In an interesting move, the first episode of the sci-fi series’ final season will shift from a Thursday to a Saturday, and will premiere at 10 p.m. Saturday, June 10. It’s unclear, however, if the series will continue to air on Saturdays through the summer, or move back to a more desirable prime-time-friendly night of the week.
The show stars Tatiana Maslany in a number of distinct roles, all of whom are clones. As they search for the truth about where they came from, as well as the cure to a deadly disease that seems to be killing them all, they run into plenty of trouble along the way, including sinister figures, and a set of male “brother” clones, played by Ari Millen.
The Leda clones, as they’re called, include the rebel and con artist lead character Sarah, deceased cop Beth, Russian psychopath Helena, eccentric scientist Cosima, and uptight housewife Alison, among many others. Othe cast members include Jordan Gavaris, who plays Sarah’s adopted brother, Maria Doyle Kennedy as her adoptive mother, Skyler Wexler as her daughter, Kevin Hanchard as Beth’s former partner on the force, Eveyne Brochu as a brilliant French scientist, Kristian Bruun as Alison’s dimwitted husband, and Josh Vokey as Cosima’s lab partner and friend.
Orphan Black became BBC America’s first original scripted series to get the network noticed. Maslany took home an Emmy for her roles last year, but fans of the cult hit had been lobbying for her nomination since the series inception. Orphan Black garnered so much interest from viewers that it got its own aftershow talk show, called After the Black.
Last summer, BBC confirmed that the fifth season would be the show’s last, and would include 10 hourlong episodes.
When we left the clones at the end of season 4 last June (spoiler alert), an ailing Cosima claimed to have found the cure for the illness plaguing the clones, while “bad” clone Rachel was about to, quite literally, meet her maker — Neolution founder P.T. Westmoreland.
Orphan Black was created by Graeme Manson and John Fawcett, and is produced by Temple Street in association with BBC America and Space.+
