maomao
普費斯
Those were my favourite books ever when I was 10 and the TV series upset me so much. They fucked it all up.
Orphan Black is anyone else watching this?
- Thread starter Sprocket.
- Start date
Those were my favourite books ever when I was 10 and the TV series upset me so much. They fucked it all up.
maya
timewasting fool (in every universe)
Hm that's what I initially thought too (conditioning: looks to mainstream/silly in places = an instant no without giving things a chance), but it does get a lot better if you persevere once you've got past the first four or five episodes or even towards the end of season one where they've cranked up the intrigues a notch, then more and more and keep introducing new twists and layers to the story and the characters...
The pace gets a lot quicker too, and they just keep it coming, more and more clones and complications- at one point I just went ah this is completely mad, I love it haha- the clones just keep coming (Perhaps they needed the first few episodes to be a bit more simplistic than the rest to introduce the characters and start the slow unravelling kind of thing of the mystery at the core of it all, it's a lot to take in and we follow the main character's quest for truth whodunnit style, but after that they just keep speeding it up...)
Or anyway it's probably a bit of an acquired taste but what isn't... I'll forgive them the occasional mini meh 'cos it's a big(-ish) mainstream production and what else can you expect, that's what you get- but once they went completely over the top with the story twists I really liked it. Didn't think I'd say that but there you go.
I like how all the clones have their own distinct personality and manage to come across as completely different people, even voices, mannerisms and body language etc. Well done- I know she's playing against herself, but it did seem like different people onscreen, even when they're in the same room. (Alison's facade of restrained calm over complete OCD neurosis hell is spot on, but prone to unpredictable outbursts so I fear that might get her in a lot more trouble...) Paul is generic and a wooden yawn but I think that may not just be down to the standard US tv slick identikit actor but also on purpose to suggest unreliability, creepiness somehow (he's probably lying about being on their side and still working for the bad guys- who's doublecrossing whom?)
The Neolutionists are obviously a dig at Transhumanism/H+ - and their foreman's first name is Aldous, figures... And their logo is an open eye with a reset button as the pupil, haha.
(What's with his accent, is it canadian? it makes my skin crawl. no offense, canada- it's the actor and the character, tbf.) The leader of the biblethumping cult is probably shaping up to be mr. Aldous' main rival it seems- who is the third nexus point in all this...EDIT: oh, and it all went a bit Blade Runner there all of a sudden with Cosima's coughing sickness and the whole "race against time" thing... (plus the way Helena cradled Thomas' head in her hands before trying to finish him off)
I think Siobhan knows a lot more than she's letting on, and we'll soon find out what side she's really on (despite the fact that she did protect them, she could still be working for the corporation in some way, willingly or not but she's in deep... either the birth mother lied when she warned Sarah against Siobhan, or the other way around)
I want to know more now, more of this kind of thing please...
Yeah that was a shame... In their defence though I do think a third season was planned, but they never got the funding to make it and it all just fell apart... I guess at a stretch one could still see it as an "open ending" in a way, in the sense that even though they came back to the safe valley only to find it torn apart by the tripods, the gang of kids still made it back there and they *could* potentially start again from scratch with their own little group either there or elsewhere, and- crucially- they still had one of their own back on the "inside" in the domed city, so that alone could give them some sort of hope...
Still, it all falls flat with the last line though, "oh no! so it was all for nothing?"*b'doom tish*- THE END.
Only "why the fuck did we bother with all this if you won't give us an ending with a sense of closure, you bastards?" No catharsis for us! So mean. Bloody cheapskates... 
Was it John Cristopher who wrote the Guardians too, must re-read that too to see if it still holds up...
(What a shame the 'capping' symbol in the series belonged to the bad guys, the way it appears in the opening sequence with the shiny circuit board-like patterns inside a triangle would make for an awesome tattoo... or maybe everything looks better with a broody synth score underneath)
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maya
timewasting fool (in every universe)
Nice cliffhanger at the end of season 2...
Haha, I knew it-
I think the actress who plays her does it very well... that down to earth, fiercely protective mother kind of thing. Understated, never showing off- just very believable and easy to relate to. (She's irish isn't she? I've seen her before, but can't place it...)
