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Episode 1: "Orphan Black"
May. 12th, 2013 11:54 pmSo it went like this:
Me: Alright, BBC's "Orphan Black," you have spit up very intriguing gifsets onto my dash. Let's see what you're about.
*episode 1 ends*
Me: Holy shit, that was intense.
I can say this of the first episode: You sit there watching events unfold with so many questions just wanting answers and you have to decide if you're willing to sit through forty-five minutes to see if you get any answers. The whole time it's like, "But what? Wait. What is going on? What about--? Now what--? Wait, whoa, who--? . . . Didn't see that coming."
Then the last minute rolls around and it's "HOLY SHIT" and you're basically right there with Sarah going "HOLY SHIT, HOLY SHIT, HOLY SHIT" as you think about the 10 million questions to which you don't have answers.
You know how you enter a show not knowing any of the characters and so the first episode has to introduce you to everyone, but everyone is basically who they are? The first episode of "Orphan Black" introduces a lot of characters and paints really big questions marks on them. I'm not kidding about having a hundred questions.
So we meet our protagonist, Sarah, who is, from the moment she wakes up on the train, depicted as not the most upright paragon of virtue. So naturally, when given the chance and an incentive, Sarah is becoming this woman who looks exactly like her, Elizabeth Childs, and she has no idea, like us, who Beth Childs is or why they have an uncanny resemblance to one another. At first that doesn't seem to matter, because Sarah plans to be Beth only for a very short period of time, but pretty soon Sarah is screwed because turns out Beth Childs' life is gonna fuck shit up for her. (As it apparently did for Beth!) So Sarah needs to learn really quickly who Beth Childs is but she's already ten steps behind every face and event that pops up and things are just about to get really bizarre--even more bizarre than the event that led Sarah to appropriating the identity of Beth Childs in the first place. So while, as an audience member, you're wondering who Sarah herself is, you're also wondering who Beth Childs is (and everyone in Beth's life) and you're watching Sarah stumbling through who Beth is and trying to be her, too. It creates this level of tension that is either just enough or too much and you have to decide which it is for you.
I love the dark feel of the show, from the palette and the cinematic angles and tricks to the highly questionable ethical and moral things happening from moment one. I love that Sarah thought she'd pulled off a shady scheme but the circumstances into which she enters in order to pull off said shady scheme turn the tables back on her and are, in turn, blowing her mind and shattering her world(view). I can see how one could marathon the available episodes, as episode 1 ended on a really intense note, but I'mma put off staying up into the wee hours. I'll be looking into the next episode.
Also, wow, Tatiana Maslany being a whole cast unto herself. I wonder what the auditions were like for the leading role. XD
"Orphan Black" is currently airing on BBC on Saturdays. So far 7 episodes have aired. Checking the IMDB entry, I couldn't help but notice that creator John Fawcett just happened to direct those pretty gay episodes of "Lost Girl" Season 1: "Vexed" and "Food for Thought" and even "ArachnoFaebia" (where Lauren saves the day!). I'm not sure if this scares me or intrigues me further. XD (But those gifsets I keep seeing have me intrigued . . .)
Me: Alright, BBC's "Orphan Black," you have spit up very intriguing gifsets onto my dash. Let's see what you're about.
*episode 1 ends*
Me: Holy shit, that was intense.
I can say this of the first episode: You sit there watching events unfold with so many questions just wanting answers and you have to decide if you're willing to sit through forty-five minutes to see if you get any answers. The whole time it's like, "But what? Wait. What is going on? What about--? Now what--? Wait, whoa, who--? . . . Didn't see that coming."
Then the last minute rolls around and it's "HOLY SHIT" and you're basically right there with Sarah going "HOLY SHIT, HOLY SHIT, HOLY SHIT" as you think about the 10 million questions to which you don't have answers.
You know how you enter a show not knowing any of the characters and so the first episode has to introduce you to everyone, but everyone is basically who they are? The first episode of "Orphan Black" introduces a lot of characters and paints really big questions marks on them. I'm not kidding about having a hundred questions.
So we meet our protagonist, Sarah, who is, from the moment she wakes up on the train, depicted as not the most upright paragon of virtue. So naturally, when given the chance and an incentive, Sarah is becoming this woman who looks exactly like her, Elizabeth Childs, and she has no idea, like us, who Beth Childs is or why they have an uncanny resemblance to one another. At first that doesn't seem to matter, because Sarah plans to be Beth only for a very short period of time, but pretty soon Sarah is screwed because turns out Beth Childs' life is gonna fuck shit up for her. (As it apparently did for Beth!) So Sarah needs to learn really quickly who Beth Childs is but she's already ten steps behind every face and event that pops up and things are just about to get really bizarre--even more bizarre than the event that led Sarah to appropriating the identity of Beth Childs in the first place. So while, as an audience member, you're wondering who Sarah herself is, you're also wondering who Beth Childs is (and everyone in Beth's life) and you're watching Sarah stumbling through who Beth is and trying to be her, too. It creates this level of tension that is either just enough or too much and you have to decide which it is for you.
I love the dark feel of the show, from the palette and the cinematic angles and tricks to the highly questionable ethical and moral things happening from moment one. I love that Sarah thought she'd pulled off a shady scheme but the circumstances into which she enters in order to pull off said shady scheme turn the tables back on her and are, in turn, blowing her mind and shattering her world(view). I can see how one could marathon the available episodes, as episode 1 ended on a really intense note, but I'mma put off staying up into the wee hours. I'll be looking into the next episode.
Also, wow, Tatiana Maslany being a whole cast unto herself. I wonder what the auditions were like for the leading role. XD
"Orphan Black" is currently airing on BBC on Saturdays. So far 7 episodes have aired. Checking the IMDB entry, I couldn't help but notice that creator John Fawcett just happened to direct those pretty gay episodes of "Lost Girl" Season 1: "Vexed" and "Food for Thought" and even "ArachnoFaebia" (where Lauren saves the day!). I'm not sure if this scares me or intrigues me further. XD (But those gifsets I keep seeing have me intrigued . . .)
