Your New Obsession: Orphan Black

Black is back! In thick eye liner, or dreads, or yoga pants, or that terrible bleached wig. My personal fave is the wig.

To be honest, this show isn't really back for me, so much as continuing. I just started watching it, I think literally last week, and characteristically mainlined the whole season and a half. Hallelujah for Google Chromecast (and a comcast login).

My main fascination with this show is actually something that I heard discussed on the podcast Pop Culture Happy Hour before I even watched the show: it pretty much ignores genres. It started as a case of stolen identity, basically a heist show. Then it was a cop serial. Then it was sci fi when we discovered the clones. There was a bit of Desperate Housewives with the soccer mom. Then it was the L word. Then it was a Children of Men dystopia/fantasy/drama. Now it's treading into Breaking Bad territory (because Cal is totally a meth cook, and now he has a kid). This week we got a little Jesus Camp and Queer as Folk in the same episode. I was so confused by the extended gay make out scene. Which is weird, because I love gay make out scenes, but I wasn't expecting it. It was a moment of total indulgence and spectacle in an otherwise overtly plot driven show. It was just there because the writers enjoy Felix and wanted to make us watch a gay romance. This was the type of scene we get all the time with heterosexual couples, but I don't know if I've ever seen a scene like this, filmed like this, in a TV show, let alone a show that's main premise is not about homosexual relationships. It was a moment of fun, excess, a little cultural shock (reaching for the lube? that doesn't even happen in Looking), and total bubblegum - right before the cops broke in and Paul held a gun to Felix's head. It's that kind of quick gear shift that makes this show addicting. Because even though it pulls from so many inspirations, it is completely unpredictable precisely because of the pastiche it's created. You never know when there's going to be a joke, or when there's going to be gun shots. It's the kind of show you cannot multi-task, it's completely absorbing, because it forces you to constantly think. You can't settle into the groove of crime show, or soap opera, or comedy. In a content-saturated television landscape, it's fresh and exciting.

And because of this, it has legs. I've been having an argument with my boyfriend about whether to trust this show or not--he's still hurting from LOST, another mystery show that built layer upon layer of plot only to reveal it wasn't built on a solid foundation. He sunk hours of his time into that show, not only watching it, but thinking about it, debating it, analyzing it, trying to figure it out. Say what you will about the finale--I actually don't hate it, and I think it's an interesting point to make with a finale--it was inarguably not a good pay off. The show built itself up as a concrete, solvable mystery. It revealed itself to be an existential piece of philosophy, with no satisfying answers. (Which really is a whole 'nother discussion--LOST as metaphor for life?)

With every new layer of plot, the BF gets more invested, and more anxious about commitment. He think there's no way this show will be able to pull off a pay off. But I think it's secret weapon is it's non-allegiance to genre. It's an anti-genre show. And consequently, it can do whatever it wants. LOST was beholden to a certain style, a certain blueprint or script. Orphan Black is beholden only to itself, to it's characters and it's story, wherever that story needs to go. It's not peeling back layers and dropping hints to keep viewers tuning in and talking about it - it's doing that because that is the true story of it's characters.

Because this show is all about character. It has to be--that's the central hook. Sarah, Cosima, Allison, Helena, Rachel, all played by the same actress. The show necessarily needed to be built on strong, fully-realized characters, or it would have been impossible to tell them apart, and the show would have felt cheap and failed. Instead, each character is completely their own, to the point that I forget it's the same person. The excellent work done by Tatiana Maslany allows me to relax into my suspension of disbelief, rather than just being fascinated by the technical prowess, by how they pulled it off. I no longer think about locked-off shots and layered takes when I watch her interact with herself--because I'm completely invested in these distinct and individual characters. I buy it all. I'm sold. I'm in.

I think this is also the key to why it can pull off any genre so stylishly. It's like this is actually 5 different shows in one, with each clone getting their own storyline that is appropriate to their life and character. Put Clone Club together and they're each better for it; braid the genres of this show together, and it's stronger for it. This show recognizes that conflicting elements are a strength, not a weakness. Conflicting elements provide endless opportunity for story.

So my answer to this argument--should we commit or not?--is jump in. I trust this show. It's revealed itself to be built on a solid foundation. Most shows stumble when the world they've established gets bigger. This show is built on that expansion. We started from the bottom, now we're here. Sarah got off a train, in who knows what city, and knew nothing. From the moment she saw Elizabeth, her world started to get bigger, and it's still getting bigger. The premise of the show is conflict & change, so we can't get comfortable and resent a new element, because we're always hungry and eager for that shift. It's really the ideal way to write a television show, and it's the main reason this show is becoming such a phenomenon.

