"Orphan Black", Episodes 7-9 - Capsule Review

Spoilers Below:

Shows with weird and unusual stories aren't inherently more or less likely to be bad. Show's with that loaded, so frequently divisive term "mythology" are actually some solidly entertaining shows even as they tend to provide diminishing returns in later seasons. The X-Files may have lost its master plot along the way but for several seasons it was genre storytelling at its best. Lost may have split fans on how it wrapped up its mysteries in its final season, but up until the end it was providing some indelibly addicting drama.

No, what bothers us most is the sense that the writers are just making it up on the fly, creating the story as they go along with no real direction. What pisses us off is the nagging feeling that they have no plan for how to end this. This is to say, though I don't want to get my hopes up, John Fawcett, Graeme Manson and the rest of the writers* appear to have a plan.

*This is primarily an all male writing staff (which is not an anomaly in of itself) but it's interesting note because of how heavily the cast of characters skews towards being female. There's stuff they've done that's a tiny bit reductive (they rely heavily on maternalism), but the way they've handled things for the most part has me very pleased. (Editor's Note: I wrongly stated that this was an all male writing staff when I first published this. That's not true. Karen Walton is a female writer and wrote two memorable episodes. This is why I need Felix here to call me on my shit!) 

Now is this true? Heck if I know, but I also don't know anything to suggest that they don't know where they're going with this story. This season thus far has been rather well plotted. Each episode has been effectively the show tackling a series of in the moment problems, resolving them, and then switching it up just enough by episode's end to allow for further intriguing complications. The science corp plans of Dyad and the Neolutions aren't the most interesting thing to me,** but, hey, it's a direction forward that feels like it fits within the genre this show is playing around in and could have logical solutions to problem the show has been confronting throughout this season. Eventually if a series, especially a series playing around so heavily with these genre mysteries, doesn't start slipping us some answers, it loses all grounding and flies off into space. Orphan Black has been smart about how and when it doles out its answers.

 **Conspiracy narratives so often burn themselves out or overreach. More importantly, this comes off as cliched in a show that's so frequently nuanced. 

While those answers might not always be something that entirely peaks my interest, how it's been effecting the many clones and clone affiliates absolutely has. Allison, someone I used to dislike, has since turned into my personal favorite and it's utterly delightful to watch her reclaim her sense of self and get back at her watcher.*** Meanwhile, Cosima's heartbreak over discovering the truth about Delphine is as deeply felt as anything the show has done up to this point.

 ***Felix and Allison are also one of the best pairings the show has come up with to date. The way they play off eachother is too good.

The real treasure of watching Orphan Black though continues to be watching Tatiana Maslany constantly do acting somersaults performing all these different characters. She's so damn good that you often forget that these people are played by the same person and you never forget for a second who any one of them are. She inhabits these roles with such commitment.

The odd thing about Orphan Black is that it's at once a really exceptional character study and also a science fiction series. In fact, the show is at its finest when we just watch Maslany playing the clones figure their way out of one mess or another, and in turn the way these stories reveal more about these characters (even crazy outlier Helena). Sometimes the genre stuff just doesn't work and can seem out of place. The show has built up from a more grounded, gritty place and expanded out into more stereotypical genre storytelling elements. The grounded nature still finds it way in there often enough that the sci-fi hoopla doesn't totally detract from the show, but it does make me worry about the show's future going forward. But for now: onwards and upwards to what I'm sure will be an insane and terrific finale (yea, I'm calling that shit now!).