its debut on HBO Max in late July, and featuring an ensemble cast that includes Bailee Madison, Chandler Kinney, Zaria, Malia Pyles, and Maia Reficco, the Pretty Little Lies spinoff focuses on a new group of teenage girls that begin to receive ominous threats from a mysterious murderer simply named ‘A.’ The murderer is somewhat of a cross between Leatherface and Michael Myers, combining the freakish strength and mercilessness of both horror icons.
Original Sin boasts its fair share of antagonists. There are the biased teachers, the adults manipulating teenagers, and a duplicitous set of twins. But five episodes into the series, the biggest baddie might just be Sheriff Beasley (Eric Johnson). Even before he has a reason to be resentful of Original Sin‘s central group, he doesn’t appear particularly sympathetic. He’s exceptionally cold with his family and he abuses his powerful job, sneering and spouting venom at whomever he happens to be sharing a scene with.
In an interview with TV Insider, showrunners Calhoon Bring and Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa discuss whether Beasley might be redeemed over the course of Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin. They discuss how they felt that it was important for the teen drama to include a regular, older villain. But when it comes to the central question of whether Beasley will have a redemptive arc, neither Bring nor Aguirre-Sacasa sound too confident. Their quotes can be seen below:
Calhoon Bring: That’s an amazing question. Obviously A is our horror slasher Michael Myers, but in that grounded world of the horrors of our world, we wanted to tell a story, too, about young girls who have been failed by systems that should protect them. And Sheriff Beasley, I think, is the person we point to in that. What you’ve seen so far, he’s not a great guy. He’s a pretty dark character and sometimes dark characters can change, but sometimes they’re irredeemable.
Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa: That said, it’s funny because the actor who plays Sheriff Beasley, Eric, could not be lovelier. Sometimes you do these roles with the older actors that play the parents or the villains. And sometimes you’re with an actor, and the actor’s like, “I don’t wanna be tormenting these teenagers. I don’t wanna look bad. Why am I like calling this young girl a bitch?” and all this other stuff. The great thing about Eric is he was like, “I’m here for whatever you need me to do in Millwood.” And he’s such a delicious villain that way. So Sheriff Beasley may not be redeemable, but Eric Johnson, who plays Sheriff Beasley, is going straight to heaven.
The showrunners stop short of confirming that Beasley won’t be redeemed, but things don’t sound hopeful. To be fair to the character, he does have his reasons for being the way he is. His daughter Karen (Mallory Bechtel) died suddenly, and she was the target of a prank by the show’s main group. Potentially, following in the footsteps of Euphoria and that show’s depiction of Nate’s dad, Original Sin could possibly be laying the groundwork to say that the sheriff behaves abhorrently because he’s tormented by being in the closet.
Hopefully, Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin avoids this direction as it is a well-worn plot device at this point. Either way, Beasely could be a tricky character for the young show to deal with in the future. If he’s not going to be redeemed, then he could outlive his usefulness and quickly grow stale. This could mean that the sheriff dies, possibly sacrificing himself in a heroic final decision, earning redemption, but that will be determined further down the line. For now, at least, it looks like Beasely will keep being bad.
