The Other Clone Saga: A Look at ‘Orphan Black’
As geeks, we know a little something about clones, either being really cool or whole thing going horribly wrong. Cases in point; Star Wars (both the concept of Jango Fett clones and the Clone Wars animated series) and the Spider-Man Clone Saga (not that great). When we hear things about a BBC series based on the concept of clones, consider our interest piqued for better or worse. Now, when you add a beautiful actress as the main protagonist (and playing several different parts), your fishing trip is over. We’re basically in the boat at this point. This is essentially what BBC America has given us all with their new sci-fi series, Orphan Black.
As I explained to my editor when “pitching” the story, “it’s basically the Clone Saga with a beautiful woman and no powers, or in other words…interesting.” That’s possibly the best part of this series, the fact that it puts the “science” back into modern science fiction. There are no powers, no aliens, and no space ships. It’s a show about science run amok, albeit with the sciencey bits happening largely off-screen. While it is about cloning (and we haven’t even gotten into the ethical issues yet in the series), it’s a very human story about a woman learning these things about herself and at the same time, making a better life and trying to make things right for her and her daughter. The discovery that she’s been cloned and the struggle to reunite with her daughter, Kiera, makes this a wonderful story to be serialized in a television series. Especially when the BBC are the ones producing it.
With any luck, the show will move beyond just the first series, which I’m sort of obligated to call it since it’s a BBC production. The fact that one of the main characters, played by Kevin Hanchard, is a cop, and one of the clones’ partners should make for a very compelling show. It’s science-y at points, but the real magic hits in the very real interaction with the various characters, a third of whom are played by Maslany. This is thanks in no small part to co-creators Graeme Manson and John Fawcett who pull double duty (shut up) as writer and director, respectively. None of it feels forced or phoned-in, which certainly helps, as there will be at least 10 confirmed episodes for the first series. I know it’s normally called a season here, but it’s a British thing and we’re discussing a BBC show, now hush and drink your Earl Grey.
