It has been four years since the critically acclaimed sci-fi thriller Orphan Black ended its five-season run, but it remains as one of the most exciting and memorable series in recent memory. Featuring evil scientists, a colorful range of clones, and even a talking scorpion, the show will continue to captivate audiences for years to come.
Other than the technical magic of breathing life to clones, the show is also loved for its well-paced writing — which gave viewers stunning plot twists, a satisfying finale, and some of the best lines uttered on TV.
“Follow The Crazy Science.” – Delphine Cormier
This is what Delphine tells a distraught Cosima in the first episode of the final season, right before she is once again forced to leave her side and after she explains what exactly the island is: the heart of Neolution.
In some ways, following the science is exactly what the show’s characters — and fans — had been doing throughout its many twists and turns, and it’s a recurring theme in Delphine and Cosima’s intense love-work relationship. Crazy Science, incidentally, is also the name of a discontinued spin-off comic book series about their adventures to cure the 274 other Leda clones across the globe.
“Da Vinci Robbed Graves To Study Anatomy. In A Hundred Years, They'll Call Me A Pioneer.” – Evie Cho
Like Delphine, Evie is a scientist, but the list of their similarities ends there. Director of BrightBorn Industries, Evie was implanting creepy bots into people’s mouths under the guise of gene therapy and fooling millions along the way. But in one of the series’ best-rated episodes, she claims that it was all for science.
It’s a line that makes fans think about what people tell themselves to justify evil. Add the fact that she also caused the death of Beth, Kendall, the deformed newborns in her experiment, and even tried to kill Delphine, and it’s easy to see why she’s one of the most hated villains on the show.
“We Do Terrible Things For The People We Love. Stop Asking Why. Start Asking Who.” – Beth Childs
Though the series started with her death, Beth has a tremendous impact on Clone Club across all 50 episodes. And this is especially true for season 3’s “Certain Agony of the Battlefield,” where Sarah finally escapes from Castor base — but not before she sees Beth in a fever dream.
In it, Beth makes tea in a brightly lit kitchen and tells Sarah about the day Paul moved in. She also offers Sarah some clues and encouragement to keep going in a moving scene that most fans will likely never forget.
“I Can’t Do This Without You.” – Sarah Manning
There’s a lot that goes on in episode 6 of season 2: Helena finds herself a boyfriend, Alison runs into Vic, and Sarah finally meets who she and her sestras might consider their father, Ethan Duncan. But there’s a small moment in the middle of all this where, after talking about the science of it all, Sarah asks Cosima if she’ll be all right.
It’s sweet, and there’s something special about watching the tough punk who never needed anyone open up to her sestra. Thankfully, Cosima’s answer to her question is “Obviously. I’m the geek monkey!”
“My Sexuality Isn't The Most Important Thing About Me.” – Cosima Niehaus
Easily one of the most likable characters on the show, Cosima has given fans plenty of memorable lines to love, including “I’m kind of always late, so kind of always sorry,” and "Look, I’m not gonna apologize for my heart, okay?" But when she’s confronted by Rachel in “Governed by Sound Reason and True Religion,” fans see her stand confidently in her own skin.
Being a lesbian is certainly one element of who Cosima is, but it’s not all that she is — and the way she stands her ground against the cold and calculating Rachel is certainly part of that.
“She's Been Poisoned. By Big Cosmetics. What About That Is Confusing?” – Krystal Goderitch
Krystal — manicurist, vlogger, and Big Cosmetics’ biggest nightmare — is one of the most refreshing aspects of the show. The smart, resourceful, and immaculately dressed clone always manages to get so close but so far from the truth, and this line from "Manacled Slim Wrists" is a fan favorite.
Krystal's deadpan comment is more real than viewers may realize, she's one of the best characters in Orphan Black who says it like it is. After all, in a world where there is a mysterious 170-year-old man, worm-like bots, genetically modified babies, dangerous religious extremists, military experiments, and clones, what about poisoning can be so confusing?
"Defy Them, Live Your Life With Every Ounce Of Passion That I Know That You Have. They Will Never Own You." – Delphine Cormier
In one of the first season’s most heartbreaking moments, Cosima finds a code in her genome that brands her as intellectual property. Much later, in season 5, fans see what had happened afterward: Delphine passionately promises Cosima that she will protect her and that they will never own her — not her wit, her intellect, or her integrity.
It’s an intense scene, and in that same episode, viewers see its effect on Cosima as she stands up to her creator, telling him, “You gave me life. I know you can take that away. But you can't take away my humanity.”
“Sometimes Family Is More Than Just The People Under Your Roof.” – Alison Hendrix
Alison has plenty to deal with across five seasons of the show, including murder, corpse desecration, a drug business, and frequent altercations with evil scientists on the show. But she’s also all about family, and the suburban soccer mom and community theater star makes this beautiful point in her speech in “Community of Dreadful Fear and Hate.”
Her statement is a powerful comment about found families and sticking with the people you love. She follows it up with the emphatic lines: “They’re people who jump in, head first, who aren’t afraid to make fools of themselves to help you, who don’t hide their faces in shame if you fall down.”
“So To My Galaxy Of Women — Thank You For The Nurture.” – Felix Dawkins
Nature versus nurture, alongside feminine strength and diversity, is one of the recurring themes of Orphan Black. In "Guillotines Decide," Felix pays tribute to his adoptive mother Siobhan and his sisters through a series of paintings and a touching speech.
He starts off his moving monologue by saying “Watching her raise my sister, watching my sister raise her own daughter, finding my biological sister, it's quite mad. It's taught me that we are all mysterious works of chance. Of choice. Of nature vs. nurture.” The scene is lovely and the art show feels like a celebration not just for Felix’s art, but also his sestras’ freedom and the family they’ve all built together.
"Just Remember, My Loves — Death Is Nothing At All. I’ve Only Slipped Into The Next Room." – Felix, reading Siobhan Sadler’s letter
Characters have come and gone on Orphan Black, but the death of fan-favorite Mrs. S is probably the most devastating of all of them. The letter she leaves behind, read out by Felix in the series’ penultimate episode, is heart-wrenching but still hopeful, and reminds those she left behind that she remains with them even in death.
The moving last paragraph of the letter ends with “You can call me by my old familiar name with no sorrow in your tone. I promise we will laugh at this difficult parting when we meet again. All my love, S.” It’s a touching conclusion to a life well-lived, and a profound way to set up the series’ final battle as the sestras must pause their mourning to save one of their own.