Visiting MIDNIGHT, TEXAS

Article first published as MIDNIGHT, TEXAS Season 2 Set Visit on Seat42F. (many more photos available at this link)

NBC’s MIDNIGHT, TEXAS returns for a second season this Friday. If you missed season one last summer, there’s still time to catch up on all ten episodes through Hulu. Or you can just jump in when it returns. But assuming you caught the show, based on the books by Charlaine Harris (True Blood), here’s a bit of a preview for season two, cobbled together from interviews during a recent set visit.

And yes, there will be spoilers. This is a preview, after all.

Season two picks up basically where the first year left off. A hotel has opened in sleepy Midnight, founded by new characters Patience (Jaime Ray Newman, The Punisher) and Kai Lucero (Nestor Carbonell, Bates Motel). They are gypsies who have been going from town to town healing people. They’ve faced some skeptics, and they found some believers. Now they’re ready to settle down and open up a more permanent shop. And they’ve chosen Midnight as the location, an invading presence in a town still trying to settle down from the last big event.

Carbonell, whom you may recognize from Lost, and who was sought after because the new show-runners worked with him on Ringer, looked to Reiki as a way to ground the character. He says the cast is made up of the nicest people, all so welcoming and willing to take big swings, and open to trying things in new ways. He’s very happy to have joined the ensemble. Carbonell learned to trust the moment and the director on Lost, especially during his 13-day shoot (a normal episode takes about eight days) on his character’s backstory episode, which was far different than he had imagined. Now, he brings those skills and experience to MIDNIGHT, TEXAS.

The hotel itself is a sprawling, impressive, versatile set, featuring a pool in the lobby that will definitely get some use. It’s a big of a departure for sleepy, lived-in Midnight. The building is also apparently “so much worse than just being haunted; you’ll wish that was the only problem.”

The hotel isn’t the only thing new that has come to MIDNIGHT, TEXAS. With showrunner Monica Owusu-Breen having left to oversee the new Buffy the Vampire Slayer reboot (which the cast universally insists she will ‘slay’), writer duo Eric Charmelo and Nicole Snyder (Supernatural), who worked on season one, have stepped into her shoes.

Nicole and Eric said their instructions for season two were clear: make it soapier, sexier, and scarier – essentially, like True Blood, but for network television. (Though not with the obvious move, bringing in Quinn, the weretiger character who appears in both book series. He’s still MIA this year.) With much of the material of the trilogy of books having been covered in the first two seasons, they also had a goal to set up the world for a much longer, larger, more dynamic story.

Everyone involved in the production seems to agree that they have succeeded in this. The action is more sprawling, no longer confined to Midnight, and more serialized. The cast claims the two-hour finale, which they were shooting during the set visit, and which involved a lot of night shooting, will blow your mind. Nothing has been spared.

Oh, and the great Jaime Murray (Defiance, Warehouse 13) has also come on board in an ‘integral’ role, though details about her part were not revealed.

Of course, not everything is about the new cast and sets. Fan favorite characters are well-served, too, with blossoming relationships explored and a threat coming from within, leaving you to wonder who is friend and who is foe.

Manfred (Francois Arnaud) still has to deal with the black ooze coming out of his ear at the end of season one. Plagued by “demon cancer,” he’s not quite himself as the story gets back underway. And he is beset by nightmares that aren’t just nightmares. Can he vanquish demons not just from the outside world, but from within himself, too?

At least it’ll be easy to hide the illness from his squeeze, Creek (Sarah Ramos), who is away at school, and so not around to catch him behaving badly. (Although Ramos is no longer a series lead, she will appear in season two of MIDNIGHT, TEXAS.)

Bobo (Dylan Bruce) has a few different things to contend with. For one, he’s bought the Cartoon Saloon, giving the place a Merlot’s-like feel. Second, he is enjoying his new relationship with Fiji (Parisa Fitz-Henley), his best friend.

Though, things will not necessarily go swimmingly for them. Haunted by past mistakes, Fiji has a lot about herself to figure out. Not to mention, being with her is going to endanger Bobo with a Final Destination-esque plot. So let’s hope the couple can get through that and come out the other side alive.

