Hannibal

There's no lambs screaming, no fava beans, and no bars holding back Hannibal Lecter from the world.

In NBC's new drama, Hannibal, everything old is new again, and we return to a time prior to The Silence of the Lambs to learn about Hannibal's first interactions with the FBI and the criminal profiler, Will Graham.

Hannibal's Cooking Tip #45: always take pride in a well-prepared meal.

If all this is sounding familiar, it should. The basic plot of the tv show Hannibal is drawn from Thomas Harris' first Hannibal Lecter novel, Red Dragon. It was initially adapted into a 1986 film, Manhunter, which starred William Peterson of CSI fame and Brian Cox.   After the success of movie version of The Silence of the Lambs (the sequel to the novel Red Dragon), Red Dragon the book was remade as Red Dragon the movie in 2002 with Anthony Hopkins as Lecter, Edward Norton as Graham, and Ralph Fiennes (he's so dreamy!).

Got all that? 

The point is that Hannibal the tv show is covering ground that is very familiar to fans of Harris' novels and movie adaptions. And yet there were enough new touches to the material that it watching it didn't make me feel bored or tired, in fact, I found the pilot fascinating, harrowing, and as grisly as any of the other versions of the story.

First, let's get to the basics: (from the NBC website)

One of the most fascinating literary characters comes to life on television for the first time: psychiatrist-turned-serial-killer, Dr. Hannibal Lecter. In this new drama based on the characters from Thomas Harris' classic novels, we see where this incredible story began. Will Graham (Hugh Dancy, "The Big C") is a gifted criminal profiler who is on the hunt for a serial killer with the FBI. Graham's unique way of thinking gives him the astonishing ability to empathize with anyone - even psychopaths. He seems to know what makes them tick. But when the mind of the twisted killer he's pursuing is too complicated for even Will to comprehend, he enlists the help of Dr. Lecter, one of the premier psychiatric minds in the country. Armed with the uncanny expertise of the brilliant doctor, Will and Hannibal (known as a serial killer only to the audience) form a brilliant partnership and it seems there's no villain they can't catch. If Will only knew...

Despite the title of the show, Hannibal Lecter doesn't make an appearance in the pilot episode until half way through. Instead, the audience spends time with Will Graham, the FBI criminal profiler who is asked by Jack Crawford, the head of the FBI's Behavioral Science Unit (played by Laurence Fishbourne!) to help track down the most elusive and most batshit insane of serial killers. Graham is an interesting creature--he is most definitely not a people person and rates his social skills on the Asperger and autistic side of the spectrum. But he has an uncanny ability to see think like a killer. He's portrayed by Hugh Dancy, who I always found to be overrated, but I admit that I was completely won over by his performance. Despite being one of society's "others," I found myself able to connect with Will as a character. It also doesn't hurt that he has a penchant for rescuing stray dogs. Nothing like some well-placed doggies to win over the lady viewers.

Wearing glasses makes me look smart and bookish! Now watch my awkward social interactions...hold on to your panties, ladies.

And then we have Hannibal. You might recognize the actor, Mads Mikkelsen, as the Bond villain in Casino Royale, and the Denmark-born actor certainly has a gift for appearing sinister. The audience is clued in from the very start of Hannibal's cannibalistic ways (just in case you missed that memo), but none of the other characters know....yet.

The most interesting part about the tv version of Hannibal is the character's mysterious motivation. Sure, Hannibal loves a good puzzle, but it seems clear he is more interested in understanding Will Graham than understanding the killers he hunts. Other than that we aren't really told why Hannibal would spend time hunting down other killers--unless he is hoping to pick up some new tricks. I'm VERY curious to see where the relationship between Hannibal and Graham leads and how long the show will continue before Graham learns of Hannibal's....shall we say, hobbies.

This might be my favorite promo photo for a show EVER.

Network tv now has to compete with cable channels that are offering more mature and well-funded fare (example: Game of Thrones, Mad Mem).  I've noticed that we are seeing similar ambitious stories on network television and Hannibal follows this trend. The show looks beautiful and has a very cinematic quality. It's also fairly gory and disturbing for typical prime time network fare--but I find that kind of adult storytelling compelling, as long as it isn't violence for violence sake (looking at you, Criminal Minds). You can go pretty much anywhere for a standard crime procedural these days, but Hannibal doesn't follow the same old formula. It's more about the mind than the body, and exploring the way a sick mind works. It's intriguing, mysterious, and left me guessing. In short: I'm hooked.

Some more points:

--you might want to use closed captioning when watching. Hannibal's accent is occasionally incomprehensible.

--keep your Pillow of Fear (trademark Caroline) handy to hide behind during some of the scarier parts. The finale of the pilot episode was particularly heart-pounding.

--the second episode has OMG GILLIAN ANDERSON!

Hannibal airs Thursdays at 10pm on NBC. 

Scream Thy Last Scream

Get out your go-go boots and girdles, ladies! It's time for Season 6 of Mad Men! Lest we fear that this season, like the last, will lapse into what Clovis affectionately terms, "The Megan Show," it looks like all of our beloved morally bankrupt characters are back with plenty of angst to go around!

It's the very late 60's on Mad Men. Just a season or so to go, and I can make fun of people for wearing 70's clothes. Don Draper is still a womanizing alcoholic, Roger Sterling is still struggling to adjust to the 60's (as the decade comes to a close -- might want to get on that, Rog), Joan Harris still has huge...tracts of land and Pete Campbell is still a smarmy creep. All is right with the world.

That's right, girls. I slept my way to the top.

Matthew Weiner doesn't straight up come out and tell us what year it is, so those of us who don't have any recollection of the 60's or 70's had to do some Googling. Figuring that the show wouldn't gloss over the tumultuous year that was 1968 -- and going off the growing sideburns and general hirsute appearance of the male characters; remarks about it being close to the new year; and the first human heart transplant having been performed -- we are able to place the season premiere at the end of 1967. 

The advertising gnomes at Sterling Cooper Draper Price have moved on since Lane Price's in-office suicide last season. There are many new underlings working in creative. Price has been most recently reincarnated as General U.S. Grant in the Civil War reenactment porn that is Lincoln. Speaking of identity crises, both Our Hero Don Draper and Silver Fox Roger Sterling are examining themselves and their lives in this episode. Roger has taken somewhat positive action and traded in his dropping acid with Timothy Leary days for psychoanalysis. Don is on his usual regimen of hard drinking, chain smoking and banging the neighbor lady.

