So I finally got around to watching Orphan Black. Or at least season 1 of it. And all of you praising it to the skies are right. It is an awesome show. I don’t particularly like any of the characters, but it’s sure fascinating to watch them make the decisions they do.
I’ve also realized again how face blind I really am. I tend to recognize people by hairstyles, so I keep stumbling over the moments where the show gives us yet another Tatiana Maslany, because as far as I can tell, new hairstyle, new actress…. This also explains a lot about why I can never find Matt Damon on the screen. He has an everyman hair cut in a basic color. I kind of knew this already because I have a friend who patiently had to reintroduce herself to me every year because she kept changing her hair style and color!
Anyway, all my nonsense aside, Orphan Black is an excellent excellent example of character actions driving the plot in an organic way, and in complicating the character lives in ways that also feel organic. I may have to rewatch it and take notes.
Beyond that, I was surprised at how domestic this clone thriller conspiracy story really is. I kind of love that. It’s definitely a different style than the genre usually gives us. I’m pretty convinced that if they’d started with male clones, it would have been a lot less oh crap I need a babysitter, and why is my Sig Other such a jerk, and more shoot-outs and high-level conspiracy talk right away. Instead this is definitely a boil-the-frog kind of story. The clones are presented so matter-of-factly that it’s easy to forget that this is SF. I am assuming there are superpowers involved at some point–accelerated healing at least–because I can’t see any other way that Helena survives.
I’m looking forward to season 2.
lane robins 