Favorite Characters: Cosima Niehaus (Orphan Black)

All things considered, Cosima is probably one of the less remarkable clones, acting-wise.  She doesn’t require Tatiana Maslany to put on an accent, her posture and bearing aren’t as iconic as some of her sisters, and her role doesn’t call for a huge amount of action.  Character-wise, though, she’s one of my favorites, a passionate, winningly likeable geek girl.  (Basic premise spoilers, and some Cosima-related romance and plot spoilers.)

I could tell I’d like Cosima from her first meeting with Sarah.  While Alison enjoys twisting the “we’re all freaks” knife with the clone revelation and Sarah’s head quietly explodes, Cosima is nonchalantly reassuring with her assertion that “it’s actually pretty cool.”  She doesn’t just roll with the fact that she’s a clone – she’s sort of excited about it.  I don’t mind the early episodes’ expository technobabble, because Cosima’s delivery of it is so personable and engaging.

A dedicated student of evo-devo (evolutionary developmental biology,) Cosima gives no sign that she considers herself a thing or monster, or that she can’t reconcile her origins.  Instead, she approaches the sisters’ situation by imaging what she would do if she were conducting such an experiment.  Her insights and hypotheses lead the clones to a number of good conjectures as they’re trying to figure out what they’re for, where they come from, who may be watching them, and why.  Additionally, as the resident science nerd, she’s their first line of defense in the lab, getting down the genetic nitty-gritty of how they’re constructed and how they fit together.  A show like this desperately needs a Cosima, especially since the synthetic sequences in the clones’ DNA have left them with some health issues in serious need of gene therapy.

Cosima doesn’t bear much resemblance to the typical scientist/techie-in-a-genre-show archetype.  At the most basic level, she’s a nerd in that she’s super-smart, loves to talk about science, and is into geek culture.  However, she really doesn’t give off a nerd vibe, either the self-conscious geeky awkwardness or the self-assured geeky awkwardness (with or without confidence, the geekiness is almost invariable awkward.)  In contrast, she’s a cool, fairly chill nerd.  She knows exactly who she is, owns it, and neither apologizes nor overcompensates for anything.  It’s a completely different energy from what you usually see in a lab on TV or in movies, and I love it.

Oddly, I also kind of love that Cosima pursues a relationship with Delphine despite concerns that she may be monitoring Cosima.  I dunno – I mean, here’s a woman who’s incredibly book-smart as well as fairly street-smart.  She knows Delphine’s sudden appearance in her life is suspect.  She knows there’s a good chance Delphine is her monitor.  But she goes for it anyway, eyes open, because she likes and wants Delphine.  There’s something about that that speaks to Cosima’s heart, recklessness, and determination.  Is it a dumb thing to do?  Sure, and once they get together, Cosima lets her guard down way too much, but I still like that she goes for it. 

Although, point of order, what’s up with Cosima getting the one monitor who’s not initially intended to be a romantic/sexual partner?  I get that Dyad doesn’t seem to realize at first that she’s gay (which is weird in and of itself, since she was presumably monitored before coming to Minnesota, and she’s pretty open about her sexuality,) but then that really doesn’t explain why they plant a woman in her life to be her colleague and friend.  Does Dyad think geek girls aren’t into sex or romance?  Good for Cosima for throwing them for a loop.