Okay, waiting for season three now... april?! (Raarghh! Long time to wait-) Hoping they crank up the intrigues and the mysteries and even more clone interaction and... Looking forward to seeing it
Ex-homicidal lunatic Helena and the military... what could possibly go wrong?!? 
Haha, I knew it-
- Boy clones! Castor and Pollux... loads of greek mythological references about, wonder if they're supposed to mean anything/give clues to some of the mysteries/things to come, or whether it's just more superficial/abstractly reflecting the themes of the secret project(s) and not meant as some sort of major clue...
I like the Siobhan/mrs.S. character a lot, I suspect more of her backstory/motives will be revealed in the episodes to come... Although she's quite clearly a great guardian and will do everything to protect Kira (and by extension, probably Sarah too, because Kira needs her mum), it's obvious she's got something to do with all that dodgy stuff, that she's involved (either in the past or still) in some of these nefarious plots somehow... my guess is that
she'll turn out to have been involved in either project Leda or one of the earlier cloning/eugenics organisations in the past, either indirectly as a monitor (posing as a foster mother), or having been one of the founders/scientists in charge of the projects herself, but that somewhere along the line she got moral doubts and decided to rebel/break free and turn against those projects, and escaping with the kids (either just Sarah or both Sarah and Helena as twins) to a safe hiding place 'underground' with the help of her dissident network who helped them disappear and relocate to the US...
She may even have been one of the original surrogate mothers who carried forth some of the clone babies, or even the original birth mother of Helena and Sarah somehow, but through some sort of complex twist losing the right to her kids to the corporations because some of the genetic material used to conceive the babies weren't hers and belonged to the project/organisations, triggering her decision to run away and go into hiding not to lose custody or the kids to the corporation... some sort of variation upon this kind of theme, i'm not sure which it'll be, but i'm excited to see how they've solved it. Either way, it could be that even though she managed to escape, she some way along the line got forced into cooperating with the projects somehow because they tracked her down and gave an ultimatum about being a monitor or lose the children... But i'm just speculating now. Anyway, it's clear that she'll do almost anything to protect them, but whether this is partly out of guilt too about past sins and not just love, remains to be seen... And we don't know yet whether she'll end up betraying someone either.
magneze , I think the scene where the african surrogate mother warns them about Siobhan could be interpreted two ways: Either the surrogate mother is lying, and Siobhan is sound and the s.mother still involved with the institute/those creepy projects in some way and want to cast doubt in their minds about not trusting Siobhan, so that they'll end up surrendering to the institute [the Dyad organisation] eventually because they don't know where to turn- simple 'divide and rule' scheming tacticts... OR, she could be right and Siobhan could be dodgy somehow- still, this can also be played out differently: 1) She could've been implicit to the project in the past, but later changed her ways and now be good and protecting them, making the characterisation no longer valid (Dyad only knowing about her past involvement, not about her current mindset). 2) She could be still working for the Dyad/projects in some way, but either voluntarily (making her untrustworthy by default, as the whole deception spiel of being the trustworthy foster mother turns out to be an illusion 3) she could still work for the bad guys, but not voluntarily, pressured into working for them somehow (like Paul, who at least if we should beliueve what he says, have no other choice than to work for them as his past misconduct in the military would get him in big trouble if it came to light... Seeing as Siobhan seems to have been heavily involved with political groups in the past, it could be that they've 'got something' on her and that her only choice is to exchange information/snitch for them somehow, yet she could still try to protect Sarah and Kira in the middle of all this, making her good by default as in a kind/good person, but a good person who also does bad things to survive (because not cooperating would mean that Sarah, Kira and perhaps also Felix would be in danger...)
