The first review I ever wrote was in Orphan Black Season 1 episode 1. And now, after 202 reviews and nearly 3 years, Orphan Black has reached its final episode, making it the first show I have reviewed in its entirety. As such, Orphan Black will always hold a special place in my heart. And though I found the plot and a number of other elements in the last two seasons to be ultimately bloated and disappointing, I did find this to be a satisfying conclusion. So without further ado, let's jump right into it.
In my opinion, this show has been very slowly running out of steam since the end of season 2. In each of the last three seasons, I felt the sense of urgency in the plot diminishing further and further. In the early seasons, so much of the origin of these clones was shrouded in mystery, meaning that there was a big reveal around every corner and it felt natural because they had clearly been planned out right from the start. However, as we got into the later seasons, most of the reveals were not planned right from the start but inserted in order to have some intrigue to continue the story on. The result was a plot that felt increasingly contrived and directionless. One example of this was the whole Delphine shooting arc. It was blindingly obvious, needlessly drawn out, and ultimately didn't lead to anything interesting or vaguely relevant to the plot. A more recent attempt to artificially inject urgency and substance into a plot was the introduction of PT Westmoreland earlier this season. He's supposed to be seen as "the creator", the one responsible for all of this. The problem is that it's impossible to view him as such an important figure when we have already been introduced to numerous other "creator" characters, and we've never heard of this guy before in previous seasons. Mind you, despite the central conceit of him not working for me, I thought that the actor was able to turn him into a fantastic villain for the season to such a degree that I began to feel that Orphan Black was finally picking up steam again in the last couple of episodes as it approached the end. Unfortunately, any momentum that was built up was immediately squandered at the start of this episode, which was a rushed, anti-climactic "conclusion" to the plot which I found thoroughly unsatisfying. The more I think about it, the more appallingly simplistic the first half of the episode and the wrap up of the main plot seems.
Up to this point, I've pretty much done nothing but rip into the plot wrap-up and overall progression of the last couple seasons. However, I actually enjoyed this episode a lot overall thanks to the fantastic way the characters were each concluded, which was the second half of the episode. I don't normally go for happy endings, as they are most always overly sappy and/or not really earned. The fact that I found myself simply sitting contented at the end of the longs string of farewells is a true testament to the quality of the show. I'm a person who hates birthing sequences in films and television, and this episode even managed to make me feel light joy at the end of a birthing sequence, which is a minor miracle. The second half really just slows down and spends time with these characters, giving them some final layers of depth and giving us one last visit.
All in all, this was a fantastic way to say goodbye to the characters and a horrible way to end the story. That's okay, because the story had really been on life-support for a couple of seasons, but the characters are something I was still deeply invested in.
