Orphan Black - Season 3 Discussion

[auntiehill]

^I worried about that, too, but I'm sure that was purposeful misdirection by the writer(s). Then to have it turn out to be the drug-dealer's business, instead, was a very clever twist. To go from, "Gee, I don't want that woman to cause my kids to change school districts," to "I'm going to be the neighborhood drug dealer so I can blackmail people into voting for me," is just so hilariously bizarre but SO very Alison.

I loved how Donnie described Alison--bringing his fingers far apart and then close together: "*sshooom!* "That IS her---super-hyper-focused on her goal, however big or small, well past the point of reason, oblivious to anything else. That why seeing the impact of "clone club" on her is so interesting to me. She appears the most normal, on the outside, but when she starts losing control of her little world, she is just as wackadoo and capable of violence as Helena.

 

[Christopher]

^Thanks for explaining Donnie's gesture -- I couldn't figure out what he meant by it, but your interpretation makes perfect sense.

 

[Aldo]

Frank Underwood's a pretty despicable person, but we still root for him as the star of 'House of Cards.'

Similarly, I find no problem rooting for Alison despite her behavior. It's actually kind of refreshing to have a character who is essentially a good guy but has very low moral values when you look at it. I get so tired of Network shows that try to give us someone who walks the line between good and bad but is too afraid to have them doing anything really irredeemable.

 

[Christopher]

Frank Underwood's a pretty despicable person, but we still root for him as the star of 'House of Cards.'

I don't watch that show. I know nothing about it beyond the fact that it exists, and that someone I've heard of stars in it... I want to say Kevin Spacey? I also never watched Breaking Bad or The Sopranos. I know there are people who like rooting for fictional bad guys, I don't begrudge them that, but I generally prefer to root for good guys. I can root for fictional thieves or con artists, say, but when it gets into drug dealing and murder, that's beyond my comfort zone.

 

[Aldo]

While I don't necessarily share your point of view, I definitely respect it.

I think it shows great moral character that you have issues with that, and that's why I gotta give you props for that

 

[The Borgified Corpse]

And yes, I really love what they're doing with Alison. She puts on the facet of a suburban house wife/soccer mom, and in many ways she is. But she's also probably the worst character on the show, moral wise, and I love it!

I guess I'm old-fashioned -- I prefer my protagonists to stay on the pro- side. It's one thing to sympathize with Helena; she's a killer, sure, but she's that way because she was tortured and brainwashed and put through hell by the Proletheans. Alison doesn't really have an excuse. I find her the least sympathetic sister. Her stuff can be funny, but in a disquieting way.

I can't really disagree with your assessment of Alison. I just find her too funny to resist in spite of all that.

And I had fun trying to figure out who was worse, her or Donnie. Granted, Donnie more directly caused Dr. Leekie's death. But it was still an accident so would probably just be Manslaughter. (Although, in the circumstances, try convincing a jury of that.) Meanwhile, while the actual cause of Aynsley's death was accidental, Alison had the opportunity to take intervening action to save her life and failed to do so. That makes it Murder 2-Depraved Indifference.

For whatever reason I thought after the end of Season 2 that Rachel would be out of the picture, but I've been proven wrong (just like I thought Helena was really dead at the end of Season 1...you know, this show is proving me wrong a lot now).

Yeah. I was absolutely flabbergasted when Helena was still alive in Season 2.

What strikes me is how I only had to look at "Sarah" in the cell for two seconds, before she even spoke, and I realized "That's Alison!" It must be something to do with the makeup as well as Maslany's expressions.

I had that exact same reaction in Season 2 when Sarah impersonated Cosima at that Dyad party. Even before she said anything, I immediately realized that it was Sarah.

 

[Christopher]

What strikes me is how I only had to look at "Sarah" in the cell for two seconds, before she even spoke, and I realized "That's Alison!" It must be something to do with the makeup as well as Maslany's expressions.

I had that exact same reaction in Season 2 when Sarah impersonated Cosima at that Dyad party. Even before she said anything, I immediately realized that it was Sarah.

Well, in that case, for me it was mainly about the hair -- it was clearly a hasty approximation of Cosima's braids rather than the real thing, so that made it easy to tell the difference.

