Series I Watch with Bated Breath (season one review)
Orphan Black has the hookiest of hooks. Protagonist Sarah Manning sees a complete stranger, her doppelganger, throw herself under a train. What does Sarah do? In that moment, she steals the woman's identity and tries to figure out who this mysterious individual is. It is a strong premise with a lot of potential, but like Lost, comes with a trepidation about where it is going. That's why I watched Season one with bated breath; not because of the suspense (though it is indeed a brilliantly tense show), but I am terrified of the moment wherein the writers are going to drop the ball and ruin the show.
Not that I should have a reason to mistrust the writers. Sarah is a really well designed character; resourceful, witty and daring, but also relatable, out-of-her-depth and always in peril. Other characters are fun too, such as the hopelessly lovesick drug dealing boyfriend (played by Vaas), and Sarah's snarking, flaming, hilarious (if somewhat stereotypical) foster brother. The scenarios the protagonist finds herself in are also well realised; full of suspense and intrigue. But then there are the things that suggest to me that the series might fly off the rails, once it gets down to resolving the main mystery of the plot. SPOILERS BELOW
A few episodes in, the show starts to hint towards the bigger players. There are references to goofy technophile cults, religious fanatic organisations, and meglomaniacal corperations. Like anyone else, I want to know what the hell is going on, and to solve the mystery of these doppelgangers, but the solution that we are creeping towards is "massive clandestine conspiracy". I hope it doesn't, because that kind of cliché would be a major disservice to the clever and original premise. Also, there are a few other supporting characters who I dislike, but who are inevitably going to play vital plot roles later, like Mr scowly face detective, and Mr incredibly bland love interest.
So yes, most of the review I have spent speculating about how a series might go wrong, rather than talk about what actually happens in the series itself. The conclusion I'm led to is that Orphan Black is a very entertaining series, and my concerns about it not going to stay that way are born from how invested I am with it. I give it a full recommendation.
Series One of the best sci-fi shows currently on television
"Orphan Black is a sci-fi show about a human cloning conspiracy, starring Tatiana Maslany."
Well, you're not wrong, TV Tropes....
Orphan Black is a show that I started watching while it was in the middle of airing its second season. I'd heard some really good feedback about season 1, so I was naturally curious, and I started watching.
I have been hooked ever since.
While the show would normally be described as Science Fiction, it's more of conspiracy thriller with an emphasis on the characters. The main protagonist, Sarah Manning, is a former hustler and mom who one day witnesses a woman who looks exactly like her commit suicide by jumping in front of an oncoming train. Sarah quickly takes advantage of the situation by assuming the dead woman's identity, unaware of the can of clone worms she's about to open....
Orphan Black is one of the most consistently well-acted and well-executed sci-fi shows on TV right now. It's got a little something for everybody. Cloning conspiracies? Check. Excellent, well-written female characters? Check. Tons of action and badass moments? You got it! The most amazing thing about Orphan Black, however, is seeing Tatiana Maslany elevate what would normally be considered a good episode into a fantastic one through her sheer acting prowess. There are various other characters on the show, of course, but Maslany is clearly the main draw. Compirised of 20 one-hour episodes now that the show has finished airing it's second season, there's plenty of time for people to catch up before the third season begins airing in Spring 2015. Orphan Black has enough plot twists to keep anyone second guessing about where the show will go next, but I promise you, it's well worth the ride.
Series Everything is People
tl;dr Orphan Black is one of the best tv shows around.
Most thrillers, with or without sci-fi elements, are about people with grand schemes and big ideas. Plots builds on plot, organisation within organisation.
Orphan Black's central thesis is that everything we do and everything we are is about the connections we make with the people around us. The solder, the CEO, the guy at the bar, the soccer mum - in the end its other people that drive them.
The people behind these plots aren't super human, they have lovers and friends and family. The soldiers fight to protect their squadmates because the army is a kind of family too. Love for your daughter, desire to be admired and desired and wanted. In the world of this show these are the human things which all the plots and conspiracies, instead of cerebral philosophy.
And it's fitting for a show about people, that's it principle actor has one of the greatest understandings of other people ever seen.
The protagonist, Sarah Manning, is an amazing character, one of the few genuinely selfish genuinely heroic people. The way her self-interest becomes heroism is that for Sarah her self-interest has become other people. It's her daughter, her friends, her surrogate mother... those are what she values most in her life and she will do anything to protect them. It's not idealism, she's not a classically good person. If you were a stranger she'd walk right past you without a care. But once she knows who you are and you've become part of 'her', she'll go through hell for you.
In the story, set in the modern day, she sees someone jump in front of a train and realises that the persons face is her own. It's about her discovering she's one of a group of genetic clones, and their interests becoming hers too.
But this means that every principle character in the story is played by the same actor, Tatiana Maslany and yet she is so amazing in those roles that three seasons in I cannot believe it. My mind literally cannot process that all these people are the same person.
She's so good that I couldn't tell if she was British or American (she's Canadian) because everyone character she plays seems like her own person.
And it speaks to the incredible writing that allows every character she inhabits to be uniquely themselves.