# Orphan Black



## quantumtheif (Aug 24, 2013)

Hey I just got BBC here in cali, and I tuned in to a marathon of the new sci-fi orphan black. It is one of the best new sci-fi's on TV. Great characters, original story, and its paced perfectly( slow at first). 

Have any of you seen the show? If so whats your opinion?


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## Rodders (Aug 24, 2013)

I've only recently heard about this show. So I haven't seen it, but I have heard a lot of great stuff about it. I might try and pick it up on DVD and do a bit of good old powerdiscing.


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## quantumtheif (Aug 24, 2013)

Its worth the power disc session.


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## Ursa major (Aug 24, 2013)

Maybe the BBC back in the UK might show eventually (unless they already have, and no-one's mentioned it).


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## wam (Nov 2, 2013)

Series one finished last night on BBC3 in the UK. Scheduling has been odd. Started with 2 episodes a week moved to 1 and  the last two weeks on 2 again. I know at least one person that missed episodes because of it. It's said there's going to be a second series. Good show but I get the feeling someone wanted the lead actress to win awards. Anyone that can pull of 4 charactes in one show probably deserves it too.


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## martin321 (Nov 2, 2013)

I've just seen the end of series one. Luckily, my PVR managed to cope with the double episodes and recorded them automatically.

I liked the show. It has a good premise and starts off well. It does slow down a bit after a few episodes, but overall it was pretty entertaining, if only to see the actress playing so many roles. I think she plays six or seven roles in total; I sort of lost count.


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## JoanDrake (Nov 3, 2013)

I was watching it until I discovered that a good deal of the plot is based on the idea that clones have the same fingerprints.

They don't. I checked. Fingerprints are determined randomly in the womb. They are not a matter of genetics, all the sources agreed.

Now I'll check again but if it's not so I don't intend on watching it any more. 

Which seems silly even to me, because I like the show and I agree the actress playing several different people convincingly is quite remarkable. Why am I so torqued over this small detail?

It could be because half the plot hinges on it and it's simply WRONG, I suppose, but that doesn't seem to bother any critics. Why do I care?

WHY am I being such a plot Nazi about this? Can anyone tell me? I got no problem with time traveling elves and parallel universes but this really bothers me for some reason. Why would that be?


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## martin321 (Nov 3, 2013)

I spotted the fingerprint problem whilst I was watching the show. It was lazy of them not to do their research properly, but I still enjoyed watching. I just pretended that they were a special type of clone that had identical fingerprints, due to some quirk of the genetic engineering.


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## JoanDrake (Nov 3, 2013)

martin321 said:


> I spotted the fingerprint problem whilst I was watching the show. It was lazy of them not to do their research properly, but I still enjoyed watching. I just pretended that they were a special type of clone that had identical fingerprints, due to some quirk of the genetic engineering.


 
I guess I'll do that as well. I can't deny myself a show with Matt Frewer in it

I do hope maybe they'll just mention it later on. Maybe have Dr Leekie say "They even have the fingerprints, we thought that was impossible", or something.


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## psychotick (Nov 8, 2013)

Hi,

Just got the series on DVD and thought it was great. I also noted the damned fingerprint problem - but I'm not completely certain it's a problem. Identical twins have distinct fingerprints, but as no one as far as we know has ever made a human clone I can't be completely certain they would have distinct fingerprints. If they'd used a speck of blood and DNA though, that would have been preferable as a plot device.

Cheers, Greg.


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## Anthony G Williams (Nov 22, 2013)

My take on it, from my SFF blog: Science Fiction & Fantasy 

A rather different story that I've also been following is *Orphan Black*, which is based on a novel premise: Sarah Manning (played by Tatiana Maslany) is a young woman who is down on her luck when she meets her double, who turns out to be genetically identical. When her double dies, Sarah takes over her life. Then she meets another double, and another…. This is a constantly intriguing and frequently amusing drama as the doubles try to figure out their history while being faced with an acute danger – someone is trying to kill them. By the end of the first season, it becomes clear that being hunted is only one of their problems; they are also under covert observation and their future hangs by a thread. Maslany has great fun playing the various, and very varied, doubles and the constantly evolving plot gripped my attention from the start, with one unexpected twist after another. A second season is on the way – soon, I hope.


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## Dave (Sep 18, 2014)

psychotick said:


> ....as far as we know [no one]has ever made a human clone I can't be completely certain they would have distinct fingerprints. If they'd used a speck of blood and DNA though, that would have been preferable as a plot device.


I'll forgive the "fingerprintgate" because it is the only show that otherwise gets clones right (in that they are all different though genetically identical.) Maslany is great at the different accents and completely believable in the different parts - shades of _Dollhouse_ there. I'm really enjoying it on Netflix, and who could dislike a story where one villain hides out in a Dazzleship and another has grown his own tail?


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## psychotick (Sep 18, 2014)

Hi,

Just watched the second season on dvd. It's changed a little bit - moving much more into the paranoid conspiracy area where you have no idea what anyone's agenda is. It adds a layer of confusion to everything, which I don't like. But on the positive side I love the way they've amped up some of the characters. Sarah's become highly motherly - which seems odd to me. Alison's turned incredibly paranoid thinking everyone's watching her - which also seems odd, but is damned funny in places. And everyone wants the child, but no one can seem to explain why. Especially when they get blood and then bone marrow from her - What further use would the actual child be? And why after that can't they just tissue culture as they need to. After all if they can clone they can culture. Their science advisor needs a kick in the backside.

But after that it's still really good.

Cheers, Greg.


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## Dave (Sep 23, 2014)

I've watched the second series now and agree with Greg. 

