Orphan Black Season 2 (1 Viewer)

[Hanson]

Jeez, Michiel Huisman is popping up in all sorts of random places these days.

Imagine the torturous job of an actor. One day, he's doing sex-scenes with gorgeous fiddler Annie on Treme, then he moves on to sex-scenes with Maslany, and then it looks like he'll probably have to suffer through sex-scenes with Emilia Clarke.

Reminds me of the charmed life of Joseph Fiennes circa 1998-2002 -- one day, it's nude scenes with Gwyneth Paltrow, followed by nude scenes with Gretchen Mol, and then nude scenes with Heather Graham. Best agent in the world.

 

[joshEH]

That Crazy Musical in Orphan Black? Yeah, It Exists in Real Life

 

[TravisR]

Being a relative newcomer to the series, I was shocked to find out that Jordan Gavaris wasn't actually English when he spoke in one of those BTS clips that they play during commercials.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

This episode was just chock full of bonkers insanity.The scenes with Sarah zip-tied in the shower were among the most harrowing beats of television I've seen in some time. Rachel's henchman was a seriously terrifying individual. There was a grotesque moment of schadenfreude when, offscreen, Helena burst into Rachel's apartment and gave him what he had coming to him. But then she turned her attention to Sarah and an already creepy scene went into off-the-charts creepy land.I was wondering why they were focusing so much on Gracie at the neo-Prolethean compound; my new theory is that they're going to inseminate her with the embryo they made by fertilizing the egg they removed from Helena.Cal certainly seems to have a unique skill set. It'll be interesting to see what he brings to the table.I absolutely loved Yvonne at Alison's rehab clinic.Interesting that Mrs. S was apparently telling the truth about how Sarah came into her care, even as it's evident that she knows way more about what's going on than she's let on.

Being a relative newcomer to the series, I was shocked to find out that Jordan Gavaris wasn't actually English when he spoke in one of those BTS clips that they play during commercials.

Yeah, he's phenomenal. Of the core cast, I think only Maria Doyle Kennedy is from the other side of the pond, and she's Irish and not British. After the first table read, apparently she didn't know Gavaris was Canadian either.

 

[TravisR]

I guess it's a weird pet peeve but I give them a big thumbs up for having Gracie smother Helena. Whenever you see the pillow smother scenario in TV or movies, the killer always changes their mind or the victim always wakes up and the killer chickens out. I loved that they had her- who is only a kid- just go for it.

And thanks to Sarah's reaction when she saw Helena and that Sarah was tied to the wall, that scene was pretty spooky.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

One thing that really struck me in this episode was that, after marveling at how different the clones are in the first season, we've reached a critical mass with the number of clones where we're starting to see how they're they same. In Rachel, we see bits of Alison's high-strung nature. In Helena, we see bits of Sarah's manipulative talents. And underneath all of the clones, there is a keen and strategic mind. Even Helena, who I'd written off as the Proletheans' unthinking bloodhound, demonstrated a keen understanding of her situation and the greater situation in tonight's episode.And then the moment where Sarah walks in front of Helena's rifle. I don't know what I expected in that moment, but it definitely wasn't what we got: genuine love and connection. There's a reason it was so hard for Sarah to shoot Helena in the first season, even when she presented a clear and present danger to Kira, and it made perfect sense in retrospect the guilt and grief and sense of loss Sarah must have felt in the aftermath of having done it.And then last week, with Helena on the creepiest rescue mission of all time. It must have been horrifying for Sarah in the moment, but what she took away from it was that Helena had her back. And for someone who's lived the sort of solitary life that Sarah has, suddenly having this umbrella of family has to be such a huge thing. I'm now so glad they didn't kill off Helena, because they've made her so much more sophisticated of a character. The strange dichotomy between her childlike behavior and interests, her lethal efficiency, and the quick mind operating underneath make for fascinating television.I loved Sarah's video chat with Cal, where you could tell that it was killing her not to be there with Kira, that she was both grateful for and resentful of how he'd stepped up with Kira, and that slight sense of dispossession that Kira was now theirs instead of just hers. And between the gun and the cash and the passports and the fake driver's license, I'm wondering exactly what Cal's involved in that requires that level of contingency planning.I also love that Aldous Leekie turns out to really be a sort of an ally for the clones, in that their well-being has an importance to him that it doesn't necessarily have for Rachel. And I love the ambiguous power structure at play, with Leekie having once been Rachel's guardian but now seems to report to her, even as he has moves in play that exclude her. It's also interesting that the clones seem to be limited to the one batch because the template and most of the research was destroyed in that fire. It's sort of like Captain America's super soldier serum; there was one flash of inspiration that led to a huge leap forward, but then it was lost and all of the decades sense have been spent unsuccessfully trying to recreate it.And then there's that sex scene. I can't say I've never seen anything like it on television. The psychology at play was fascinating. It makes sense that someone like Rachel, who has known from a very early age that she was a pawn on someone else's chessboard, would attempt to exercise absolute control in other facets of her life, including her sex life. My favorite bit was when she opened Paul's mouth to inspect his teeth; even in her most intimate moments, Rachel appraises, calculates and assigns value. "How many notches in your clone belt, Paul?"Paul framing Felix was one of those line in the sand moments. It was a giant signpost to the audience that, however conflicted Paul may be about it, he's not one of the good guys anymore. And after Felix has come through for Sarah time and time again, now's the time for her to step up as his sister and return the favor.Looks like I called it correctly about Gracie. She's going to carry Helena's child. And judging by Helena's wedding dress when she escaped, I'm guessing that Gracie's father is the baby's father.Now we go on the hunt for the Swan Man, at Cold River, "the place of screams."

