From 2013 to 2017, television audiences enjoyed science-fiction, feminism, and interpersonal drama in the form of Orphan Black. Sarah Manning, played by Tatiana Maslany, sees a woman who looks exactly like her commit suicide, which leads her to uncover the fact that she is a clone. She meets other clones and they form a “seestrahood” as they fight to be free from the company that owns them. Maslany won an Emmy for her work as all the clones. Now, there’s Orphan Black: Echoes, a new story from the Orphan Black world and you should be watching. Let’s discuss why.
Orphan Black: Echoes begins when Lucy (Krysten Ritter) wakes up with no memory. She escapes from what turns out to be a medical facility and builds a life for herself, but later realizes she must find out the truth about her identity. Lucy discovers that she is a printout of another person. And that’s just the beginning of another adventure melding science, women, and danger into an intriguing series. A series that gives viewers many reasons to tune in.
The Legacy References
The biggest callback to the original show in Orphan Black: Echoes was revealed at the end of the first episode. When Lucy awakens, a sympathetic scientist questions her before she escapes. That woman turns out to be Kira Manning, Sarah’s daughter, played by Keeley Hawes. She is now in her 40s with a wife and adopted son. Kira is one of the lead characters in this new series. However, she is not the only reference to Orphan Black. Sarah’s adopted brother Felix also pops in to say “Hello monkey” to his niece like he used to, and Jordan Gavaris is still playing him. He’s just wearing a lot of old-age makeup this time. I have no idea if any other characters from the original will show up (Tatiana, where are you???) but I will absolutely continue watching to find out.
The Love Stories
Part of the life Lucy has built for herself is a romance with widowed dad Jack (Avan Jogia). The bond between Lucy, Jack, and Jack’s daughter Charlie (Zariella Langford) is very sweet. Lucy and Jack’s connection has a good intensity. Then it gets even stronger as they deal with the facts of Lucy’s existence. Jack supports her, and he also prioritizes his daughter as well. He’s a likable male character and he doesn’t pull focus from the female leads. As the plot of Echoes progresses, Kira’s marriage to Eleanor (Rya Kihlstedt) becomes a significant relationship in the storytelling. I won’t spoil what is revealed but I will say that showing how intense and messy love can be no matter what age you are is a strength of this show.
The Representation
As you can see, this series succeeds in its representation of the LGBTQ community, just as Orphan Black did. The original show fleshed out Felix and clone Cosima as characters who were LGBTQ. Cosima’s romance with fellow scientist Delphine (Evelyne Brochu) was a major subplot of Orphan Black. Echoes is carrying on that tradition. Kira and Eleanor’s love story is given meaningful story consideration, which allows for the examination of big themes like connection, grief, and loss. And that’s not the only representation on this show. Jack’s daughter Charlie is hearing-impaired, so the disabled community is part of this story as well. One thing you know about the writing of the Orphan Black world is that it will be inclusive.
The New Characters
All of the clones on Orphan Black felt like unique and real people. And that’s true even though the same actress was playing them! The other characters were often memorable too. Echoes provides more of the same. Kira was only a child on the original show, so even she feels like a new character here. Lucy is strong and relatable. There is also a younger printout of the same woman Lucy was created from. Her name is Jules (Amanda Fix) and she is a clever and resourceful teenager. These three women as the main characters make this show work. I don’t want to forget the bad guys. The Orphan Black universe is good at making its villains interesting too. Paul Darros (James Hiroyuki Liao) is a complex and believable bad guy for Echoes.
The Future
Some details I’ve mentioned already might have tipped you off to another reason to watch this show: its vision of the future. This series takes place in the 2050s, and the way that that setting is presented is subtle and effective. It doesn’t feel generically “futuristic”. It feels like our world, just advanced a bit, especially in terms of the technology we use every day. The phones, computers, cars, even the refrigerators, all look familiar. They are just updated in inconspicuous ways. There are more touch screens, sleeker designs, and things like that. I think the visual execution of the near-future setting is well done, and that’s an important thing on a science-fiction show like this.
These reasons make Orphan Black: Echoes a television experience that is worth your time. I know I’ll be watching.
Orphan Black: Echoes airs on Sunday at 10 PM on AMC and BBC America.
