Orphan Black Back Home on SoHo

Here’s what US critics said of Orphan Black’s third season, which premieres 9.30 Monday on SoHo:

“One can admire [Tatiana] Maslany’s dazzling multifaceted work on the show — playing an assortment of disparate characters — while still finding the series somewhat impenetrable, especially with the introduction of a new set of male clones this season. So while Orphan Black provides its star a wonderful showcase, the many faces of Ms Maslany represents one of those marketable gimmicks that frankly overwhelms the programme itself. Maslany’s various personalities have gradually learned about their shared origins, the product of something known as Project Leda, but much of their background remains mysterious. Part of season three hinges on clues potentially buried within a book, as well as the revelation of male counterparts, known as Project Castor, a group of highly trained soldiers fully aware of each other’s existence and brought to sinister multi-headed life by Ari Millen.” — Variety.

“A menacing batch of Project Castor boy clones (Ari Millen) proves some spark. More please. Orphan Black needs a jump start of imagination that can produce stories worthy of its electrifying star.” — Entertainment Weekly.

“This is a lesson in how a good show goes wrong. Terribly, terribly wrong. As in ‘jumping the shark’ wrong, but given the subject matter, better make that jumping a school of identical sharks. [The] season premiere of Orphan Black has a distinctly unpleasant odor of chaotic desperation to it. What was once a unique, feisty, ambitious series has become just another middling show whose creators seem to be in way over their heads.” — San Francisco Chronicle.

“Wisely, the writers of Orphan Black spent the first two seasons building their universe in tiny increments that chose to put more emphasis on character action and purpose over plot twists. But, with the Castor unveiling, the world of the series must now be expanded just for the sake of accommodating that many more personalities. Luckily, based on the first two episodes, it can be said the series pulls off this expansion successfully. Not so much in the season premiere – which puts most of the focus on the sisters – but rather in episode 2 where we really get a sense of the show’s scope.” — Forbes.