As much as I enjoy Orphan Black, I was rapidly losing track of all the various threads going on in the show sometime during season 2. But while season 3 was still a bit of a mess, to be sure, it felt like movement in the right direction, as we got a few answers, and the finale ended up simplifying things a lot, leaving us with a single "villain" to face, rather than the slew of competing factions we had during season 2. And while I still spent chunks of this season a bit frustrated at times, it felt more character-driven than season 2 often did, as the show runners seemed to remember that ultimately, what makes us watch Orphan Black isn't the story, but the "sisters" at the core of it all. Indeed, all of my favorite moments of this season are character beats, whether it's Cosima struggling with trust issues, Helena jamming out to pop songs in a garage, or - best of all - Alison's entire storyline this season, which somehow managed to contain a school board election, drug dealing, ex-boyfriends, and more, all of which was constantly hilarious and wonderfully anarchic. Orphan Black definitely feels like it's gotten more complicated than it needs to be, and I hope the finale is indicative of the show working to simplify itself. But even with that issue, I can't deny that I still really enjoy it all, if only for the sisters (and, of course, Maslany's astonishing performance, which is so absurdly good that it's shamefully easy to take for granted at this point). And the fact that this season seems to remember that we care more about these people than we do any conspiracy shows me that it's a series I'll continue to stick with as it goes forward.
- Josh Mauthe
- Josh Mauthe
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