Perhaps a bit less dramatic is the wedded bliss of Olivia (Arielle Kebbel) and Lem (Peter Mensah). The couple has a few things to work on, such as re-decorating their shared living space into something suitable for them both, and the psychic connection they now have after Lem drank Olivia’s blood. But those aren’t deadly issues. Just fun.

Olivia has had a lot of emotional pain in her life, and this season will provide some healing. Not that she’s stopped being a badass assassin; quite the opposite. But she needs to learn how to embrace the wonderful parts of life, too, and to figure out how to be strong enough to be vulnerable.

Kebbel also promises satisfying, big resolution between Olivia and Madonna (Kellee Stewart), who was revealed to be working for Olivia’s father at the end of last season.

Then there’s Joe (Jason Lewis), whom after a millennia of hiding, is trying to figure out what his life is now. This will lead to some fresh temptations for the angel, and Joe will be forced to confront the person he was.

Which is not to say that season two of MIDNIGHT, TEXAS is backwards-looking. While the past does play into character development, it’s used to inform how the characters grow moving forward, not driving the plot as it sometimes did in season one.

It’s been said that Friday nights are a great night for genre television on the broadcast networks, and with MIDNIGHT, TEXAS moving into the regular season – albeit for a nine-episode run this fall, rather than trying to complete a full twenty-some episodes – let’s hope that stays true. The new and expanded sets look great, the story teased is intriguing, and the cast and crew seem to be having a lot of fun. I look forward to going along for the ride with them.

MIDNIGHT, TEXAS begins its second season this Friday on NBC.

"Vexed" a Good State for ORPHAN BLACK

Article first published as ORPHAN BLACK Review on Seat42F.

BBC America’s excellent ORPHAN BLACK returned for a second season last Saturday night. While the premiere episode, “Nature Under Constraint and Vexed,” is not a good installment for someone who hasn’t ever seen the show to jump in on, that’s part of why it is oh-so-good for the fans. The story picks up pretty much right where the first year leaves off, and hits the ground running from there.

Sarah (Tatiana Maslany), arguably the main character, is in a Matrix-esque environment. She is on the run, nowhere safe for her to go, with Daniel (Matthew Bennet) and his goons, who wear suits and dark sunglasses, on her tail. She isn’t sure who she can trust, reaching out to Paul (Dylan Bruce) even though he works for the enemy, and she doesn’t have a clue how to get her family back.

This isn’t much of an improvement over Sarah’s situation last year. She has gone from grifter barely scraping by to grifter barely scraping by with her loved ones in danger. The only advantage she has now is that there are actually a handful of people who might be of assistance, though none is as invested in the trouble as she is, and it’s always going to be especially hard for her, with her trust issues, to sort out who can be relied upon.

Alison (also Maslany) is playing by the rules Dyad, the sinister company Sarah is fleeing from, has set out for her. This means she is free to go about her life and is not closely monitored, which allows her opportunity to sneak around and help Sarah. Alison has no desire to paint a target on herself by publicly declaring war and threatening her suburban existence, but at the same time, she isn’t going to turn her back on a clone in need.

Cosima (Maslany again) straddles the line between the two. She still resists working for Dr. Leekie (Matt Frewer), despite his efforts to persuade her to change her mind, which leaves her hiding out. She is more willing to assist Sarah, but also not ready to rush in guns blazing. These clones may share a bond, but they are definitely not the same people.

Once more, the main draw of ORPHAN BLACK is the incredible talent of its lead actress in her multiple roles. Maslany differentiates each of the three listed above, plus calculating Rachel and crazy Helena (who, thank goodness, is still alive!), with what looks like ease. It’s interesting to study how even the default resting face of each woman is completely different. The changes, major and minor, are so complete that Sarah, Alison, and Cosima really do seem like distinct individuals, barely connected.

Even better, “Nature Under Constraint and Vexed” gives us one of the golden scenes where one of Maslany’s character pretends to be another one. As Sarah sneaks into the Dyad party masquerading as Cosima, Maslany creates something entirely new, Sarah’s version of who Cosima is, which is really startling in its complexity and authenticity.

