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Alison Episode Reveals Need for 'Orphan Black' Shakeup

By Craig Wack | TV | May 31, 2015 |

By Craig Wack | TV | May 31, 2015 |


For fans of the hijinks of Alison Hendrix and Mr. Chubbs, the seventh episode of Orphan Black’s third season was a celebration of all things uptight and suburban. For the rest of the world, it felt like a retread of last year’s seventh episode which was the Alison-centric screwball comedy set in the rehab facility.

At least the rehab episode had some stakes associated with it thanks to Vic and the cops. Despite all the misdirections and moving parts this time around, was there any doubt that things wouldn’t break Alison’s way with her speech or that she wouldn’t get the store?

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It’s not like there weren’t good scenes in the episode. The Helena-Mrs. S showdown was tense. I felt sympathy for Sarah for the first time in a long time after she finally caved to the emotional weight of the whole clone drama. Scott teaching Rachel how to play Cones of Dunshire was worth a chuckle.

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As great as it was to see Cosima do something other than search the internet for Sarah, even her subplot felt a trip down well-worn path of her sickness getting in the way of true love. (Total side note: Evelyne Brochu is a tall drink of water). In the end, this episode felt like a crossover episode for the two shows that Alison and Cosima have inhabited this year.

I caught myself reaching to fast-forward through the parts with Donnie in the drug dealer’s office, which isn’t a good sign. The last time I came close to that was zipping through what felt like hours of Dana subplot on Homeland.

There’s a fine line between being in a groove and being in a rut. Orphan Black is not in the groove.

Something big needs to happen to shake up the status quo. While I hate to sound like a bloodthirsty Jemma Simmons, one of the core four clones has to die.

And it really doesn’t matter which one. Sarah could follow in Beth’s footsteps, Alison could get caught up in a drive-by, Cosima could have a large piece of lab equipment fall on her or Helena could choke on a powdered donut.

Something needs to be done to unite the sisterhood and bring some real danger back to the clones’ lives. Otherwise, Saturday nights in early spring might be better spent playing board games about medieval farming.

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Craig Wack calls Lamplighter when the Cones of Dunshire game gets rolling. Please follow his Twitter.