7 Reasons to watch Orphan Black

With season 3 looming, it's time for me to urge any readers I may have to please, Pease, PLEASE watch this show.  The trailers have just not done justice to this tremendous sci fi show, so, I am going to give you 7 reasons you should give it a go.

7.  It's a fresh eye on Sci Fi

Okay, cloning isn't *new* in the sci fi world, anybody who has seen Moon could tell you that.  That being said, cloning has never been done quite like this before.  This is cloning in our world, in our time.  This isn't some futuristic alternate world, this is 2015 modern day life.  What would you do if in our day and age you found out you were somebody's science experiment?  Now a days in sci fi its all vampires, zombies and distopian futures.  Orphan Black feels new and exciting. 

6.  It starts with a BANG

Don't worry folks, this isn't a spoiler, this is actually in the season 1 trailer.  The whole show starts with a suicide.  Sarah Manning (for all intents and purposes the main clone) witnesses the suicide of a girl who looks exactly like her.  That's how the ball get's rolling.  Yep, less the 15 minutes into the first episode, somebody walks in front of a fucking train.  Choo Choo mother fucker.  According to the shows creators, the whole idea behind OB came from the question "What would you do if you saw somebody who looked exactly like you kill themselves".  It culminated in some awesome TV.

5.  Twists and Turns

I generally pride myself on seeing things coming.  I guessed the damn ending of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind!  But OB keeps me guessin non-stop.  There is now way to predict what's coming next, nearly every episode has me saying something along the lines of "Whaaaaaaaaat" or "No wayyyyyyyy".  

4.  Awesome effects (for TV)

DO YOU SEE THAT!  ALLISON IS POURING COSIMA WINE!  No ladies and gents, do not look for shitty split scenes here, no we get an all out clone DANCE party.  They have done such a brilliant job, that I sometimes forget that it's all one actress.  Okay, sometimes it's not so effective, but I am loving VFX.

3.  FIERCE WOMAN

The woman on this show are INCREDIBLE.  Do they need men to protect them?  NOPE!  This is a cast of strong/smart/funny women who are taking shit into their own hands.  Even though several of the women are played by Tatiana, each of them is uniquely strong in their own way.  Never is there ever a feeling of "she is just a girl, she can't do it on her own."  Unlike Marvel's Agent Carter, the fact that these people have a vagina doesn't make them any less bad ass in ANYBODY'S eyes.

2.  Sexuality

This is not a solely cisgendered show  like everything else on TV.  Not only that but sexuality is NOT a big deal.  Sarah sleeps with men quite often over the course of the show and nobody ever calls her a slut or questions her choices.  She is just a sexually aware woman and there is no problem with that.  Cosima is a lesbian, Sarah's adoptive brother is gay and NONE of these things are major plot points.  It's just who they are.  And that's awesome.  There is no justifying or crudeness.  In season 2 we meet a transgendered clone, and again, no questions asked, he is just who he is and its fine.  It's probably what I love most about the show.  Gay, straight, bi, trans, queer, we are all just people.

1. Tatiana Manslany

This WOMAN!  This fucking woman!  WHY HAS SHE NOT WON ALL THE AWARDS?!  She plays so many characters so flawlessly that I often forget it's the same person.  Not only is she bananas amazing at accents, she embodies each character so fully it's hard to believe its:

 In several instances, one clone pretends to be another and I have (out loud) shouted at the TV "NO THAT'S NOT COSIMA IT'S SARAH!"  or "Aww no that Alison, don't fall for it!"  or "FUCK YOU RACHEL HOW DARE YOU."  And then I remember its all the same person.  And then pieces of my brain slide out my ear.

So, do you watch Orphan black?  If you do PLEASE comment and let me know what you love best about it.

