(Note: this article may contain spoilers, spoilers that would ruin things)

The show Pretty Little Liars is one of the most interesting shows ever conceived of. At its surface, it seems like a standard teen drama intended for teenage girls and young women. The main protagonists are a group of four teenage girls from an affluent suburb of Philadelphia (three of them are white, the other one, Emily, is half-Asian). They go to an affluent high school and under the leadership of their friend Alison, they form the popular clique in school. They attend the right parties, have the pick of the athletes in their high school, and torment people who aren’t as popular as them and whom Alison doesn’t like. They are also into fashion and makeup, trying to look trendy and stylish. And their enemies are mostly other girls, who engage in games of wit and social intrigue with them.

So why do I watch this show, and why did my brother, who introduced me to it, watch this show? We are both obviously guys, and this isn’t exactly the type of show that would naturally appeal to us.

Because its a……… THRILLER.

Specifically a mystery-thriller. The whole core of the show is that their friend Alison, the alpha female and queen who brought our 4 heroines together, disappeared in the middle of sophomore year. And after about a year, her body is found buried next to her house, indicating that she was murdered. There are many suspects, which changes from time to time on the show, because Alison had a lot of enemies due to her selfish, manipulative behavior. And a mysterious person named "A" has entered their lives; a person who knows about their secrets and is determined to make their lives hell.

"A" is a crafty bastard, regularly blackmailing and hurting the girls. He/she toys with them, giving clues about Alison’s murder but then setting them up somehow (calling the police when they find the murder weapon). There have been times that he/she even tried to kill one of the girls; this happens a lot of times. So clearly this show is pretty violent and bloody. But what’s even more scary are the murders?

There have been several murders on this show. While they happen off-screen, a couple of the bodies have been shown. Like the unfortunate demise of Garrett:

Yeah that’s right; Garrett gets murdered and stuffed in a box right next to a drugged Aria. And believe me, I had the same look Aria had when I saw his body come up on-screen. Except I thought it was a prop/fake body; I didn’t realize it was actually Garrett’s corpse. So yeah, this show has a lot to offer for guys like me who are into action films and can handle horror films.

There are also a lot of great guys on this show that I can relate to. Like the stoic, reliable Caleb:

Or the sensitive, misunderstood loner Toby

Or the sensitive, rebellious, yet somewhat crazy Ezra:

Aside from its appeal to guys, the show also has a variety of witty jokes and one-liners. Spencer’s exchange with a local nerd at a college visit, where she promised him “The Lannisters always pay their debts.” Or anything else she says pretty much. The show also appeals to LGBT folks as well. Emily, the half-Asian member of the PLL quartet, is a lesbian who decides to bravely come out in Season 1 and displays strength in accepting who she is. She also has several cool girlfriends like the rebellious, weed-smoking hipster Maya and the tough, determined athlete Paige. The show does a good job of portraying their struggles and triumphs, and it would appeal to many LGBT folks who have gone through the exact same thing.

The show does have its issues. The main issue is that it goes downhill in Season 4 and seems to have really dragged out. Hell, there’s a good chance Alison might even be still alive, throwing another element of WTF at us. Oh well, I’ll probably watch until the end of Season 5 and then go from there.