We begin this season opener with the troubling image of what we can only assume is Don's POV of staring up at the ceiling, after having what we can only assume is a heart attack. Megan Draper talks in the background and another male voice assures Don that he will be all right. That fades to Megan frolicking around in a bikini on a Hawaiian beach, next to the very alive Don. For some light beach reading, Don has chosen The Inferno.

You do your existential crisis your way and I'll do it mine, capiche?

I'm sure Don is curious about what level of hell he will be assigned to after his early demise from apoplexy. Or cardiac infarction. Or lung cancer. Whatever it is, I'm sure he'll be a few notches above Pete Campbell. 

What should bother you the most about me is how fucking adorable I am in real life.

This vacation is actually work. It's an all-inclusive trip courtesy of a client, Sheraton.  They even get a taste of traditional Hawaiian culture at a luau hosted by a guy who doesn't even look Hawaiian. They're encouraged to eat poi. Ah, commercialized tribalism. Don's made more than a little uncomfortable when some old lady recognizes Megan from her teevee role and calls her Corinne, and asks for her autograph. That must be how Megan feels when some random person walks up to Don and calls him Dick Whitman. Oh, snap.

Then Megan and Don have some hot hotel sex. After which, Don is unable to sleep, so he goes down to the hotel bar and drowns whatever sorrows he has in a highball. He takes out his cigarette lighter and stares at it. It's from his time serving in Korea, and it has his name on it. And remember folks, that lighter says Pvt. Dick Whitman. 

He is soon joined by an intoxicated soldier on leave from Vietnam.  The soldier sees Don's army-issue cigarette lighter from Korea, and he identifies Don as a vet. He drunkenly informs Don that he doesn't like Hawaii because the indigenous population "looks like" Charlie. All righty then. He also tells Don that he's getting married tomorrow, because he's heard that married guys tend to make it out of Nam at a higher rate than non-married guys. He asks Don to give the lucky bride away and Don, who often displays a weird sense of chivalry he lacks in other areas of his life, agrees.

Look at me supporting this institution I utterly fail at upholding. 

In Fat Betty Francis news, Fat Betty Francis can't drive. Betty has gone to see The Nutcracker with Sally, Sally's friend Sandy and Betty's mother-in-law. Afterward, she gets pulled over for running into someone, and her Mother-in-Law From Hell (Fifth Circle; lovely neighborhood) tries to get Betty out of a ticket by telling the state trooper that Betty's husband is Someone Important. Smokey Bear tells Old Lady Francis that he doesn't give a tin damn who Betty's husband is and cites her for reckless driving.

Teen Future Dope Fiend Sally Draper has befriended a wayward violin prodigy named Sandy. Sandy has joined the Francises for the holidays and Little Bobby Draper has a crush on her. The Francis fam discovers Sandy's headed to Juilliard and encourages her to play a piece for them and they're all very impressed with her mad skillz. Betty teases Henry about having Lolita-ish thoughts about Sandy. Henry tells her she takes it a little too far (she does), but she backs off and says she's kidding. Betty later finds Sandy downstairs, getting a jump on that  three-packs-a-day smoking habit. Sandy tells Betty her woes about being a motherless waif, and her dream to go live in New York City with all the bohemians, artists, vagrants, ne'er-do-wells, layabouts and hippies. She also reveals to Betty that she actually did not get into Juilliard. Betty starts to feel maternal -- probably for the first time in her life -- and discourages Sandy from quitting school and moving to the city. Betty tells her about her less-than-glamorous life as a model before she met Don, but this does nothing to discourage Sandy. Betty's own children hate her, so when Sandy disappears from school and tells Sally that she went to Juilliard early, Betty goes on a search for her in the seedier part of the city.

Tell me about it, stud!

Betty confesses to Sandy that she's on a diet, and Sandy tells Betty to forget the diet because she looks fine the way she is. We see that this the kind of mother/daughter relationship Betty definitely doesn't have with Sally  and that she would probably like to have. Now that Betty's started to figure out what she wants in life, she's realizing what she doesn't have and what she wants to change.  Maybe at this point in her life, she actually wants to be a mother, instead of having children because that was what was expected of her. As a sidebar, anyone who's seen the stalkerazzi photos of J-Jones knows she's lost her baby weight, but it's interesting, unique and kind of brave for the show to feature a woman who is struggling with her weight, yet who remains attractive. 

Returning home, Don and Megan run into their bellman and he drops dead in front of them. Oops. Actually, that was a flashback to a heart attack he'd had several months ago, and Don and Megan are surprised to see him back at work. Again, we see Don reminded of his own mortality.

In living in sin news, Peggy returns home from dinner with Abe and gets a call from her boss, Bert Peterson. Apparently, some comedian went on Carson and joked about American soldiers cutting off the ears of Viet Cong soldiers. This causes issues for Peggy's Super Bowl ad campaign, which is for headphones. Their ad is a Jim Belushi-looking guy in a toga, with the tag line of "Lend Me Your Ears." The headphone company now wants to pull the ad, and Peggy has to "call Ted." Peggy meets with the client and she tries to appease him with a new campaign. Peggy has difficulty getting in touch with Ted, and she ends up having an awkward conversation with a pastor at Ted's retreat. 

Diamonds, daisies, snowflakes...That Girl!

Back at the office, Don runs into Dr. Rosen in the elevator. Rosen's office is in the same building as SCDP. They shoot the breeze, and Don mentions he's got a stockroom full of Lika cameras. He offers to give Rosen a free camera if he stops in after work, and Rosen agrees. In other awkward elevator conversation news, Bob Benson from accounts "bumps into" Don in the elevator and offers him a coffee. Bob's been to the Pete Campbell School of Smarm, and he almost gets to bribe Don with tickets to the Cotton Bowl. Creative is hoping for some inspiration from Don because of his Hawaii trip, but he's got nothin'. 

A professional photog is on hand to take pictures of the partners and senior execs. Not much of Our Mrs. Reynolds in this episode, but I'm sure there will be a lot awaiting Joanie in the coming weeks. Joan has a nose for weed, and she thinks it smells like reefer in the office, but doesn't know if it's the photographers or creative. (I bet it's Roger.) Rosen stops by to get his camera, and he reminds Don that Megan and Mrs. Rosen are putting together something for New Year's.

Roger's on the phone with his flavor of the month when his histrionic secretary enters. She gives Roger the news that his mother has passed away at the age of 90. Roger appears unmoved, but comforts his secretary and instructs her to ask Joan what to do about the arrangements. One awkward hug later, and she's on her way to plan a memorial.

Hour Two begins with Megan informing Don that her role on the telenovela she's on is getting bigger. This leaves Don to attend the memorial service on his own. 