TIS THE SEASON... To binge watch

Happy holidays internet!  Welcome to the time of year where it's cold, you just want to stay inside.  You probably have a lot of time off from work and you will definitely be needing a break from the fam.  AKA the perfect time of year to cram in TV that it took other people years to watch.  Two years ago, I spent this magical time of year holed up in my apartment binging season after season of Doctor Who until I emerged that spring a brilliant sonic screwdriver wielding bow-tie wearing Whovian butterfly.  I never looked back.  But, dear reader, what SHOULD you be binge watching?  Maybe you gave up on a great show too soon, maybe you have been told a million times you should watch something but never did or maybe your watching the American version when you are wrong and should be watching the English.  Well no matter, here are my top 5 binge watch picks for this holiday/winter season from #5 you could probably skip this but it's worth trying to #1 if you aren't watching this you will die without knowing true entertainment.  Here we go.

5. Daredevil

Okay, so this comes AFTER the holidays, but what better way to bunker down during cold January days than to watch a blind vigilante kick some ass?  The best thing is that it's on Netflix, prime binge territory, especially since every episode is being released simultaneously.  I got a chance to see some clips at Comic Con and can I just say, the action sequences were MIND BLOWING.  I love Charlie Cox as Matt Murdock, he is a great actor (even if he broke my heart on Boardwalk Empire (whats in the boooxxxx)) and with Vincent D'Onofrio as Kingpin... I mean COME ON.  I'm in.

4.  Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D

Now look, I know a lot of you out there gave up this show pretty early on, and I FEEL you, but I promise it gets better!  The show followed a rocky "there's a bad guy- find the bad guy- beat the bad guy" format, but after the release of Captain American: Winter Soldier the show got mind blowingly good.  I want to keep the spoiler free, but the repercussions for what happens in Winter Soldier change everything and the good guy vs. bad guy structure gets blown to smithereens.  So, I suggest watching Winter Soldier, then skipping the the S.H.I.E.L.D episode that follows then catch up to the season two mid-season finale.  Then you'll be good to go for the rest of season two!

3. Sherlock

Unless you have been living under a rock, it is almost impossible not to run into somebody fan-gasming over this show.  Why?  Because it's fucking awesome.  Cumberbatch and Freeman have been absolutely made for the Sherlock/Watson combo and the showrunning team of Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss (who does double duty playing the umbrella wielding Mycroft brother of Sherlock) write the perfect balance of mystery, comedy and mind blowing tragedy.  And the BEST part of binging Sherlock is that there are only 9 episodes.  That's right, 3 seasons, 9 episodes.  Each episode is an hour and a half but trust me, it doesn't feel like that.  The problem?  When you finish be prepaired for the MASSIVE hole in your life as often years go by between seasons... see you in 2015 you sexy detective, I'll be waiting.

2.  Doctor Who

Okay, this is a bit of a meaty binge.  The show has been running for over 50 years now, but the beauty of it is that you only have to start at the reboot.  Once this show gets its claws dug in you'll go back and do the research, trust me.  Now, if you have a hard to easing into the show (it can be a bit much) I suggest a watching order for you to get into it nice and slow.

• Blink- Season 3, Episode 11.   This is a very Doctor light episode, there is very little time travel, but you really get the gist of whats going on (and how dark the show can get).
• Vincent and the Doctor- Season 5, Episode 10.  This is a fan favorite episode, showing the depth of emotion the Doctor has.  Yes, there a few bits you may not understand do to the through-line of the show, but it's a pretty stand alone episode.  And it'll probably make you cry.
• The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances- Season 1, Episodes 9 & 10.  These two are probably two of my all time favorites.  A great combination of pure terror and Christmas joy make these two episodes stand out as almost a great little movie if watched in succession. 

If your not hooked after those four episodes, I don't think Doctor Who is your show.  If you get hooked, can't wait to see your beautiful Whovian butterfly wings in the spring.

1.  Orphan Black

If you are not watching this show, close this window, google it and BINGE!  NOW!  BINGE NOW!  If you have NO idea what I am talking about, be ready to get your mind BLOWN.  The show which third season starts sometime this spring, is about a group of women who are self-aware clones.  Tatiana Maslany flawlessly plays 8 clones (so far) in such a way that you forget its the same person playing each role.  Sarah Manning is sort of the main character of this multi-character drama, with her sassy gay brother at her side, she learns to grapple with her guinea-pig status being one of the worlds first successful human clones.  Oh and did I mention that all of season one somebody is spending a lot of time and effort killing them off?  Yeah it's pretty epic.  If you are a science geek, sci-fy/fantasy nerd or just plain old enjoy great acting, please please I beg of you watch this show.  Here, let me just play you a little clip of this awesome (spoiler free promise)

I hope you enjoy this holiday/winter season!  As you can tell my strongest binge suggestion is Orphan Black, if your a fan PLEASE comment begging people to watch... Maybe Tatiana will FINALLY get the Emmy she deserves!!