Looking at photos of Alison-as-Sarah in last week's episode, I'm realizing it has a lot to do with embouchure -- the way Maslany holds her mouth in the various characterizations. I think Alison's mouth tends to be tenser, wider, straighter, her lips pressed together more. I think her eyes are wider too, though that could be the makeup. Just in general, she looks more tense, uptight, and manic than the others, although it's a rigidly controlled mania.

 

[Aldo]

Speaking of Tat as Alison. It's funny, but during the break during the recent episode they did a quick look behind the scenes as they do during the commercials, and this time they focused on Alison. They showed Tatania talking about her and immediately my mind wants to tell me that's an error, because she plays Sarah.

I feel that way about all the clones actually. Even though Sarah is the least like Tat in real life (least of which because of the accent), when I see her in other things I immediately think: "That's the girl that plays Sarah!" Not you know, "That's the girl that
plays (any other clone)!"

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

What strikes me is how I only had to look at "Sarah" in the cell for two seconds, before she even spoke, and I realized "That's Alison!" It must be something to do with the makeup as well as Maslany's expressions.

I had that exact same reaction in Season 2 when Sarah impersonated Cosima at that Dyad party. Even before she said anything, I immediately realized that it was Sarah.

Well, in that case, for me it was mainly about the hair -- it was clearly a hasty approximation of Cosima's braids rather than the real thing, so that made it easy to tell the difference.

Looking at photos of Alison-as-Sarah in last week's episode, I'm realizing it has a lot to do with embouchure -- the way Maslany holds her mouth in the various characterizations. I think Alison's mouth tends to be tenser, wider, straighter, her lips pressed together more. I think her eyes are wider too, though that could be the makeup. Just in general, she looks more tense, uptight, and manic than the others, although it's a rigidly controlled mania.

A really good point about the facial expressions. The picture that was circulating before the premiere, with "Rachel", I knew that wasn't Rachel. Not because she had 2 eyes, but they way she was standing, the face, everything about it screamed Sarah.

Alison-as-Sarah, this time, was clearly thrown together really quickly. Allison did a better job in S1 with Kira, even though Kira wasn't fooled for a second (I still want to know what's up with that).

 

[Christopher]

Speaking of Tat as Alison. It's funny, but during the break during the recent episode they did a quick look behind the scenes as they do during the commercials, and this time they focused on Alison. They showed Tatania talking about her and immediately my mind wants to tell me that's an error, because she plays Sarah.

I feel that way about all the clones actually. Even though Sarah is the least like Tat in real life (least of which because of the accent), when I see her in other things I immediately think: "That's the girl that plays Sarah!" Not you know, "That's the girl that
plays (any other clone)!"

I feel the exact same way every single time they show Maslany talking about any clone other than Sarah. I always have to remind myself. And it's always hardest to remember with Alison.

 

[Forbin]

Dear Emmy committee: you're idiots!

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

^ Tell us something we don't know.

 

[Morpheus 02]

Dear Emmy committee: you're idiots!

Can she qualify for THIS year's Emmy's? What do we need to do to make the buzz happen?

 

[tomalak301]

Dear Emmy committee: you're idiots!

Can she qualify for THIS year's Emmy's? What do we need to do to make the buzz happen?

Maybe she might be nominated playing Pupok.

 

[bigdaddy]

Dear Emmy committee: you're idiots!

Can she qualify for THIS year's Emmy's? What do we need to do to make the buzz happen?

Ignore the useless award shows that are voted on by assholes who have never seen the shows.

 

[TEACAKE'S PLEATHER DOME]

Ep 2 was excellent, I am looking fwd to seeing Alison in her new entrepreneurial role. I think there will be many excellent moments.

Donny is almost too stupid but he's also a big hunky buffer for Alison to hide behind in a shoot out so I am cool with that.

 

[Aldo]

It would be funny if Danny died by getting accidentally shot just like he accidentally shot Leekie.

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

It would be funny if Danny died by getting accidentally shot just like he accidentally shot Leekie.

Dark irony, on this show? C'mon!!!

 

[TEACAKE'S PLEATHER DOME]

I predict death by pinking shears. In the wrapping room, with the lights off.

WHO could have done it?!

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

I predict death by pinking shears. In the wrapping room, with the lights off.

WHO could have done it?!

That could just be an accident. Donnie & Alison are into really kinky sex now.