Blue Bloods Star Vanessa Ray Dishes On Why Pretty Little Liars Was Groundbreaking

The crime procedural genre continues to be a success with fans and there is no bigger example of this than the CBS drama "Blue Bloods." Currently nearing the end of its 12th season, the series featuring the Reagan clan does not seem to be losing steam. It has even added members of the family since its first airing in 2010. In addition to police patriarch Frank Regan (Tom Selleck) and his brood of justice-loving children, marriages have brought even more characters into the fold. One of the most beloved is Edit "Eddie" Janko, portrayed by Vanessa Ray.

First introduced in Season 4 as the partner of Jamie Regan (Will Estes), the character grew to be one of the family. After several seasons of the will-they-won't-they trope so prevalent in television, fans were finally granted the relationship between Eddie and Jamie they clamored for — even if the series skipped over the actual wedding part. Eddie has been a familiar face for almost 200 episodes, but it wasn't so long ago that she was a part of a different phenomenon (via IMDb). Ray once appeared in Freeform's heightened teen drama "Pretty Little Liars" as an unforgettable role. And even after the series finale five years ago, she still has an interesting perspective on the series.

Escapist, convoluted, but above all things, iconic, "Pretty Little Liars" takes cyberbullying to a whole new level. After the supposed death of their best friend Alison (Sasha Pieterse), a group of estranged friends are brought back together when they all get a flurry of threatening texts from stalker and murderer, "A." Aria (Lucy Hale), Emily (Shay Mitchell), Hanna (Ashley Benson), and Spencer (Troian Bellisario) are under constant threat of having their secrets revealed and relationships destroyed. Sophia Soto for The Nerds of Color is one of many who followed the series obsessively. And one of the biggest twists was the reveal of Cece Drake (Vanessa Ray) as puppet master, Big A. Soto had a chance to speak to the villain herself about the impact of the series and what made it so significant.

"'Pretty Little Liars' was so crazy because it was the first female-driven show like that and we were also the first show to live-tweet episodes," Ray stated. "It was such a different way of engaging with your audience and I was watching these four females be masterful at it." The online aspect of "Pretty Little Liars" was integral to the series. A uses social media to torment the four Liars so that they have no safe haven. The actors of the series weaponizing their online presence was a clever way to be inclusive to the fanbase that loved them so much and blazed a trail for what comes next.