She may even have been one of the original surrogate mothers who carried forth some of the clone babies, or even the original birth mother of Helena and Sarah somehow, but through some sort of complex twist losing the right to her kids to the corporations because some of the genetic material used to conceive the babies weren't hers and belonged to the project/organisations, triggering her decision to run away and go into hiding not to lose custody or the kids to the corporation... some sort of variation upon this kind of theme, i'm not sure which it'll be, but i'm excited to see how they've solved it. Either way, it could be that even though she managed to escape, she some way along the line got forced into cooperating with the projects somehow because they tracked her down and gave an ultimatum about being a monitor or lose the children... But i'm just speculating now. Anyway, it's clear that she'll do almost anything to protect them, but whether this is partly out of guilt too about past sins and not just love, remains to be seen... And we don't know yet whether she'll end up betraying someone either.
magneze , I think the scene where the african surrogate mother warns them about Siobhan could be interpreted two ways: Either the surrogate mother is lying, and Siobhan is sound and the s.mother still involved with the institute/those creepy projects in some way and want to cast doubt in their minds about not trusting Siobhan, so that they'll end up surrendering to the institute [the Dyad organisation] eventually because they don't know where to turn- simple 'divide and rule' scheming tacticts... OR, she could be right and Siobhan could be dodgy somehow- still, this can also be played out differently: 1) She could've been implicit to the project in the past, but later changed her ways and now be good and protecting them, making the characterisation no longer valid (Dyad only knowing about her past involvement, not about her current mindset). 2) She could be still working for the Dyad/projects in some way, but either voluntarily (making her untrustworthy by default, as the whole deception spiel of being the trustworthy foster mother turns out to be an illusion 3) she could still work for the bad guys, but not voluntarily, pressured into working for them somehow (like Paul, who at least if we should beliueve what he says, have no other choice than to work for them as his past misconduct in the military would get him in big trouble if it came to light... Seeing as Siobhan seems to have been heavily involved with political groups in the past, it could be that they've 'got something' on her and that her only choice is to exchange information/snitch for them somehow, yet she could still try to protect Sarah and Kira in the middle of all this, making her good by default as in a kind/good person, but a good person who also does bad things to survive (because not cooperating would mean that Sarah, Kira and perhaps also Felix would be in danger...)
I think the actress who plays her does it very well... that down to earth, fiercely protective mother kind of thing. Understated, never showing off- just very believable and easy to relate to. (She's irish isn't she? I've seen her before, but can't place it...)
Ah, mystery solved- he's also sometimes working as a rentboy/male prostitute, it wasn't immediately clear from the first episode, but you understand it later on... Still thinks his pad looks a bit too expensive/fancy to be for real though, but just a tiny detail really.the main character's foster brother is apparently an ex-orphan/foster kid with no fixed income except some drug dealing on the side, yet still lives in a massive 1990s era/Friends-style loft with loads of fancy accessories/furniture and lamps and stuff (albeit with 'cool' graffitied surfaces everywhere), and seems to do nothing except paint and party all day- wtf? Pre-2008 I wouldn't have had that much of a problem with it as that's what it was always like on TV, but now it's a bit lol to think anyone would find that realistic!
Okay, waiting for season three now... april?! (Raarghh! Long time to wait-) Hoping they crank up the intrigues and the mysteries and even more clone interaction and... Looking forward to seeing it
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maya
timewasting fool (in every universe)
She isI've watched it all now and my love for Helena has just grown. She's ace!
I love the accent, I wonder whether it's just a standard "eastern european"/russian-ish accent or whether it's a specifically ukrainian one (seeing as Maslany seems to have some ukrainian heritage).Anyway, this cracked me up:
Helena: (upon meeting Cosima, fondling her rasta hair) "I like yourr hairs"
- - -
Sarah: (trying to stop Helena from pouncing on Felix when they first meet) Stop Helena! He's one of us, okay?
Helena: (puzzled) ... He too seestra?
*calms down*
maya
timewasting fool (in every universe)
... bump! Seestra's back-
First impressions, SE3: Between the end of season two and the first episode of season three I'd forgotten all about the names of the different scheming organisations etc.(wtf is 'Topside'?), and the pace is a bit too fast but... Helena!
And bonus for the Voight-Kampf(ish) test (plus more Blade Runner nods: Kira [Sarah's kid] makes her an origami animal- a swan? a unicorn? i couldn't make out what it was- before
And... didn't that female scientist in the military project Helena's in look suspiciously similar to an aged mrs.S? Could it be that... Ooh. That opens up some possibilities.