TL;DR Felix

This city is for broads

Two 20something ladies - I mean broads - trying to survive in the city, with no money and SO MUCH friendship. Sounds like a tired premise right? Sex in the City is almost 20 years old at this point - the premise isn't breaking any ground. But it's in the execution. Broad City is weird. It's weird in a wonderful, high, gross, shit-in-your-shoe, Skype during sex, co-dependent, pussy weed kind of way. It's the first female friendship on TV that has ever been really recognizable to me. That's not an overstatement. I've recognized parts of my life in TV friendships before--talking about boys, going shopping, even, god forgive me, mutual body-hating--but never has a show presented a relationship that felt true and recognizable on a deeper level, on the level of how these people care about each other, not just what they like doing together. TV is good at showing female friends that gossip and eat ice cream and go dancing together. TV has historically not been so good at showing girlfriends (just friends!) who sometimes hit on each other, talk about their bowel movements, and generally have no ladylike boundaries. People, girls, who are so comfortable with each other that they almost live inside each other's skin, who know each other so well that the boundaries between two bodies, two lives, start to blur. Friendships that are cornerstones of an identity. And honestly, the struggle that comes with these deep female bonds to remain an individual, to keep track of what is yours and what is her's and when that matters. These are my friends. These are my people.

Plus, it's really funny. If you didn't watch season 1, get your ass immediately to Hulu. The whole season is gold (especially anything that comes out of Lincoln's mouth), but here are my top recommended episodes. Each one is basically a snap shot, there's not a lot of linear storyline (at least not in this first season), so it's hard to get spoiled. If you want a guaranteed new obsession, start with these guys.

Episode 4: The Lockout
The girls get locked out of both their apartments, and basically become homeless on the streets of NYC for 12 hours. Oh yeah, and Abbi has her first art show that night. This is a great one because it shows their friendship under stress - and these girls under stress are a sight to see. I rarely see girls fight on TV if it's not about a boy. For Abbi and Ilana, boys are so beside the point. And both girls get to shine here - Ilana gets to be crazy, do physical comedy, and (try to) take care of Abbi for once; Abbi gets to be totally neurotic, up her own ass, and fake-grownup to the nth degree. It's one of the funniest, most ridiculous, and most heart-warming episodes. And there's garbage bagels, and Keil's.

Episode 5: Fattest Asses
Abbi is fed up with being nice - so she buys a hot (read: expensive) dress and goes to a swanky party with Ilana. There, Ilana picks up two DJ roommates while Abbi literally knocks down doors in the men's bathroom and does coke with the skinny new-waver she finds inside. Abbi is such a joy here. She's usually so wound up, and it's amazing to see her blossom like a majestic, newborn, coked-up butterfly, with maybe only one antenna or some other awkward defect. She's in her own world, but I'm happy to go there with her because she's just having so much fun. It's easy to see here why Ilana and Abbi became friends in the first place. Often, their odd-couple dynamic doesn't seem to compute - why is Abbi friends with such a whacko, and why is Ilana friends with such a narc? But here they come closer to a happy medium, and you get to see Abbi's own whacko side, which pretty much dwarfs Ilana on her craziest days. Plus, the DJ roommates turn out to be lots of fun once the girls get back to their apartment. (Bonus: I challenge you to point out another show where the only sexual activity indicated during a sex scene, beyond kissing, is cunnilingus)

Episode 10: The Last Supper
This is the season finale, and it's the perfect way to wrap it all up. The girls go out to a fancy restaurant for Abbi's birthday (an outing financed by Abbi's father). They request the table Bey and Jay sat at last week, then decide who's who (Ilana is obviously Jay). Ilana is maybe secretly allergic to shellfish, so naturally they order the pre fixe seafood sampler. And as a cherry on top, the B story is a random fight in the kitchen between their waiter--and Amy Poehler! Poehler is actually the executive producer of the series--she plucked these women from their internet fame (Broad City started as a web series) and brought them to Comedy Central, where they consistently outshine Workaholics. It's a fun little easter egg to see her in this last episode, and she never once actually interacts with the girls. I love that she doesn't try to upstage them or insert herself into their dynamic in any way. She's just there as a little wink, as behind the scenes support, and she kills it (as always).

So there you have it - watch these three, and you'll be in it for the long haul. Comedy Central has already ordered season 2, which films in NYC this summer. So you have a few months to catch up (although it will only take you a few days), and then we have more of these glorious ladies to look forward to!