Just Enjoy The Show: Ravenswood

Ever got addicted to a TV series, finding yourself unable to miss an episode? Yeah, been there done that. For me, it all started out with Charmed. The story about three sisters who turns out to be witches, trying to live normal lives, as well as vanquish all the demons that exists. Veronica Mars was next. Kristen Bell played the role of a crime busting high schooler, who has to find the truth. It's such a bummer it ended so soon. Then came CSI and its spin-offs, CSI: New York and CSI: Miami. Nothing beats the suspense and drama these crime shows brought to my life. There was even a point in time where in I was so convinced I wanted to take up forensics and had everything planned out. My mom then introduced me to FRIENDS. It has been the epitome of a sitcom and I personally think, nothing can surpass the success it had for the ten long years it aired. A light, funny yet edifying story about friendship and how it's a roller coaster ride. Next on my long list of favorite shows is One Tree Hill. Now OTH is just like Friends only in a high school setting. It was kind of parallel to each other, just more drinking, more basketball, more love triangles (or sometimes square), more issues or to put it simply, more drama. 90210 is a revival of a 90's hit series of the same title. Just like OTH, it's in a high school setting because apparently life doesn't begin at 40 but in high school, where all the drama is. After focusing on teenage problems for quite some time, I levelled up and found entertainment in the "real world" through Suits, a show about the everyday life of a lawyer and how it's not just cocktails, briefcase and suits. Then came along the wonderful series Pretty Little Liars which is originally a book series that talks about secrets and how having them can be your stalkers ace. After 4 seasons, another series came along which is a spin-off from PLL, Ravenswood.

While Pretty Little Liars is set in Rosewood, Pennsylvania, the creepy town of Ravenswood resides a few miles away from it. A town full of secrets far worse than of Rosewood's. If PLL is all about personal secrets and how it can ruin relationships, Ravenswood is all about curses and how it can end your life.

The story starts with Caleb meeting a girl named Miranda on a bus to Ravenswood both traveling for answers to the mysteries of their lives. Caleb was helping his girlfriend, Hanna, while Miranda was trying to reconnect with the only family member she has left. Upon entering the town, mystery consumes them once more when they found themselves standing in the middle of a graveyard staring at tombstones with both their names on it. It wasn't even just the coincidental same name problem; it had their pictures on it. Creepy!

Miranda found her long lost uncle who turns out to be the cold, town embalmer. They were asked to stay at his home where in they get creeped out even more every passing minute. As they try to find answers about the tombstones they were supposedly in, they meet three new friends. There's Remy, Olivia and her brother, Luke who are all dealing with their own issues. Remy met Caleb when he came at the local newspaper office in search for answers. Caleb then meets Luke who turns out to be Remy's boyfriend who is also the over-protective brother of Olivia, who is now getting bullied in school after their mom was accused of killing their father. The pilot episode mainly established the relationship of the characters and the potential plot this series would take but what better way to end the pilot episode than putting all five teenagers in a car and drive it off a bridge ending in one dying, that one being Miranda. You may think, what's so creepy about that? It's an accident. Here's the creepy part. The very next day, Caleb just saw Miranda. Not in the flesh but her soul seems to have stayed on Earth. Now the question is, why.

It's a mystery why Miranda stayed after her death and why only the other four teens can see her. Connecting the dots was difficult for them, knowing Luke and Olivia were quite skeptical about the idea of ghosts and curses but after finding answers through talking to another troubled soul lurking around Ravenswood, Remy found the connection. Every single time a local comes back home to their town after miraculously escaping death, five teens die. Nobody ever noticed that connection until now because surprisingly out of five, four survived. It seems like they've defied a curse and the dark force behind the curse is not giving up until all five of them are six feet under the ground. It's now up to them to get ahead of the curse and find answers before the curse kills all of them.

This creepy new series caught my attention for some reason and I just can't get enough of it. Every revelation in each episode makes it even better. I'm usually annoyed enough with PLL's cliffhangers and here I go watching this thriller series. What I like about this show is its intriguing plot line. With PLL, they are trying to defy a stalker who wants to make their lives a living hell but in Ravenswood, they're trying to defy the supernatural. It's almost common for a teenager to experience bullying or fights through technology but it's not everyday that you escape death and have it chase you around town.

I'm so over the mainstream drama series. All the boyfriend snatching, forbidden love, teen pregnancy issue, crushing, sibling rivalry, vampires and beasts, drama and parental issues is getting old and boring. There's something about thriller series that I prefer nowadays. All that suspense and horror in one episode makes me feel the Halloween vibes every week. It also doesn't help that my free time to watch it is only around 11pm to around 1am, talk about self-torture.

It was a bummer learning that Tyler Blackburn was leaving PLL to do this spin-off but seeing how good this show is getting I really don't mind anymore. I actually look forward for the crossovers. Now, that's one kick ass thriller episode.

- Basically PauAu