By the way, Felix needs to do something about his too whitebleached teeth, it's giving me a headache. His acent is better than Sarah's though (although the accents in general are pretty weird...)
OK, I've got the mythological references (Leda- the swan, Castor and Pollux, and so on) to a certain extent, but- the male clone's tattoo of a two-headed horse? What does that signify, then... I'm confused. (Did this come up in earlier seasons? I don't remember if it did)
Allison needs to get back to her uptight self... she's not tense enough (and done the right OCD-controlfreak way, she was always my favourite) Can see a roadmovie/Weeds-ish supblot spinoff with her and Donnie here...
I didn't quite get whether Delphine's behaviour is genuinely altruistic re: taking over Rachel's role, or whether she's double(triple?)crossing and more in charge than she lets on... her crying after cutting off Cosima (when she was alone in the hallway) would suggest she's not faking it, but- we'll see.
I love how quintessentially Canadian this show is... instead of going overboard with the oompah-ompah testosterone action pace like a US show would, it's a bit more subtle and clean and... orderly. With strange twists.
Right now it feels like there's loads of plots-upon-plots with no clear direction, I don't know if that's because the writers made it up as they went along or because they had too much going on at the same time and too little time to expand so that we (OK, I-) get it... but it's a minor annoyance that the first season episode went a bit too fast and the recap in the beginning felt too brief, I needed them to slow down a bit to remember who the **** they were talking about a lot of the time (forgotten names, references).
But we'll see... I'm not sure what I think, need to digest it a bit more (yeah, I'm slow...)
Am I the only one still watching? Come on urbans...
Seestra's back-First impressions, SE3: Between the end of season two and the first episode of season three I'd forgotten all about the names of the different scheming organisations etc.(wtf is 'Topside'?), and the pace is a bit too fast but... Helena!
And bonus for the Voight-Kampf(ish) test (plus more Blade Runner nods: Kira [Sarah's kid] makes her an origami animal- a swan? a unicorn? i couldn't make out what it was- before
she leaves with her dad to Iceland(?) because Sarah will make her a target and they need to keep her safe
And... didn't that female scientist in the military project Helena's in look suspiciously similar to an aged mrs.S? Could it be that... Ooh. That opens up some possibilities.
By the way, Felix needs to do something about his too whitebleached teeth, it's giving me a headache. His acent is better than Sarah's though (although the accents in general are pretty weird...)
OK, I've got the mythological references (Leda- the swan, Castor and Pollux, and so on) to a certain extent, but- the male clone's tattoo of a two-headed horse? What does that signify, then... I'm confused. (Did this come up in earlier seasons? I don't remember if it did)
Allison needs to get back to her uptight self... she's not tense enough (and done the right OCD-controlfreak way, she was always my favourite) Can see a roadmovie/Weeds-ish supblot spinoff with her and Donnie here...
'vote for me, all successful soccer mom's, or i'll reveal your little habit!'
I didn't quite get whether Delphine's behaviour is genuinely altruistic re: taking over Rachel's role, or whether she's double(triple?)crossing and more in charge than she lets on... her crying after cutting off Cosima (when she was alone in the hallway) would suggest she's not faking it, but- we'll see.
I love how quintessentially Canadian this show is... instead of going overboard with the oompah-ompah testosterone action pace like a US show would, it's a bit more subtle and clean and... orderly. With strange twists.
Right now it feels like there's loads of plots-upon-plots with no clear direction, I don't know if that's because the writers made it up as they went along or because they had too much going on at the same time and too little time to expand so that we (OK, I-) get it... but it's a minor annoyance that the first season episode went a bit too fast and the recap in the beginning felt too brief, I needed them to slow down a bit to remember who the **** they were talking about a lot of the time (forgotten names, references).
But we'll see... I'm not sure what I think, need to digest it a bit more (yeah, I'm slow...)
Am I the only one still watching? Come on urbans...
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maomao
普費斯
Cheers for the tip off maya . This was easily the best tv show of the last year or so. It's on PB but not eztv yet. Downloading now though in two minds as to whether to watch it tonight or wait till there's a few out. Next few weeks might be a bit hectic so might be good to sit down in the summer and watch the whole series.
Artaxerxes
Look out, he's got a gnu!
