Orphan Black: TV Review

I know, I know. I'm late to the party with this one. I'm so late that even the cleaners have gone home. I get it. Orphan Black rules.

I'd seen bits and pieces on Tumblr and thought it was some kind of light comedy show about clones, but boy was I wrong.

For those of you still blissfully in the dark, Orphan Black is a cult show about genetic clones, mainly focusing on Sarah, the runaway wild-child foster kid, trying to get enough money together to be able to run away with her young daughter, Keira, and her foster brother, Felix. She's catapulted into "clone club" when Beth Childs, another clone, kills herself in front of Sarah, and Sarah takes on her identity. Other notable clones are Cosima: the scientist, Alison: the soccer mom, and Helena: the bat-shit crazy, dangerous, yet oddly lovable clone.

The show is dark, sexy, gory, and full of drama. Yet it's funny. Nothing else would make me binge-watch it up to the current season like that. Orphan Black has found the perfect mixture of clever special effects, drama, and humour that makes it so addictive.

Each clone struggles with their own demons, whilst all the while navigating their way through the many organisations that want a piece of them, and trying to figure out just how they came to be in the first place. Without giving away too many spoilers, Sarah is the only clone (that they know of) that can conceive, making her daughter very interesting to some, Cosima is sick, with an illness that has been affecting a lot of other clones, even killing them, Alison is a barely functioning alcoholic, popping back pills whilst trying to keep her picket-fence life in order, and Helena has had a tough childhood, kidnapped by pretty much everyone going, unhinged, a murderer, yet oddly sweet and childlike in a way, and surprisingly "very good with children" as we find out further down the series.

Praises can also not be sung high enough for Tatiana Maslany, who at times, pulls a Lindsay Lohan on me and actually has me believing that there are more than one of her in the room. Each character has their own mannerisms, expressions, accents, that all go above and beyond the costuming to make you believe that they actually are clones.

Just take Sarah Manning for example. When she first is introduced, I have to admit, I thought Tatiana's British accent was a bit off, sounding almost Irish in parts, until we meet Sarah's foster mom, Siobhan, an Irish woman. Tatiana takes acting to a whole new level.

So if you're looking for something new to binge on after Coronation Street's finished, the bra's already off, and you've shut the curtains on the loud drunks outside. Make yourself a nice cuppa, put those feet up, and give Orphan Black a go. You won't regret it.

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