Of course, ORPHAN BLACK does have an excellent plot, too, filled with a variety of players who may or may not be on our heroines’ sides. Does Art (Kevin Hanchard) really want to help Sarah, or is he playing a classic good cop / bad cop sting with Angela (Inga Cadranel)? Is Paul offering assistance, or only feigning such to do Rachel’s bidding? Is Delphine’s (Evelyne Brochu) act of handing over Cosima’s blood to Leekie an act of betrayal, or is Delphine just worried about her lover’s life?

We also get plenty of humor, mostly at the expense of Alison and Felix (Jordan Gavaris). When first the latter is glimpsed this season, he’s in the middle of an orgy at a fetish club. Still in costume, he rushes over to Alison’s in the middle of the night. She ought to appreciate the get up, working on the clothing for the musical she’s now starring in, which seems terrible, by the way. This kind of stuff lightens the mood when the action gets too dark.

Basically, ORPHAN BLACK has some of the best acting on TV mixed with a compelling tale of shifting allegiances and surreptitious organizations. Dyad isn’t the only threat in “Nature Under Constraint and Vexed,” and we still have the mystery of the clones’ origin to solve to boot. Where the show will go next is anyone’s guess, but it’s a thrilling ride and I’m happy to be along for it.

ORPHAN BLACK airs Saturdays at 10 p.m. ET on BBC America.

Blu-ray Review: ‘Orphan Black Season One’

Article first published as Blu-ray Review: ‘Orphan Black Season One’ on Blogcritics.

If you’ve paid attention to Emmy news at all this past week or so, you’ve likely heard outrage over the snub of Tatiana Maslany, who has been picking up all sorts of other awards. If you’re not familiar with who this young woman is or what she has done to deserve such passionate following, then you haven’t seen the Canadian / BBC America drama Orphan Black. Luckily, all ten episodes of Season One are now available on Blu-ray and DVD.

Orphan Black tells the story of Sarah Manning (Maslany), a woman trying to put her life together so that she can take care of her daughter, Kira (Skyler Wexler, Alphas). See, Sarah has been romantically involved with an abusive drug dealer named Vic (Michael Mando, Les Bleus de Ramville), and so Siobhan “Mrs. S.” Sadler (Maria Doyle Kennedy, The Tudors), the woman who raised Sarah and her foster brother Felix (Jordan Gavaris, Unnatural History), has stepped in and taken Kira until Sarah can find a more stable environment.

When Sarah sees someone who looks just like her commit suicide, she senses the opportunity to better her standing and ability to start over, at least financially. Assuming Beth Childs’ (also Maslany) identity, Sarah suddenly finds herself in a situation that’s hard to get out of. Beth is a cop with a live-in boyfriend, Paul (Dylan Bruce, As the World Turns), and a suspicious partner, Art (Kevin Hanchard, Savage Planet). Plus, Beth is in trouble at her job.

If that were all Sarah had to deal with, it might be enough for any series to tackle. But Orphan Black is not just any series, and I feel like I’ve buried the lead in explaining the set up, something the first episode, “Natural Selection,” sort of does, before making a course correction, with the story picking up considerably over the rest of the run. Beth is not just a long-lost twin to Sarah, she is a clone. And there are a number of other clones around, as well as secret agencies that would like to control them.

Orphan Black is a fantastic tale, tightly written, without procedural or weekly stories to bog it down, but the biggest draw by far is Maslany’s performance. Whether she is playing Sarah, Beth, Alison, a put-upon housewife, Cosima, a nerdy genius, Helena, a psychotic religious fanatic serial killer, Katja, a desperate Russian, or a few other characters, Maslany captures distinctly different personalities so that none seem at all like the other, each with different dialect, mannerisms, and attitudes.

