Tony was such a weird out-of-nowhere gimmick that it was hard to really address him as a character, and my experience with trans people in real life does not prepare me to judge whether Tatiana Maslany did a believable job…
A somewhat disjointed episode, but it had some good moments.
(And that’s not really how board gaming works. Someone can’t join a game in progress, play for a while, do something very impressive, then leave the game, and have everyone else play on. At least, not with most games.)
They don’t need to cut her hair when she plays Rachel. They just roll it up and throw on a bobbed wig. Tony could have had a short hair wig, with her real hair hidden somewhere. Barring a practical makeup effect, I’m sure the effects geniuses that can put multiple clones in one scene could have found a way to edit out a ponytail. I think it was a misstep. The hair not only looked feminine, but looked a lot like Sarah’s. and the hair wasn’t the only issue. Sad to say, I think Tatiana may have hit her limit here. I didn’t buy Tony at all. And why, oh why, Felix? really? No way would he kiss Tony. So out of nowhere and creepy. Sister-kisser indeed. Hopefully Tony is just a one-shot gimmick character and doesn’t come back any time soon.
Depends on the game. I agree about jumping in, but leaving? sure. Some games still have player-elimination. If someone leaves, it might disrupt the balance and make a kingmaker situation, but the game could handle it. As for jumping in, there was a cut there when she joined. They might have started over and dealt her in? (Start over? in the middle of a game, you say? I think the stereotypical gamer guy would bend over backwards if it meant getting a girl to play.) I was just glad to have a positive and semi-realistic portrayal of modern boardgaming on TV. Unheard of! And with a gamer girl, no less! If Cosima wasn’t already my favorite, she would have jumped into the lead right there.
Anyone recognize the game? I was struggling to do so. It seemed like it might have been made up for the show, but there was an awful lot of detail there. Cards, minis, board tiles. There was a blurry shot of the rulebook, but I couldn’t place it.
The Tony plot failed for me. Not just on acting, hairstyle and psuedo-incestuous kissing, but overall. (if he would only give his message (which made no sense anyway) to Beth, why on Earth did Art tell him Beth was dead and then make Felix try to worm it out of him? wouldn’t it be easier just to produce ‘Beth’? Sara fooled Art and Paul long-term. She could easily fool Tony long enough to get the message.) Can anyone remind me where we last saw Paul, where he might be, and what this message might mean? (and why we’d care about Paul anyway?) And the “hanging out at Mrs. S’s house, waiting for the next plot developing character to ring the doorbell” bit was kind of odd. But I liked the Cosima and Allison stories enough that I’ll give it a pass.
I’m betting Cosima lives. I thought it a real possibility that she’d die during that seizure/coughing fit. But since she survived the episode, I think she’ll pull through.
And now that we have confirmation that the clones were barren by design, I have a new theory about the disease: I don’t think a cure was the motive for the cloning. I think the disease is an unintended side-effect of whatever artificial gene sequence causes the infertility. The fact that the disease starts in the uterus seems to fit. The infertility gene causes the uterus to be broken somehow so as not to bear children, but also causes these growths/tumors/whatever, which then spread to the lungs and elsewhere. This would mean that Sara might be safe (and Helena? if the embryos get implanted and take) (and Tony, if he’s had his uterus removed?) but that Allison or Rachel might be next to get it.
Apparently a pretty good game, which I’ll have to look into. Came out in 2010, which would explain why I didn’t recognize it. I scaled back my game purchasing significantly around '08 or so. (When you get up over 750 games and then have kids, you get a bit choosier.)
Though it looks like it only goes up to 4 players. But apparently people online have combined 2 sets to play with more. Maybe they were using a variant like that because I’m pretty sure there were 4 or 5 guys even before Cos joined in. (hey, maybe she and Scott played as a team, which would explain how she was able to join and leave the game. )
I agree on all these. Though I did think Tatiana was in there pitching for the Tony characterization. I wonder whether “Tony” might have come off more successfully if she’d had more support from production–a short wig, different facial makeup, and possibly some bigger shoulders. (If Tony is taking testosterone regularly, would he still have Tatiana’s soft baby-face, or would his face be more lean/defined? Something toward that could have been done with makeup and lighting. And wouldn’t Tony, potentially, have a bit more muscular development through the arms and chest?)
(They actually sell pantyhose with hair, to simulate hairy legs. A search returns only porn sites, so I won’t link. But the producers could have bought a pair for Tony to wear!)
