# Orphan Black on BBC America **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 31, 2013, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orphan-black-on-bbc-america/654458 "2013-03-31T19:43:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2013, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orphan-black-on-bbc-america/654458/21 "2013-04-12T23:29:24Z")
> [@Human\_Action](#): > > I’m assuming Elizabeth was the clone for Canada, Sarah was the one for the U.K. and happened to move to Canada as a girl, and Alison was the one for the U.S. who happened to move to Canada at some point. Fully prepared to be wrong, though. Leaves one more unaccounted for that we’ve seen before (plus the German). Main character - Sarah Cop - Beth The German - ??? Soccer mom - Alison Corn rows - ??? The ??? might have been named but I just don’t remember the names. ---
**Author:** ![Human\_Action](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ac91a4/32.png) [@Human\_Action](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Human_Action)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2013, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orphan-black-on-bbc-america/654458/22 "2013-04-13T15:36:40Z")
> [@TBG](#): > > Leaves one more unaccounted for that we’ve seen before (plus the German). > > Main character - Sarah > Cop - Beth > The German - ??? > Soccer mom - Alison > Corn rows - ??? > > The ??? might have been named but I just don’t remember the names. The German was named Katja Obinger. ---
**Author:** ![obfusciatrist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/4af34b/32.png) [@obfusciatrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/obfusciatrist)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2013, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orphan-black-on-bbc-america/654458/23 "2013-04-13T16:32:33Z")
Glad to have the Canada thing cleared up. I was confused because the one review I read beforehand said it was in NYC and then the train announcement just reinforced it. Didn’t notice the license plates and when I looked at street signs didn’t immediately see anything obviously out of place. But did notice that the money was red and was baffled. I was pretty sure that even in UK (didn’t know it is a Canada thing) they can lay their hands on fake dollars. ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2013, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orphan-black-on-bbc-america/654458/24 "2013-04-14T23:40:44Z")
So the killer’s another clone, eh? And apparently one that’s had a lot of damage. Since we now know that soccer mom’s kids are adopted, I wonder if that’s some sort of clue. Maybe clones can’t have bio-kids and that makes Sarah the original? Just a WAG. ---
**Author:** ![deltasigma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e5b9ba/32.png) [@deltasigma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/deltasigma)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2013, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orphan-black-on-bbc-america/654458/25 "2013-04-15T03:27:52Z")
I can’t find the article, I don’t think I added it to evernote yet, but it was recently discovered that early clones like Dolly the sheep had damage to their histone molecules. These are the molecules that the DNA helix gets wrapped around when it is packaged into chromosomes. I can’t remember the details, but was found to be the reason why they suffered from premature aging and death. ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2013, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orphan-black-on-bbc-america/654458/26 "2013-04-15T04:52:30Z")
> [@TBG](#): > > So the killer’s another clone, eh? And apparently one that’s had a lot of damage. > > Since we now know that soccer mom’s kids are adopted, I wonder if that’s some sort of clue. Maybe clones can’t have bio-kids and that makes Sarah the original? Just a WAG. Did I miss something…how do we know the kids are adopted? Did she say? In the scene where she’s asking the adult male to watch her kids while she goes out and he says he’s got golf…I didn’t get that that guy was the kids’ father. Something about the way she asks him to watch the kids and the way he answers made it seem to me like he was maybe a step-dad or something. Or maybe he’s just a jerk. Either way soccer mom and that guy don’t seem to have a very respectful relationship, which probably adds to her stress. ---
**Author:** ![Human\_Action](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ac91a4/32.png) [@Human\_Action](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Human_Action)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2013, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orphan-black-on-bbc-america/654458/27 "2013-04-15T14:26:51Z")
> [@Tamerlane](#): > > In general I think I agree. She is not portrayed as brilliant so much as having excellent mimetic talent. I think _that_ verges on the extraordinary, but could easily be a result of her “special condition.” Or she just might be coincidentally naturally talented that way. Which is a little too much of a coincidence to be realistic, but probably won’t ruin the show for me :). > [@TBG](#): > > Since we now know that soccer mom’s kids are adopted, I wonder if that’s some sort of clue. Maybe clones can’t have bio-kids and that makes Sarah the original? Just a WAG. The talent for languages, which while necessary for the show’s premise, has now been remarked upon within the show (Art mentioned that Beth handled the “non-English speaking majority” of Toronto). Combined with Sarah’s rapid ability to learn to fire a handgun (the most difficult class of firearm) accurately, I’m now of the mind that there is no original, the clones were engineered to possess certain traits, either language skills and hand/eye coordination, or just rapid learning (one of them is a PhD student, after all). Still liking the show, I enjoy the quick pace, colorful characters, and relatively sturdy plotting. Looking forward to more. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2013, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orphan-black-on-bbc-america/654458/28 "2013-04-15T14:54:16Z")
> [@Human\_Action](#): > > Combined with Sarah’s rapid ability to learn to fire a handgun (the most difficult class of firearm) accurately, I’m now of the mind that there is no original, the clones were engineered to possess certain traits, either language skills and hand/eye coordination, or just rapid learning (one of them is a PhD student, after all). I’m thinking the same thing, which pleases me. It’s a direction I was hoping they would go in and the sudden accuracy with the handgun ( out-shooting her partner after a couple of hours of instruction? ) pretty much clinches it. Y’know unless the writers are just abysmally stupid, which is not likely to be the case. > [@](#): > > Still liking the show, I enjoy the quick pace, colorful characters, and relatively sturdy plotting. Looking forward to more. Agreed - so far, so good. I expect the ten episode first season may wrap up way to fast for me. I’m already starting to hope it gets good enough ratings to make it to a second. ---
**Author:** ![Human\_Action](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ac91a4/32.png) [@Human\_Action](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Human_Action)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2013, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orphan-black-on-bbc-america/654458/29 "2013-04-15T15:48:07Z")
> [@Tamerlane](#): > > I’m thinking the same thing, which pleases me. It’s a direction I was hoping they would go in and the sudden accuracy with the handgun ( out-shooting her partner after a couple of hours of instruction? ) pretty much clinches it. Having thought about it some more, I’m going with eye-hand coordination over rapid learning. There were two shots after the blonde clone was stabbed and ran away and Sarah scrambled to her feet and grabbed her pistol, where she was holding it quite low on the grip, with a gap of an inch or so between the thumbguard and her hand. That is exactly what novice pistol shooters do, they’re afraid of being clipped by the slide, so they move their hand down. I’ve seen it in all three of the people I’ve taught to shoot pistols. So, either that was just Tatiana Maslany not knowing how to hold a pistol and the director not noticing, or they instructed her to hold it the way a novice would because, while she can get hits with it through talent and a little practice, she’s still unfamiliar with it and reverts to bad habits under stress. So, either a nice tough, or a coincidence. > [@Tamerlane](#): > > Y’know unless the writers are just abysmally stupid, which is not likely to be the case. Yeah, there is that fear, the “Lost” problem of skillfull setups and moronic payoffs. > [@Tamerlane](#): > > Agreed - so far, so good. I expect the ten episode first season may wrap up way to fast for me. I’m already starting to hope it gets good enough ratings to make it to a second. Only ten? Didn’t know that, that’s too bad. They brought back the awful “Copper” for a second season, surely this show deserves on (based on three episodes, anyway). ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2013, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orphan-black-on-bbc-america/654458/30 "2013-04-16T22:40:09Z")
> [@Rhiannon8404](#): > > Did I miss something…how do we know the kids are adopted? Did she say? > > In the scene where she’s asking the adult male to watch her kids while she goes out and he says he’s got golf…I didn’t get that that guy was the kids’ father. Something about the way she asks him to watch the kids and the way he answers made it seem to me like he was maybe a step-dad or something. Or maybe he’s just a jerk. Either way soccer mom and that guy don’t seem to have a very respectful relationship, which probably adds to her stress. I was going by the parents both being white and the kids not. I just got lazy slob husband stereotype from “dad”. ---
**Author:** ![wonderlust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonderlust/32/7237_2.png) [@wonderlust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonderlust)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2013, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orphan-black-on-bbc-america/654458/31 "2013-04-17T02:49:34Z")
When I saw the two dark-skinned children, I concluded that Sarah/Beth/etc. is mixed-race, not that the kids were adopted. Am I the only one who saw it that way? ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2013, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orphan-black-on-bbc-america/654458/32 "2013-04-17T03:18:31Z")
