Wait, Does That Riverdale Reference In PLL Hint A Crossover Is Coming?

As if Episode 6 of Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin didn’t have enough easter eggs to its predecessor — Ezra’s bookstore, Caleb Rivers’ pills, the Radley Sanitarium — the episode also tossed out a very interesting reference to another teen drama: Riverdale. Seeing as the two shows share an executive producer, Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, this connection may have been obvious, but could it actually mean something more? Here’s everything you need to know about this potential universe connection between PLL: Original Sin and Riverdale, and whether a crossover could be coming.

While Tabby and Imogen explore Rosewood and the Radley Hotel, formerly the Radley Sanitarium, they also get some answers from an OG PLL character, Radley orderly Eddie Lamb. Imogen and Tabby want to know more about Angela Waters, the girl who perished at a Y2K party their mothers attended, an event that seems to be the reason that “A” is torturing them.

Eddie Lamb, who still works at Radley, tells the new Liars that Angela Waters’ mom was moved from the Radley to the Sisters of Quiet Mercy when the sanitarium was shut down and turned into a hotel. Riverdale fans immediately knew what was up and ran to Twitter to explain the layers of this easter egg.

The Sisters of Quiet Mercy has been a longtime presence through Riverdale’s freaky twists and turns, much like Radley was in the OG Pretty Little Liars. As is referenced in the name of the institution, the Sisters of Quiet Mercy is a nunnery, but specifically one that houses “troubled youth” and apparently Angela Waters’ mom.

In Riverdale, Polly Cooper, Charles Smith, and Penelope Blossom, among other characters, spend time with the Sisters of Quiet Mercy. Cheryl Blossom had a brief stint of conversion therapy with these twisted nuns and Betty Cooper also had a very quick stay that connected to the Gargoyle King plot in Season 3.

This quick reference to the long-running CW series sparked lots of rumors of a potential crossover with the new Original Sin series. (Come on, who doesn’t want to see Archie Andrews in Rosewood?) The shows do share an executive producer, which could ease the logistical strain of attempting a crossover of such layered, complicated mysteries.

But don’t get your hopes up too high, because Aguirre-Sacasa himself isn’t so confident about the connection. In a truly wild response to a question about whether Original Sin exists in the same universe as Riverdale, Aguirre-Sacasa told TVLine, “I guess it does. We kind of just wrote that line [about the Sisters of Quiet Mercy] in. I assumed that we wouldn’t be allowed to reference Riverdale, since it’s in a completely different universe, but it stayed in. So, yeah, I guess it does exist in the same universe.”

This unclear response may not inspire a ton of confidence in viewers, but fans can still hold out hope that the excitement over a crossover could encourage the creators to keep up the easter eggs — and maybe even make them a little more intentional next time.