(calm piano tones)

(steam hissing)

Hi folks.

I'd just like to take back

every mean thing I ever said about Michael Bay.

His talent knows no bounds!

Oh! Aha!

Doppelganger!

I say thee nay.

Whoops, gotta go.

Oh, parting thought, Phantom Menace.

Right for critical rediscovery.

(groans)

So I've been scrutinizing trailers

for this new film The Double,

which stars Jesse Eisenberg

and Jesse Eisenberg.

Which is, if you ask me, like twice as many

Jesse Eisenbergs as any film can respectably claim.

It got me thinking about the age old crutch

of the lazy screenwriter:

the evil twin.

Just slap some facial hair on an actor, and poof!

He's evil.

Only one show has ever truly done justice

to this silly trope.

No, no that one's a gimme.

I'm talking about Garth.

You know.

Michael Knight's evil twin Garth from Knight Rider?

He was even more badass than KARR,

the evil twin of KITT.

But the saga of Garth Knight

was resolved in a couple of 44 minute episodes.

If you're trying to sustain a doppelganger story

for longer than that, you need to dig deeper.

An evil twin doesn't have to be a lazy trope.

If it's well executed it can actually have something to say

about identity,

and individuality.

Like this show.

Orphan Black stars a versatile lead actress

who can actually play several distinct versions of herself.

And the writing is good enough

to make her different personalities

feel distinct.

I'm not sure if this Jesse Eisenberg guy can do the same.

He basically always plays the same

awkward, boyish, prickly schlub.

And that's the thing, right?

For an evil twin to work,

the original has to be interesting too.

Don't you agree that no self-respecting adult

should care about comics?

Let him know, uh,

let me know in the comments.