Orphan Black 1.1: The Grass On This Side Will Eat You Up
BBC America opened Saturday with a 1-2-3 punch. Opening with the heavily awaited return of Doctor Who, followed by a new original series, Orphan Black, and closing with season two of The Nerdist. Doctor Who and The Nerdist are established, excellent shows. It’s the newcomer that raised some eyebrows; did the BBC really feel this was a good enough show to be bracketed by Doctor Who and The Nerdist?
The answer to that is a resounding yes. Not only is Orphan Black excellent, it is a near 180 counterpoint to Doctor Who. Part Dollhouse, part Ringer, part Dark Angel, and yet all its own.
Orphan Black has no innocence; its main character, Sarah, is a quick thinking punk from England who can hustle. There is instead, a large mystery that looms ahead of her as she returns to New York and watches a woman step in front of a subway. Seeing opportunity, Sarah snatches the dead woman’s purse and bolts, hoping to score some extra cash since she’s flat broke and, as we’ll find out, casually toting some cocaine around for her foster-brother Felix to sell. Sarah has come back after a ten-month absence that she told no one about, including the woman she left her daughter with. Sarah may have all the streetwise to stay alive and ahead of the game, but she’s got a terrible sense of responsibility. However, as she assumes Beth’s life, it’s clear that she’s doing it all for Kira, her daughter.
Meet Sarah, as Sarah.
Inside the woman’s purse Sarah finds keys, two cell phones, and a wallet. With her photo in it. Her. Only the other her is Beth Childers. A woman with a nice apartment, nice car, nice boyfriend, a hell of a lot of money in the bank, and a safety deposit box with three birth certificates. Sarah raids Beth’s life ( Grass is greener on the other side, right?), only to be raided in return.
Turns out, Beth’s a cop. A detective who’s on suspension for shooting someone. Sarah doesn’t know that. She doesn’t know anything. But she knows how to con. She’s already colored her hair, taken Beth’s clothes, practiced sounding like her, so she does what any normal soul would do, runs to the precinct’s bathroom and downs the hand soap to make herself sick enough to vomit all over the conference room table. Viewers gagging was the expected effect and I’m certain we did just that. Nerves and puke gets the hearing rescheduled.
Meet Sarah, as Beth, on her first day as someone else.
Beth’s partner, Art, escorted her to the hearing, and then to her, Beth’s, psychologist. Maybe because cops are better at hiding their emotions, but he doesn’t let on that something’s different about Beth. The scene at the psychologist’s is excellent, giving Sarah far more information than she could ask for. She asks for another appointment, clearly meaning to stay, the only question being how long. And while Art hasn’t said or done anything outright, begins following Sarah around. He finds the money in her trunk and knows – or suspects- something Sarah and us clearly don’t.
Beth’s boyfriend is also a bit of a problem, returning from a work trip early, and noticing immediately that something is off about Beth. Sarah plays it up to nerves, but Paul isn’t fooled. Sarah distracts him, seducing him in a way that clearly surprises him; Sarah is bored. It’s a cringe worthy moment as we wait for her to be caught and watch as she does something distasteful – even for her – because she wants this money, her daughter, and out. Sex, lies, and fraud are all a means to an end.
The one person to know even half of what is going on is Felix. Felix is a fantastic foil to Sarah. While he’s a drug trader, he’s also an artist and in all actuality, the more stable of the two. His nature and character brings an easy smile, and he, eyes rolling, puts up with Sarah’s return, the cocaine she gives him, Sarah’s ex, Vic – who is a disgrace unto humanity, and Sarah’s repeated insistence that she’ll take Felix and Kira out of here with Beth’s money. Felix’s humor balances Sarah’s brashness. Sarah gets Felix (Fee) to go and identify Beth’s body as her own. It gets Vic off their backs. It’s when he tells Vic they’ll do a wake for Sarah, that events really take a turn for the crazy.
At the wake, Vic is sobbing, holding onto Sara’s (Beth’s) urn. Sarah watches from a distance with binoculars. Felix answers Sarah’s call and they chat about the people they know that have arrived. It’s when Mrs. S. arrives with Kira that Felix and Sarah are in sync, because they’ll have to know Sarah is dead, too. Kira will think her mother gone forever, not understanding the ruse. Sarah rushes to her (Beth’s car), to be stopped by a red-haired German. It’s another Sarah slash Beth. This look alike is Katja, the German, and she realizes Beth isn’t Beth. But Katja has been working with her, bringing samples for Sarah’s scientist friend. After coughing up some blood, Katja asks Sarah what sounds like “Just one. I am a few, number family two. Who am I?” and before the two can puzzle out any more insanity, Katja is shot in the forehead through the windshield, shooter unseen. Another shot goes through the front window as Sarah peels out and escapes, blood still on her face. Katja phone rings. She doesn’t pick up. Then her pink phone – the one matching Katja ‘s- rings. She answers, “Hello?”
Meet Katja. Say farewell.
And what happens next week looks to be Paul confronting Sarah, Sarah burying Katja, Vic (the Dick) insisting Sarah’s not dead, and Art asking who he believes is Beth if she’s wearing a wire. So much, so quickly, and so well done. While the accent changes are a bit sketchy, Tatiana Masany is effective at being multiple people with different body language. Her one giveaway is going to be Sarah’s lip chewing.
Also, nods to co-creators John Fawcett and Graeme Manson. We’re told from the promos that there are clones and asked “When did I become us?” But the episode doesn’t give too much away, even though we know. The mystery will be finding out the who, the why, and the how. The writing is quick, natural and the directing is phenomenal, no argument. The music is a great punctuation to the entire episode, and I applaud how Sarah didn’t simply become Beth, but is still raw-edged and unsure, still different, not getting all the details right. Granted, it gives easy access to the writer for others to notice, but it makes Sarah that much more believable
What the what?
1. Why did Beth Childers commit suicide?
2. Why did Beth have 75k in savings?
3. Who shot Katja? With her coughing up blood, do they have a shelf life?
4. Did Sarah get Katja’s samples? For the mystery scientist friend?
5. How far is Felix going to go along with Sarah?
6. How many of them are there?
Orphan Black airs on BBC America on Saturdays, 9/8C
