The first rule of Clone Club is you do not talk about Clone Club. The second rule of Clone Club is you DO NOT talk about Clone Club. But if you do find yourself in a position where you are forced to talk about Clone Club, please refrain from using the C word…
Created by: John Fawcett & Graeme Manson
Stars: Tatiana Maslany, Jordan Gavaris, Kevin Hanchard, Maria Doyle Kennedy
May contain some mild spoilers..
Orphan Black is the story of Sarah Manning, a streetwise hustler, orphaned as a child, who has returned to America after disappearing for ten months to reclaim her daughter. But things take an unexpected and dramatic twist when she witnesses a woman throwing herself in front of a train, who happens to look exactly like her. Sarah assumes the woman’s identity and it propels her into a world of murder and intrigue. Sarah soon discovers the dizzying truth – she is part of a genetic experiment and she is one of eight known clones, and they are being killed off one by one by an unknown assassin. Sarah must now work with her clones if she is to learn the truth of her origin and stop the assassin before it affects her and her family.
Orphan Black airs on BBC America but feels like a HBO series. It doesn’t hold back on the sex and violence. At only ten episodes it packed in a hefty amount of story, the twists and turns and revelations came like a speeding bullet – not that I’m suggesting there are kinds of bullets that aren’t speedy. Without giving too much away, as this generation of TV lovers cannot bare the idea of SPOILERS, the plot follows Sarah Manning, played by the wonderful Tatiana Maslany, as she tries to get back her daughter while juggling a double life she stole from a lookalike, Beth – a detective who committed suicide. She soon finds out she is a clone and meets her other personalities, Alison, Cosima, and Helena, and together they try and figure out why they were created.
Tatiana plays each character – but I’m sure you already knew that since they’re CLONES. Alison is a soccer mom and well rounded, on the surface, suburbanite. Cosima is a genetics student with piercings and dreadlocks. Oh, and she’s openly gay. And Helena is a deranged psychopath on a mission to rid the world of the impurities (her clones). It is these characteristics that differentiate the clones. They are amazingly diverse with such distinctive personalities you forget you’re watching the same actress. Certain twitches and specific movements identify the amount of detail Tatiana puts into making each of her characters compelling and real. And she does it flawlessly.
What’s even more impressive is how she is able to slip from one character into another with absolute ease. At the beginning Sarah must play Beth in order to keep up the charade and fool the police department and her partner. But Sarah can never fully be Beth as she is only portraying her. They come back to this when Alison must pretend to be Sarah. Her personality clashes with Sarah’s punk rocker attitude and you can see that struggle. Something is always going to be a little off and it is these imperfections that make the performances perfect. This is a first for television; an actress with a controlled split personality disorder.
Sarah is sometimes a tough character to like. She is a bit rough around the edges and can be very arrogant and stubborn. But she is a good person at heart and her character truly shines when in the company of her stepbrother Felix (Jordan Gavaris). He brings much humour to the show and delivers bitingly witty lines. He’s a loyal brother and always has Sarah’s back despite his objections. And his flirtation with the men he meets is priceless. It is unfortunate that the other male leads in the show are a little underwritten and one dimensional. Paul (Dylan Bruce), Beth’s husband, plays a stone faced military man sent to “monitor” Beth. He brings very little to the story but has the potential to grow. And Beth’s former partner, Art Bell (Kevin Hanchard), plays a tough detective, and is only used to move the plot along. It is definitely the women who truly shine in Orphan Black. And our very own Maria Doyle Kennedy as Mrs. S, foster mother to Sarah and Felix and guardian to Kira, is written as a tough loving mother, shrouded in mystery, and excels in the role. It’s also nice to hear a real Irish accent on an American show.
Apart from the personal dramas in Orphan Black (which there are plenty of) there is also the external threat in the form of the evolutionists and creationists. The Illusionists are a group of scientists looking to control the future of evolution and the Prolethians are religious extremists with an unknown agenda – although you can extrapolate it will not be in favour of Sarah and her sisters. Both are extremely dangerous and both have no qualms in killing those who get in their way. Seriously, don’t mess with these guys if you want to live to see Brad Pitt grow old. The theme of science versus religion is expertly woven into the story but doesn’t lean towards one or the other. There are no good sides here – except maybe the side of the clones. But even then, they’re not exactly angels. There hasn’t been a show in a long while to tackle such issues since Battlestar Galactica in 2004. Orphan Black follows a similar theme of “God’s Children”. The clones are seen as this new age in evolution and creation and the next step in human progress, much like the human Cylons. Of course, what people don’t understand, they fear. And fear leads to hate. Hate leads to the dark side and… Sorry, wrong universe. Season One was more about Sarah’s personal journey and trying to come to terms with her new identities. But in Season Two we are learning more about the BIGGER picture and the themes are only going the get more complex.
Overly all, this is an excellent series. I cannot highlight that enough. There is much to gain from watching this show – excellent characters, great story, twisting plot lines, etc. In much the way LOST pissed you off by not answering questions raised until many seasons later, Orphan Black does no such thing. The story moves quite fast and the writers are not afraid to reveal their secrets as they’ll just write new ones. It’s a refreshing thing to see in a television show. And, do you know what the best part is? The second season has just started. You’ll be caught up in now time. In fact, I’m sorry you read this review and wasted precious minutes that could have been spent watching Orphan Black. Go now! And don’t forget to look under the couch!
[Words, Brian Dunster]
