Orphan Black has a lot of reasons to recommend it, including a very fun storyline that keeps adding twists and turns, as Sarah finds out she and her fellow clones are in great danger. But the number one reason to watch is Tatiana Maslany. To use a cliché, the Canadian actress gives a revelatory performance here; or, to be more precise, performances. Maslany 100% commits to making each of these woman a very specific, very different person, with absolutely incredible results. Beyond the different accents they have (Sarah’s from England, and other clones are from the Ukraine and Germany, among other locations), Maslany imbues each clone with completely different mannerisms, posture, disposition and so on and so on.
Besides Sarah, two other clones soon become main characters – Budding scientist Cosimia and “soccer mom” Allison. Watching these characters, whether together or off in their own storylines, it sometimes becomes hard to compute that one woman is playing all three of them. They are all so distinct and so fully formed, it’s simply amazing to realize the work Maslany is doing and how technical it must be when she’s in a scene with herself… and herself.
Maslany is given strong support from her costars, including Jordan Gavaris as Felix, Sarah’s foster brother and Maria Doyle Kennedy as Sioban, AKA Mrs. S, Sarah and Felix’s foster mother. There’s also an entire police department storyline, as Sarah discovers Beth, the woman who threw herself in front of a train, was a cop, with Kevin Hanchard doing solid work as Art, Beth’s partner, who has his own secrets to protect.
We are treated to the different contrasting lives of 3 clones, Sarah, Cosima and Allison.
Sarah Manning is a single-mother, street punk, jobless woman who when we are introduced to, we find out that she abandoned her daughter with her foster mother for over a year and the first time back, she witnesses Beth's suicide.
Theres also Allison Hendrix, a married soccer mum who's life is thrown upside down by continous revelations and informations revealed about the clones, this affects her family and her standing in her suburban neighbourhood.Most of the show's humor has come through Alison's unexpectedly soapy and fascinating storyline, making her the series' biggest surprise.
Cosima Niehaus is like the indie-rock hipster clone to Sarah's punk clone, wearing dreads, black-rimmed glasses, and a nose ring. But she's smarter than your average Bon Iver fan: She's getting her PhD in Experimental Evolutionary Developmental Biology and graduated from Cal. She deals with the scientific details of the clones, DNA, genes, chromosomes and all that.
We are also introduced to the psychopathic Helena (We won't know about her until episode 3) who goes on a divine mission to cleanse the world of the 'ungodly' creations. Although we see Beth Childs on the subway platform, before she jumped, we never get to meet her. We are introduced into her life as a cop when Sarah takes over her life. We come to realise how complicated and secretive her life is, both from her boyfriend and her partner. We are briefly introduced to Katja Obinger, a German clone, but she's soon taken out by Helena.
We are also told about other clones, another one in America and some in Europe.
Comedic elements in the show mainly comes from Felix, Sarah's foster brother, and when Allison went 'crazy'. The show is well grounded, with great writing, and the pace of the show moves the viewers along well.
Definately a great new show to get involved in, after the brilliance of Banshee and Rectify, its great to get involved in another new show that maintains its quality all throughout the episodes as the season progesses.
Some Elements Culled from TV.com and IGN.com
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