The Incredibly Bizarre World of "Orphan Black"

Hello,

If you are confused while reading this blog I apologize. But give the show a chance, it's much clearer than this blog.

"Orphan Black" is a BBC America show that deals intelligently with clones, their significant others, the Neolution movement and other bizarre things. (If there's such a thing as the Neolution movement, I know I don't want any part of it.) The protagonist clone is Sarah Manning. She's been on the run for several months.We first meet her as she's walking on a train platform as she sees another woman who looks exactly like her. Tatiana Maslany plays both of these clones that we meet in the first few minutes of Episode 1. Maslany plays Manning and the suicidal clone Beth Childs with a great degree of skill. Manning knows nothing about the other clones until she sees Childs before her suicide.



We later find out that the suicidal clone is Beth Childs. She's been under a lot of stress in her job as a cop. Not only is she dealing with all the normal stresses of being a cop, but she also recently shot and killed someone. In the bizarre world of "Orphan Black" it seems Beth intentionally killed the victim. She thought the victim was part of the whole clones issue.

Childs leaves her purse on the platform before jumping. Sarah, a street smart hustler who's been on the run, sees this as a chance to take Child's identity. What Sarah doesn't understand is that Childs is a cop. Not only a cop, but a cop who's in the midst of a disciplinary hearing for the shooting.

One of the main things that Manning is running from is her stalker ex-boyfriend, the much loathed Vic.  Manning has a child that's being cared for by Mrs. S, the same person who raised Manning and Felix herself. Manning's friend and confidant, Felix, wants to use the death of Childs to make Vic think that Manning is dead. Felix takes Vic to see the body and Vic believes. Although Felix knows Manning is still alive, he organizes a fake funeral for her. Vic attends the funeral and is broken up by it. He's briefly thrown off the trail until he sees another one of the clones around town, which is when further complications occur. Vic is bad news. He's much more a stalker than a boyfriend, but he has become a bit obsessed with Manning. I hope we don't have to endure the psychopath any more.

Sarah becomes Childs in every way possible. Initially she continues Childs career as a cop. She enjoys Childs high end lifestyle with a nice apartment and car. She also starts sleeping with Child's boyfriend, Paul. What Manning doesn't understand is that Paul is monitoring Childs as part of this whole orphans experiment. We eventually find out that he's working for the Neolutionists.

I find it weird that the Neolutionists haven't bugged Sarah and her boyfriend's apartment.

Not only does this show have clones, but 9 of them. We haven't met all the clones yet, but all the clones are different in their own ways. 1) One of the clones, Helena, is killing off the other clones. Helana, is an assassin and religious extremist. 2) Katja, another one of the clones, has been already assassinated. She was assassinated in front of Manning, just as Katja realized that Manning was an imposter. 3) Beth Childs stepped in front of a train. 4) There's also Alison Hendrix, a citizen clone of the UK. She's doing very well for herself and doesn't want the whole clones situation to ruin her nice life.  5) Cosima, who lives in the United States. She's a student and is the smartest of the clones, except when it comes to her heart. We hear bits and pieces about the other clones, but we haven't met them yet.

However the most bizarre thing in this extremely bizarre show is Olivier's tail. He's a Neolutionist and a follower of Dr. Leekie (Matt Frewer, formerly TV's Max Headroom). The clones aren't even the most bizarre thing in this show. No the weirdest thing is that a human character has a tail.

Tatiana talking about all the characters she plays:



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