Even better is when one of the characters pretends to be another one of the clones, and Maslany somehow strikes a balance between the two, mixing characteristics so that attentive viewers will be able to identify what is really going on, even if characters on screen may not. It may be the most impressive acting I’ve ever seen. No one has played multiple roles in one work so thoroughly convincing before. No one. And she does it consistently, scene after scene, and no offense to the other fine actors involved, but shouldering the burden of the series almost completely single-handedly.

Orphan Black also raises some moral and legal issues. Should cloning be allowed? Under what circumstances? Can a company patent and own a human being if they are the by-product of their patented process? This is a timely issue, with recent court rulings about what can and cannot be owned concerning genetic material in the news this summer. Fascinating!

I know blu-ray reviewers still discuss picture and sound quality of the releases, though I’m not sure why, because just above all modern series have the same high marks these days. Orphan Black is no exception. The series has a dark-colored tone, and it is masterfully layered with rich blacks and details in the shadows. The soundtrack is seamlessly mixed with the dialogue, and both the audio and the visual are incredibly crisp and defined. I detected no flaws to speak of, though who pays attention to such things that closely when sucked in by such an amazing story and Maslany’s talent? It is worth checking out in any quality, but the blu-ray release is sure to be the best, and so worth getting.

One thing I found very odd about the packaging is that it lacks a booklet or interior episode list of any kind. You actually have to pop the discs in to see the installment names. That’s a tad disappointing to me, though only a minor annoyance for anyone with a smart phone or tablet handy.

The bonus features are a little light. “Send in the Clones” is a sixteen-minute behind-the-scenes featurette that feels more like a way to sell the series to potential viewers who haven’t seen the show yet than an informative look for fans, introducing characters and elements, rather than going deeper on them. We also get seven minutes of Maslany’s appearance on The Nerdist, cross promotion for another BBC America series, and “Inside,” a five minute extra of separate pieces, previously played during commercial breaks, that is a lot like “Send in the Clones,” but shares focus with characters not played by Maslany.

Orphan Black Season One is available now.

ORPHAN BLACK is Truly "Beautiful"

Article first published as ORPHAN BLACK is Truly "Beautiful" on TheTVKing.

Continuing the unblemished run of successful, original BBC America series, Orphan Black, my favorite the network has aired, draws its first season to a close this week in "Endless Forms Most Beautiful." It's an installment of both revelation and cliffhanger, ending some plots, while simultaneously beginning new ones, making the complex, twisty story even more complex and twisty.

By the end of the ten episode run, the clones (well, the ones we've seen) all know about one another and that they have been created and monitored by a mysterious company. However, having just scratched the surface of this organization, they are reluctant to sign a contract with them, unsure if this is what is best for their lives, even as the company promises to protect them and not interfere in their lives.

As a viewer, it just feels too good to be true, going in. It's factual that they have been allowed to make their own choices, seemingly, so far, and have led full, normal lives, so perhaps whoever created them is benevolent. Yet, because it seems so easy, and also taking into account the covert monitors, who are often the clones' lovers, there is an underbelly where things just don't add up quite right.

Which is why it isn't much of a surprise when Cosima (Tatiana Maslany) discovers that the company isn't to be trusted. I can't say I expected to find that patent built into their DNA sequence, but I guess that makes sense. After all, this organization has invested a LOT of time and money into the cloning program, so they would want to be able to reap the benefits of their work.

This opens up a whole mess of legal issues. Can human beings be patented and considered property? Maybe in certain parts of the world? The patent is granted, which means that some governmental agency must have approved this concept. However, it doesn't seem like it would hold up in court, in front of any judge. On the other hand again, the company clearly controls American federal law enforcement, so has so pull.

I guess season two, which Orphan Black has already been guaranteed, will delve into this. It's such a startling, big discovery that time must be taken to grasp it and think about the implications. With so many unknown factors, it isn't immediately apparent where the patent arc is going. But it does mean Dr. Leekie (Matt Frewer) and Rachel Duncan (also Maslany) can't be trusted.

