Orphan Black Season 5 (1 Viewer)

[Josh Steinberg]

I was somewhat satisfied with the finale, and I think it did all that it could given the setups and how Season 5 played out. Of all the seasons of the show, I was most disappointed with this one. The mythology that drove the show seemed to fizzle out in this last season. I was disappointed with some writing decisions that didn't work for me (for instance, I didn't like the supernatural element of Kira's telepathy when this show has otherwise taken pains to be as scientifically accurate as possible). Longer term, the story thread of Helena being pregnant was one I never liked, and I was surprised that the show continued to double down on it rather than finding a way for her not to be pregnant, so while I can certainly acknowledge that the birthing scene was well-written, well-photographed, well-edited, beautifully performed, it didn't do much for me because it was given far too much attention to a storyline that I felt had gone on too long.

I also didn't immediately get that the last half hour was meant to take place months after the action in the first part of the episode. (I only discovered it was six months later due to the interview link Neil posted above.) Because it seemed to me to be taking place very shortly after the action, I was constantly worried that someone was going to show up to do harm to one or more of the clones. In hindsight, it doesn't seem that the last half hour was meant to be suspenseful, but that's how it was for me watching it, and not necessarily in a good way.

I never liked Delphine, either the character, nor the actress who plays her; to me, it's a poor performance each time I see it. So while thematically and on the page it might make sense for Cosima and Delphine to live happily ever after, it was hard for me to look past that Cosima was choosing to be with a character I didn't like, played by an actress I didn't believe.

I find it hard to believe that they could have released all of the information about the existence of successful human cloning to the internet, including the knowledge that there were multiple copies, and that the media and world governments wouldn't be hunting for them. I always imagined that this story would end with either the clones dead or in hiding, not going back to their normal lives. I'm glad that they have their happy ending, but I'm also not so sure how realistic it is that they'd leave it alone. Similarly, in one of the last episodes, Art shoots a guy most definitely in the line of duty, and is concerned that there's no covering that up, except, apparently there is because there was no consequences for him and his actions.

I thought it was interesting that one of the interviews linked above mentioned how the finale "explained" the Orphan Black title for us. I was under the impression that this was explained very close to the start of the show, when Mrs. S spoke about how certain orphans were smuggled "in the black" to keep them safe from uncertain dangers. It seemed clear to me way back when what the title was about. I'm not sure that I like the last minute change to something that was established at the beginning.

All of those complaints must make it sound like I hated the finale, but the truth is far from it. I just felt let down by this fifth season. I think the finale did as good of a job as possible given that it had to resolve what I considered an unsatisfying season. I'm very happy to have watched the show, and overall, I remain a fan, but I feel somewhat let down by this final year.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

I was somewhat satisfied with the finale, and I think it did all that it could given the setups and how Season 5 played out. Of all the seasons of the show, I was most disappointed with this one. The mythology that drove the show seemed to fizzle out in this last season.

One of the things that hurt the final season is that all of the stuff in the first half was supposed to be building up to an epic showdown on the island. They decided fairly late in the game to make the final showdown with Neolution be at Dyad instead. The end result of that is that the island stuff feels like build up without payoff.

I find it hard to believe that they could have released all of the information about the existence of successful human cloning to the internet, including the knowledge that there were multiple copies, and that the media and world governments wouldn't be hunting for them. I always imagined that this story would end with either the clones dead or in hiding, not going back to their normal lives. I'm glad that they have their happy ending, but I'm also not so sure how realistic it is that they'd leave it alone.

One of the things the creators made clear in their post-mortem interviews, but didn't make especially clear in the show itself, is that S's people scrubbed the documents from Rachel that they leaked of any mention of Leda. It was all of Neolution's other freak show endeavors that took them down.

I thought it was interesting that one of the interviews linked above mentioned how the finale "explained" the Orphan Black title for us. I was under the impression that this was explained very close to the start of the show, when Mrs. S spoke about how certain orphans were smuggled "in the black" to keep them safe from uncertain dangers. It seemed clear to me way back when what the title was about. I'm not sure that I like the last minute change to something that was established at the beginning.

When the show was originally developed for Space, the Leda clones were much closer to what the Castor clones became, identical in appearance and largely identical in personality. In that version, they used color coded bracelets to tell each other apart. Sarah wore a black bracelet, hence "Orphan Black". Once BBC America came aboard the series as a production partner, parts of the show were reconceived and that was one of the things that got dropped. But the show had already been announced as "Orphan Black", so the name stuck.

