Giancarlo Esposito
Killing time and characters as the summer TV season begins:
“Orphan Black” (Saturday, 9 p.m., BBC America)
The first season of this fantastic sci-fi thriller wraps with the four surviving clones (all played by Tatiana Maslany) finally on the same team – actually, one-time evil Helena may not be a clone at all but the identical twin of clone Sarah, which makes Mama’s brain hurt – and just in time as all of the clones’ former lives have unraveled. But wouldn’t you know it, by the end of last week’s episode, they introduced yet another clone, who’s working for evil Dr. Leekie (Matt Frewer) as he attempts to “deprogram” the clones. But Mama is more worried about the fate of the clones’ various loved ones as this season draws to a close.
“The Killing” (Sunday, 8 p.m., AMC)
This is not an 8 p.m. kind of show, nor is this rain-soaked depressor really a summer kind of show, but the crime solver finally closed its first case – the murder of Rosie Larson — so the third season starts fresh. Kind of. At least it’s a new case, which means there’s renewed hope that they’ll solve this one in less than two seasons. And there are even signs of character development: Holder (Joel Kinnaman) cleans up pretty well, and Mama didn’t catch Linden (Mireille Enos) smacking a single piece of gum in the two-hour season premiere. Against her better judgment, Mama was sucked in all over again by the closing credits, although if you’ve seen any of the many ads, the twist ending shouldn’t come as too much of a shocker.
“Deadly Spa” (Saturday, 8 p.m., Lifetime)
Oh, please TV movie gods, let this be as good/bad as its title promises. It’s the story of mother (Amy Pietz) and daughter (Tracey Fairaway) who end up in the Hotel California’s spa: You can never leave. Watch out for those acid facials.
“Revolution” (Monday, 10 p.m., NBC)
They’re promising that a member of the core group gets it in the first season finale, but unfortunately it seems unlikely to be the character Mama would most hope it to be. Nerdy Aaron (Zak Orth) redeemed himself a little bit in last week’s episode when he played the role of R2-D2 in the team’s re-creation of “Return of the Jedi” scene at the back door to the Imperial Endor bunker. Unfortunately, the C-3PO of the group, Tom Neville (Giancarlo Esposito), turned back to the Dark Side just in time for the finale of this action series that improved greatly in the back half of its freshman season.
“Pretty Little Liars: A Liars Guide to Rosewood” (Tuesday, 8 p.m., ABC Family)
Before the June 11 season premiere, catch up on the death, deception and possible resurrections of the first three seasons – yes, it’s only been three “years,” even though the seasonal installments make the series feel a lot older than it is. Narrating the overview is Janel Parrish’s Mona, who in the season finale received a threatening text from “A,” placing her on Team Liars, at least for now.