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.

Relationship Spotlight: The Clones (Orphan Black)

Even if I just focus on the main players, today’s posts definitely highlights more characters than I ever have in a single Relationship Spotlight before.  If you’re wondering what spurs me to attempt such an undertaking, I refer you to the picture above.  I’m pretty sure there are few problems which can’t be solved with “clone dance party.”  (Some spoilers ahead.)

There’s a lot to love about Orphan Black, but without a doubt, my favorite part of the show is the assortment of ever-growing relationships between the sestras.  For most of them, their lives were only recently upended by the realization of what they are.  They used to glide heedlessly through what they assumed was an ordinary existence:  soccer moms and students, convicts and cops.  Then, each of them experienced a total paradigm shift when they discovered that they’re parts of a top-secret, highly-unsanctioned human cloning experiment.  Shadowy eyes are watching them, nefarious groups wish them harm, their DNA is augmented by a synthesized patent sequence, and they find a mysterious illness worming its way through their genes.  That’s far too much for any one person to process and carry alone – no wonder they turn to the only people who can understand what they’re going through.

Forged together in the fire of what must seem like an insane sci-fi story, the sisters cling to one another.  The frequent meet-ups, phone calls, and Skype sessions go beyond their shared goal of sorting through the many questions that surround them.  Sure, Sarah is good at sneaking around and unearthing secrets, Helena can hold her own in any fight, and Cosima knows her way around a laboratory, but it’s so much more than that.  Sarah will pose as Alison to get her out of a bind of her own doing, who will in turn shoo her husband and kids out of the house so she’s ready to fight alongside Sarah if she’s needed.  When Cosima starts succumbing to the illness that threatens them, the others will do whatever’s needed to help her.  There are plenty of characters who will go to extreme lengths for one another, of course – the clones aren’t alone in that regard.  What makes their relationships stand out more is their depth coupled with the relative youth of their associations.  Less than a year out, and their concern for each other trumps basically anything else.  Their sisters come before romantic partners, before old allegiances, before work, and before personal safety.  Sarah falls out hard with Mrs. S when it comes out that S sold out Helena, and Cosima makes it clear to Delphine that if she puts Dyad ahead of Cosima’s sisters, they’re done.

The fact that they’re not just sisters but clones makes their bonds go deeper even aside from all the sci-fi craziness happening to them.  Although each woman is so different, to some extent, she regards all of the others on some level as extensions of herself.  It’s why Helena, Alison, Cosima, and Rachel almost feel like Kira is, not just Sarah’s daughter, but theirs, too.  It’s why Felix and Mrs. S. have taken them all in as something of a surrogate family.  It’s why, despite Helena and Rachel’s sins against their own, none of the others can bring themselves to take either out.  Helena is being brought closer and closer to the fold, and her tentative relationships with her sestras is helping to cut through her destructive programming at the hands of the Prolethians.  And while Rachel has wreaked all kinds of detached havoc on their lives, I think there’s a part of her, somewhere (very deeply buried,) that longs for the same, to have the kind of family that the other clones have found in each other.  The show can get bogged down in its ever-evolving mythology, but when it focuses on the women at the heart of the series, it hits home every time.