Orphan Black is a Canadian science fiction television series. It was created by Graeme Manson and John Fawcett. The series stars Tatiana Maslany as several clones. The rest of the starring cast includes Dylan Bruce, Jordan Gavaris, Kevin Hanchard, Michael Mando, Maria Doyle Kennedy, Évelyne Brochu, and Ari Millen. The first season of the show premiered on March 30, 2013. It was shown on Space in Canada and on BBC America in the United States.Orphan Black's second season premiered April 19, 2014.[1] On July 9, 2014, Orphan Black was renewed for a third season[2] to premiere on April 18, 2015.[3] Each season had 10 episodes.
All season 1 episode titles are quotes from On the Origin of Species by Charles Darwin. The season 2 episode titles are quotes from the works of Sir Francis Bacon.[4]
Season | Episodes | Originally aired | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
First aired | Last aired | |||
1 | 10 | March 30, 2013 | June 1, 2013 | |
2 | 10 | April 19, 2014 | June 21, 2014 | |
3 | 10 | April 18, 2015 | June 20, 2015 | |
4 | 10 | April 14, 2016 | June 16, 2016 | |
5 | 10 | June 10, 2017 | August 12, 2017 |
All titles of the first season are terms from On the Origin of Species by Charles Darwin.[5]
No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | Prod. code | U.S. viewers (millions) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 1 | "Natural Selection" | John Fawcett | Graeme Manson | March 30, 2013 | 224086-1 | 0.684[6] |
2 | 2 | "Instinct" | John Fawcett | Graeme Manson | April 6, 2013 | 224086-2 | 0.409[7] |
3 | 3 | "Variation Under Nature" | David Frazee | Graeme Manson | April 13, 2013 | 224086-3 | 0.350[7] |
4 | 4 | "Effects of External Conditions" | Grant Harvey | Karen Walton | April 20, 2013 | 224086-4 | 0.361[7] |
5 | 5 | "Conditions of Existence" | TJ Scott | Alex Levine | April 27, 2013 | 224086-5 | 0.327[7] |
6 | 6 | "Variations Under Domestication" | John Fawcett | Will Pascoe | May 4, 2013 | 224086-6 | 0.340[8] |
7 | 7 | "Parts Developed in an Unusual Manner" | Brett Sullivan | Tony Elliott | May 11, 2013 | 224086-7 | 0.280[7] |
8 | 8 | "Entangled Bank" | Ken Girotti | Karen Walton | May 18, 2013 | 224086-8 | 0.367[7] |
9 | 9 | "Unconscious Selection" | TJ Scott | Alex Levine | May 25, 2013 | 224086-9 | 0.253[7] |
10 | 10 | "Endless Forms Most Beautiful" | John Fawcett | Graeme Manson | June 1, 2013 | 224086-10 | 0.376[9] |
All titles of the second season are quotes from the works of Sir Francis Bacon.[5]
No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | Prod. code | U.S. viewers (millions) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
11 | 1 | "Nature Under Constraint and Vexed" | John Fawcett | Graeme Manson | April 19, 2014 | 224086-11 | 0.620[9] |
12 | 2 | "Governed by Sound Reason and True Religion" | John Fawcett | Karen Walton & Graeme Manson | April 26, 2014 | 240278 | 0.718[10] |
13 | 3 | "Mingling Its Own Nature With It" | TJ Scott | Alex Levine | May 3, 2014 | 224086-13 | 0.450[11] |
14 | 4 | "Governed as It Were by Chance" | David Frazee | Russ Cochrane | May 10, 2014 | 224086-12 | 0.484[12] |
15 | 5 | "Ipsa Scientia Potestas Est" | Helen Shaver | Tony Elliott | May 17, 2014 | 224086-14 | 0.510[13] |
16 | 6 | "To Hound Nature in Her Wanderings" | Brett Sullivan | Chris Roberts | May 24, 2014 | 224086-15 | 0.541[14] |
17 | 7 | "Knowledge of Causes, and Secret Motion of Things" | Ken Girotti | Aubrey Nealon | May 31, 2014 | 224086-16 | 0.497[15] |
18 | 8 | "Variable and Full of Perturbation" | John Fawcett | Karen Walton | June 7, 2014 | 224086-17 | 0.576[16] |
19 | 9 | "Things Which Have Never Yet Been Done" | TJ Scott | Alex Levine | June 14, 2014 | 224086-18 | 0.613[17] |
20 | 10 | "By Means Which Have Never Yet Been Tried" | John Fawcett | Graeme Manson | June 21, 2014 | 224086-19 | 0.538[18] |
All titles of the third season are quotes from the farewell address of Dwight Eisenhower.[19] The premiere episode debuted on all five of AMC Networks' cable channels–BBC America, AMC, IFC, SundanceTV and WE tv–and received 1.27 million cumulative viewers across all five airings.[20] Likewise, in Canada, the season premiere was simulcast on Space, CTV, Bravo, and MTV Canada.[21]