Mrs. S's line about the orphans being smuggled "in the black" was a way of retroactively justifying the title, and then this finale just decided to shine a lamp on the whole thing. I believe Helena's baby twins being color-coded Orange and Purple was a nod to the original origin of the title.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

One of the things that hurt the final season is that all of the stuff in the first half was supposed to be building up to an epic showdown on the island. They decided fairly late in the game to make the final showdown with Neolution be at Dyad instead. The end result of that is that the island stuff feels like build up without payoff.

I agree. I think having the showdown on the island had the potential to be more interesting, but I also think the island wasn't as interesting as it should have been. When Sarah was stuck there at the end of the Season 4 finale, it seemed like it was going to be this unbelievable and freakish place. Instead, it was kinda boring. People walking around with secrets they didn't share. A lame cult. It was hard to imagine why everyone wanted to be there, and I don't think the show did a great job of selling us on this PT Westmoreland character. Simply put, I don't get why a whole group of people would follow him. I don't get why they would simply believe that he was 170 years old. I don't think the show did a good enough job of selling that to me. I think the showrunners must have realized that the island thing wasn't working out well since they shifted the action away from it.

It's possibly my expectations are too high, but when they take over a year to deliver a mere ten episodes, I think those episodes should be worked out better than these were. There's a certain amount of meandering and misfires that I'm willing to accept in a 22-26 episode season, that become harder to put up with when the number is less than half that.

One of the things the creators made clear in their post-mortem interviews, but didn't make especially clear in the show itself, is that S's people scrubbed the documents from Rachel that they leaked of any mention of Leda. It was all of Neolution's other freak show endeavors that took them down.

I think it would have been better to include this in the show, somehow. I think this was important knowledge for the viewer to have, and not having it caused a shift in my expectations that I shouldn't have had. I was expecting the finale to cover, at some point, what the world reaction would be when they were exposed. If they had made it more clear that the clones were being kept secret, I wouldn't have had that expectation.

 

[DaveF]

The final season and finale were satisfying enough. Orphan Black had become a show about the relationships between the sisters. The epilogue in the final half hour was what I needed from the show. I wanted to see that when the chaos and the fight were over, the "sestras" and related family and friends could move on with their lives. Especially Sarah: that she could go from angry, reactionary fighter to stable adult. The closing conversation with Sarah, Allison, Cosima, and Helena was wonderful. There was going to be some sort of multi-clone scene, and rather than trying to out-dance the dance part or out-chaos the dinner party, they took the surprising route of simple having the clones have a conversation. I thought it was brilliant. The show put to effect their incredible talents and skills for multi-clone interactions to the service of a quiet conversation. It brought the show home for me.


I judge Orphan Black on a curve. It was not a perfect show. The first season was fine, but didn't blow me away. It was the second season that was amazing, in terms of story and technicality. Season three was weird and funny and erratic. The fourth meandered and left me confused. And five mostly wrapped it up, gave some fan service, and ended successfully elevating the whole series emotionally.

But I think the brilliance of Orphan Black is performance of Tatiana Maslaney and the technical execution the "clone" vision, along with the overall production. The writing per se has been good, but not the best strength. Not in the way of, say, "The Americans" and other such modern dramas.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

I agree that Tatiana Maslany's performances were far and away the highlight of the show.

What disappointed me towards the end of the series is how the show seemed to shift from Maslany's amazing work being a vital component to a riveting story, to Maslany's work being the story. As the show began, it seemed that the clones were a plot device to allow us to explore things about identity, biology, science, technology, ethics, futurism, etc., but by the last season of the show, all of those things took a back seat to the characters.

I was disappointed that Season 5 spent so much time on an island that ended up basically being a red herring. That we were introduced to a new cult and new characters that ultimately had little to no effect on the plot, and weren't very interesting as characters either. Cosima's cure was figured out in Season 4, even if it wasn't administered until Season 5, so that wasn't even really part of the Season 5 arc.

The show spent the first few seasons building a mystery about where these clones came from and how they were created, and it always held back the "why", building towards what I was assuming would be a stunning reveal. Instead, it was dispensed of basically with a throwaway line that they wanted them as a "baseline" for a perfect human, so that they could then experiment with genetic modifications on top of that. I don't know what's the bigger snoozer, that they went to all of that trouble just for that, or that they didn't even give it serious air time.

I feel like the show started off as a more even balance of science/technology/plot mixed with character, and near the end, switched to a show almost entirely about character.

I loved watching Orphan Black. When the show began, I thought it had a chance to be one of the all-time greats, and I think by the end it turned into something that was merely very good.