Orphan Black

"Just one, I'm a few, no family too, who am I?"

"Cosima [quoting message found in the clone DNA] : THIS ORGANISM AND DERIVATIVE GENETIC MATERIAL IS RESTRICTED INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY."

"Well, we don’t know if Sarah is the original or not. We don’t know where this DNA is from. That is one of the mysteries for us. As Sarah discovers she’s a clone, it really is a story of, “Who am I and where did I come from?” And it is an identity thriller, in some sense, with that feeling of, “I thought I knew who I was and suddenly my world is upside down. There are copies of me, so am I the original? And if I’m not the original, who is?” I think that’s a really fantastic and massively bewildering dilemma to put a character in. We throw Sarah down this rabbit hole, which is Orphan Black. Beyond that, my creative partner and co-creator Graeme Manson and I have had many discussions about where the show will ultimately go and what will occur, in further seasons. I wouldn’t want to rule out the possibility of other clones, but I can’t say exactly that, at this point. I think we’re all very fascinated with Sarah, and we’re fascinated with her clone sisters and their journey. We’re hoping that people will find that journey as attractive and as exciting as we do."

"It must have been quite a shock to hundreds of thousands — perhaps millions — of people (and at least a handful of famous actresses) to wake up to the news on Emmy nomination morning that voters had snubbed Tatiana Maslany and Orphan Black. Who? What? But across the interwebs it was plain to see. Critics had embraced the somewhat obscure freshman season of Orphan Black — a show about identical orphans across the world — but, more than the show itself, had rallied behind its amazing star, Maslany, who plays numerous roles as clone variations of the same person (or at least that person's DNA). Often critics are the first to champion low-profile but high-quality shows on channels viewers struggle to find or identify with. In the exploding world of scripted program across countless channels, this can be a valuable consumer service — not to mention giving a much needed boost to the host channel, in this instance BBC America. Yet what happened with Maslany was unlike most chatter about dark horse Emmy candidates. The drumbeat was ceaseless (as was that from rabid fans of the show) because Maslany was so off-the-charts incredible. She gave, in my view, the best performance by an actress on television last season. That's on any show, not just the best among a group of dark horse candidates. Was it a real long shot that Emmy voters would nominate her? Of course. Maslany was virtually unheard of. Orphan Black was a genre show — ooooh, clones, from the same channel that airs that nerdy, long-lasting Doctor Who and lots of other "sci-fi" shows. So sure, it was doomed. Hell, BBC America was running it on Saturday nights, for God's sake. All true, but that didn't make her jaw-dropping versatility any less great. And so Maslany, and to a lesser extent Orphan Black, were name-dropped extensively as disappointing snubs."

"Although the essentials of John Fawcett and Graeme Manson's story are not new — a young woman discovers she is part of an international conspiracy/science experiment — "Orphan Black" takes on cloning, which gives it a very high difficulty rating, and around here we give big points for that. Monochromatically urban with requisite glowering skies (it's set in Toronto), "Orphan Black" opens rather ridiculously with Sarah (Tatiana Maslany), an angry young Brit, hanging fretfully around a train station just in time to see her doppelgänger commit suicide. … It's just as ridiculous as it sounds, chockablock with clichés, predictable exposition (two taps of the keyboard and entire histories are revealed) and some fairly whacked-out plot twists. But it doesn't matter because "Orphan Black" isn't so much about plot as it is performance, and as the series continues (BBC America sent out four episodes), the performances are pretty astonishing. Although there are some regrettable Russian/German accents involved, they belong, mercifully, to clones in passing. Between the three main identicals, Maslany shape-shifts with near-miraculous believability, becoming by turns the tough and narcissistic Sarah, the high-strung, multi-tasking mom Alison and the brilliant but sensible Cosima. As an added bonus, the show's take on the assumed identity issue, while still not technically believable, is as convincing as it gets. Sarah is not one of those genetically determined super-agents, so her mistakes with police procedure add a splash of humor, and a scene in which, clearly terrified, she must pursue an armed assailant is nerve-jangling in its realism. It's one thing to learn how to shoot a gun at a target, it's another to face a potential gun fight."

"Maybe we should start calling her “Orphan Multicolor.” I’m talking about Tatiana Maslany, the break-out star of BBC America’s break-out series, Orphan Black. Who? Tatiana Maslany, that’s who — and she might be the best actress you never heard of, but the one who is burning up TV by playing (so far) six different characters who don’t sound alike or dress alike. They also do not share the same hairstyles, lifestyles, personalities or foreign accents. The women inside Maslany, in fact, have nothing in common — except identical DNA. No — we’re not talking Sybil, we’re talking clones. And even though there are six different characters, Maslany has hinted she might be playing up to 10 altogether — this season alone."

"Orphan Black is, after all, a sci-fi story, and it’s no spoiler to tout it as a crazy, mixed-up thriller about clones. Sarah, now posing as Beth, soon begins encountering the others who look just like her — a German hipster, a suburban mom, a bespectacled Velma with dreadlocks. Maslany ably confronts the task of playing all these women at once — as well as having a go at all the different accents — and she has a casual way of making Sarah’s bewilderment somewhat believable. “Orphan Black” launches itself a little too fast and frantically, forcing Sarah into too many ludicrous situations at once, each of them straight out of pop culture’s crazy book of doppelgangers. Not only must she solve crime with her no-nonsense partner (Kevin Hanchard), but she also has to figure out why someone is trying to kill her and the clones. All Sarah wanted was to find enough money to run away and start her life over with her gay best friend (Jordan Gavaris) and the young daughter she left behind. Instead, she is trapped in one of those TV shows that is edited and styled in a too-crisp manner. “Orphan Black” has the same plain club soda flavor you get in most cable action dramas now, but I have to say that I’m enjoying some of its fizz."

"Tatiana Maslany · Sarah Manning, Elizabeth "Beth" Childs, Alison Hendrix, Katja Obinger, Cosima Niehaus, Rachel Duncan, Helena, Jennifer Fitzsimmons, Krystal Goderitch, Antoinette "Tony" Sawicki"

"Jordan Gavaris · Felix, Sarah's foster brother and confidante"

"Dylan Bruce · Paul, Beth's boyfriend"

"Kevin Hanchard · Art, Beth's partner"

"Maria Doyle Kennedy · Mrs. S, Sarah's foster mother"

"Michael Mando · Vic, Sarah's abusive ex-boyfriend"