No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | Prod. code | U.S. viewers (millions) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
21 | 1 | "The Weight of This Combination" | David Frazee | Graeme Manson | April 18, 2015 | 224086-20 | 0.535[20] |
22 | 2 | "Transitory Sacrifices of Crisis" | John Fawcett | Aubrey Nealon | April 25, 2015 | 224086-21 | 0.420[22] |
23 | 3 | "Formalized, Complex, and Costly" | John Fawcett | Chris Roberts | May 2, 2015 | 224086-22 | 0.443[23] |
24 | 4 | "Newer Elements of Our Defence" | Chris Grismer | Russ Cochrane | May 9, 2015 | 224086-23 | 0.406[24] |
25 | 5 | "Scarred by Many Past Frustrations" | David Frazee | Alex Levine | May 16, 2015 | 224086-24 | 0.460[25] |
26 | 6 | "Certain Agony of the Battlefield" | Helen Shaver | Aubrey Nealon | May 23, 2015 | 224086-25 | 0.393[26] |
27 | 7 | "Community of Dreadful Fear and Hate" | Ken Girotti | Sherry White | May 30, 2015 | 224086-26 | 0.372[27] |
28 | 8 | "Ruthless in Purpose, and Insidious in Method" | Aaron Morton | Graeme Manson & Chris Roberts | June 6, 2015 | 224086-27 | 0.522[28] |
29 | 9 | "Insolvent Phantom of Tomorrow" | Vincenzo Natali | Russ Cochrane | June 13, 2015 | 224086-28 | 0.401[29] |
30 | 10 | "History Yet to Be Written" | John Fawcett | Graeme Manson | June 20, 2015 | 224086-29 | 0.428[30] |
All season 4 titles are quotes from the works of Donna Haraway.[31]
No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | Prod. code | U.S. viewers (millions) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
31 | 1 | "The Collapse of Nature" | John Fawcett | Graeme Manson | April 14, 2016 | 224086-30 | 0.229[32] |
32 | 2 | "Transgressive Border Crossing" | John Fawcett | Russ Cochrane | April 21, 2016 | 224086-31 | 0.271[33] |
33 | 3 | "The Stigmata of Progress" | Ken Girotti | Aubrey Nealon | April 28, 2016 | 224086-32 | 0.242[34] |
34 | 4 | "From Instinct to Rational Control" | Peter Stebbings | Alex Levine | May 5, 2016 | 224086-33 | 0.218[35] |
35 | 5 | "Human Raw Material" | David Wellington | Kate Melville | May 12, 2016 | 224086-34 | 0.223[36] |
36 | 6 | "The Scandal of Altruism" | Grant Harvey | Chris Roberts | May 19, 2016 | 224086-35 | 0.248[37] |
37 | 7 | "The Antisocialism of Sex" | David Frazee | Nikolijne Troubetzkoy and Graeme Manson | May 26, 2016 | 224086-36 | 0.258[38] |
38 | 8 | "The Redesign of Natural Objects" | Aaron Morton | Peter Mohan | June 2, 2016 | 224086-37 | 0.245[39] |
39 | 9 | "The Mitigation of Competition" | David Frazee | Alex Levine | June 9, 2016 | 224086-38 | 0.291[40] |
40 | 10 | "From Dancing Mice to Psychopaths" | John Fawcett | Graeme Manson | June 16, 2016 | 224086-39 | 0.325[41] |
All season 5 titles are quotes from the poem "Protest" by Ella Wheeler Wilcox.[42]
No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | Prod. code | U.S. viewers (millions) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
41 | 1 | "The Few Who Dare" | John Fawcett | Graeme Manson | June 10, 2017 | 224086-40 | 0.278[43] |
42 | 2 | "Clutch of Greed" | John Fawcett | Jeremy Boxen | June 17, 2017 | 224086-41 | 0.225[44] |
43 | 3 | "Beneath Her Heart" | David Wellington | Alex Levine | June 24, 2017 | 224086-42 | 0.208[45] |
44 | 4 | "Let the Children & the Childbearers Toil" | David Wellington | Greg Nelson | July 1, 2017 | 224086-43 | 0.277[46] |
45 | 5 | "Ease for Idle Millionaires" | Helen Shaver | Jenn Engels | July 8, 2017 | 224086-44 | 0.271[47] |
46 | 6 | "Manacled Slim Wrists" | Grant Harvey | David Bezmozgis | July 15, 2017 | 224086-45 | 0.236[48] |
47 | 7 | "Gag or Throttle" | David Frazee | Renée St. Cyr | July 22, 2017 | 224086-46 | 0.278[49] |
48 | 8 | "Guillotines Decide" | Aaron Morton | Aisha Porter-Christie & Graeme Manson | July 29, 2017 | 224086-47 | 0.285[50] |
49 | 9 | "One Fettered Slave" | David Frazee | Alex Levine | August 5, 2017 | 224086-48 | 0.305[51] |
50 | 10 | "To Right the Wrongs of Many" | John Fawcett | Renée St. Cyr & Graeme Manson | August 12, 2017 | 224086-49 | 0.376[52] |