One of the tough things when setting up a show like Orphan Black is figuring out an effective timeline for building up questions and then, hopefully, answering them. How long do you drag them out — and how long can you drag them out before the audience gets antsy or the answers you provide feel garish partially because they’ve been so trumped up in the meantime? See Lost for an example; we could debate for days what went wrong or right where, but that’s certainly a show that had an interesting (and strained) relationship with when (and if) it decided to reveal its many secrets — and with how its viewers reacted when they did.
But here’s a little tidbit about Orphan Black season three that pleases me: Creator John Fawcett sat down with an interview with Entertainment Weekly recently and basically promised that the season would answer a lot of our questions.
I’m a big believer in the concept that shows don’t have to/shouldn’t draw out their initial premise (or in this case questions) ad nauseam if it’s reached the point of exhaustion — watching a show pivot and reinvent itself can be a pretty rewarding viewing experience if done well, and make things feel less stale as time goes on. Parks and Rec did a bit of that in its final season, for example. Friday Night Lights did it too, whereas shows like How I Met Your Mother really could have benefited from freshening up their relationship to their central mysteries.
Orphan Black, for its part, is both expanding on its mysteries and solving bits of them:
Season 3 is deepening the mystery. Certainly it’s solving big clues to outstanding mysteries. We get a lot of answers this season. But the show goes in a very different direction than it has previously, and by the end of season 3 we end in a place that we’re all really excited about. We have a very, very big ending to this season, so we’re excited about that. A lot of answers. And a lot of new questions.
And of course, a big part of the new direction of the show has to do with the season two finale revelation of the male clones.
I think it’s no surprise that we are dealing with male clones this year, so by its very nature that’s a very new angle for us. There’s a kind of military angle to season 3 and so that’s exciting. The show goes yet in another direction that hopefully people will go with and be excited about, and we make a bunch of turns they won’t see coming.
What do you think about pacing for shows unraveling a mystery? I’m talking sci-fi ones specifically, but also just big focus-changes in general; I’ve seen them go disastrously and I’ve seen them go spectacularly. And what do you think of Orphan Black season 3’s premise so far, from what they’ve teased?
(via Entertainment Weekly) (Image via BBC America)
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