[First off, thanks to Hannah Elliott for her unequivocal
endorsement of Orphan Black this past Christmas when I was in search of a show
to binge. And then, the standard disclaimer: there may be some spoilers here.]
Orphan Black is a Canadian program produced for BBC America.
It has been categorized as science fiction, but it is so only in the broadest
sense. Much, if not all, of the scientific developments presented in the show are
based on currently existing technology. Any brush with true science fiction
doesn’t really occur until we are about 4/5 of the way into the series and even
then, it feels like it might be something that might come about sometime this
week as opposed to hundreds of years out; the fiction of the science is merely
that the things portrayed might not exist yet, but it’s because we simply not
have done them yet, not because we are incapable of doing them.
The premise of the show revolves around a group of illegally
cloned humans variously discovering who they are, while seeking a cure for
their terminal, genetic illness and avoiding further experimentation. Along the
way, the run afoul of corporate espionage, secret government conspiracies,
paramilitary death squads, fanatic religious cults, and some very dark suburban
shenanigans. It is filled with a huge cast of very well-rounded characters.
Which brings us back to Tatiana Maslany.
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| Tatiana Maslany as Rachel, Alison, Sarah, Cosima, and Helena |
All of the clones in the show, except for the child versions,
are played by Maslany. There are five main clones in the story line, Sarah,
Cosima, Alison, Helena, and Rachel, along with numerous others involved with
important plot points along the way. Each of the clones has a very distinct
personality, and since they have been brought up all over the world, different
backgrounds and accents. The grand total of clones in the project is 274,
although we are only made aware of 62 specific…er, specimens, either by name or
as a group.
Each clone is superbly acted by Maslany. Taken individually,
it would be easy to say, “Yeah, she’s a really good actress.” But when you
consider that she’s being “really good” a dozen times over, there’s a
cumulative effect that transforms her performance(s) into something
outstanding. As I sat and watched, I constantly had to remind myself that this
was the same actress, facial similarities notwithstanding. My favorite clone is
whichever one happens to be on screen at the time. In 2014, The Guardian put it
this way: “...Delivering one creditable performance for a show is tough enough,
but Maslany nails several here, often appearing in scenes as multiple versions
interacting seamlessly. This is Olympic-level, endurance acting.” Not bad for
someone who was only 27 when she started the project.
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| The Clones: Sarah Manning, a con artist and thief from England; Helena, a highly disturbed assassin raised in a Ukrainian convent; Cosima Niehaus, a PhD student from California; Alison Hendrix, a suburban soccer mom from Ontario; Rachel Duncan, a high-ranking corporate official from England; Beth Childs, a police detective from Ontario; Krystal Goderitch, a somewhat superficial, salon worker from Ontario; "MK/Mika" Suominen, a very skilled hacker with Aspergers Syndrome from Finland; Tony Sawicki, a transgender criminal clone from Ohio; Katja Obinger from Germany; Jennifer Fitzsimmons, a dying teacher and swim coach originally from the Midwest but now in California; Niki, Aryanna, Janika, and Danielle (seen only in photos); and Charlotte Bowles, the eight-year-old sole survivor of 400 attempts to replicate Rachel, played by Cynthia Galant who also portrayed the clones as children in flashbacks. Not pictured: Camila Torres from Colombia. |
The amazement meter cranks up still further when due to the
plot’s twists and turns we get to see several of the clones pretending to be
other clones. This happens at least a dozen times. Maslany has to act as a clone
acting as another clone with enough nuance to pull off a charade believable to
the other characters without letting the audience forget that it is a charade:
a sufficient amount of the imposter’s character has to shine through without it
becoming a caricature of either, except for Helena which is intentionally
played for laughs. Additionally, Maslany voiced Pupok, a talking scorpion in Helena's
hallucinations. Tatiana has been nominated for or won numerous awards for her
work on this show (and others) and Orphan Black itself is no stranger to
awards. I can see a bright future ahead for her.
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| [For the scorekeepers among you, Sarah has become six different clones (Beth, Rachel, Alison, Cosima, Krystal, and Katja), Helena has been three (Alison, Sarah, Beth), Rachel and Alison have each played Sarah, and Cosima was Alison. Looked at from the opposite direction, Alison has needed another clone to be her three times (Sarah, Helena, Cosima) as has Sarah (Helena, Rachel, Alison), Beth was substituted twice (Sarah, Helena), and Rachel, Cosima, Krystal, and Katja were each replaced once by Sarah. Alison and Rachel are the only two who have both played and been played by the same clone (Sarah), leaving Sarah the only one to have replaced and been replaced by the different clones (Alison, Rachel). I think that covers the permutations. (Pretty sure no one else cares, but it does point to the complexity of the Orphan Black world and the range of Maslany’s talent.)] |
While the show by definition must live or die upon Tatiana’s
performances, I would be falling down on the job if I failed to mention the
rest of the cast and crew. Most obviously the hair, makeup, and costuming help the
audience immediately distinguish which clone is which, the makeup being the
most subtle because aside from Tatiana’s performance, it becomes the only other
clue we have when one clone is acting as another. Okay, some are not so subtle,
as in the case of MK’s burn scars, or Helena’s perpetually rosy eye shadow,
there to remind us that whatever else is going on, she is still a crazed serial
killer.