Everything about Tony is way too creepy. Felix and Tony kissing? Yuck.
Not well played. Too much a woman even for a trans-man.
So, Alison (note: one “l”) is going to be the “cleaner”. Figures. She and Donnie are even, murder-wise. I agree that this will help repair their marriage.
Rachel says Leekie is dead. Does she actually know this or is she just saying it to cover him being “exiled”, presumably to be hunted down.
Where is Paul? Apparently he was in the same category (knew?) Tony’s shot friend.
How did Beth find all these clones, anyway? Was Paul somehow part of that?
Two references to clone/hybrid/whatever-fiction this week. The obvious one of The Island of Dr. Moreau and a clever reference to Blade Runner. In the movie Roy says to Tyrell “It’s not an easy thing to meet your maker.”
Here, they prefix with Ethan telling Cosima not to call him her maker, so when she does the quote she has to mangle it. Nice. He even sort of looks like Tyrell.
Have there been any earlier Blade Runner references? (The whole “Helena tracking down and killing the clones” is reminiscent. Especially if you understand that in the movie Deckard was a replicant himself.)
By “category” I meant the “ghost”/military reference. (And maybe “ghost” means they were reported KIA but clearly still alive, well, Paul is. Hence Dyad’s hold. They don’t want to be turned in as deserters. Couldn’t Art Bell* check on that?)
Thinking about more possible Blade Runner references:
Origami: Deckard’s monitor, Gaff, made origami figures. Cal makes butterflies/angels for Kira. Not sure of Cal’s former monitor status. Definitely not working for Dyad now.
Rach(a)el/the Maker: Rachael, created by and implanted with the memories of her Maker Dr. Eldon Tyrell’s niece. Rachel Duncan: Makers are Drs. Ethan and Susan Duncan who raise her as their daughter.
If they throw in a unicorn reference, I’m going to plotz.
When Tony shipped out at the end of the episode, I wasn’t sure if I should be pleased because a character that wasn’t working out for me wasn’t going to be around on a regular basis, or annoyed because the brevity of his appearance kind of made the character look a bit like a cheap stunt. Ultimately, I do like the idea of the character, so I think I’d like to see him return so the writers can do a better job with the execution.
Tony was a big misstep. Maslany has been rightfully praised for her portrayals of the clones, but with Tony I think she stretched a bit too far. The seams were way too visible with that character, in the acting, makeup, and writing. A poorly executed stunt.
I’m wondering if Maslany herself was uncomfortable playing Tony and that noticeably affected her performance. Chloë Sevigny publicly stated her unease at playing a trans-woman in the short lived TV series Hit & Miss. (Which contrasts to her co-star Hilary Swank in Boys Don’t Cry.)
Ok. Donnie manning up is awesome. Helena going full-on anti-hero is awesome. And someone other than Sarah doing the “pretend to be another clone” thing is neat.
Donnie is a way more entertaining character now that we’re not constantly wondering what his real motivation is and instead just get to appreciate him for being entertaining.
I agree, leahcim and MaxTheVool. Donnie has become more interesting; he and Alison make a more compelling team. They don’t have a smooth road ahead of them, certainly.
So, will the season finale give us another look at what the Neolutionists–those at Dyad and/or others–are hoping to achieve? Are the Proletheans done, or was the burned-out group just a small cell among a far greater number of cells than we’ve yet heard about?
I’m kind of hoping it’s not All Kira, next week. But of course it may turn out that way.
Man, I can’t remember the last character on TV that leapt up in my liking so fast as Donnie has in two episodes. So entertaining. Love him.
I am getting a bit tired of Kira being in danger all the time. She’s become OB’s answer to Buffy’s Dawn. But Rachel’s deception really took me by surprise. That’s one hell of a Xanatos gambit. Well played, Ms. Duncan. But what’s her plan? Is it to keep Kira as the child she’ll never have? or to wait for her bone marrow to replenish and keep harvesting it (to stop Rachel from getting the disease)? or something even more sister?
I wouldn’t count the prolethians out yet. Remember that Mama prolethian was out scouting for more brood mares. And I doubt that cell and tomas’s were the only ones.
So now Helena’s on the run with a bunch of embryos. Where will she go? And what happens when Dyad finds out she’s got a bucket full of Kira-like stem cells?
But apparently people online have combined 2 sets to play with more. Maybe they were using a variant like that because I’m pretty sure there were 4 or 5 guys even before Cos joined in. (hey, maybe she and Scott played as a team, which would explain how she was able to join and leave the game. 
)