Exclusive

Orphan Black Bosses Spill Everything You Need to Know About Season Two—Plus Find Out How Many Clones Exist!

Exclusive! Creators Graeme Manson and John Fawcett spill details on Cosima's deadly disease, Rachel's dark past and more!

By Leanne Aguilera Apr 17, 2014 2:00 PMTags
Orphan Black, Tatiana MaslanySteve Wilkie/BBC AMERICA

One show. Nine clones (so far.) An infinite amount of captivating drama.

After nearly a year of waiting, Orphan Black finally returns to our lives this weekend, and now we can stop verbally assaulting our DVR's for its inexcusable absence of Tatiana Maslany. Season two of the critically acclaimed BBC America hit premieres April 19 at 9 p.m., and after watching the first four episodes, all we can say is Malany deserves to win every single award this season. Yes, even the Grammys.

Sarah, Cosima, Alison and Rachel. Our favorite genetically identical seetras (*Read as Helena) are back and we could not be more thrilled to be a part of the Clone Club sorority. Guys are welcome too just as long as they look like Hot Paul. (Hey, we don't make the rules.)

To help bring your Orphan Black obsession up to our level, we caught up with the brilliant minds behind the series, creators Graeme Manson and John Fawcett, to find out everything you need to know about the action-packed second season. Keep reading for exclusive scoop on the disease that threatens the lives of all our clones, Cosima's fate, Rachel's past and so much more!

We're going to cut to the chase: Officially, how many clones are there?
Graeme Manson: I suppose the amount of clones is limitless, but it is limited by the fact that we don't bring new clones to the show lightly. We want Tat to embody them with purpose and personality and character. And as John and I often say, on Orphan Black, you'll never walk into a room and there'll be a hundred clones. We just don't want to wing it that far. The edge of reality of the show is because these are real characters to us.

John Fawcett: I think that that's also part of the mystery too, as to how many are there.

In our exclusive Orphan Black sneak peek, fans saw that Cosima's heath is going to dark turn. What can you tease about that?
GM: Yeah, well don't get too attached to her. Obviously, I'm not going to spoil things at all, but it's part of the real stakes of season two is that Cosima has become ill, and with something we don't have the answers for. Not we, but they don't have the answers for. The clones don't have the answers for it. So trying to cure Cosima's illness is a huge ticking clock in season two.

BBC America

Since our clones are genetic identical, does this mean that eventually they all with catch this deadly disease?
JF: Yes, that's the other aspect to all of this. Because they are all genetic identicals, they are all susceptible to this disease.

GM: Yeah, susceptible, but there's many different genetic varying factors that may or may not affect them.

JF: It's still a concern for all of them. It affects all of them, so Cosima's research of her own illness is research on behalf of all of them. And you know, pro-clone Rachel has the same stakes involved in discovering the source of the disease as the rest of them.

Speaking of our pro-clone, as of now Rachel is the clone that we know the least about. When can we expect to learn more about her?
JF: We definitely move into Rachel's backstory. In fact, that actually kind of begins in episode five, which you haven't seen yet. And there is a deep mystery involved in her backstory that ties, to some to degree, Rachel and Sarah together. As Sarah goes along and mines her own mystery and discovers who she is, there's some revelations for Rachel in that as well, that's for sure.

One of the biggest mysteries regarding Sarah is her miraculous ability to conceive children. Are we going to find out the reason why Sarah is the only clone who can do this?
GM: We're certainly going to rub up against the answer this season.

JF: Yeah I think so. I mean, it is definitely a question that is on everybody's mind. We do address it. I don't know that you're going to get full answers in season two, but there are aspects of this that we definitely deal with in season two. 

WATCH: Orphan Black: Freak out at this never-seen footage from season two!

BBC America

Each and every scene with Alison in season one was pure gold. What kind of shenanigans are you going to put our soccer mom through this year?
JF: We really loved the idea of Allison having a downward spiral after carrying this guilt of killing Ainsley, you know, adding booze and pills to it and having this giant, giant fall from grace and public humiliation.

GM: I know. It's so tragic, right? It's so awful and tragic and pathetic and hilarious.

What do you want to say to the Orphan Black fans who are excited to tune into Saturday's premiere.
JF: We're dying to show it. We've been sitting on these episodes for a long time, and you know, we're really excited about the season and I think both Graeme and I feel like the bar went up and I think we kind of got there and we just think the season rocks.

Orphan Black's second season premieres Saturday, April 19 at 9 p.m. on BBC America.