The fifth and final season of this BBC America hit brings the story of the sisters—a group of women who discover they are all born out of an elaborate, sinister cloning experiment—to a conclusion as they finally confront the truth behind the shadowy multinational corporation Neolution and its enigmatic founder. Tatiana Maslany won an Emmy Award for her performance playing five major roles (and more supporting characters who came and went through the series) with distinctive personalities, including streetwise mother Sarah, suburban housewife Alison, brainy genetic scientist Cosima, trained killer Helena, and ruthless corporate schemer Rachel. Stephen McHattie costars this season as P.T. Westmoreland—a veritable cult leader who claims to be over 100—and various other heroes and villains from past seasons appear here. It makes for a complicated finale, full of conspiracies, revelations, and conflicted loyalties, and it is frankly confusing. But this last season also gives all of the sisters (including nemesis Rachel, who has always treated her genetic siblings as test subjects) and devoted members of the extended family (foster brother Felix, Alison's husband Donnie, Detective Art Bell) the opportunity to step up in solidarity, and the ending brings a satisfying act of outreach and healing. Compiling all 10 episodes from 2017, extras include behind-the-scenes featurettes. Recommended. (S. Axmaker)
Orphan Black: Season Five
BBC, 440 min., not rated, DVD: 3 discs, $29.99; Blu-ray: 2 discs, $34.99 Volume 33, Issue 1
Orphan Black: Season Five
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