Supernatural Saturdays: The New Snick (Doctor Who & Orphan Black Spoilers)

Oh BBC, you filthy genius you.  If CBS was smart they would follow your lead with their Thursday night lineup because Supernatural Saturday may be on of the smartest programming moves in a long time.  You are talking to a kid who grew up in a generation where we had TGIF, Saturday morning cartoons followed by SNICK Saturday night PLUS we had Nick at Night giving us specific TV programming every night in the summer (I Dream of Jeanie Wednesdays, Bewitched Tuesdays or whatever).  I like my television programming bundled by day and category because that's how the children's TV lineups programmed me.  Now, to be fair, Saturday programming is tough because I'm usually out but God bless DVRs because I just watch my shows when I get home.

This week's Supernatural Saturday was a doosey, with new terrifying episodes of Doctor Who, Orphan Black and The Nerdist.  Now, I didn't watch The Nerdist this week, but I have to give it a shout out because it as an awesome show for all types of Nerds.  Last week they even did a great segment about the prices of collectible items that is worth a watch.  I collect Nightmare Before Christmas items so it was really helpful to learn how things are valued, some of the things you think would be worth a mint really aren't.

Any-who, this week's Doctor Who may have been the scariest ever.  I mean, really freaking scary.  I mean I watched it at 9 am and was terrified.  The plot followed the Doctor and Clara going back into the 70s to help a ghost hunter and his empathic assistant solve the mystery of the "Well Witch" that has been haunting this spot for centuries.  The pictures of the ghost (see below) scare the poop out of me.

As if the scary ghost wasn't scary enough they add in a terrifying "Silent Hill" looking monster that made the Silence look like fun.  The episode was fantastic, maybe one of my new favorite episodes next to "Midnight" and "The Impossible Astronaut".  Of course in Doctor Who fashion it wasn't actually a ghost but a time traveler stuck in a pocket universe.  And the monster?  It's just been separated from it's monster loved one in our universe.  In the end it's all happy sunshine, but the real goodness of the episode dealt with Clara's beef with the TARDIS.  It seems for now the TARDIS and Clara have reached a temporary truce, but it is really clear that the TARDIS does not like Clara.

WHAT THE EFF ARE YOU CLARA??  Some new theories buzzing around seem to suggest that she may be the daughter of the Doctor and River.  Now, I do think that River and the Doctor will be having a kid, because in "A Good Man Goes to War" when the Doctor takes his cradle out for baby Melody, River mentions that it had been a while since she's seen it.  But we've already met Clara's parents... and also, a version of her kissed the Doctor so... that's weird.  I really don't think she is his kid, but I wonder if the TARDIS has something to do with why Clara is the way she is.  The TARDIS lives throughout time, does the TARDIS want Clara out because she know's she will be the cause of what I will call "the Clara anomaly?"  We will see.

I am LIVING for this show right now.  If you have not watched Orphan Black yet, GET. ON. IT.  NOW!  This week's episode was a nail biter from start to finish.  You need a stiff drink to watch this show because it is just too intense.  In this week's episode, we find out that the crazy clone that is killing her sister's (who may be Russian based on the accent but I'm not sure) is part of some psycho religious cult.  Despite the fact that Sarah stabbed her with rebar, she is still on her mission from God, doing everything to blow Sarah's cover as Beth.  Just... just go watch it, go watch it right now.

Created by letsplaybamboozled on Tumblr.

