ORPHAN BLACK season 2 starts with Sarah
Manning (Tatiana
Maslany) hunting for her missing daughter, but her tactics leads to friction
between her and the Dyade Corporation who want to control and recreate the
clones (with Sarah being one of the few clones who can have children). Sarah
is one of many clones including
homemaker Allison, brilliant lesbian scientist Cosima, the deadly and
unbalanced Helena (who is actually Sarah’s twin), and the cold Rachel (who
works for Dyade). On the other end of
things is a religious cult who believe the clones are against God, but their
sect decides to kidnap Helena because they want to spread the unique genetic
diversity that she has (since she can also give birth to children). Meanwhile,
Cosima learns her clock is
ticking down as she is one of the latest clones to suffer from a genetic defect
(that has already claimed the lives of two other clones) and she works against
time to find a cure (that is in the most unexpected of places). Sarah learns
more about her past while
reconnecting with her daughter’s father as her tactics (and search for the
past) puts many of the clones and those Sarah loves in danger.
Season 2 is an amazing season as it provides
plenty of
twists and moments in what I say is one of the best cult TV shows currently
being made (with a third season to air on BBC
America in spring of 2015). Tatiana
Maslany effortlessly manages to play several different unique clones in what
has become something that the Emmys keep snubbing (as they are more concerned
by nominating and awarding the bets hyped shows).
SPECIAL FEATURES:
DISC 1-
THE CLONVERSATION Special- hosted by Wil Wheaton
and
featuring the creators and many of the cast members of ORPHAN BLACK in addition
to celebrity fans Orlando Bloom and Will Patton
DISC 2-
CLONE CLUB INSIDERS: SARAH, COSIMA, ALISON, GRAEME
&
JOHN, THE REAL COSIMA, and TAIANA’S DOUBLE
(Katherine Alexandre) were originally made for BBC
America and these quick featurettes are worth checking out as much as the
longer behind-the-scenes featurettes
BEHIND THE SCENES featurettes (38 minutes):
SCRIPT TO SCREEN- learn how they transform an
episode from
script to screen
HAIR & MAKEUP- hear from the people who do
the hair and
makeup for Tatiana Maslany as she portrays the different clones (and the different
looks they come with)
THE 2-CLONE SMACKDOWN- go behind-the-scenes as
they create
the scene between two clones (Sarah and Rachel) using Taitana Maslany, her
double, and special effects to get a seamless scene for one of the episodes
THE 4-CLONE DANCE PARTY- behind-the-scenes on
how they
created the four clone dance party which required planning and two days to film
in a scene that mostly works (but is flawed only from special effects that
could have used more work to make it totally seamless as a few moments you can
tell they’re using special effects).
Three deleted scenes (with Allison and her husband
Donnie) from
the season finale with introduction and afterward by the show’s creators as
they explain how the scenes were cut for pacing in what was already a jam
packed finale.
FINAL ANALYSIS: The second season of ORPHAN BLACK
makes me
love the show as much as the first season I quickly fell in love with after I
watched the first episode. I can’t wait
to see what twists they bring for season 3 and what new clones Tatiana might
play (like the trans-clone of season 2).
ORPHAN BLACK deserves to be watched as it delivers great emotional story
with several star performances by one
actress as several characters.
This review is ©7-25-2014
David Blackwell and cannot be reprinted without permission. Send all
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