She’s a pretty good actress, to handle portraying all those characters so well. The multiplicity VFX are well done too. I’m a little bit lost and confused, trying to keep track of who is who and what is what, but it’s quite compelling. ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2013, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orphan-black-on-bbc-america/654458/33 "2013-04-17T05:02:20Z")
I just checked the Orphan Black page on BBC America, and it confirms that Alison’s children are adopted. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2013, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orphan-black-on-bbc-america/654458/34 "2013-04-21T19:03:36Z")
_Really_ strong acting from the lead in episode 4, particularly in terms of body movement. She moves like different people, but generally in a fairly unstilted way. Pretty bog standard acting school stuff I’m sure, but she does a good job with it - it’s obvious without quite pushing it to parody. I’m thinking playing all these characters in split shots and being in pretty much every scene must be _exhausting_. I also like her quitting the force - solid thinking by the writers, as logically her position there should always have been quite tenuous. You can only milk the trauma angle so long before people start picking up on your lack of basic knowledge. I’m just hoping the whole conspiracy angle doesn’t founder in a confusion of gaping plot holes - it’s probably where the biggest potential for failure lies. For example too powerful or connected of a group would find it trivially easy to knock them all off, that kind of stuff. Also Art needs to start congealing as a character. Right now he is coming off as oddly inconsistent and I’m not sure if it the actor’s fault or the writers. ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2013, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orphan-black-on-bbc-america/654458/35 "2013-04-21T21:16:59Z")
I, too, was impressed with the actress when she was playing Alison playing Sarah. She didn’t just play Sara, you could tell it was Alison pretending to be Sarah. I like the Alison character a bit better after this episode. I like that she told the daughter she wasn’t Sarah. Clearly she wasn’t going to convince the girl she was. I think she has to quit the force now that she left her partner the message telling him she’s not Beth. This show is really good and I’m always so bummed when the episode is over and I have to wait a whole week! ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2013, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orphan-black-on-bbc-america/654458/36 "2013-04-21T21:55:48Z")
> [@Rhiannon8404](#): > > I think she has to quit the force now that she left her partner the message telling him she’s not Beth. I thought she was leaving that message on her own phone, figuring that if she was killed the phone would be found on her body and Art would hear the message. Didn’t her message start with something like “If you’re hearing this, then you’ve found my body”? ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2013, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orphan-black-on-bbc-america/654458/37 "2013-04-21T21:59:53Z")
> [@Rhiannon8404](#): > > I think she has to quit the force now that she left her partner the message telling him she’s not Beth. It’s slightly unclear, but I think she was making a _recording on her phone to be found in case she got killed_. In other words, I don’t think she left him a phone message or it wouldn’t have made sense for her to shoo away Helena/Elena ( however they are spelling it ) and him not questioning her about it in the aftermath. So the recording may pop up as a plot point later, but right now I’m assuming he still doesn’t know. ETA: Ninja’ed by **Tangent** ;). ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2013, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orphan-black-on-bbc-america/654458/38 "2013-04-21T22:04:35Z")
Oh, you guys are right. I forgot that she said the, “If you’re hearing this…” part. I was thinking she called his work desk phone, but he’d already left to follow her and wouldn’t get the message until later. ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2013, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orphan-black-on-bbc-america/654458/39 "2013-04-22T23:41:00Z")
> [@Rhiannon8404](#): > > I just checked the Orphan Black page on BBC America, and it confirms that Alison’s children are adopted. As did the episode. And she DID seem to think it was at least notable that Sarah’s kid was bio. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2013, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orphan-black-on-bbc-america/654458/40 "2013-04-23T05:15:27Z")
Boy, I really hate it when one of my clones makes a video confessing to shooting someone in cold blood, especially when it was one of my OTHER clones that fired the shot. SO not fair! It’s days like this that make me wish I had never been born and/or grown in an enormous vat somewhere. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orphan-black-on-bbc-america/654458.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orphan-black-on-bbc-america/654458.md?page=3)