 

[mattCR]

What really is striking about Orphan Black is that it flips the model on so many TV stereotypes. Women aren't just paltry written ancillary characters they are the characters who guide and exist as the thrust of the show. Even in sex scenes, the female characters are the instigators, the advancers the aggressive characters.

There is something ingenious, smart and subversive about not just the SciFi in this show, but the handling of characters to buck stereotypes.

Maslaney has managed to capture the differences - and some similarities = in between characters in such a way that we are able to see the human and common thread that lies within all of them without it disrupting how significantly different they truly are. The level of skill it takes to pull that off is unthinkable to me.

I agree on the Paul framing Felix. He may be conflicted, but this was the sign to the audience that in the end, he views his role as someone who controls the clones and has loyalty to Rachel as above all.

 

[joshEH]

That was a highly-entertaining hour of TV, right there. "Rachel is problem. I fix problem."

I'm not sure I buy Sarah trusting Helena so quickly. Yes, she did save Sarah's life, but it was only about a week ago that Helena killed their biological mother. I still thought "Don't call me meat-head" was funny, though.
So Vic has gotten religion, and he's gonna find out about Clone Club? That should be good.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Helena's trucker almost-paramour at the townie bar was played by Patrick J. Adams, the star of USA's "Suits." He's a huge fan of "Orphan Black" and has been petitioning on Twitter for a while to guest star on the show.Another terrific hour of television. Sarah and Helena's road trip, complete with Helena's sing along to the Archies' "Sugar, Sugar" was just fantastic television. Tatiana Maslany has great chemistry with herself.A big advancement to the show's mythology too. I like how creepy everything surrounding the cloning project is. We know that Project LEDA was the first successful human cloning operation, but it seems like more than that. Well before the DNA science existed, Cold River had been running some sort of eugenics operation for decades. It seemed to start with trying to create the Übermensch by selecting the most perfect specimens (according to whatever criteria they were using) and breeding them from generation to generation. But some of those photos indicated gross deformities which would seem to point to the Cold River institute far exceeding its original mandate. My guess is that the source DNA for the clones came from the end products of the Cold River institute's experiments. It could help explain how Kira recovered so quickly from getting hit by that car and how Helena recovered so quickly from getting shot by Sarah. Given the emphasis on Helena arm wrestling the trucker, the show might also be hinting that the clones are abnormally strong.Speaking of Kira, it looks like the miracle stem cell line that might save Cosima's life came from Kira -- which would point to the Dyad Institute having contact with Kira that Sarah (and nearly as certainly) Mrs. S didn't know about.Speaking of Mrs. S, how great was that beat where Sarah finally tracks down Duncan only for Mrs. S to open the door when she knocks? And man, Maria Doyle Kennedy is terrific as Mrs. S. You see so much of Sarah mirrored in her, the same bitterness and sarcasm, but more developed and more sophisticated. Sarah's still discovering who she is, but Mrs. S is totally comfortable in her own skin. Her conversation with Paul in the truck was just a thing of beauty.At first I thought Duncan had gone senile, but I'm so happy that they didn't go down that tired road. Maslany deserves to win an Emmy for every episode, but she really earned it for that kitchen table conversation with Duncan. It was nothing less than an argument for the clones' collective right to exist, and Sarah was so earnest and emphatic as she made it. And the undertone is that of a grown daughter meeting her deadbeat father for the first time, with the pleading eyes that ask why he failed her and will he step up now.The show started slow in the first season and built up to a fever pitch by the finale. It amazes me the degree to which it's kept that pace.And Vic the dick was far less irritating this episode than in the first season.

 

[mattCR]

This entire show is one of the greatest acting tour deforce I've ever seen on television. It would be so easy to have these characters blend together.. but instead, we see their similarities presented in such a subtle way that their differences, minor and major don't seem like just play characters but as a statement of growth off camera that these characters have had that lead them to this point.
It's mind bending how some of these characters are both so different and similar to each other.. Allison as a character shows growth away from the group but you also get all the touches of who she is as part of it..

