Orphan Black is the best show on television and you should all be watching it

[The Man]

For those unfamiliar with the basic premise, it's a Canadian science fiction show running on BBC America. A First Episode Spoiler summary follows:

show spoiler

Sarah is a small-time con artist who sees a woman who looks exactly like her jump in front of a train. She takes the dead woman (Beth)'s belongings, which she had thoughtfully left behind, and makes plans to escape town with $75,000 and her daughter. However, it quickly becomes apparent that Beth killed herself because her life was a complete mess, and impersonating Beth brings with it more than Sarah bargained for. The end of the first episode has her meeting up with another identical woman, Katja, who is shot dead in Sarah's presence. It quickly becomes apparent that Sarah, Beth, and Katja are/were all clones, and someone is trying to kill them off. And there are other conspiracies that extend far deeper than one might suspect at first glance.

This show manages to be utterly engrossing on just about every level. The writing, effects, soundtrack, etc., are all top notch and thus far there hasn't been a single thing about the show that has taken me out of the world they've created. It also does a superb job subverting traditional gender tropes. Not only does the show pass the Bechdel test with flying colours (and most episodes fail the Reverse Bechdel) but it frequently subverts traditional expectations of females and femininity in ways that will no doubt appeal greatly to members of this message board.

The show also has a tightly plotted mystery arc that resembles what the writers of shows like The X-Files and Lost were trying to do, only with this show it's clear that the entire thing was plotted out from the beginning, and there is no excess fat. Each episode is filled with "holy shit" moments that make the wait for the next episode almost interminable, and the amount of dramatic tension the show manages to generate is almost excruciating at times.

The main reason to watch it, though, is Tatiana Maslany. While the entire ensemble cast is very good, Maslany is literally half of it. I don't mean she's on screen for half the time; I mean she plays literally half the parts. There are at least six major characters Maslany plays that are all clearly distinct human beings. They look different, they sound different, they talk differently, they act differently, they even walk differently. They also impersonate each other at multiple parts of the story's plot, and you believe completely that it's one character impersonating the other. As a commenter on tumblr said, "Sarah as Cosima doesn't even look like Cosima and I will never understand that because they are literally the same person". Maslany deserves Emmy awards for best actress, best supporting actress, and best ensemble and the entire SFX/makeup team deserves awards for making her interactions with herself as different characters seamless. It is, bar none, the greatest acting performance I have ever seen.

Orphan Black is the best thing currently on television (that I'm aware of, anyway) and you're doing yourself a grave disservice if you're not watching it. You can watch the whole thing on BBC America's website, so you really have no excuse.

I have only one small caveat: It may take you a few episodes to get into. It's a very plot-heavy show, and the first few episodes have to set up a lot of the background for the show before it can really start blowing your mind. Also, several of the characters start out rather unlikeable. Keep watching; they get better. Even murderous psycho Helena isn't what she seems at first.


Anyway, I partially made this thrad to share this link with people who already watch it (although it has no major spoilers, so if you don't watch it yet you're safe to read it anyway): Orphan Black Characters Storytelling Gender Bias Villains | The Mary Sue