Over at Betty's, Sally is indifferent about Sandy leaving school. Sally's a little jealous of Sandy's talent and Betty's interest in her, so she tells Betty she doesn't like Sandy and is glad she's gone.

Some guy named Wes Anderson keeps calling me.

Betty's worried so she goes in search of Sandy. She stands outside a decrepit-looking building in some really bad neighborhood, presumably somewhere in the Village. Betty does manage to find herself at a building that Sandy has been in, because she finds her violin there. 

At the memorial service, Roger has to confront both of his ex-wives, first Jane and then Mona.  Some folks arrive with food, and Roger's perplexed because he didn't order it. There's a card from some guys in accounting (one of whom is named Bob), but Ken Cosgrove takes credit for it. Harry Crane wants to bang Roger's married daughter, and Don arrives shitfaced.  

This old lady, who had been insisting that she be allowed to speak first, waxes philosophic on the departed's love for her one and only son, Roger. This makes Don puke. Funniest. Funeral. Ever.

As if things weren't bad enough, Mona shows up with her new (husband? fuckbuddy? boyfriend? sugar daddy?). Roger doesn't want him there, and yells at his neglected daughter, Margaret. Then Roger tells everyone to GTFO. Upstairs, Roger tries to bang his old, old lady (Mona) and she refuses. WTF is wrong with her? I'd fuck Roger. Maybe the whole leaving her for a woman half her age thing... Downstairs, Roger decides to have some family bonding time with Margaret, at Mona's urging. He gives Margaret a jar of Jordan water, and promises to help her husband with his new business venture. Aww. Dad of the Year right there.

Back in the Village, life isn't all incense and peppermints here at the homeless youth hostel. They don't have water, heat, electricity or food. They dislike Betty and her cornball lifestyle, because she has things like warm clothes and a running toilet. Betty finds some of the counterculture youths have stolen the ingredients to make goulash. Betty asks if they've seen Sandy, and one of them claims that Sandy sold the violin to him. Betty doesn't believe him. She helps the flower children make some far out goulash, and waits around for Sandy to show up. One of them lets Betty know the Summer of Love is over and she has to leave. She is about to leave and take the violin with her, but she hesitates as she's heading out the door and leaves the violin behind with the gutter punks and their squalor. Then Betty dyes her hair. 

Don makes it back to work and gives Miss Chambers the lighter, with some story about how he picked it up by mistake and asks her to send it back to the army. The execs from Sheraton arrive, and they're not thrilled with Don's proposal. They feel his art, which shows a man's discarded clothes next to footprints that lead into the ocean, reminds them of someone's suicide. Don doesn't see it, but the Sheraton execs want to see something else for their ad. Roger's secretary informs  him that the reason he's been unable to reach his shoeshiner is because his shoeshiner died. His family brought over his shoeshine kit, and Roger takes it into his office and breaks down crying.

Don and Megan have a New Year's Eve party -- with fondu! Their guests are the Rosens and Don and Megan's neighbors (the wife of which is hot for Don). Nothing really happens until Dr. Rosen gets called into work and has to head to the hospital on cross-country skis. Can you still do that in Manhattan? Inquiring minds want to know.

The mysterious Ted shows up at the office. Peggy's able to come up with a solution to her Carson issue through going through her commercial outtakes. I really hope Peggy starts sleeping with Ted. He's way better-looking, way less annoying and way less hairy than Abe. Ted gives her the praise she never got from Don, and she's pleased. Ted seems intrigued and we all know Peggy's a sucker for an unavailable man. Have an affair, Peggy! Because why not?

After Dr. Rosen's off on his skis, we see Don sneaking into an apartment. There's a woman waiting for him there -- and why, yes, that's Mrs. Rosen! Don sleeps with her, and then he makes some comment about how he "doesn't want to do this" anymore. Then...stop. He goes home afterward to the sleeping Megan.

Like...what the hell, Don? Seriously. So, we see that the free camera was (an apology? payment? restitution?) for Don sleeping with his wife. Whatever it is, it's a pretty pathetic one, I must say. It's like Don tries sometimes to be a good person, but then he just fails. 

Really not certain why Don is cheating on Megan. Once again, we see Don married to a beautiful, sexually confident woman, but having an affair. We can only believe that's Don's own sense of self-loathing that leads him to cheat. Is it his fear that he didn't deserve the beautiful model Betty or the talented and smart Megan? As far was we saw on the show, he was faithful to Megan until her acting career took off, but I'm uncertain if he was ever faithful to bored hausfrau Betty, so the true reason for Don's infidelity is still a matter of speculation.

Say what you want about Megan, but once she finds out he's cheating, she's going to cut off his balls with a switchblade. Perhaps Don's fears of dying of a heart attack are unfounded.

A solid start to Season 6. My only real complaint is the commercials. I know this is a show about advertising and all, but the show ran eight minutes into a third hour, and I can only presume that was to make room for all the ads. I think I'm going to watch it on the DVR from here on out so I can fast forward. 

Overall, the filming, lighting and coloring of the show have taken a darker tone. The production has heightened the use of reds and browns so the effect seems like they're filming on late 60's era film. Not really sure what's happening in episode 2, because as per usual, the Mad Men previews are so poorly edited that I have to believe their haphazard and out-of-context organization is on purpose. So, I guess what we have to look forward to next week is that some people say some things and other people react.

Mad Men airs at 10 p.m. Sundays on AMC. 

Girls on Film

Daybreak at the Bates Motel – Mother is testy with Dylan, wanting him to help with the new carpet that’s being delivered. (heh.) Dylan is all, “Pshh – I gots a job” and leaves. In school, Emma is freaked out about being chased by the gun-toting pot smokers and feels guilty because all she originally intended was just to drag Norman up there and smooch. Now they’ve got angry rednecks, a field of marijuana and possibly a dead Chinese girl in a shed. First dates are rough, aren’t they? Norman just wants his torture porn book back and can’t stop himself from thinking about it, even fantasizing in class about tying up his guidance counselor like the drawings in the book. He thinks about it so hard he passes out. Dating isn’t going to go easy for Norman.

While you're checking him for head trauma, perhaps you could look into another problem he seems to have...

Dylan’s “job” turns out to be acting as an armed guard for the same $5 million pot field that Norman and Emma got chased away from. Fancy that. Norman has been brought to the hospital but Mother is called away to the motel as the new carpet is being delivered, just barely missing the arrival of Super Model Becky. Turns out her name is actually Bradley, but whatevs. She’s brought Norman some flowers and they bond over both losing their fathers, hers because he got burned and is in a coma and Norman for causes maybe or maybe not related to Mother. Bradley offers to stay with Norman, chastely crawling into bed with to watch TV. Yup, Mother’s gonna love this.

