Orphan Black

The opening scene of Orphan Black kicks off a compelling new drama from Canada, starring Tatiana Maslany.

A young woman named Sarah is witness to the suicide of another young woman in front of a subway train. But what makes the moment doubly shocking is that she bears the same face. But who is she? Startled and confused, Sarah snatches the young woman’s handbag to try to learn more about her identity.

If you’ve read any of the pre-publicity for the show then the mystery is pretty clear (not that it really diminishes the enjoyment level). But if not, then the first episode raises more questions than answers them.

Streetwise Sarah, who has her fair share of problems, seizes the moment to assume the identity of her double, known as Beth, to clean out her bank account. With the help of her gay foster brother Felix (Jordan Gavaris), it’s a scam with potential but a minefield of traps.

With her abusive, drug-dealing boyfriend Vic (Michael Mando) making her life a mess, Sarah decides to become Beth permanently and kill off her own persona -complete with fake funeral orchestrated by Felix. Before she knows it, she’s opened a Pandora’s Box of mysteries that would keep Jason Bourne or Sydney Bristow busy for weeks.

Into Beth’s world she spirals, faking a relationship with hot new boyfriend Paul (Dylan Bruce) and learning that she suddenly has a new career as a detective and is about to face an internal investigation.

Watching Sarah juggle tenuous situations and tackling questions with a straight face is half the fun of the opening episode. She is forced to muster the resources of the best espionage spies and action heroes just to keep up with this roller-coaster.

But there are much bigger questions at stake than simply boxing at shadows. Was Beth an unknown twin? And what of her own young daughter who has been living with a foster mother? Sarah will soon learn there are consequences for her actions.

Tatiana Maslany is excellent as the chameleon Sarah, assuming all manner of characters, mannerisms and accents in a gift of a role -no wonder she has a Golden Globe nomination for her performance. Her chief confidante played by Jordan Gavaris is somewhat more irritating in a role that skates closer to stereotypes and has less redeeming qualities.

Orphan Black is, however, stylishly photographed accompanied by a tense soundtrack that makes it one of the more satisfying summer offerings on Free to Air Television (it was justifiably voted International Series we Need to See in the recent TV Tonight reader awards). There’s nothing to suggest this is a cheap Canadian cast-off that’s been thrown into a programming deal for an Australian broadcaster.

Exhilarating, perplexing fun.

Orphan Black premieres with a double episode 8:30pm Tuesday on SBS 2.