Who can be trusted, though? That is a question that has always been at the heart of Orphan Black, and it is one not easily answered. We assume Cosima, Sarah, and Allison (all Maslany) can be trusted because they are all in the same boat, but Rachel's presence, a new clone recently revealed, calls that into question. And the murderous Helena (Maslany again), presumably put down by Sarah this week, though likely, going by storytelling conventions, is still alive, means not all clones are good. They all have their own minds, different enough, at least by the circumstances of their lives up to this point, to have separate motivations and values.

There is definitely a nature vs. nurture debate to be had here. Nurture is winning, going by how different various clones are. Yet, Cosima's homosexuality isn't from nurture, so there's obviously some genetic variances as well, no matter how similar the DNA looks. Are the things that set each individual apart on purpose, or is this the experiment?

In "Endless Forms Most Beautiful," someone that seems trustworthy is said to not be what she seems. Amelia (Melanie Nicholls-King) claims, right before she dies, that Mrs. S. (Maria Doyle Kennedy) is hiding something from Sarah. And Mrs. S. and Sarah's daughter Kira (Skyler Wexler) disappear, though with no blood left behind, and Mrs. S. with her shotgun didn't seem to be going down without a fight, so maybe there's some truth to Amelia's words.

However, there are also any number of other explanations that might suffice. Mrs. S. could be working for the company, but Dr. Leekie seems genuinely confused when he first hears Sarah's name, so even if Mrs. S. was once a scientist employed by them, it doesn't appear that she let them know about Sarah while raising her. Has she flipped again, or did she manage to get nabbed against her will?

Luckily, Mrs. S. has some good precedent on her side, because both Paul (Dylan Bruce) and Delphine (Evelyne Brochu) have switched their own allegiances, siding with the clones over their bosses. The show might pull another fast one on us and show that they are triple agents, but for now, at least, they seem to be on the right side. So we can trust some of the people on the show who aren't played by Maslany.

Allison also faces betrayal as we see that her husband, Donnie (Kristian Bruun), is connected with Dr. Leekie. This one is less of a surprise, given the way that Donnie forgives Allison, without explanation, for torturing him. Allison can be excused for missing this, because of how upset she is, and convinced that her monitor is someone else, whom she is now free from. But while Orphan Black  does a fine job of setting up Aynesley as a red herring, it doesn't do as well masking Donnie's dark side.

There's also Art (Kevin Hanchard), who is investigating Sarah and her fellow clones. He doesn't know a lot yet, but he's the best hope the girls have of getting their tale out to the public, thus saving them from shady agencies. He's a hero to be counted on.

The series expertly lays out all of these players and settings one by one, never overwhelming, but building an extremely complicated, detailed web of story. The way Orphan Black keeps expanding throughout the season, with things only getting more messy with each passing hour, is impressive and well-thought out.

I love all this great plot, but serious credit for how good Orphan Black is, and it is very, very good, has to fall in Maslany's lap. I don't know many actresses that could play so many parts so well. There is never any doubt about which clone Maslany is, even with working out how to have one impersonate another, keeping some subtle clues that let audiences realize what's going on. There is amazing levels of talent in this chameleon, who balances her roles in a way that makes it look easy. This show lives and dies by Maslany's performance, and it's soaring largely because of her.

Orphan Black will return next spring to BBC America.

Orphan Black Finds a Home

Article first published as Orphan Black Finds a Home on TheTVKing.

BBC America's latest venture, partnered with a Canadian production, is Orphan Black, a dark, twisty, genre series. As the pilot, "Natural Selection," begins, Sarah (Tatiana Maslany, World Without End) is returning to town, on the run from her drug-dealing boyfriend, Vic (Michael Mando, Les Bleus de Ramville), from whom she has stolen a stash. Sarah's intention is to get her daughter, Kira (Skyler Wexler, Alphas), whom she abandoned, back, and run away again with kid and money from the stolen drugs.

But it doesn't work out quite that way. It isn't that Sarah's plan is flawed; it is, of course, but that's not the issue. Instead, Sarah completely throws out her old play book when a new opportunity arises, but going into the second scheme blind, she flails and can't make the clean escape she hopes to.