Have spent the last week binging on this and about halfway through S3 now.
Cracking show, 2 was a bit wobbly, 1st series was fantastic, 3 is a return to form
Cracking show, 2 was a bit wobbly, 1st series was fantastic, 3 is a return to form
and I'm so glad Paul is finally gone
Vintage Paw
dead stare and computer glare
Not reading the thread because I recently started watching this. I'm half way through season 2 atm.
FUCK ME IT'S EXCELLENT.
It absolutely nails that "WHAAAAAAAAT JUST HAPPENED?" feeling at the end of each episode that inevitably leads to "just one more..." at 3am.
Love it.
I definitely preferred season 1 to 2 so far.
I love the music that plays whenever Helena comes on screen.
FUCK ME IT'S EXCELLENT.
It absolutely nails that "WHAAAAAAAAT JUST HAPPENED?" feeling at the end of each episode that inevitably leads to "just one more..." at 3am.
Love it.
I definitely preferred season 1 to 2 so far.
I love the music that plays whenever Helena comes on screen.
pogofish
Testicle Hairstyle
She is
I've just spent the day working with a group that included two Ukranian engineers - I've no idea how it pans-out in the greater scheme of the Ukraine but both these ladies did have very Helena-like accents!
Vintage Paw
dead stare and computer glare
Doesn't the actor have Ukrainian ancestry? Or did I make that up?
(I haven't read the rest of this thread, if it's come up earlier... avoiding spoilers!!)
(I haven't read the rest of this thread, if it's come up earlier... avoiding spoilers!!)
Vintage Paw
dead stare and computer glare
On accents, she's so talented with her acting on this. Her English accent is a bit ropey at times (but fuck, I had NO idea Jordan Gavaris wasn't English... his accent is pitch perfect), but when she's playing Sarah imitating Beth her Canadian accent is just a little bit off, so it sounds like an English person imitating one. And then her accents for Cosima and Alison are different, both of them flawless. She can speak fluent German, learned it before she could speak English properly according to Wiki. Such a shame she didn't get more airtime as Katja.
I'm only half way through S2, so no idea if more clones come out of the woodwork, but if they do I'm looking forward to their accents.
And god, I LOVE Alison. I really believe she's an entirely different person. She looks older, her face is different. I know it's make-up and mannerisms, but the effect is so striking.
I'm only half way through S2, so no idea if more clones come out of the woodwork, but if they do I'm looking forward to their accents.
And god, I LOVE Alison. I really believe she's an entirely different person. She looks older, her face is different. I know it's make-up and mannerisms, but the effect is so striking.
Vintage Paw
dead stare and computer glare
One person I don't 'believe' is Rachel. I haven't seen enough from her yet, and frankly she's going to be weird because of who she is, but I just see Sarah in a wig for her. Shame. Maybe that will change.
Artaxerxes
Look out, he's got a gnu!
The acting that goes into the 3 main clones (Alison, Sarah, Cosima) is amazing by itself, for that to be sprinkled with the other clones as well is just icing on the cake. It really does seem like 3 different people most of the time.
unrepentant85
Dílis d'ar nOidreacht
I love Helena for her shear bat shit crazyness.
Vintage Paw
dead stare and computer glare
I think I said earlier, the music that comes on when she appears is fantastic. It really heightens that sense of her being disturbed. I have a real soft spot for her.
maomao
普費斯
Thank you for letting me know season 4 had started. I'd forgotten about Orphan Black. I'm off to eztv.
DexterTCN
Troy and Abed in the morning
Binge watched the last 5 episodes of series two. First time I've binged anything more than three.
Best lines of season 2 were both by my favourite Alison.
"Felix, I can't go to prison, I don't have them temperament. If someone touches me in the shower...I'll cut them."
"The freezer!"
Also...nice to see Game of Thrones Dario Naharis as her current beau. My daughter says this is 'dude casting'.
Best lines of season 2 were both by my favourite Alison.
"Felix, I can't go to prison, I don't have them temperament. If someone touches me in the shower...I'll cut them."
"The freezer!"
Also...nice to see Game of Thrones Dario Naharis as her current beau. My daughter says this is 'dude casting'.
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