The script writing, pacing and performances here make this the kind of program that should get way more attention. If I were making up a list of the top-5 shows so far in this Emmy cycle, this would be one of them for me. (Breaking Bad, The Good Wife, Orphan Black, True Detective, Game of Thrones, House of Cards). It's that good. Despite the praise for shows like "Downton Abbey" (which I thought was week this year), and my love for Masters of Sex, Orphan Black is so unique and different that it exists as the kind of completely original science fiction show you almost never see.

We get to real, hardened debates around social implication of genetic management, the right of a person to live...

Adam, you nailed in it regards to that coffeetable scene. Science Fiction has a chance to air out complex moral and ethical issues in a way that causes an audience to think about it in a way not possible in the regular world - to evaluate them in a vacuum. There are a few programs that I think have done that unbelievably well, but it has been a long time for SciFi to really get it. I embraced Deep Space Nine as one of the few treks to really deal with the moral and ethical issues in that way.. TNG did occasionally, but for the most part newer SciFi avoids it by simply moving on or introducing outside forces.

I enjoyed Helix, but think about how terrifying that show could have been if it was all science, no super-beings, just humans who had discovered a potential cure all who were now debating on wiping everyone else out to start over.. it would have been far more terrifying, and the ethical fight over their existence would have been huge.
Some shows nibble around the edges - I think maybe Defiance -could- get there but it's rough and early.

But you want to get so close to our current cultural setup and take on issues that scares people, genetic manipulation for results and the outcomes, and whether or not we appreciate the moral consequences.. Orphan Black doesn't nibble around the edges - it built the whole premise of the show around it. That is a tough thing to do because when we come to episodes like this one the question really is: SHOULD any of these people exist? What is the defense for their existence? And the show has handled that with quasi-religious groups who are trying to figure it out, people on the side who are both defending and chasing them..

I doubt it will get the attention it deserves, but out of all the female-leads in a drama category, to me it is completely down to just two this year: Juliana Marguiles and Tatiana Maslaney. Just unbelievable performances by both in a different way. Oh, I'll hold out nominations in my guess work for traditional favorites like Clare Danes and Robin Wright, Connie Britton to round out the group.. but I have a very hard time seeing this as anything but a two-woman race this year.

Great stuff tonight for all characters.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

But you want to get so close to our current cultural setup and take on issues that scares people, genetic manipulation for results and the outcomes, and whether or not we appreciate the moral consequences.. Orphan Black doesn't nibble around the edges - it built the whole premise of the show around it.

Definitely, that's what I really liked about what Sarah was saying to Dr. Duncan: We're not theoretical, we're living breathing human beings and this is at the center of our lives.A counterpoint to that scene was the scene where Gracie from the Prolethians gets Helena out of police custody. Gracie's there because she needs Helena to come back or else her father is going to implant the abomination fetus into her. But in trying to avoid that horror show outcome by convincing Helena to come back, Gracie is finally forced to interact with Helena as a human being rather than as this repugnant insult to God. And their first exchange, before Gracie can even make her pitch, Helena recognizes what Gracie's father did to her mouth and empathizes with her and lets her know that the puncture holes from the stitches will heal. And that's the last thing Gracie wants, to relate and connect with this unnatural science experiment, but she hears it anyway. It's an uncomfortable conversation, but it's a breakthrough in a way because some part of Gracie won't be able to stop thinking of Helena as a person now.The whole dynamic of the Dyad Institute versus the Prolethians sort of externalizes and personifies the real world argument about the ethics of cloning. There are these two opposed ideological camps with Sarah and the other clones caught in the middle.

 

[mattCR]

FYI, the "real" Cosima, the technical consultant for the show who the character is named after runs one of the best science-oriented twitter feeds out there..

https://twitter.com/RealCosima

 

[TravisR]

I don't know how the fan base will react to the end of that episode but I thought it was morbidly hilarious.

If you can get Michelle Forbes on a show, you know it's a good series.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

I don't know how the fan base will react to the end of that episode but I thought it was morbidly hilarious.

I burst out laughing myself, even as I stared shocked at the screen. When Rachel got that phone call from Michelle Forbes's character, I envisioned a dozen or more possible outcomes for Dr. Leekie. I can honestly say I never saw that one coming. The sheer surreality of just about knocked me over. It reminded me a bit of the kind of sudden turn that Elmore Leonard would have pulled. And in a way, it ties Alison and Donnie closer together, though criminally negligent homicide. This entire episode was full of jarring tonal shifts, the kind most shows wouldn't even attempt let alone pull off. From Alison and Felix reenacting "Weekend at Bernie's" with Vic's drugged, unconscious and glittered body; to Sarah flailing about in the face of the sheer meta-y meta-ness of the rehab clinic's role playing exercise; to Cosima's genuinely startling anger at Delphine, after learning the source of the stem cell line; to the emotional reunion of the enigmatic Rachel Duncan with the man who raised her; to Cal's farewell to Kira, where it becomes clear that they have developed a relationship and that he's taken steps to stay present in her life; to Donnie's rage at learning how he'd been duped; to Rachel's very interesting decision regarding Leekie; to that ending.It's amazing they pulled all of that off without losing me emotionally.

