Orphan Black: Season Three Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.5
Overall		3.5

Orphan Black: Season Three Blu-ray Movie Review

"I am not your property."

Orphan Black hits a nice, breezy stride in its third season, settling into its skin and offering a more consistent bit of clone wrangling. But with that consistency comes the sense that the series' biggest ideas have grown too big; for its budget, for its writers, for its mythos, for its already ambitious pursuits, but mostly too big for its own good. (Or for its britches, depending on where you call home.) The introduction of the Castor clones in Season Two was a promising development, albeit one that, as Season Three skips along, leads to too many shoulder-shrug reveals, most of which amount to, cute, what's next? (And the occasional, am I supposed to care about this? What else ya got?) Performances are uniformly excellent, but dialogue becomes increasingly expositional, as if the goal is to pad out conversations and manufacture more conflicts to juggle and more interests to navigate. Then there's the third season's off-kilter tone, which renders a handful of clone subplots aimless, jarringly silly or, worse, over-indulgent. There's some great stuff happening too -- almost all things Sarah, Helena and Mrs. S -- just nothing that resonates as clearly or cleanly as the series' earliest first season episodes. It seems as if the more Orphan Black pulls back the curtain on the clones and their origins, the more the show struggles to keep things interesting. What was initially a high concept thriller is slowly becoming an overcrowded clone carnival. I'm still watching and watching willingly, mind you, so I suppose that says something. If the series slides much farther, though, I'm not sure how long that will remain the case.

• The Weight of This Combination: Sarah pursues the missing Helena who is held in a faraway compound. Sarah must use her wiles -- and acting chops -- to deter a Topside investigator who threatens the Leda sisters’ lives. Meanwhile, Cosima appears to be rebounding from her illness, while Alison and Donnie face newfound financial woes. But when the menace of Castor rears its head once more, Sarah and her entire family must come together to survive.
• Transitory Sacrifices of Crisis: Castor pursues the Leda clones for original tissue samples. Helena, who is pregnant and imprisoned, is examined by a mysterious new villain. The Castor boys are also out to play, toying with a frightened young woman, Patty, in a sexy switcheroo that ultimately sets Sarah -- and Art -- hot on the Castor trail. But it’s not all fun and games for the Castor boys, as Sarah gleans they may have a mysterious defect that puts their lives in peril.
• Formalized, Complex and Costly: Leda and Castor are both on the hunt for original clone DNA. On the lam, Mark and Gracie pursue new leads to find the samples that might set them free, while Art and Sarah reunite to track them down. Meanwhile, Cosima and Scott try to learn more about Castor’s biology and Alison’s new money-making venture is going gangbusters. A shocking revelation about the Castor-Leda connection leaves the sisters reeling, just before Sarah witnesses a deadly Prolethean-Castor face-off.
• Newer Elements of Our Defense: Mark is taken down in a Prolethean shoot-out and Sarah must step in to help. But as Sarah gathers intel that puts her on the trail of the original Castor DNA, a familiar foe is not far behind. While Helena continues to toil in a faraway military compound, it is ultimately Sarah’s fate that will hang in the balance as she tries to save her sister. Meanwhile, Gracie is cast out from the Prolethean fold, and Alison and Donnie come face-to-face with unhappy drug lord, Jason Kellerman.
• Scarred By Many Past Frustrations: Helena and her seestra are reunited at the Castor camp when Sarah is captured. As Sarah suffers testing, Paul appears to chide her; but his allegiances are beginning to strain. While the Leda family worries about Sarah’s absence, Gracie ‘breaks Amish’ under the care of Mrs. S and an unwilling Felix. Cosima falls hard for an internet date, Shay.
• Certain Agony of the Battlefield: Paul digs and finds the ugly truth behind the Castor Boys’ logbooks of names, pushing him into action. Meanwhile, Felix is desperate for info on Sarah’s whereabouts, and presses the still-ailing Rachel for any shred of a lead. In order for Donnie and Alison to take their money-making endeavor to the “next level” she must introduce Jason Kellerman to her unique business plan.
• Community of Dreadful Fear and Hate: Alison must secure a store front in order to take her and Donnie’s business to the “next level.” But things don’t go according to plan when her mother, Connie, proves to be a major hindrance. Cosima is facing familiar health issues and calls upon beleaguered Alison for a favor. But with Alison working to save an imperiled Donnie from the merciless hands of a drug lord, it’s Cosima who ends up doing a favor. An unassuming Scott gets closer to the greatest discovery of all, when he sits down with beleaguered clone Rachel.
• Ruthless in Purpose, and Insidious in Method: When Rachel makes a promise to Sarah, it comes with a hefty price. Meanwhile, Helena and Gracie work with the Hendrixes, and Donnie takes Kellerman to task. Over at Castor, Coady and Benchman scheme to track down the Castor Original, and Rudy descends on DYAD for a much needed asset.
• Insolvent Phantom of Tomorrow: Sarah, Felix, and Mrs. S take a trip with the hopes of tracking down the Castor Original. But they are not alone. Back home, Donnie tries to save the family business when Pouchy defects, but it is Helena who manages to secure a “full refund.” Meanwhile, Cosima becomes suspicious of Shay, and Delphine takes the matter into her own hands. But nothing will ever be the same again when Leda finally finds what they’ve been looking for.
• History Yet to Be Written: As Clone Club races towards the truth, Castor and Topside force Sarah to make uneasy alliances. But there is some rest for the wicked, when Donnie gives Helena an unexpected “gift,” and the results of Alison’s candidacy finally come in. Even as team Leda takes a moment to breathe, change is afoot and a life hangs in the balance.

