SARA, a young woman with legal, financial and other problems,
watches as another woman puts down her handbag and walks off of the platform of
a subway station directly in front of an oncoming train. Sara is stunned, but,
never one to pass up an opportunity, picks up the suicide's handbag and looks
through it. Not only is there money, but also a driver's license with a
picture. The dead woman, BETH, looks exactly like Sara.
Ah. A chance to escape her debased life by assuming someone
else's identity. She goes to Beth's apartment, learns as much about her as
possible, mimic's the accent on Beth's answering machine, and sallies forth to enjoy
Beth's world. But it's not so easy. Beth was a cop and was in trouble for
shooting a civilian. Sara must learn a lot more about Beth quickly if she is to
continue the charade.
It turns out there are many duplicates of Sara and Beth, all
with different personalities, different lives, and different degrees of sanity.
These people are clones produced in someone's experiment, and they are all
under observation. Monitors, who could be friends, lovers, or even spouses,
report to the unknown experimenter on the health and activities of the clones.
Worse, someone is killing the individual clones. Sara and
the others must fear for their very lives.
Supporting characters include Sara's in-your-face gay
brother, FELIX, Beth's lover, PAUL, and Beth's partner on the police force, ART.
Other clones include ALLISON, a 'soccer mom,' COSIMA, an American evolutionary
biologist, and HELENA.
All I'll say about Helena
is that she's the only blond. Tatiana
Maslany is the actress who plays all the clones, and her skill in
portraying so many different personalities is admirable.
There are a few, minor plot flaws. For example, Sara learns
to mimic Beth's accent much too quickly. But, unlike In the Flesh, the basic
concepts are plausible.
The series has a lot of action and exciting plot
developments, but to me, the most interesting parts were the character
developments and relationships. Sadly, the series had only ten episodes, but
there will be another ten episode run next year. I plan to watch it. As pure
entertainment and as a workout program, it's worth while. I give Orphan Black ++++ - it will get your
pulse up to a run
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