Maslany is surrounded by an incredibly capable cast who
provide each of their characters with an air of credibility: you believe what
you are seeing and hearing. Scenes are played out as if they were happening
right in front of you. Humor, horror, and suspense are handled with an equally
realistic approach, unlike the stylized “reality” of, say, a Quentin Tarrantino
offering, which tends to remind you while you are watching that it is still
only a movie. Orphan Black is more likely to immerse you into the unfolding
story as a witness rather than an audience being told a story. It is a master
work in storytelling.
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| Sarah, Alison, Helena, Cosima, and Rachel (again) |
A large part of the overall illusion of the realism is
especially evident when the clones need to interact with one another. It is
impossible to see the seams. Sure, sometimes this achieved by simple split
screen effects because the characters do not come into physical contact with
one another, and other times by means of body doubles when one clone is seen
only from behind. But in those moments when the clones are both fully visible
and clearly in contact while in motion, I never once saw an
indication there was any special effect in use. In a scene where Sarah is
helping Helena to stand for instance, the hands that held onto each other were
not artificially or awkwardly aligned, didn’t have a green screen flicker along
their outlines. The production crew may not have invented or perfected the
technology to make that happen, but their use of that technology is unrivaled. According
the Orphan Black Wikipedia entry:
“In scenes
in which Tatiana Maslany has multiple parts, the production films the scene
multiple times with dolly-mounted motion control cameras that replicate the
movement between each shot. This apparatus, the Technodolly, is referred to as
the "Time Vampire" on the Orphan Black set, due to the amount
of time multiple clone scenes take from the production schedule. In these
scenes, Maslany first acts the scene with her body double Kathryn Alexandre in
the alternate clone role, then alone in the same clone role, then alone in the
alternate clone, and a fourth time with the scene filmed with just the camera
motion for a background plate. Suspended tennis balls help Maslany retain the
proper eye lines. In post-production, Alexandre and the tennis balls are
replaced with the images of Maslany from the alternate shots, thereby allowing
for more action in scenes where she interacts with herself. In the season 2
finale, when a dance party scene called for the presence of four different
clones, two days of shooting and several additional body doubles were used to
create the effect, and post-production work…is rumored to have taken hundreds
of hours to complete.”
The dance scene in question takes up just over two minutes
of screen time.
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| Kathryn Alexandre and Tatiana Maslany |
The show has an enormous cult following and I can easily see
why. The Wikipedia pages related to the show were obviously written by its fans
as evidenced by the telltale warning associated with at least one of them: “This
article's plot summary may be too long
or excessively detailed. (July 2017)”
My binge watching sessions of Orphan Black were marred only
by something that has nothing to do with the show itself. I watched the show on
DirecTV’s BBC America on demand. Orphan Black has a total of 50 episodes, 10
for each of its 5 seasons. Only 47 of the episodes are nominally available on
demand. Episodes 4 and 7 of season 1 and episode 9 of season 5 are simply
absent from the lineup. I say “nominally” because one of the 47 remaining
episodes is a mislabeled repeat of a previous episode (episode 6 of season 3 is
actually episode 3 of the same season), so in actuality there are only 46
available for viewing. (Naturally, the mislabeled episode [would have] had a
pivotal plot twist…) I’m not sure who dropped the ball, but someone certainly
did. Either DirecTV only contracted for 47 of 50 episodes, or BBC America only
delivered 47 episodes of the contracted 50. OR. Since we have evidence of a
clerical/technical oversight/glitch in the mislabeled episode, it is very
possible someone just forgot to load up the missing 3 episodes as well.
Whatever the reason, only the viewer suffers when something like this occurs.
Aside from these unexplained anomalies in programming, watching this remarkable
show with such an astonishing young talent in the lead was an enjoyable
diversion, made even more satisfying because the series was allowed to complete
its full story arc without being canceled prematurely. I am only sorry I that I
have waited so long.
In case you haven’t noticed, I kinda like the show and I
think Tatiana Maslany is one of the finest actresses of our time.
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