See, while Sarah is standing on a subway platform, she sees someone that looks just like her jump in front of a train and die. Sarah finds the woman's purse, and, after realizing the mysterious Beth has a large bank account, decides to assume her identity. The intention is to only take over the persona for the time it takes to make a withdrawal, but circumstances conspire against her, and she is soon trapped in the new role.

I don't think Sarah is just being greedy and foolish when she decides to become Beth, although given her less than stellar background, it's likely that both of those play into it. Instead, we get the extra layer of Sarah having grown up in the foster system, not knowing her family or where she comes from. Seeing Beth is a tantalizing lure, a chance to discover her origin, and maybe even find the parents she never knew. Most anyone in Sarah's situation would be drawn into Beth's world.

Unfortunately, Sarah acts rashly. Knowing that she doesn't have time to get Beth's money before the woman is declared dead, Sarah asks her foster brother, Felix (Jordan Gavaris, Unnatural History), to go to the morgue and identify the corpse as being Sarah. This is effective, of course, but Sarah realizes too late the implications of being considered dead, not only trapping her in Beth's swiftly unraveling world, but also making her daughter that much harder to get back.

Sarah is a very sympathetic character. She may have made a lot of mistakes, and the "Pilot" shows she isn't done making them, but she also has a heart, evidenced by her love of her daughter, and she's put in a situation where we feel for her. Confused and curious, intelligent and resourceful, Sarah's emotional center is easy to understand, whether one can relate or not, and her rocky upbringing excuses some of the criminal behavior.

Beth isn't so lucky. She is under investigation after having shot someone, and she's a cop. She has a live-in boyfriend named Paul (Dylan Bruce, As the World Turns), and a partner named Art (Kevin Hanchard, Savage Planet), who wants her to resolve the shooting issue, something Sarah will have trouble doing, since she didn't actually shoot anyone.

We're quite a bit into this review, and I haven't even gotten to the sci-fi hook yet. Sarah is a clone. I think. The promos for Orphan Black point to this situation, and not only do we meet Beth in the "Natural Selection," we also meet a Russian doppelganger, too, who is soon murdered. So on top of everything I've just mentioned, which makes for quite a bit going on in Sarah and Beth's lives, there's a whole conspiracy that will need to be explored.

Orphan Black is dense and fast paced, but don't let that scare you off. Somehow, it lays out each piece of the puzzle in a way that one can grasp, even when tossed down into chaos. We certainly don't know what's going on by the end of the "Natural Selection," but despite the brisk movement of the story, it's not difficult to keep the individual elements straight. It's a masterfully written story, surely developed into a fully-formed world that will be shown to us bit by bit.

By necessity, the series rests mainly on Maslany's shoulders. Those who have seen the commercials know that she will be playing several characters on a regular basis, but even just with the two short-lived ones in the "Natural Selection," she does an amazing job of differentiating them from Sarah. They may look alike, but they don't feel like they're the same person, with completely different facial expressions, moods, and body language. She has a firm grasp of who is who, and balances them brilliantly.

I did feel the weak spot is that Paul is taken in by her so easily. He notices that her hair is longer, but he still falls into bed with her. Of course, perhaps Paul already knows about the clones, realizes this isn't his Beth, and decides to sleep with her anyway. This would make him a pretty messed up guy, but since Beth certainly doesn't it have things together, either, it isn't out of the realm of possibility that she'd end up with a sleazeball.

Besides Sarah, I really like the characters of Felix and Vic. Felix is Sarah's flamboyant foster brother, and while he cares about her, he is also a scoundrel who looks out for his own neck and wallet. Vic comes in as a total jerk, but learning that "Sarah" has died, falls apart in a way that shows he really does care, even if he didn't know how to show it to her. And by putting Felix and Vic together in this first hour as sort of an odd couple, the series get some entertaining moments. I hope their plots stay intertwined for awhile.

Obviously, crap will hit the fan, and Sarah's scheme will blow up in her face. However, as it does, we have this roller coaster thrill ride of very well-made television, a sort of deeper Ringer with better character development and more complex interactions. Well done, indeed.

Orphan Black airs Saturdays at 10 p.m. ET on BBC America.