Oh, My Pop Culture Religion: Orphan Black and Missing Religious Voices

Once upon a time, years before we came to the city that’s Not Officially Toronto But Come On, It’s Toronto, a woman had two children. As a fugitive from a dangerous secret organization, she had to give them up. One, she decided, to the church, and one to the state. This is the origin story for the two primary protagonists of Orphan Black. Sarah Manning went into foster care, while her sestra Helena went to an orphanage run by nuns in Ukraine.

It’s not a buddy comedy, despite this picture.

Helena gets indoctrinated into the Proletheans, an ambiguously Christian sect that serves as one of the major antagonists in the series. The religious motifs around the Proletheans make them terrifying, both with Helena as their assassin and as their prisoner. However, the show misses an opportunity to really dig into the theology of the Proletheans and doesn’t truly engage with any number of religious objections to the biotechnology the show presents as being in our immediate future.

Orphan Black: “Newer Elements of Our Defense” Review

Another Saturday, another episode of Orphan Black—and this one was pretty fucking awesome. I was a little concerned after the last episode, but “Newer Elements of Our Defense” managed to introduce some, well, newer elements of the show, while still keeping things heart-poundingly suspenseful.

Spoilers after the jump, as well as a trigger warning for gore and body horror.

Orphan Black: “Formalized, Complex, and Costly” Review

Was it just me, or was this episode of Orphan Black… a little bit predictable? For a show that’s been plotty and suspenseful from the very beginning of the very first episode, an episode like “Formalized, Complex, and Costly” was an unwelcome change of pace. Alison continues to be shunted away from the plot in favor of her new drug-dealing/politics business, and what we’re left with, unfortunately, also seems a bit boring. Spoilers after the jump.

Orphan Black: “Things Which Have Never Yet Been Done” Review

In this penultimate episode we hear from all our main clones! Alison, Sarah, Cosima, and Helena all check in as we hurtle towards what looks to be a devastating finale. So how are they all doing? Find out after the jump.

Trigger warning for loss of bodily autonomy and possible rape below.

Orphan Black: “Governed as It Were by Chance” Review

Last week’s Orphan Black ended with a bang—the bang of a truck smashing into the car Sarah was being kidnapped in, that is. Who hit them, and how fares our erstwhile heroine? Spoilers after the jump.

Orphan Black: “Governed by Sound Reason and True Religion” Review

Man, I love these episode titles; this one is especially apt for Orphan Black’s second episode of the season. This time we dive a little deeper into the factions vying for control over the fate of Clone Club. We’re also treated to a few plot twists, just in case you thought you had a handle on where the show was going.

Spoilers after the jump.

Orphan Black: “Nature Under Constraint and Vexed” Review

First of all, how ’bout these episode titles? Apparently last season they were all Origin of Species quotes—appropriate, of course—and this season they’re all from the works of Sir Francis Bacon. Classy.

Anyway, I came late to the Orphan Black party (I only watched it last Christmas as opposed to when it aired), but I’ve still been feeling that special sort of pain that comes from waiting for a show you love to come off hiatus. Thankfully, as of last night, the Clone Club is back in action.

Spoilers for the Season 2 premiere after the jump!