Minor spoilers follow:

I find it hard to believe the double or triple bluffs of Paul and Siobhan since their characters didn't seem good enough actors to pull that off. Also no one can be as stupid as Donny. And the Army just had to be involved at some point, as if the machinations of secret multinational corporations weren't enough. 

They may have tissue cultured the bone marrow, Greg. Just because Rachel smashed those vials on the floor doesn't mean that they actually contained the bone marrow. It wasn't in her interest to do that, since she may also be dying herself. 

I also liked Antoinette (Tony) but can't understand why Sarah and Felix didn't tell the others about her when they had the big meet-up.


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## Idoru (Oct 26, 2014)

I watched the first series of this on Amazon Instant Video, but I have to pay to watch the second series. I absolutely loved the first series. I thought it had great pacing, racked up the tension nicely, Tatiana Maslany was just fantastic and I loved Fe. Do those who have seen the second series think it's worth investing in buying it?


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## Dave (Oct 26, 2014)

I do but don't pay to watch on my recommendation. As I said, I agree with Psychotick that the second season is different, maybe not quite as good, but it takes a different tack.


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## Idoru (Oct 27, 2014)

Thanks for the feedback! I think I'll invest in a couple of eps and see how I like it rather than dive into buying the whole series.


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## Idoru (Apr 7, 2015)

I bought the whole series! I needed something to fill the gap between series 1 and 2 of The Strain. And it's awesome. Much more frenetic and action-y than the first series. Still loving Fe.


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## Anthony G Williams (Oct 17, 2015)

I discovered quite by chance that BBC has been showing the third season of the Canadian SF thriller *Orphan Black*.  Curiously, they launched it by putting all ten episodes up on the BBC iPlayer - the internet-based service normally used for storing, for one month, programmes already broadcast, for the benefit of those who missed them. They followed this up by showing the episodes on BBC3 in the middle of the night, without any publicity. Fortunately, our internet connection has at last improved to the point at which we can watch video without constant buffering, so we've been catching up with the series.

To refresh the memory – from my previous blog comments:

_Sarah Manning (played by Tatiana Maslany) is a young woman who is down on her luck when she meets her double, who turns out to be genetically identical. When her double dies, Sarah takes over her life. Then she meets another double, and another…. This is a constantly intriguing and frequently amusing drama as the doubles try to figure out their history while being faced with an acute danger – someone is trying to kill them. By the end of the first season, it becomes clear that being hunted is only one of their problems; they are also under covert observation and their future hangs by a thread. Maslany has great fun playing the various, and very varied, doubles and the constantly evolving plot gripped my attention from the start, with one unexpected twist after another._

_The second season has the story of the assorted group of clones continuing as they struggle to discover how to respond to the various threats facing them, not least a lethal genetic illness. What makes this so entertaining is that, while it certainly isn't a comedy, there is enough humour in it to balance the drama._

The third season continues directly from the previous one, with the emergence of a second line of clones – this time men (all played by Ari Millen) – providing more complications for the band of "sisters" as they try to find a way out of their multiple problems, with competing organisations taking an uncomfortably close interest in them. The drama is as good as ever, as is Maslany whose performance has rightly won awards. Her pony-tailed Alison still makes me smile every time she appears – a wonderful portrayal of an obsessively conventional suburban "soccer mom" who develops criminal tendencies. As the tension increases in the first few episodes of this season, the dark humour which previously added to the entertainment is scaled down, although the seventh episode switches mood and returns to the original form, with a lot of laugh-out-loud scenes (mostly involving Alison, naturally).

The finale sees the core of the mystery of the sisters' origins revealed and some problems solved – but others still lie ahead. Fortunately, another ten-episode season is on the way. Overall, the result is a multi-layered, constantly developing and gripping plot which puts *Orphan Black* among the very best SF series.

(An extract from my SFF blog: http://sciencefictionfantasy.blogspot.co.uk/)


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## Idoru (Oct 22, 2015)

Anthony G Williams said:


> I discovered ... all ten episodes up on the BBC iPlayer ...


Thanks for the heads up on this! I've just watched the whole series on iPlayer so you've saved me having to pay for it on Netflix


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## Heather Myst (Oct 28, 2015)

I love this show and Tatiana is amazing.


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## Anthony G Williams (Oct 16, 2016)

Season 4 is the most confusing of all, as it hops around the timeline without any warning. The first episode jumps back to before the beginning of Season 1, revealing what drove Beth the detective to commit suicide (the event which kicked off the whole series), and subsequent episodes keep returning to this time or slightly afterwards, filling in the story with a lot more detail. These scenes alternate with those showing the latest developments, keeping the viewer alert in order to stay on top of what is going on. There are new villains to deal with, in the form of Evie Cho (Jessalyn Wanlim) the head of the organisation responsible for the cloning programme, and a police detective under her control.

The finale of Season 4 is packed with the unexpected. I have no wish to spoil anyone’s enjoyment, but if you expect a nice, cosy, conclusion, you’d better brace yourself. I was under the impression that this fourth season was the last, so was shocked by the ending, but fortunately another season is coming along next year!

(An extract from my SFF blog: Science Fiction & Fantasy)


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## Alexa (May 3, 2017)

Season 5 and the last one starts in June 10th. I can't wait to watch it. Season 4's final was really disturbing with Sarah bleeding on the beach and Rachel back in control.


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## Stephen Palmer (Nov 21, 2022)

We've been watching this (series 1) on C4, and really getting into it. It's really intense, but there is humour via Alison Hendrix & related characters. Overall, a very good watch. I thought the Helena stuff didn't work well, that all seemed to come from a different tv show, bolted on. Overall though, compelling and absorbing.


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## Stephen Palmer (Nov 30, 2022)

Hmmm... series 2 not so good. In fact, we gave up on it. One endless chase and Helena back from the dead. DNF.


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