At the house, the carpet arrives and so does the sheriff with a warrant. Mother flees back to the hospital to collect Norman and check him out against the doctors’ protestations that they don’t know what’s going on with him. On the way out, Mother insists she didn’t see the cops remove anything from the house and anyway, they cleaned it too well to find evidence of Keith’s murder. Norman, however, seems nervous because of something Mother doesn’t know – he secretly kept Keith’s utility belt under his bed. When they arrive home, three guesses as to what’s gone missing.

At this point, sidebar, I’d just like to mention that my iPad lost all my notes from this episode and I had to start watching again from the beginning. So thanks for that, Apple.

The jig, she is up. Norman confesses to Mother about the belt. Most parents would be understandably disturbed by this, but such is Mother’s devotion that she sets out to put things right. Meanwhile, back at the pot ranch, Dylan learns that the entire land is property of Bradley’s father, who “pissed someone off and was set on fire as a message” according to his coworker. In retaliation, the crew sent another message right back in the form of the burning man hung up on the town flag pole. So much burning in this episode – did this town never hear of Valtrex?

Now that Emma knows the drawings are probably for real, she’s desperate to get back up that mountain. Emma, nascent Nancy Drew that she is, shows Norman that there’s only one thing in English in the sketch book – the number four. Norman found the book in room four. To the Bat Cave! They investigate the room and Emma speculates that Keith must have brought the girls from China and kept them prisoner in the motel to be “tried out” first. Not clear how she figured this out, but it’s not like Keith seemed like a good citizen, so I’ll allow it. Emma discovers that someone has etched a word in Chinese into the paint underneath the sink in the hotel room bathroom, which tracks with pictures in the sketch book of girls chained to pipes.

Mother, meanwhile, has found Deputy Shelby and is laying it on thick – she’s just trying to start a new business and provide for her boy, why is the sheriff harassing them? Flirty flirt, O BTdubs, did they find anything in the search of the house? Shelby agrees to talk with her. If she’ll have dinner with him. Shelby, you sly dog. He tells her everything will be okay in the same tone he insisted that the burned guy would be “dealt with.” Weird that the Bateses aren’t the scariest people living in this town.

"As an officer of the law, I am compelled to tell you that I am exactly as creepy as this smile would suggest."

That night, Norma arrives at Shelby’s house for sexy dinner time! Mother has “put her face on” and looks quite fetching. They have a drink, sit on the couch but like a seasoned pro who doesn’t give with the goods until the money’s on the dresser, Mother asks about the belt before getting too comfortable. Shelby got to it before any other cop did so no one else knows (bad move, Shelby – your life expectancy just got a little lower) and he says he can help her if she’s honest with him – he just wants to know why Norman killed Keith. Mother makes for the sexy time to keep him from prying any further.

Dylan, meanwhile, has been thinking out loud about how he knows nothing about Mother, really, including where she grew up or why she has a pretty large scar or burn mark on her leg. Coming home, Norman is beside himself worried about Mother who hasn’t called or responded to his texts. Dylan says that Mother is smothering Norman and he needs to get out more. Thing is, not only is Dylan right, but he is actually trying to be helpful and protective of Norman. He’s tactless, but caring in his own stunted way. Possibly concerning, however, is that Dylan references the other night when Norman tried to attack him and Norman legitimately has no memory of the event.

"Remember when you tried to kill me?" "NO! Psychotic breaks LOL!"

Much later, Mother arrives home to find Norman asleep in her bed. Ick. She tells him that they should be okay for the time being, Shelby won’t talk. Norman doesn’t like that Shelby may make mother do “things” that she doesn’t want to do. Mother finally slips a little and asks Norman why, dear God, did he keep the belt? Norman confesses it’s because he like to keep mementos of things. Mother makes the amazingly accurate observation that it is insane to want to keep the memento of her rape and the murder of the man who attacked her. But oh, who cares, come here and let me hug you in my bed like the enmeshed man-child that you are.

In school, Norman tries to flirt with Bradley, but Emma cockblocks him telling him that the Chinese word they found is the word for “beautiful” and she wants to go to the police at which point Norman LOSES. HIS. SHIT. He insults her illness and demands that she not involve him or the motel with the police. That night, Norman lies in his room in the dark when Mother comes to him and tells him that he was right – as long as Shelby has the belt, he can hurt them, just like Norman’s father did. (!) “It’s all your fault,” she tells him. “I know,” he responds. “There’s something wrong with me. I know what I have to do.” No surprise here, it’s a hallucination and Mother isn’t actually in the room.  Norman walks in a trance from the motel to Shelby’s house.

A suddenly surprisingly cogent Norman manages to break into Shelby’s house. He finds a locked basement door and goes looking for a key, finding it in Shelby’s nightstand in his bedroom. Also, Shelby’s porn is in there too. That’s not technicallyrelevant, just a nice detail that I wanted to call out. Well done, props department! Norman is interrupted by Shelby’s guard dog, which is either deaf or lazy, considering how long Norman’s been in the house and making noise. Norman escapes the dog and makes it to the basement with the keys and you JUST KNOW this is going to be good. What does the fine upstanding Deputy Shelby have in his basement? Oh, you know. Just a cheesy homemade porn set, complete with mirror ball and camera. And a secret door. That locks from the outside. And opens to another porn set with an almost dead Chinese girl locked inside. Norman could freak out (or get aroused), but just then, Shelby comes home…

Lie Down. Try Not To Cry. Cry A Lot.

Adventure Time With Finn and Jake does a lot of things well. It has an eye-catching, surreal artisitc style. The characters are well-developed and the differences between them are non-trivial (which is less common than you might think for a cartoon). The plots are twisty and often twisted. Plus, singing! All of these elements are necessary for a cartoon to transcend the category of "children's programming" and become all-ages entertainment.

As I said, Adventure Time usually does these things well. Sometimes, however, it does these things AWESOMELY. For example, the two-part episode "I Remember You" and "Simon and Marcy." First, a little backstory - the Ice King is a comical despot who is constantly capturing princesses and trying to make them fall in love with him. He does have some magical powers, but in the end he's not an actual threat because all he really wants is friends. Marcelline is a female vampire musician, the epitome of cool. She drinks the color red (hey, it's a cartoon after all), has the ability to fly, and is well-known for her lyrical talent.

