SummarySarah (Tatiana Maslany), a British orphan now living in America witnesses the suicide of a woman named Beth, who looks exactly like her. Assuming Beth's identity brings Sarah a new apartment, a nice boyfriend, and trouble that includes a deadly conspiracy.
SummarySarah (Tatiana Maslany), a British orphan now living in America witnesses the suicide of a woman named Beth, who looks exactly like her. Assuming Beth's identity brings Sarah a new apartment, a nice boyfriend, and trouble that includes a deadly conspiracy.
Orphan Black is as fun and funny as ever. ... While it’s been bittersweet knowing that this is the end of the road for Sarah & co., its strong, individual vision has been a refreshing presence in this crowded TV landscape.
The episodes feel pointed and agile in their narratives (as early as episode two, there are tearful goodbyes), while also indulging in the right doses of pure fun and fan service.The episodes feel pointed and agile in their narratives (as early as episode two, there are tearful goodbyes), while also indulging in the right doses of pure fun and fan service.
Orphan Black's final trip has a thrilling, passionate premiere. Tatiana Maslany is a force of nature that needs to be protected at all costs. The sestras are saying good bye in the best way possible.
I'm a fan of this show. It does what it does rather brilliantly. I agree that Tatiana Maslany and her portrayal of the sestras is a tour de force. She's a remarkable actress. I love most of the supporting cast. I admire the direction. The show is a lot of fun. However, I want to call attention to the absurdity of grading systems such as this. "Orphan Black" is at 8.8. "Twin Peaks: The Return" is at 7.4. Twin Peaks is groundbreaking television unlike anything we've seen. Sigh.......... who cares, right?
While the science is till confusing as ever, the final season premiere promises an exciting conclusion, complete with laughs and reunions--and Helena still kicking plenty of ass. [2/9 Jun 2017, p.97]
The good news is that it can be better understood even by raw rookies. More to the point, it’s worth the effort, because Tatiana Maslany gives one of the finest performances on contemporary television.
As the story draws toward its end, it reframes its original questions about the power and consequences of creation by adding new wrinkles to ponder that echo current conversations about feminism and a woman’s right to choice. ... The relationships between the various clones and the people around them are what grant Orphan Black a level of humanity other science fiction series lack.
As always, the sestras themselves bail the show out by taking our minds off of these head-scratching narrative decisions and focusing instead on their well-being, almost as fiercely as they look out for each other.
The fifth and final season of BBC America’s Orphan Black finds Emmy winner Tatiana Maslany turning in some of her most subtle, authentic work. ... The mythology of the show, like many of these genre shows (“Lost,” “Alias”), can be more convoluted than the tax code.
This season, for the most part, is what fans want out of a final season from Orphan Black. It pulls its punches at the right times, though they aren't always earned and do a good job of getting the viewer to forget the slower and inessential parts. When things wrap up nicely, sometimes we're convinced everything else before it was necessary, made sense, and cut it some slack. I think that happened here. The conclusion is exactly what most fans want from this show. It's always been much more about community at its core than anything else, so I guess we can just call the ending fitting and satisfying, on top of it being exactly what fans want. I think there's a good deal of fan service going on, though. We can point to the fact that if OB's plot were the central focus it would be unsatisfying and underwhelming. OB at its best wasn't really ever a masterclass in plot, though. It was compelling, especially with its bigger ideas, but often flawed when it came to the smaller, yet important, details. But again, even at its low point plot-wise in Season 3, OB kept its viewers with its almost always more compelling characters and their relationships. I guess OB ended like it lived -- often confusing, imperfect, and complicated to a fault, but one that will be remembered much more by the people who paid attention for often being compelling, satisfying, fun, and beautiful. And for the show as a whole, and especially Tatiana Maslany, being severely underappreciated by general viewers.
If you haven't watched all-time great shows like The Wire, Breaking Bad, or The Americans before, and want to watch OB, watch it first. OB is a good show and you'll appreciate it more this way. You also won't completely forget it once you get to those bigger shows. I'd say at its best, it was better than most of its peers and a show that justified fighting for. For example, (although it came after) I can say this show is much better than Killing Eve and probably even a show of Homecoming's (not the Beyonce one) status too because the sense of community at the core of OB is frankly much more real than anything either of the shows can offer. And kids, get off of the "Riverdale"s and "13 Reasons Why"s of this world if that's what's been stopping you from checking this show out. So OB is better than a lot of shows, and there's a lot to like about it, but it isn't as popular as it should be, which is frustrating. But at the same time, if I had to choose 100 TV shows to show the aliens this wouldn't be one of them. This show shouldn’t be making "100 most important" or "top 100 ever lists" either. But if it was, "100 TV shows to erase your memory of so you can re-experience it", I can say with certainty this would be one of them for me. But ask me in 20 years if I would maintain that position due to the fact that I haven't seen 100 TV shows (or maybe even 50 for that matter). And that'll likely be after I've seen "The Greats" like The Sopranos, The Wire, and Mad Men. And Breaking Bad and BoJack Horseman for probably the sixth and seventh times.
Ranking the seasons:
#1 S2
#2 S1
#3 S5
#4 S4
#5 S3
If this was a story told in 2-3 seasons I would give it a 8-9 out of ten. Unfortunately this show falls into the same trap as Lost, X-files, walking dead and 24. The one where they have a great premise and promise lots of intrigue but really fall apart around the 3rd season. One where they waste a lot of time and create a constant flip flop devoid of character motivations. The difference here is that unlike those shows I mentioned, the acting and characters get better and better as the seasons go on in orphan black. That with the added humor is really the only reason I kept watching.