Hey there, Clone Club! What a finale, am I right? Well, it was action-packed, to say the least, and we don’t know if everyone’s going to live to see much of Season 5. Still, with the official news that Orphan Black’s fifth season will be its last, it’s a good episode to begin the beginning of the end.
What do I mean? Read on, sestras. Spoilers for Season 4 and the finale below!
Magic that fucks around with identity is, frankly, terrifying. Whether it’s something as simple as a Polyjuice Potion, which allows you to take on another person’s appearance, or something as dramatic as traveling to an alternate universe where your life is markedly different, identity magic is, at its core, an affront to autonomy. In essence, someone is using your face to effect changes in your life without your consent.
The creepy eyes are a dead giveaway, dude.
The easiest example of the evil identity thief that I could think of is, of course, from Supernatural. The series offers two different examples of magical creatures who can steal your appearance: shapeshifters and Leviathans. Both of these creatures are shown appearing as Sam and Dean while getting up to nasty business; indeed, it’s thanks to a shapeshifter that Dean was being hunted by the FBI throughout Season 3. The show also deals in body-switching and AU scenarios in various episodes, allowing the characters to run the gamut of uncomfortable situations you can experience when you’re displaced from the body and environment you’re supposed to be in. Welcome to Night Vale, not to be outdone, gave us a plethora of identity magic issues all in one episode.
In the last few days of the star sign Gemini, I wanted to talk a bit about twins in pop culture. I think television writers struggle with how to portray twins, and that’s putting it lightly. Identical twins seem to be the ones featured most prominently—why bother making two characters twins if they don’t look alike? Never mind the hundreds of fraternal twins actually out there who get less representation on TV because they’re less of a curiosity. Identical twins tend to be used as visually striking additions to TV shows, typically in sort of a gimmicky way: “oh look how kewl, they look exactly like each other!” However, the line between novelty and fetishizing, and even dehumanizing, is terribly thin. It contributes to what is honestly a freak show mentality, which leads to poor writing, poor character development, and overall less than ideal portrayals of twins. Spoiler alerts for Teen Wolf Season 3 and Heroes Season 2 below.
Identically adorable.
Lady Geek Girl and Friends 