"I Remember You" begins with the Ice King trying to write a song to woo princeses with. He thinks he has a dark and tragic past to draw from, but he can't remember it. So he grabs an old journal and goes to Marcelline for help. At first she says no, but when Finn and Jake come to kick him out she tells them to let him stay. It turns out that the two have a history - one that started before the Ice King lost  his memory. They sing this song together:


OK, mind = blown. AND THEN we go into "Simon and Marcy" - Jake and Finn ask Marcelline why she allows the Ice King to hang around. She shrugs and says, 'I guess it's time I told somebody this story.' Flashback almost 1,000 years ago and open on a post-apocalyptic hellscape. A little girl with dark hair is crying, and a man with a backpack somes to her aid.

Before Marcelline was a vampire and before the Ice King became what he is, they were the lone survivors of the Mushroom War (obvious reference to 'mushroom clouds'). What follows is heart-breaking story in which Simon must don the crown of the Ice King to protect Marcy, but every time he puts it on HE GOES A LITTLE MORE INSANE. And at the end of her story, the Ice King looks at Marcelline and asks how it ends. She says, 'Simon never put the crown on again and they lived happily ever after.'

Check out new episodes Mondays at 7:30 pm on Cartoon Network. Or, if you remember the login information for your cable provider (yeah, right) you can watch episodes online - Adventure Time!

Do you prefer your zombies hot or cold?

Sunday night was a big night for geeks. In fact, it was kind of like the geek Superbowl. Over on AMC you had the third season finale of The Walking Dead and the long-promised show down between Rick and the Governor. And at the same exact time on HBO there was the third season premiere of Game of Thrones.

What's a girl to do?

Luckily I have a DVR so I wasn't forced to make any hard decisions. But I feel bad for those who aren't so lucky. Though let's be honest, if you have HBO you probably have some kind of digital television recording device.

In any event, it was definitely a "Hello, Goodbye" type of situation that unfortunately worked out way better for one show and not so great for the other. Let's start with the good stuff first!

Game of Thrones Season 3 Premiere

I feel like I could actually go back and just cut and paste from my review of the Second Season premiere. In fact....

[Valar Dohaeris] does what any good season premiere should--it establishes where the characters are, what they want, and what they are doing. Since last season, the many (many) characters in the Game of Thrones universe are scattered throughout the Seven Kingdoms, and Dany is still wandering across the sea (and don't expect that to change any time soon).

Hmm...strikingly familiar, eh? Season 3 expands the Game of Throne's character base yet again--though this time it seems like we are seeing more familiar faces that have decided to come back around.  Hey look, it's Salladhor Saan! And Barristan Selmy! These guys were very minor characters in the earlier seasons, so you're forgiven if when you saw them your reaction was more "huh?" rather than "DUN!" As someone who has read the books multiple times their reappearance wasn't a surprise to me, but I am sure that if I was just going by the tv show I would have had to do some interneting to try and remember just who the heck these guys were.

Despite the lack of substantial plot movement, the premiere was a solid episode. There was a lot to establish and a lot of characters to revisit, and once again the writers managed to make it all flow naturally without a "and now let's go check in on X character!" feeling. I won't recap where everyone is right now, but there is definitely a feeling of the more things change, the more they stay the same. Tyrion is still getting shit on by everyone in King's Landing, Tywin is still a total badass/jerkface, Cersei is still a cunthammer, Dany is STILL trying to find an army (side note--how creepy/badass are the Unsullied??), and Robb and his Mom are still wandering around looking for Lannisters to fight. Oh, and Margaery is still proving that she will be a major, if underestimated, player in the game of thrones.

In the book: has nose cut off.

In the show: rakishly handsome scar. Oh, television.

The only real advancement in plot occurred up North, where Jon Snow met with some of the new Season 3 characters, notably Mance Rayder, the King Beyond the Wall. He's played by, "Hey! It's That Guy," Ciarán Hinds, who seems to have the mix of gravitas and charisma that the role requires. Not just anyone could unite the wildlings or impress Tormund Giantsbane. Or actual giants, for that matter. Did I mention the giants?

Speaking of the North, it was gratifying that Season 3 picked up right where Season 2 left off, with Sam running about in the snow after spotting the White Walker group headed for the camp of the Night's Watch. Seems like he missed the party, er, battle, but at least some of the Crows seem to have come through it ok. Though Lord Commander Mormont certainly gave him a talking to for not sending the messenger crows with word of the fight. Whoops! Sorry Sam, those 3 minutes are all you get this week!

God, I just want to put my hands into those curls....and pull on them REALLY HARD. Just me?

And that's kind of the big problem with Game of Thrones at this point. The subplots have become so numerous and the characters so far geographically from one another, that it feels like in each episode we are only sampling small pieces of a buffet rather than enjoying a full satisfying meal. Don't get me wrong--it's an embarrassment of riches really, since the show is gorgeous and wonderful. But right when you settle into a meaty scene, like between Tyrion and Tywin or Little Finger and Sansa, it's time to whisk away across the continent to visit someone else for 5 minutes. For goodness sake, we didn't even get a chance to see Arrya or Jamie Lannister in this episode.

After going through the Season 2 rewatch last week, it's clear that the best way to think about Game of Thrones is as a 10 hour movie or miniseries, rather than a 10 piece episodic tale. There's just way too much to enjoy in one hour of television.  This of course makes the week break between episodes so maddening. Still, we play the cards we are dealt and if HBO leaves us salivating for each new episode....then I suppose they should consider raising a "Mission Accomplished" banner. Because THAT is the way to run a network.


The Walking Dead Season 3 Finale

Oh, for fuck's sake. Really? That's it?

What is it about this show? The first episodes of the season start so promisingly and then the wheels start spinning....and nothing seems to happen. We've spent the last 4 episodes sitting around talking about this big showdown between Woodbury and our prison folks...and then it lasts like 2 seconds and involves some kind of bait and switch where nothing really occurs.

Truth in advertising.

Sure, Andrea and Milton died. But was ANYONE really invested in Andrea at this point? She has made the most spectacularly poor decisions of anyone in pretty much any zombie apocalypse ever, so excuse me for not caring that she had to die. The ONLY reason her death actually matters to me at all is because of whatever effect is will have on Michonne (who is pretty much the only consistently awesome thing that got added to the show in Season 3).

Alright, so I know I am engaging in a lot of hyperbole here. A shit ton of stuff actually happened in Season 3, including the deaths of many other characters (including Lori who was arguably the second "biggest" character after Rick), but what does it say about the show that it seems like nothing happened? Because it sure feels like this group of people has spent most of the zombie apocalypse sitting around chatting with each other.  Add to that the growing number of inconsistencies (hilariously listed by Buzzfeed here), and the show has become more of a chore than a treat to watch.

