Orphan Black cast, creators preview final season, pick favorite clone

Less than 48 hours after a series wrap on Orphan Black, the cast and creators reassembled Thursday at PaleyFest in Los Angeles, where the Clone Club was out in full force to preview the final season and say goodbye.

With emotions still raw from shooting the last scene of Orphan Black thousands of miles away early Wednesday morning, Emmy winner Tatiana Maslany recounted those final moments, which meant saying farewell to each of her clones.

“When we wrapped Cosima, it was like, ‘That’s a series wrap on Cosima,’ and then I had to go and take that thing off for the last time,” she told EW. “It was weird. It was heavy scene work, but just also saying goodbye to so many characters over the past two episodes, wrapping people who we’ve worked with since season 1 and wrapping clones who I’ve been since season 1… It was a lot of farewells and tears and a lot of gratitude that we got that far, that we got to do five seasons.”

Those lucky enough to attend the panel got a special treat as the season premiere — full of humor, action, and drama — was screened. As only 10 episodes remain to settle the central mysteries of the series, audiences are finally going to meet the person behind it all: the mysterious Westmoreland.

“John [Fawcett] and I knew for a long time that in this feminist show, that there was a man at the top,” joked Fawcett’s co-creator Graeme Manson about the shadowy Neolutionist figure. “You think of the most evil patriarch figure. It’s a character that we had in mind for a long time, kind of going to our Dr. Moreau.”

As evidenced in recently released images, season 5 will also fully reunite Cosima and Delphine (Evelyne Brochu), a couple who has withstood lies, health issues, and assumed death to have the most beloved romantic relationship on the series, something that has made all involved extremely proud.

“The main problem was never that they were two girls in love, and I think that’s liberating and fantastic,” said Brocho.

Manson added: “It really speaks to the heart of the show. It’s a clone show that’s about diversity. That relationship was very important to all of us to have this partnership that is in the Orphan Black world and is tested and full of trust, but at the heart of it, it should have the same weight as any straight relationship you see on TV. These are just two characters who love each other. What’s wrong with that?”

With the panel drawing to a close, the cast was each asked the ultimate Orphan Black question: Who is your favorite clone? The task was made especially hard by the fact that no one onstage, even Maslany, could remember how many were still alive.

There was little consensus among the group, with all the main sestras getting some love. Kristian Bruun (Donnie) turned his back on his TV wife and went with Helena; Jordan Gavaris (Felix) went with the late-to-the-game but hilarious Krystal; and Kevin Hanchard (Art) went for a deep cut and picked Katja. “She was misunderstood and her flame was snuffed out way too soon,” he said, laughing.

As fans might expect, Maslany stayed neutral, sharing her appreciation for all of her diverse, unique characters. But without picking a favorite, she made note of how difficult it was to bid farewell to one in particular. “It was really hard to say goodbye to Alison,” she shared, “because I will never get to play that character ever again.”

Orphan Black returns to BBC America for its final season on June 10 at 10 p.m. ET.