If you haven’t heard of Orphan Black, then you don’t know what you’re missing. This show is one of the best shows, in any genre, that I’ve seen in a while and it returns to BBC America tonight! Basically, the shows star, Sarah Manning witnesses a woman walk off the train platform right in front of a train. Sarah decides to take that woman’s purse, and assumes her life. She realizes the stranger looks exactly like her. (Spoilers follow, so you might want to read on to refresh your memory before the new season or you might want to stop by Amazon and watch Orphan Black season one first on instant view or DVD.)
She expects to solve all her problems, but then is thrown into a crazy world of people who look just like her, and eventually finds out she is one of at least nine clones, and someone is hunting them down. Elizabeth Childs, commonly referred to as Beth, is the woman that Sarah witnessed commit suicide on the platform. Sarah figures out that Beth was a cop. Beth was the first to be contacted by another clone (Katja Obinger) and was told there were genetic identicals of her. Beth took to using facial-recognition software to track down other clones by checking drivers licenses. She found Cosima and Alison. Beth was also collecting blood/DNA samples to have tested, she also asked for proof such as birth certificates, passports, etc. Beth’s complicated past always came up in the way of Sarah’s life after she assumed her identity.
Sarah Manning is the main character, and the one we meet first. Sarah is an orphan and a street-wise drifter. She has a little girl named Kira, and was raised by a foster mom, Mrs. S, and has a foster brother named Felix. Felix actually went to the morgue and claimed that the women hit by the train was actually Sarah. This threw off her drug dealer ex-boyfriend, but eventually he runs into one of her clones.
Alison Hendrix is a suburban soccer mom. Alison can’t contribute in the ways the other clones in this small “clone club” can, she contributes monetarily. With a $75k fund that the girls use to protect themselves. Alison is married, and has two adopted kids.
Cosima Niehaus is the smart one of the bunch. She is in school completing her PhD in Experimental Evolutionary Development Biology at the University of Minnesota. At the end of the season, Cosima cracks the DNA code, and realizes that their DNA is encrypted. The DNA reads that the clones are property of their makers. Cosima is an eccentric, queer character, she wears her hair in dreads, has a tattoo and a nose piercing.
Helena is the one we find out to be killing off the clones. She was raised to believe that she was the original, and that the others are abominations. It is learned that she and Sarah are actually twins. Helena is crazy, out of her mind, and kills their birth mother before answers could be given.
Katja Obinger is the Russian clone. She is only in one episode. She was coughing up blood from a respiratory infection she had contracted, and was shot in the head. The shooter was later identified as Helena.
We also briefly meet Rachel Duncan. She is “pro-clone” as Felix says. She is working with the creators of the clones. Viewers aren’t yet sure if she is a good clone or a bad clone. We will see more of her in Season Two.
This show has twists and turns, and you think you know what is going to happen but then the unthinkable happens. This show will keep you guessing, and keep you hooked. Every episode is one that can’t be missed. The best part of this show has to be the actress playing all these clones, Tatiana Maslany. She does such an incredible job playing all these characters. There are even scenes where she has to be one clone, pretending to be another. Insanely talented actress on this show. This show is epic, plain and simple. The acting is well done, the characters are so perfect and so different from anything you’ve ever seen on TV before. Personally, I love that the lead is a woman, and she is taking on more roles than Eddie Murphy did in The Klumps.
If you have missed the first season, I suggest finding it. Whether it replays on the TV, or if you can find it on a streaming service. The show airs on BBC America. The second season starts today April 19, 2014.
