Top 10 Memorable Orphan Black Moments

By the time Helena and Donnie become friends, it’s hard to reconcile the messy haired blonde with the terrifying assassin she used to be. As it turns out, it’s totally possible to be a ruthless, cold-hearted killer, and also be one of the most adorable people in the universe. Helena and Donnie’s relationship is easily one of the best in the show, and as the two of them bond over protecting the clone club, it’s difficult to imagine what life might’ve turned out like for each of them if they hadn’t met.

For so much of the show, Felix was relegated to the background, always cleaning up Sarah’s messes, or being roped into some plot to save the clone club, so it is nice to see him finally get his moment with his art show. However, in typical “Orphan Black” fashion, the clones play a huge part, both on the canvas and off. In something that can only be described as performance art, each clone becomes part of Felix’s exhibition; though he pretends that they are all the same person. It’s a well-done scene that reminds the audience that the clones could not have survived so long without the support of their families and friends.

They might be a sisterhood, but hey, even siblings fight sometimes. Thankfully, most family fights don’t end with one party having a pencil stabbed in their eye. In this scene, Sarah is pitted against the malicious Rachel as she tries to escape the clutches of the Dyad Institute. Using a makeshift weapon, she fires a pencil that hits Rachel. It’s an awful moment, the consequences of which are felt throughout the show right until the end, and it puts into perspective the desperation of the clones’ plight to be more than just a science experiment.

Audiences spent most of season five on the edge of their seats, waiting to see what would happen to the characters we learned to love. But the tragic thing about final seasons is that, inevitably, not everyone survives. When the troublesome Ferdinand bursts through the door of Mrs S’ house, gun pointed right at her, it’s one such moment of realizing that not everyone is going to make it. It’s a tense scene that is one of the more somber in the season, as the tough-as-nails Mrs S. faces off with one of the more horrific villains of the show.

For a show that comes across as super serious most of the time, it does pull some ridiculous stunts. In one scene, Alison’s husband Donnie attempts to be menacing and imposing when he confronts the face of Neolution, Dr Leekie. Coercing him to get into the car, Donnie goes on a rant, with a loaded gun in his hand. And, well, if you know anything about gun safety, you can see how a loaded gun being wielded by an inexperienced handler could go drastically wrong. The scene pays homage to “Pulp Fiction”, and one of the most important characters of the early seasons is killed off in a way that probably shouldn’t make us laugh as hard as it did.

It’s the scene that started it all. Literally. In the first scene of the series, Sarah Manning gets off a train just in time to see a woman who looks just like her, step in front of an oncoming train. It’s not pretty, but it catches the viewers’ attention straightaway and helps prove the show as one that won’t pull its punches. The mystery of Beth pervades the rest of the series, and eventually seeing her backstory fills in some gaps and answers questions that the audience desperately needed answering.

If you ever need reminding that Tatiana Maslany is one of the finest actors of our time, look no further than this scene. In a feat of movie magic that seamlessly sews together a scene featuring four different clones, all played by the same actor, it’s one of the most iconic moments of the show. Maslany inhabits the characters so fully that each has her own distinct dance style that perfectly suits them. Like any time multiple clones are in the same scene, you forget that Maslany actually plays them all. The dance party is an understated, touching moment in a show that has no shortage of drama and action.

Seeing a woman who looks just like you kill herself could be put down to mere coincidence, but having a whole host of other women who look the same as you can only be deliberate. For Sarah, it’s a mind-blowing experience, finding out that she is one of several clones, each of whom has their own life and has already accepted the fact that they are one of many. It’s a tough thing to accept, but the scene where Sarah, Alison and Cosima all meet together for the first time is sweet, if somewhat tense. It’s also the beginning of something that turns out to be life altering for all of them.

When there’s a show about clones, then of course the most pressing question on everybody’s mind is going to be “who is the original?”. For several seasons, “Orphan Black” teased audiences with this mystery, and when the reveal came, it was as unexpected as anything the show has ever done. Compared to many of the other things the show has done, and many of the other secrets it revealed, this one could almost be accidentally overlooked. But somehow, finding out that it’s Kendall, Mrs S’ mother, feels right.





Before we unveil our top pick, here are some honorable mentions:



Project Castor Reveal

"By Means Which Have Never Yet Been Tried”





Alison and Felix Bathroom Scene

“Unconscious Selection”





Alison Torturing Donnie

"Variations Under Domestication”

There are moments in this show that’ll leave you feeling like you’ve been stabbed through the heart, and this is one of them. It’s one of the hardest scenes to watch in the entire series. It’s a make or break moment, and definitely one of the times where the show has embraced the darkness at the center of it. Killing a beloved character, albeit one who was already dying, in such a brutal way makes it hard to watch, but it’s also a turning point for the series, where it begins to really tie together all the plot threads it had been teasing for so long.