We’re talking about our favorite biological identicals and the people who love, created, and try to murder them! Returning guest Julian Lejbman helps me dissect the BBC America sci-f thriller Orphan Black.
The first part is light on spoilers so it shouldn’t ruin anything if you haven’t seen the show or have only seen parts.
In part two we go deep on a few characters and dig into the themes of the show.
About Orphan Black
Orphan Black is a Canadian science fiction thriller television series created by screenwriter Graeme Manson and director John Fawcett, starring Tatiana Maslany. The show follows outsider, orphan and street-wise chameleon Sarah (Maslany). After witnessing a woman’s suicide, Sarah assumes the stranger’s identity – who happens to look just like her.
Part One: Don’t Say The C Word
A Few Things We Discuss In The Episode:
- What we tell people who haven’t seen Orphan Black before when we pitch the show to them
- How Orphan Black transforms over time
- Alison’s existential crisis about being a clone
- Factions within factions within factions (there were almost too many factions)
- Who’s your favorite clone?
- Moral relativism and the doctors who practice it
- Sarah Manning is bad at doing the right thing but she’s really trying
- What makes a maternal clone?
Mentioned In This Episode:
- Ringer (The Sarah Michelle Gellar-Prinze CW show)
- Serial Box’s Orphan Black continuation
- The 100
Part Two: Who Gets Forgiven?
A Few Things We Discuss In The Episode:
- Why can we forgive Helena but not Rachel?
- Bioethics and corporate interests
- What’s the deal with Paul?
- The Castor clones & whether the ends justify the means
- Tatiana Maslany & Ari Millen
- The importance of Felix
For Fans of Orphan Black
Julian Recommends
- Homecoming (TV show; the show is based on an audio drama of the same name)
- The 100
Chelsee Recommends
- Fringe
- Kyle XY
- Never Let Me Go (Book by Kazuo Ishiguro; Film directed by Mark Romanek)
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Casually Obsessed is produced by Chelsee Bergen. The theme music is ‘I Dunno’ by Grapes.