1. Orphan Black
The first five minutes:
Sarah is a down on her luck single mom fighting to regain custody of her
daughter. She’s standing on a platform waiting for a train when a distraught
woman drops her purse and shoes on the ground and moves toward the edge. A
train approaches. The woman turns and looks at Sarah, and Sarah stops cold—the
two women could be twins. The other woman then leaps in front of the train.
Sarah grabs the woman’s purse and bolts.
Why you’ll stick
around for more: You guys. THIS SHOW. My husband and I ordered sushi one
Friday night and sat down to watch the first episode on a whim, and twenty
minutes went by and I realized I was still sitting there, holding a pair of
chopsticks over an untouched spicy tuna roll. There are so many things to love
about this show—Clones! Secret medical experiments! Heart-stopping suspense!
CLONES! But really, what makes this show is the absolutely brilliant acting of
Tatiana Maslany, who balances seven
different roles and makes each of them unique and sympathetic. She deserves to
win ALL THE AWARDS. For serious. Buzzfeed agrees with me. (LINK: http://www.buzzfeed.com/rachelhorner/why-tatiana-maslany-should-be-on-your-radar)
Catch Orphan Black on BBC America. (Warning: Mild sex,
nudity, language and some violence.)
2. Continuum
The first five
minutes: It’s 2077 and corporations are king. Literally. Policewoman Kiera
tracks the leader of a terrorist organization intent on bringing down the
corporations. Kiera moves in, but before she can stop him, the leader triggers
a series of explosions, killing tens of thousands of people. Six months later,
the leader and several of his followers are set to be executed for their
crimes. Kiera is providing security. But then the terrorists enable a time
travel device, whisking themselves and Kiera back to 2012. When Kiera wakes,
the terrorists are gone, and she knows she has to find them.
Why you’ll keep
watching: There’s a lot to like about Continuum. It’s a classic fish out of
water story, albeit one with some pretty cool, futuristic gadgets thrown in for
good measure. But what I love most about Continuum is the time travel world.
It’s very different from my own time
travel world, but it raises a lot of interesting questions for you to puzzle
through. You know, if you like that kind of thing.
You can see Continuum on SyFy, and it’s also available on Netflix.
(Some violence).
And as a final parting note, I’d just like to thank the
League for inviting me to be an affiliate this month. I had a blast! And if any
readers what to chat about anything further—time travel, action scenes, rabid
Orphan Black fangirlishness—feel free to drop me a line at merediththewriter at
gmail.
Meredith McCardle is June's Affiliate Blogger. To find out more about our guest author positions here at the League, click here.
Meredith McCardle is a recovered lawyer who lives in South Florida with her husband and two young daughters. Like her main character, she has a fondness for strong coffee, comfortable pants, and jumping to the wrong conclusions. Unlike her main character, she cannot travel through time. Sadly. Her debut, THE EIGHTH GUARDIAN, will be published by Skyscape/Amazon Children's in Spring 2014.
The Eighth Guardian
by Meredith McCardle
Iris's world is turned on end when she's plucked out of her top-secret government training school and dropped into an organization she’s never heard of: the Annum Guard. It’s a team of highly trained operatives who have the ability to travel back in time and tweak the past to improve the present. Enhancement, not alteration—or so they claim. But the deeper she gets into the organization, the more she learns that the Annum Guard is keeping some very dangerous secrets. So now she has to start digging for answers without getting caught. For if she fails, it won't just be her life on the line. It will be an entire history's worth of lives.
5 comments:
My husband and I LOVE Orphan Black! Because I write about cloned humans in my YA novel MINDSPEAK, someone told me about this show right after it started, so I was able to get the DVR going, and we fell in love with it immediately.
I've had a few people tell me it took them a few episodes before they were hooked, so if you anyone stopping by here gives it a try, make sure you give it a couple of episodes if you're unsure. It really is an amazing show, and Tatiana (the actress who plays the clones) is incredible and receiving all sorts of awards.
I'll have to give the other show a try. I didn't know about that one. :)
Oh my goodness I MUST check out Orphan Black! Thanks for putting that one on my radar. So excited. CLONES! :D
Julia @ That Hapa Chick
I love Orphan Black and Continuum! It took me a few episodes to really love Continuum but now I'm really into it! Orphan Black is phenomenal!
I've watched Continuum, but never heard of Orphan Black until now. Thanks for bringing it to my attention. I really enjoyed the first episode.
Thanks for the tips. TIVOing now!
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