If you can get Michelle Forbes on a show, you know it's a good series.

What I find fascinating is that the hair, makeup and wardrobe all work to soften Michelle Forbes's hard edges in ways that only made her more threatening.Once I saw her walk into Leekie's office, I knew his survival was no longer guaranteed, since the show now has another heavy hitter to anchor the Dyad end.

 

[Joe_H]

I'm admittedly a few episodes behind still, but I'm just having trouble getting nearly as drawn in this year. Tatiana Maslany is obviously still incredible in her roles, but one of my biggest fears near the end of last season seems to be playing out a little bit. Starting at about the "freaky Leekies" and neolutionist parts I started to worry a little bit that they were starting to expand the universe a bit too much too fast, and so far they've done that a ton in season 2.

It starts to push the show a little bit into some of the cheesy sci-fi stuff when they do that, and I just feel like the majority of season 1 was tighter and more focused and it was far better for it.

...Though I suppose I should wait until I fully catch up to decide that for sure.

 

[joshEH]

"I can't go to jail, Felix. I don't have the temperament. In the shower, if they touch me, I will CUT them!"

Alison Supremacy™, motherfuckers. Put her in Orange is the New Black and watch her shine.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

I don't know how the fan base will react to the end of that episode but I thought it was morbidly hilarious.

I laughed my ass off twice… first, when it happened… and then a moment later when it went to black and I realized, "Yeah, they're ending with that!"

 

[Hanson]

Did not recognize Michelle Forbes. At all. Will have to rewatch.

Very Pulp Fiction-eque ending.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Quite a gamechanger in tonight's episode. I'm glad Tony turned out to be transgender rather than biologically male, because the implications of a whole batch of Y-chromosome Tatiana Maslany lookalikes out there would be just too mindboggling to contemplate. Entertainment Weekly has a good interview with show creators Graeme Manson and John Fawcett about the process of developing Tony.The things this show tackles just wouldn't structurally be in any other show's vocabulary. Take the scene where Tony, having seen the painting of Sarah, starts putting the moves on Felix to illicit a response. And Felix is put in the position of kissing a man who looks exactly like his sister. And that in turns raises all sorts of weird questions for him.Ethan's proving to be a really interesting character. Everybody seems to think that they're controlling him, but based on his whisper to Kira and the contents of his copy of The Island of Dr. Moreau -- another example of the show's literacy of its own genre -- that's clearly not entirely the case.And then Rachel learns from him that the clone's infertility was a design feature, not a flaw of the process. Ethan describes Sarah as a failure, but I think what it reinforces for Rachel is that the clones are products while Sarah and Helena, having been altered by chance and random mutation, are one step further removed from the process and therefore are one step closer to natural people. She has always viewed herself as above the other clones, and looked down at Sarah perhaps most of all. And then she learns Sarah is special in a way that she isn't, because nature intervened. The intercutting between Rachel's calm conversation with Ethan and her destructive rage later one was a great example of how editing can be used to reveal to the audience what's going on internally with the characters.Poor Cosima.And there's something absolutely delicious about Alison and Donnie reconnecting over their respective criminally negligent homicide.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

In an episode that had a lot of interesting twists and turns, good plotting and good acting, I enjoyed the Alison and Donnie subplot the most. I don't think I've ever said that before about an Alison subplot.

The revelation that the clones were meant to be infertile didn't surprise me, but I did have a nice nodding moment of "Thought so!". A few weeks ago, was it a Sarah and Duncan scene, when he said that the purpose of the experiment was that they wanted to make "little girls", and then the whole thing seemed perfectly clear to me, and perfectly dastardly, of course. What if the experiment was to make the perfect little girl, that could be sold to couples who were infertile or for whatever reason didn't want to have a biologically natural child? Or single women looking to be mothers? In theory, they could offer the option of giving it to you already born, or allowing the woman to carry to embryo to term, depending on the "consumer experience" one was seeking. And of course you'd want them sterile, because if they could just get out into the wild and reproduce at will, that devalues the whole enterprise. Truly twisted, if you start thinking down that line. So when it was revealed that the clones were infertile on purpose, I thought of all of those things again.

It's like that Jeff Goldblum line in Jurassic Park -- they were so concerned with whether or not they could do a thing, that they didn't stop to think whether or not they should do it.