I'm not saying I'm going to stop tuning in. There is always the promise that next season they'll get things right (though how many of us felt that way after Season 2)...and the show can still make me want to curl up in a little ball on my couch from tension and scariness. But. BUT. There's only so much a girl can take. Hopefully the writers will focus more on the good stuff from this season--like the evolution of minor characters like Carol and the expansion of the world the characters live in--rather than the bad. Because I'm not sure how much more chit chat I can take, or how much crazier they can make the governor. Stop beating it, that horse is dead.

Let's be honest. I'll keep watching as long as Daryl is alive and kicking. Any self-respecting Boondock Saints fan would do the same.

So, to recap. The season premiere of Game of Thrones left me practically chomping at the bit for the next episodes. But the season finale of The Walking Dead? Eh, I guess I'll continue watching when it comes back. And that pretty much sums it up, doesn't it?

Sister Evangelina Will Cut You

Did your cable drop Oxygen where you live? Are you unable to spend your weekends marathoning The Duchess and the 1995 and 2005 versions of Pride and Prejudice on continuous alternating repeat? Kids, I have your salvation.  It comes in the form of a darling little costume drama that does not get nearly the amount of attention it deserves:  BBC's sleeper hit, Call the Midwife. 

Slums are so whimsical!

I have drunk of the cup of Call the Midwife kool-aid and I am here seeking converts. Oh, yeahhhh. 

Following the runaway train (never goin' back) that is ITV's Downton Abbey, our beloved PBS (fuck you, Mitt Romney) has no qualms with airing ITV and (its rival) BBC dramas on the same network.  THIS IS WHY WE FOUGHT THE REVOLUTION, FOLKS.

Call the Midwifeis set in the late 1950s in Poplar, which had historically been an impoverished area of East London. These days, I'm pretty sure Poplar is inhabited by hipsters and performance artists, so I don't recommend stopping during your next tour of London, unless you want your dignity assaulted by a mime. 

Guess what animal I am? Nope. Not that. Nope, not that, either. Nope. I was a frog.

During the Call the Midwife era, Poplar was essentially a slum, which had seen no less than its fair share of tragedy. In 1917, eighteen Poplar children were killed when a German Gotha bomber shellacked a primary school. Even during WWI, it was populated by the disadvantaged, largely ignored by the British government until the National Health Service began serving poor neighborhoods after WWII.

The residents of 1950s Poplar are working class to poverty-stricken, and many are emotionally scarred former residents of 19^th and early 20^th century workhouses. However, being situated close to the docks, some teevee Poplar residents earn income from the shipping and fishing industries. Conditions are still very bad. The housing is substandard and the residents suffer from all the usual suspects that accompany poverty. Also, with this being the 1950s, no one uses birth control.

That is where Nonnatus House steps in. I'm not even exaggerating when I say this, BUT THERE ARE NUNS. Nonnatus House is a convent of Anglican nuns who run a prenatal clinic, a health clinic and deliver most of the babies in Poplar, with the aid of four trained twenty-something nurses from the National Health Service.

We're here to talk to you about sex!

Our heroine is Jenny Lee (Jessica Raine), on whose memoirs of nursing in 1950s and 60s Poplar the show is based. The narrated voice of the older Jenny is none other than VANESSA EFFING REDGRAVE. Also? Nuns.

I'm following every rainbow, bitches!

Jenny left her comfy middle-class home to train as a nurse after her relationship with the married Rakehelly Dishonor Esq. somehow did not work out. The other secular midwives are Trixie (Helen George), "Chummy" Noakes (Miranda Hart) and Cynthia Miller (Bryony Hannah).  Whenever a call comes into Nonnatus House, the midwives on duty pack up their baby-having kit and head off on their bicycles to deliver a baby. Hence the title. 

If you're already squeamish about childbirth, this show will not help. I really think it ought to be shown in high school sex ed classes during the contraceptive unit. Fortunately, I can close my eyes and say, "Ew." The birthing scenes are not really graphic per se, but they're biologically accurate. For those of you who think it's "miraculous," have at it. I will continue to be a little grossed out. 

The Season 2 premiere opens with Jenny riding her bicycle back to the convent as another day of work ends in Poplar. She has been out on a case. When she returns to the convent, there is cake! There is always cake at the convent due to batty Sister Monica Joan's penchant for sweets, but this time, the nuns baked a cake because it's Jenny's birthday! The midwives have a little time to celebrate, and then it's off to the movies! The movie is about Dreamy McDreamboat, who sings about flowers and sunshine. The girls share a box of chocolates they've snuck into the theater. Chocolates are easy to sneak into a movie theater. Harder with doughnuts. Easiest with alcohol.

Sister Julienne normally runs the roost, but the next day, Sister Evangelina (Pam Ferris) gives the midwives their marching orders. She sends Cynthia off to check on a mother whose baby isn't feeding, and upbraids Trixie for walking in late. Trixie protests her day's assignment, but Sister Evangelina shushes her and sends her on her way. Sister Christian doesn't want any nunsense from Trixie, and it doesn't help that Sr. disapproves of Trixie and her fast vixen ways. 

I'm going to wear lipstick and go on dates with men!

At the prenatal clinic, it's up to Chummy to demonstrate to the preggo ladies Dr. Turner's newfangled nitrous oxide machine! Chummy gets to do all the fun stuff. Last season, the nuns asked Chummy to run a clinic (quite literally) on condoms, and she met with skepticism and jeers from local ladies as she demonstrated how to unfold a safety first on a dildo. Nuns have this stuff lying around the convent. Legit. 

Chummy inhales too much gas during the demo, and she quite passes out. Dr. Turner is super stoked about N2O. Its original purpose was to ease labor pains and make delivery a little easier. Also? Laughing gas. However, the midwives find it only results in turning all the expectant mothers in Poplar into huffers.  Cynthia and Chummy discover this on their next case. They're not supposed to call Dr. Turner unless the case turns serious, but the mother insists on getting her fix for her labor pains. Posthaste. This leads to Dr. Turner being called to several ensuing deliveries which he would not have ordinarily attended.

