Critic’s Rating: 4.2 / 5.0
4.2
As always, fans can count on AMC‘s Orphan Black: Echoes to deliver twists and turns.
The latest episode is another example of how the series differentiates itself from the original show.
And let’s just go ahead and get this out of the way now.
I knew he was another printout!
Predictability is one of the critical flaws that any story, whether TV or film, can run into.
Like art, most people enjoy things they couldn’t have otherwise created themselves.
Related: Orphan Black: Echoes Season 1 Episode 1 Review: A Beautiful Bird in a Cage
So, watching anything where you can easily guess what will happen can be a bummer and boring.
Luckily, Orphan Black: Echoes isn’t one of those, so making an accurate guess can be a rewarding experience that helps viewers connect to the plot.
And this series has the formula down to a science!
Orphan Black: Echoes Is Setting Its Sights On A Greater Science Fiction Formula
On paper, Orphan Black: Echoes can come off like any other science fiction story.
It’s set in the future and has advancements that the current world can only dream of.
Throw in some clones, conspiracy theories involving elitists, and enough funky gadgets to sell that time period, and voila!
You have a sci-fi story.
But with Orphan Black: Echoes, all the technological and medical achievements fall to the wayside.
It’s a smart move by the writers because those things have been done to death.
And most audiences are tired of the endless scientific jargon that doesn’t make sense to the typical viewer.
Yours truly included.
Related: Orphan Black: Echoes Season 1 Episode 2 Review: Jules
The science fiction community has slowly seen its story structure and formula undergo a much-needed overhaul.
Sure, there are still shows and movies that give hardcore sci-fi enthusiasts the crazy creations of science and out-of-this-world, or dimension, wonders.
However, for a more discerning viewer, there’s been a rise in what we could call “elevated science fiction.”
Like the Syfy series, The Ark, many sci-fi stories have evolved to focus on the humanity of its characters.
After years of desensitization, audiences are ready to return to the heart of what makes shows like Orphan Black: Echoes great.
The machines may be complicated to build, but they aren’t nearly as complex as the hands that made them.
Jules Is Another Beautiful Bird Trapped In A Cage
At the end of the previous episode, we learned that Kira did not print Jules.
Before the wheels even started turning, viewers likely knew the answer to who did.
And that isn’t a knock at the series but rather an observation.
The previous episode spent a fair amount of time dropping clues that could easily be added up toward the conclusion.
If anything, Orphan Black: Echoes was spoon-feeding us the information to make the realization ourselves.
Related: Jonathan Glatzer to Develop Silicon Valley ‘Dark Comedy’ For AMC
Look at us being taught and entertained at the same time.
As for Jules, she’s likely learned everything she needs to know at this point.
The only thing left to discover is what Darros has planned for the little prodigy.
If there is one thing she and viewers might collectively regret, it’s not trusting her foster mother.
Played by Alexandra Castillo of The Handmaid’s Tale, we didn’t realize Neva was actually a loving mother until it was too late.
Now, Jules is quite possibly more alone than she’s ever been.
Orphan Black: Echoes Brings Billionaire Villains To Another Level Of Cringe That Works
Adding to that loneliness is the great expanse of Darros’s sonically protected eco farm.
While cliches are unavoidable, there is none more exhausting than the billionaire villain.
Especially one that takes the “for the greater good” route.
But in Paul Darros’s case, it is so much worse.
Jules’s defining snark and sarcasm were much appreciated against the mogul’s weird attempt to appeal to Jules with a “soft” approach.
Related: Orphan Black: Echoes Season 1 Episode 3 Review: Pegasus Girl
Because kidnapped teens always feel so much better after adults talk down to them.
The man is on another level of narcissism.
As mentioned above and seen in Orphan Black: Echoes Season 1 Episode 6, Paul actually printed a younger version of himself.
We now know why because of Kira’s assistant, Josh, and his treacherous ways.
Because billionaires rarely pour buckets and buckets of money into anything out of the goodness of their hearts.
No, it’s always things like doing donuts in space or inventing driverless cars, as if society desperately needs that.
It’s like they’ve never watched Upload, Sunny, or the third episode of this series.
Too many self-driving car crashes.
So, it was not all that shocking to discover that Darros is making printouts for the one percent to extend their lives.
Someone will have to explain that one to me because it’s not like they are putting the original’s literal brain into the new copy.
Right?
Because I can’t even begin to fathom the ethics of something like that.
Related: Anne Rice’s Universe on AMC Expands with The Talamasca
Kira May Be Too Far Gone To Save Herself Or Her Clueless Family
Speaking of ethics, we have to wonder what in the world was going through Kira’s mind.
She printed out a replica of her dead wife!
How is that in any way sustainable?
And does Elle even know about her Alzheimer’s, or is Kira going to slow-burn Eleanor into the trauma?
I get that grief can push people to do things they never would normally do, but that’s extreme.
And to top it off, bringing Eleanor back has made Kira, as she said, a different person.
Thank God Elle didn’t go through a stroll in the city and see her teen self walking around in broad daylight.
However, that could still happen, and it would be crazy entertaining to see the fallout.
Kira’s house is as much of a mess as she and her experiments are.
Poor Lucas, played by Jaedon Noel of Killjoys, has no idea that one mommy is a clone and the other is off the rails.
This would be a good time for Uncle Felix to make another impromptu visit.
Related: Orphan Black: Echoes Season 1 Episode 4 Review: It’s All Coming Back
Because now that Josh has blown his brains out, Kira will need some direction.
She also needs any kind of relaxant Uncle Felix can provide.
However, despite so many new and old questions being answered, one still lingers in the air.
What is the significance of Jules and Lucy’s shared dream?
Is it something Eleanor also shares in?
Because if that’s the case, the women need to get together for a “sisterly” chat before Eleanor’s Alzheimer’s kicks in.
We’re in the meat of the series now, and I am foaming at the mouth to see where things go from here.
I also wouldn’t mind if Orphan Black: Echoes shone the spotlight back on Lucy for a little bit because Krysten Ritter is just so damn talented!
What do you think Darros has planned for Jules?
Related: Orphan Black: Echoes Season 1 Episode 5 Review: Do I Know You?
Could his plans be connected to the dream Jules and Lucy share?
Drop a comment below to let us know, and join me again when I review the next episode of Orphan Black: Echoes!
