It is legitimately impossible — borderline quixotic — not to think about Orphan Black any time Tatiana Maslany stars in a TV show. The Canadian actress delivered a masterclass in the seminal BBC series, portraying dozens of near-identical, emotionally distinct clones in a way that looked totally easy. That juggernaut of a performance can’t be replicated, dedicated as Maslany is to elevating every role she books. So it’s not exactly fair to tune into, say, She-Hulk: Attorney at Law and expect a similar level of finesse. Lightning can’t strike twice!
That said, we do get pretty damn close to that greatness with Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed. The Apple TV crime thriller shares a lot with Orphan Black, if only because — unlike most of what’s come in the intervening years — it knows exactly what to do with Maslany. It also doesn’t hurt that, give or take a few details, the series follows the same beats as the story that defined her career. Maslany is once again a troubled single mom who witnesses a brutal murder and stumbles into a vortex of conspiracy and exploitation. This time, though, the demise she’s caught up in is not of her clone, but of a cam-boy who’s been scamming her for months.