Jenny's worried that Molly Brignall hasn't shown up for her prenatal check. Molly hasn't been in for four weeks, so Sister E tells Jenny to visit the next day. Jenny arrives, and hears Molly's husband yelling at her. Molly's protesting about not being able to do SOMETHING VAGUE because she's almost at term, but Richie's insisting that she has to do it because they need the money. Richie answers the door and he's sickeningly polite, but Jenny's not stupid. She notices that their house is too dirty for a home delivery. She also notices a bruise on Molly's arm. Not cool, bro. It's very apparent to Jenny that her patient is in abusive relationship. Jenny and the other midwives have lost patients in the past, and she's determined to save Molly -- from herself if she has to.  Molly also has a young daughter, Lorraine, who is witnessing all of this. Jenny tells the nuns she can't understand why the house was passed for home delivery five weeks ago, and Cynthia says that, five weeks ago, it did pass inspection. Sister Julienne (Jenny Agutter) instructs Jenny to contact Molly's mother.

Jenny visits Molly's mother, Mrs. Gray. Mrs. Gray tells Jenny that she's had a difficult time with Molly. Molly was evacuated during the war, and she came home afterward, but her father was killed in action and things haven't been the same since. Molly has nearly cut her mother out of her life, and Mrs. Gray says she doesn't like Richie, but Molly feels safe with him. Jenny informs Mrs. Gray that if Molly doesn't clean up her living conditions, the social services will have to get involved. Molly allows her mother to come over and clean after Richie leaves for...wherever it is that Richie goes. If Pete Campbell could be sleazier and smarmier and more of an asshole and way more evil, that would be this Richie fellow.

Richie creepily creeps in a few hours later, and he is none too pleased to see Mrs. Gray there. Jenny leaves, and she hears Richie screaming at Mrs. Gray. Jenny bursts back in, and sees Richie threatening to burn Molly with a cigarette if Mrs. Gray doesn't leave. Jenny leaps at him and shoves him off Molly. Jenny files a report with Chummy's policehusband, Peter (Ben Caplan). Sister Julienne tells Jenny to hold off on getting the federales involved, because she fears that Richie will forbid Molly from receiving any kind of medical care. It's a testament to Jenny and the other three midwives that they get very involved in their respective patients' well-being. Her ensuing visits to Molly are equally heartbreaking. She finally convinces Molly that she must deliver her baby at the maternity home, and she has to leave her daughter with her mother during the delivery. Throughout the episode, Jenny struggles to understand the addictive and unhealthy nature of Molly's relationship with Richie. She doesn't know how to help Molly find the courage to break away from a bad relationship, as she was able to do, because it is a very different situation. Later, Richie says something dickish to Molly, and she goes into labor. She's able to get herself to her mother's house, and her mother telephones Nonnatus House.

Sister Evangelina puts her foot down about the nitrous oxide, and these Modern Females protest that women should be allowed pain treatment during labor. Cynthia and Trixie gossip about how unkempt both the doctor and his son have been looking lately, until Sister Bernadette (Laura Main) shushes them. Sister Bernadette is crushing hard on Dr. Turner. Dr. Turner is a widower with a young son, and he's apparently the only doctor in Poplar, so he of course needs A Woman to Look After Him. 

Now...about that "vow of chastity" part...

Chummy starts to have second thoughts about giving up her ambitions to nurse in Africa (which had been part of her plan to run away from her former Downton Abbey-esque lifestyle). She helps Peter study for his upcoming promotion examination, and she helps him go over the laws about, of all things, PROSTITUTION. For those of you playing at home, have you caught on yet?

If you haven't, Peter calls Nonnatus House from the popo station. Chummy answers, and he tells her there's a woman in labor on board a cargo ship. Chummy thinks it's a joke because women aren't allowed on cargo ships, but Peter insists that it has to be checked out. Trixie's on call that night, and she and Jenny are going to head to the ship, but that's when Mrs. Gray's call comes through. Jenny feels she has to see Molly through this, so Trixie is left to head to the docks at the mercy of Sister Evangelina.  Sister Evangelina assumes the captain of said ship is German -- after he tells her he's Swedish -- and so she takes the obvious course and vacillates between yelling at him in German and Spanish. German + Spanish = Swedish. Trixie and Sister Evangelina are rowed out to the ship and Sister Evangelina takes the opportunity to get in a few digs at Trixie. But wait! There's more! Once they reach the vessel, they learn they must CLIMB A LADDER to get on deck. Sister Evangelina is not exactly young and not in the best of shape, and Trixie is wearing heels. Hijinks ensue. 

Sister Evangelina cannot, in fact, climb every mountain. It seems long ladders dangling from steel vessels are her limit. She falls onto the deck and dislocates her shoulder. It is now up to Trixie to save the day! She successfully climbs the ladder, to the delight of the gentlemen waiting up top. They're led to a tiny cabin, where a young lady is screaming in pain. Such a beautiful thing, that birthing process. 

The senorita in question is Kirsten, the captain's daughter. Kirsten cheerfully reveals to Trixie and Sr. that she's been serving as a live blow-up doll for the sailors on her father's ship. Like this is somehow normal. Apparently, Dear Old Dad has brainwashed her into believing that prostitution is her mission in life, and has even supplied her with a free lifetime's supply of condoms. Darlingest Papa has been whoring out his daughter to his crew, convinced that if they are not horny, they will not think about mutiny. Because that makes sense. Sister Evangelina is mad at hell about this nunsense, and insists that the captain find Kirsten a better room for the birth. Trixie takes charge! She figures she will keep Sister Evangelina placated by plying her with some of the ship's brandy supply.

How fortunate that we took advantage of this poor girl 60 years before the Maury show.

Jenny's able to help Molly through a pretty routine labor, but Trixie isn't so lucky. Trixie alerts Sr. E. that Kirsten's baby is prolapsed, and Sister E helpfully reminds her that a Caesarian is out of the question. They can't physically move Kirsten to a better position, so Trixie improvises by hitching Kirsten up on a chair. Trixie's able to manually get the umbilical cord out of the way ("Lots of room in there," she quips), while Kirsten yells out some curses in Viking. Trixie successfully delivers a baby girl. Kirsten is grateful for their presence, and for the baby. She says she's happy she finally has friends. Estrogen levels surge. Audience reaches for hankies.

Jenny presents Molly with her newborn son, and notices another bruise on her breast area. The next morning, Molly takes the baby and sneaks out of the maternity house before she's properly discharged. Jenny and Mrs. Gray knock on the door, but Richie answers. He takes Lorraine inside and slams the door in their faces. Jenny tries to visit Molly after that, but no one ever answers her knock.

