Think about your favorite show for a minute and your favorite actor or actress on there. They probably have been that character for a few seasons but only appear in some of the scenes perhaps. Now compare that to Tatiana Maslany on Orphan Black. She plays 5 different characters in a regular episode . A good nickname for her would be "The Boss" because she commands each scene she is in. Each character with their own personalities and she is able to flawlessly play them so well. In a fair world , Tatiana would get so many nominations and awards for her acting on Orphan Black. So below I will mention each of the characters she plays and it will help explain why she is so deserving of all the award as I talk about each of the 5 clones she plays regularly on the show.

Sarah Manning is the one that is on the show the most. As Sarah, Tatiana plays so many roles here - con artist turned loyal sister and mother. At the beginning of the show , Sarah had only cared about herself. Thankfully as the series has gone on, Sarah has cared more about her sisters starting with her bond with Cosima and trying to help her with her illness. Then it was helping Alison out with her many, many troubles. As of this season she has fought to protect her daughter Kira ,her sister Helena and her surrogate mom Mrs.S. She does a great job of showing how much Sarah has evolved over the last few seasons as she has let more people in now besides Felix as she and Jordan Garavis show the sister/brother bond Sarah and Felix have as they bicker, tease and fight but always have one another's back.

Alison Hendrix is first and foremost a mom as she would admit. A mom who also has : let a  woman die, hid a body in her garage, sold drugs and now is running for School Trustee. Married to Donnie with two adopted children, she will fiercely do anything to keep the orderly life she has for herself. In season 2 we saw Alison have a drinking problem which led to some interesting scenes with her and the other clones. Tatiana shows how uptight Alison is when it comes to many things like household work to the manner in which she tells Donnie to stop showing off when making a drug/money transfer. She believes in everything she does and is without a doubt the strongest character on the show.

Helena is such a impressive character that Tatiana plays. It is hard to have a character that spends the first season trying to kill and kidnap the main character's family  and turn them into the most likable character on the show but this is what Tatiana and writers have accomplished. Now Helena has embraced her sestras and thanks to Maslany's preformance has had Helena lighten up and deliver some light-hearted moments. But also you never forget that underneath that light exterior is a woman who will do anything to protect babies.

Cosima Niehaus is, to me, Tatiana's best role and performance on the show. Cosima is a scientist who is suffering from a disease that has struck some of the other clones that died before the others found out each other. In this performance , Cosima has had to deal with love and heartbreak multiple times in her relationship with Delphine. Tatiana's scenes with Evelyne Brochu have been some of the best of the series in my opinion. They show in just facial reactions how much they love and hurt each other with their choices. Also, Tatiana shows the bravery and fear Cosima has as she has found this new family but she knows it could be taken away from her and she's trying so hard to not let that happen.  Also I have really enjoyed when Cosima has had scenes with Scotty, her colleague and friend from work at Dyad. They always have the older sister/little brother vibe that is really nice to see.

Rachel Duncan is without a doubt the meanest of the clone characters Tatiana plays. Quite frankly , she is a bitch. But in Rachel's mind, she is the victim and she has suffered. When she finds out that she is infertile, her psyche cracks and she kidnaps Sarah's daughter Kira. The Clone Club is able to rescue Kira and Sarah puts a pencil through Rachel's eye. That Rachel is able to have sympathy of any kind is because of the talented work Maslany does in portraying a wounded woman but refuses to let anyone help her even when hurt and injured.


And I haven't even touched the scenes where Tatiana plays Sarah playing Rachel, Sarah playing Alison, Helena playing Alison or Cosima playing Alison. (A lot of the clones pretend to be Alison don't they?)  Those scenes are always so fantastic as she knows these characters so well that Tatiana even knows how they would pretend to be the other sister.

Also the chemistry she has with the rest of the cast whether it be Sarah and Mrs. S (Maria Doyle Kennedy) mother/daughter relationship, Alison and her husband Donnie's scenes are always funny and very enjoyable to watch. (Hint: Twerking)
Cosima and Felix are another fun pair on the show that shows Cosima's fun side as much as her interactions with Delphine are heartbreaking.

 So these are my thoughts on Tatiana Maslany and the characters she plays on Orphan Black. She is one of the most talented actresses in the industry and I hope she can get the Emmy love she truly deserves. And if she doesn't then I hope she knows how many fans she has and how great she is each Saturday Night during the season.




ALSO if you would like to read episode reviews for the show check out Head Over Feels's reviews at this link - http://www.headoverfeels.com/category/orphan-black/


And also Constance Gibbs's reviews here - http://hellogiggles.com/author/constance-gibbs/




                                      Thank you for reading and goodbye!