Orphan Black is the best TV show you’re not watching

YOU may think you know all the best TV shows out there but chances are, you haven’t seen this Canadian gem. And you definitely should.

AUSTRALIANS have a knack of ferreting out great TV shows, even when our main TV networks have given them no love — especially in the age of endless reality TV.

Now, the modern water cooler (social media) has spread the word far and wide on what to watch and how to watch it.

But one brilliant show that’s flown under the radar in Australia, even among the cord-cutting crowd, is Orphan Black. A Canadian BBC America show (just to make it confusing), Orphan Black’s third season is about to start on SBS 2 on Tuesday while seasons one and two are available to stream on Netflix and Stan — which makes it the perfect time to catch up on this show and you’ll be glad you did.

The first season starts off with Sarah Manning, a streetwise con artist who witnesses a woman who looks exactly like her jump in front of a train. In that instant, Sarah grabs the dead woman’s belongings and takes over her life. If you haven’t guessed it yet, the dead woman was not a long lost twin sister but a clone.

Yes, that is GoT’s Daario Naharis. He shows up in season two.

As Sarah tries to grapple with the fact she may be a clone, other clones come out of the woodwork, including warm science student Cosima, uptight suburban soccer mum Alison, unhinged assassin Helena, transgender clone Tony and Rachel, a lonely executive at the evil science corporation that’s got its dirty hands in the clone program.

Orphan Black is fast-paced and deliciously dripping with conspiracies, double crosses and shady characters with opaque loyalties. The writing crackles while its supporting characters, particularly foster brother Felix, are so strong and rounded out they could be headlining their own shows. It’s also smart TV that looks at the ethics of science and the debate over nature versus nurture.

But the best part about Orphan Black is the thespian talents of 29-year-old Canadian lead actor Tatiana Maslany, who is easily one of the most underrated actors on TV. Not only does she play all the clones with distinct mannerisms, personalities and energies, she has also managed to create the best on-screen chemistry on TV today — what’s remarkable is that on-screen chemistry is with herself. She makes you forget that you’re actually watching the same person.

Tatiana Maslany facing off against Tatiana Maslany.

Maslany is mostly unknown to Australian audiences having spent much of her career in bit roles but her star is on the rise having already nabbed Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild nominations for her role(s).

SPOILERS FOLLOW FOR SEASONS ONE AND TWO

Tatiana Maslany is about to be matched on screen by Ari Millen, who’s set to play at least four male clones in this upcoming season. The last moments of season two revealed that the military had been developing male clones in parallel with the female clones program and that cult escapee Mark is one of them.

Millen’s Mark was originally slated to die midway through season two but the producers and writers had been impressed by his performance that they decided to not only keep his character alive but also expand his role, fourfold.

Mark — creepy yet naive and innocent.

Millen will play three other clones in addition to Mark — master fighter Rudy, devoted Seth and soldier Miller. The male clones (Project Castor) were brought up self-aware and together in a military sect whereas the female clones (Project Leda) had been born in different countries to different parents and initially with no idea who they really are. Which sets the scene for more nature versus nurture debates in season three as the dynamic between the two different sets of clones are explored.

It also makes it harder for Millen to play out these different characters who have been raised in the same environment. “It was very important to me to find those personalities, their individual personalities,” Millen told news.com.au. “For me, it was definitely about trying to find those little things about each character that made them distinctively themselves so when the audience is watching, they recognise that they’re watching Seth or identify that that’s such a Rudy thing to do.” Millen likens it to identical twins who you might mistake for each other at first but you certainly get a sense of one versus another as time went on.

Asked if it was daunting to play clones on a show where Maslany had already set the bar so high, Millen said it was less daunting and more exciting. “All the credit goes to Tatiana. For me, it was about the excitement of getting to continue to be on the show that I was having a blast one. Now I get to do it multiple times and in multiple ways. And I get to pick the brain of someone who is killing it.”

Millen promised that Orphan Black will ramp up the stunts this season and that we’ll continue to be delighted with the mysteries and conspiracies that drove the first two years.

“What’s so exciting about Orphan Black is that you never know who you can trust and you never know who your friend is. And it’s been proven time and time again that your strongest ally might just turn out to be your biggest enemy at the drop of a hat. This season has more of the same, if not even bigger, bombshells of twists and turns.”

He also pointed to a showdown between his male clones and Maslany’s female clones. “It’s set up that Project Castor is gunning for Project Leda. Project Leda has something that we want and they should be afraid of us because we’ll stop at nothing from getting what we want but as I said, things aren’t always what they seem and things can evolve. We’ll see what happens.”

Orphan Black season three starts on SBS 2 on Tuesday April 21 at 9:30pm. It was also be available on SBS On Demand on Sunday April 19 at 12pm, immediately after the show is aired in the US.

Seasons one and two can be streamed on Netflix and Stan while season one is also available on Quickflix.