While the episode was awesome, I just have to shout out to Tatiana Maslany for being amazing.  Sometimes when an actor has to play different characters in a show or movie they come out feeling... well.. a bit cheesy.  It's usually two totally different sides of the spectrum, good character vs bad character.  But Maslany is playing several complicated characters, but she does it with grace and finesse.  She gets down to nitty gritty details, whether it's Sarah pretending to be Beth having accent slips or being a psycho killer clone that you also have a bit of empathy for.  The show could have fallen into a super cheese category, by Maslany is making each performance totally believable.  You go girl!

So, another Supernatural Saturday (or as I generally watch it Sunday) down and I cannot wait for the next, especially with both Doctor Who and Orphan Black leaving me wanting more and more and more and more.

March Comes In Like A Lion... And Out Like A Freaking Lion

March is generally not the time of year that we expect new programming due to Basketball's March Madness, but not this year!  March has some of the most exciting season premieres and two new shows that look very promising.  March comes in strong with the series premiere of Bates Motel and ends even stronger with part 2 of Doctor Who's season 7, the series premiere of Orphan Black and season 3 of Game of Thrones.  March may be my new favorite month of the year!

First up, the series premiere of Bates Motel.  Now, A&E isn't known for it's stellar original programming, they mostly carry depressing reality shows like The First 48 or Intervention, but if History Channel can start producing Emmy Winning original series, why can't A&E?  The original trailers of this show were very American Horror Story-esque, with nothing more than an ominous shot of something gory, ie a burning body as seen here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dpgdiNUttlw.  Even the music is similar to American Horror Story, so you know what I'm in.  Not to mention that Psycho is one of my all time favorite movies.  

Now, I am a little leery because they are putting Norman Bates in 2013, so it obviously can't be directly associated with the 1960 film, but it really doesn't matter, the psychology of a serial killer won't change whether or not he has a cell phone.  After seeing the cast I really have no doubts.  The incredibly talented Freddie Highmore is playing Norman Bates and I think this dark role is a great career move for him.  Then we have Vera Farmiga who has given powerhouse performances for years (not to mention she is the sister of American Horror Story's Taissa Farmiga).  Vera will bring to life the mother who sent a man over the edge, giving life and history to a corpse in a rocking chair.  I really am looking forward to the series it has great potential.

WHO ARE YOU OSWIN OSWALD!?  Finally we'll be getting some answers starting March 30th.  Doctor Who will be back with his new companion Owsin Oswald... who has already died twice.  But you know what, Buffy died twice and she kicks ass, so I think Oswin will too!  We will also be seeing the Doctor's 50 year anniversary episode at some point during the season, so I know all you Whovians have high hopes to see some Doctors past on the show... I am praying we see David Tennant, even if he is in his human form from the other universe!  

But possibly what I'm most excited about is the confirmation that Neil Gaiman has penned a Cybermen episode and it's rumored that Warwick Davis will be starring in it.  Gaiman has already wrote one of the most popular Doctor Who episodes "The Doctor's Wife" where we meet the TARDIS who has been crammed into a living body.  If you haven't read a Neil Gaiman book, GO DO IT!  I especially recommend The Graveyard Book and American Gods (which HBO has recently bought the rights to!)

So, I'm still not totally sold on BBC's new show which premiere's the same night as Doctor Who. The more I research it, the more confusing I find it.  For one, the trailer for it doesn't really explain anything and in it's attempt to be cryptic it kind of loses me.  The IMDB description is a bit more interesting, A girl named Sarah steals the identity of a dead woman who looks just like her, only to find that she is one of many genetically identical individuals who are being assassinated one by one.  Sarah has to discover why somebody would duplicate her genes and who is after her clones.  Now that sounds a bit more interesting.  Since it airs the same night as Doctor Who, why not?

No.  Actually we do.  But the next fucking day after Doctor Who and Orphan Black, Game of Thrones FINALLY comes back.  According to the producers this is the year they have been waiting for.  I heard about something they called "blood wedding" and refused to listen to any more because I won't ruin any of this for myself.  I think this year might be a blood bath and nobody will be safe.  I don't even want to try to speculate on anything that will happen this season but I am so so excited!  I just hope none of my favorite characters kick the bucket (even though they probably will).

So, in conclusion, March 2013 is going to be epic... at least for nerds like me.