Orphan Black: Season Three Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The Blu-ray release of Orphan Black's third season is comparable to its first two, thanks to a slick 1080p/AVC-encoded video presentation that doesn't exhibit any serious problems. Detail is terrific. The series tends to alter from close-up to close-up, with only the occasional establishing shot or eruption of wide frame action, and fine textures are precisely resolved without exception. Edges are crisp and clean too, free of ringing, aliasing or anything else that might hinder the photography. Colors are often muted and skewed, but only insofar as the showrunners' intentions and digital color grading dictate. Regardless, black levels are deep and satisfying, contrast is strong and consistent, and the series' palette is pleasing, despite its reliance on overcast greens and yellows. Better still, significant artifacting, banding, errant noise and other distractions are nowhere to be found. BBC continues to produce high quality AV presentations that haven't disappointed in quite some time.

Orphan Black: Season Three Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Like previous series releases, Orphan Black: Season Three features a solid DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track fans can embrace without complaint. Dialogue is clean and intelligible, with pinpoint prioritization, especially during more action-packed sequences. Rear speaker activity is decidedly decent, with transparent pans and convincing directionality, and LFE output is steady and reliable, despite being a bit subdued by design. More aggressive elements are still suitably commanding, though, and dynamics are notable, leaving little to criticize.

Orphan Black: Season Three Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• The Rendition Camp: Behind the Walls (Disc 2, HD, 9 minutes): Co-creator John Fawcett, cinematographer Aaron Morton and VFX supervisor Geoff Scott take fans on a revealing behind the scenes tour of the Rendition Camp, touching on the very timely themes, set design and CG enhancement, and details that brought the desert blacksite to life.
• Dissecting the Scenes (Disc 2, HD, 12 minutes): Season Three's four-clone scenes in all their glory, from conception to carefully orchestrated shoot to visual effects to final editing.
• The Look of Orphan Black (Disc 2, HD, 9 minutes): Fawcett and Morton discuss stylizing Season Three without wishing it to appear overly stylized; creating a unique look to set the series apart without it feeling false or too unreal.
• Creating the Castor Clones (Disc 2, HD, 8 minutes): Actor Ari Millen and the series' co-creators chat about the origins of the new male clones, the challenges of delineating the various Castors, and the performance involved.
• Team Hendrix: Rockin' the Suburbs (Disc 2, HD, 6 minutes): Tatiana Maslany, Kristian Bruun and the series' co-creators examine the joy of making the annual Alison/Donnie episodes and readying such quirky episodes for the fans.
• At Home with the Hendrixes (Disc 2, HD, 2 minutes): A music video starring Alison and Donnie.
• Blooper Reel (Disc 2, HD, 6 minutes): Laugh it up with the cast and crew.

Orphan Black: Season Three Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Has Orphan Black settled into a groove or settled into a rut? At the moment, it seems like the latter. The series has become more consistent, but the smart surprises and clever character development of the first season have faded and the once original show has begun to feel much too ordinary. It's still more than watchable. Addicting even. It just isn't packing the same creative kick anymore. BBC's Blu-ray release of Season Three isn't disappointing, though. With another strong AV presentation, fans can embrace (or revisit) the third season without fear of distraction.