I know that hit Canadian TV series Orphan Black has been around a while – in fact, I’ve had the entire first season waiting for me since last year – but since I just finished season 1 this week I’m late to the party. I heard so many good things about Orphan Black and the reviews are right. It’s a kickass series with a kickass lead actress.
Tatiana Maslany plays Sarah Manning, a young woman who’s kinda rough around the edges and desperate to get her life together so she could take care of her daughter Kira. She witnesses a woman end her life by jumping in front of a train. The woman happens to look exactly like her so Sarah decides to assume that woman’s identity so she can steal her money and run away with Kira. The young woman, Beth, turns out to be a detective and she’s not the only one who looks like Sarah – there’s also brainy grad student Cosima, soccer mom and neurotic housewife Alison, crazy Ukrainian murderess Helena, and four others that they know about. Yup, they’ve got a clone club thing going. Oh, nope, sorry they don’t use the C word per Alison’s rule. They’re genetic identicals and there are at least two different powerful groups after them.
It’s a fascinating series and Tatiana Maslany plays all the different personalities like a pro. Well, er, she is a pro and she’s pretty good at playing all these roles. Love her. I also love all the moral, ethical, social, political, religious, and scientific themes going all around in the series. Seriously, who doesn’t love science fiction like this? It’s so good. SO. GOOD.