El Capitan thanks Trixie for her service, but Trixie lets him know she's thoroughly disgusted with him pimping his daughter. She lets him know that he has to have a boat waiting for her so she can check in on Kirsten and the baby before they leave port, and she also informs him that she could easily report him to the police. Sister Evangelina gets carried on a gurney to a waiting ambulance, and orders Trixie to giver her some laughing gas. Sister Evangelina is quite the tweaker.

There's a short scene featuring Molly standing in an alleyway, with Richie talking to an unidentified man in a car. Molly gets into the car, and it becomes clear that Richie has been forcing her into prostitution. Jenny finds out later that Asshole Dad has been leaving the children alone, giving them milk and alcohol to keep them quiet. Sadly, the house soon after catches on fire, and Molly and Richie are imprisoned for child neglect. Fortunately, Lorraine and the baby are sent to live with Gran. Mrs. Gray gets a second chance to have a loving family and the children get a chance at a better life. 


The nuns let Trixie work in slacks, and she gets to dress like Marilyn to pay her regular visits to Kirsten.The sight of a nattily clad squaw elates the sailors, all of whom have hopefully found some obliging females whilst in port. Trixie has a present for Kirsten from the National Health Service. It's condoms! What Every Girl Wants. Kirsten informs her that she's gotten some R-E-S-P-E-C-T for herself and will not be playing the Staten Island Ferry for any more men. She is going to disembark once they get to Stockholm and raise her daughter on land. Dad can't object because...well, he can't.

In the foreshadowing department:

1) There's a glimpse of Chummy addressing a letter to Parts Unknown. 

2) Sister Bernadette takes it upon herself to personally sew buttons onto Dr. Turner's coat.

Are you thoroughly verklempt? This author is very happy about the return of Call the Midwife. Now, if only The Beeb had not axed The Hour. I need my Ben Whishaw and I need it now! 

Downton Abbey fans should for sure tune into this show. It's definitely an antidote to whatever Douchebag-Meets-Skank dating reality nonsense the main networks are offering in this time slot.

Call the Midwife airs at 8 p.m. on Sundays in my neck o' the woods. Check your local PBS stations for air dates and times. OR, you can watch episodes online at pbs dot org. Also! Season 1 is FINALLY available on instant watch on Netflix. 

Biker Bitch for the Lord!

Orphan is the New Black

Hey everyone! Did y’all dig that new Doctor Who on Saturday night? Did you happen to stick around to see the premier of BBC America’s new series Orphan Black? Want to know what’s the what with this sorta British, sorta American, sorta Canadian series? Of course you do!

Trippy.

Orphan Black, part of BBC America’s “Supernatural Saturday” lineup, tells the story of Sarah, a malcontented English drifter who’s made her way to Toronto at some point and is desperately trying to pull together enough money to get her young daughter back. It’s unclear why her daughter was removed from her to begin with, but given that part of Sarah’s plan is to get her foster brother, Felix, to push several pounds of cocaine for her, we can probably hazard a guess. The story gets underway when Sarah witnesses a sobbing woman, a women who eerily looks exactly like Sarah herself, throw herself into the path of an oncoming train. Sarah, again showing the kind of principled thinking that likely led to getting custody of her daughter removed from her, steals the woman’s purse.

Sarah discovers the woman, Beth, not only has a sweet car and an amazing apartment, but also $75,000 in a bank account that was only recently deposited. Convenient, eh? Sarah, con-woman that she is, devises a plan to steal the money by pretending to be Beth and then pass off Beth's mangled body as her own, allowing her to slip away in The Perfect Plan. All she needs to do is move into Beth's apartment, practice speaking with a American/Canadian accent through watching home movies of her and getting to know who Beth is convincingly enough to fool the account manager at the bank who is apparently friendly with Beth enough to know her personally. Did I mention that it turns out Sarah may have to have convenient distraction sex with Beth's live-in boyfriend as well? Just part of the game, really.

"I wonder if they made any honeymoon videos?"

And that's when the fun begins, because it turns out that Beth wasn't just a suspiciously unhappy woman on a train platform, she was also a cop who is under investigation for apparently accidentally killing a civilian in the line of duty. Before she can get the money, Sarah must now confront a deposition of internal affairs agents at the local police department to account for Beth's actions, which Sarah clearly has no clue about. Sarah has to jump from one frying pan to another all the while avoiding an increasing number of fires just to make her scheme pay off. It isn't long before "Beth" starts getting mysterious text messages from someone who demands that they meet. When this third party finally corners Sarah, the person is, wait for it, another woman who looks exactly like her, only German. And someone's out to kill all three of them. For only wanting to steal $75,000 and an identity, Sarah quickly finds herself at the center of a massive underground web of intrigue.

There's also gay comic relief. Because of course there is.

It shouldn’t take much of a leap (or even a cursory glance at the promos) to realize that this is a story about clones. Possibly about clones doing sexy spy things, although that remains to be seen. The show has a certain Alias-lite kind of vibe going, so that’s possibly not beyond the realm of possibility. And while the premise of clones in the modern day, all of whom presumably have no memory of being clones or of knowing where they came from has a certain appeal to it, the direction the show-runners and the writers choose for it will be the ultimate arbiter of whether or not this becomes your next great television addiction. If it succumbs to the Lost­-ization of modern television, the tendency of a show to regress further and further toward the needlessly complex mean, my patience isn’t going to last long.

Speaking of patience, the pilot episode itself is a mixed bag – slow moving at times with not enough information about any of the characters to really make us pull for them, right up until the last five minutes when OMG you guys shit gets real. Pilots are notoriously hard to do – you have to introduce characters that the audience instantly bonds with (or hates) and present enough of the world to give the audience an understanding of what it’s getting itself into. The real strength of the show after one episode is Tatiana Maslany, the actress playing Sarah (and Beth, the dead cop, and the strange third German lookalike). Maslany plays multiple characters, multiple accents and multiple bodies throughout the episode and does it convincingly. It’s a lot of fun to watch the same actress playing essentially alternate realities of herself, a lot like how Dollhousecould have been if that show had started with a more talented lead actress.

"You're drunk, Eliza. Sleep it off and stop calling me here."

What’s intriguing about the story is a plot that, if fantastic, we can understand and get behind (There are clones. Someone presumably made them. The clones seems to be in trouble. Wackiness ensues.) and a look and feel that, if not utterly original, at least calls to mind some comfortable old friends. Several of the scenes look like they could have been included as outtakes from Blade Runner, another sci-fi epic about people who are, if not clones, something not too far removed from the concept and have no idea whether or not they are “real.” It’s caught me for at least another episode or two. Here’s hoping for more.

Orphan Blackairs Saturday nights on BBC America.