Tonight’s season finale for Orphan Black (BBC America, 9/8C) takes all the loose ends that have been carefully threaded throughout the season, ties them in a bow and then shreds them into tiny pieces!
If you’ve been saving Orphan Black on your DVR to binge watch the first season, read no further.
We last saw Sarah (Tatiana Maslany) in the moment of discovering that she and Helena were twins – borne of the same surrogate mother – and Art (Kevin Hanchard) informing his partner and boss that they need an arrest warrant for Sarah Manning.
Orphan Black’s season finale, Endless Forms Most Beautiful, resolves many of the plot threads that have been woven throughout the show’s first ten episodes. Sarah is released from custody before she can confide in Art; Delphine (Evelyne Brochu) returns to try to persuade Cosima that she’s changed sides; Katya is identified; we learn Paul’s deep, dark secret and so much more that we begin to wonder where the series can possibly go from here – even poor, sad, emotionally stunted Vic (Michael Mando) is back! Plus Dr. Leekie (Matt Frewer) and that mystery woman who appeared ever so briefly, last week…
Poor Art gets his mind twisted sideways as he and his equally amazed partner, Angela Deangelis (Ingra Cadranel) make a discovery that they should not have been able to make – further confusing the situation for them after losing Sarah for reasons that suggest a greater conspiracy than we could have imagined, and complicity and approval that may reach globally.
People die; people change and some people aren’t who they say they are. In short, in terms of this series, everything seems normal – only everything normal is taken to the next level.
There are more twists and turns here than in an intercontinental road race; characters consider what appear to be reasonable actions but might have dark consequences – and the season-ending cliffhanger is an emotionally wrenching and draining experience.
Series co-creator Grahame Manson’s script is filled with all kinds of interconnected character and action beats culminating in that torturous final scene. Series co-creator John Fawcett directs this fast-paced, super eventful finale with deft grace and occasional muscle (when nothing else will do).
Between them, they’ve produced a season finale that not only makes sense of all that has gone before, it introduces new dangers and levels of intrigue. The sooner Orphan Black returns, the better.
Final Grade: A+