Severance Meets The Bourne Identity In This Masterpiece 5-Part Sci-Fi Thriller

With the advent of streaming, the 2010s were one of the most crowded decades for sci-fi storytelling, but one series managed to stand out largely thanks to its thriller elements, which are best described as “The Bourne Identity meets Severance.” The Matt Damon-starring Bourne movies make up one of the most popular action movie franchises of the 21st century, and they wouldn’t have been nearly as successful if not for the amnesiac assassin serving as their core hook.

Meanwhile, Severance, which premiered in 2022, is a major factor in Apple TV’s status as the best streaming platform for science fiction. The workplace conspiracy sci-fi series about a group of office employees who split their memories between their personal and professional lives has become the closest thing to a watercooler show that audiences are going to get in our current oversaturated streaming age. For a genre that favors grandiose futuristic locations and big-budget CGI spectacle, this is an incredibly impressive feat.

Similarly, Orphan Black, a popular sci-fi show that ran from 2013-2017, earned critical and audience acclaim without needing to break the bank on expensive effects or worldbuilding. Set in the contemporary real world, the five-season-spanning Orphan Black centers on Sarah Manning (Tatiana Maslany), a con artist who, upon witnessing the suicide of a woman who looks exactly like her, steals the deceased’s identity, only to uncover a massive cloning conspiracy that she is unwittingly in the center of.

Not only is Orphan Black a masterclass in acting, with Maslany playing all of her clone characters and winning an Emmy for her performance, but the series also proves that a sci-fi show can tell an exciting yet complete story in an extended run. Though there will never be another series like Orphan Black, its commonalities with The Bourne Identity and Severance ​​​​​​are a major reason for its success.

Orphan Black Combines The Best Of Severance & The Bourne Identity

From its opening scene, Orphan Black grabs its audience by the throat and doesn’t let go as it forces us to go on Sarah’s wild, impromptu journey after stealing Beth Childs’ identity. Just as Jason Bourne is forced to piece together who he is at the beginning of The Bourne Identity, Sarah must not only learn everything she can about her doppelganger, but also why she has one in the first place.

It’s the protagonists learning their pivotal roles in massive conspiracies that make both titles such propulsive stories, as uncovering answers often leads to more questions and increasingly dangerous consequences. However, whereas The Bourne Identity is firmly rooted in the spy thriller genre, many of Orphan Black‘s thrills come from its science fiction elements.

Like Severance, Orphan Black explores biology and human autonomy’s disturbing relationship with capitalism. In the show, the nefarious Dyad Institute considers the clones their intellectual property, and even employs “monitors” to report on them, much like Lumon Industries has “supervisors” performing similar roles on the company’s assets. Both of these premises are beyond dread-inducing, but Orphan Black‘s thriller elements also make the show an escapist adrenaline rush.

Why Orphan Black Is One Of The 21st Century’s Best Sci-Fi Shows

A sci-fi show that even non-sci-fi fans can enjoy may sound awful to die-hard genre aficionados because this often indicates that the series’ scientific elements are nonsensical, silly, or unimportant to the story. However, though Orphan Black ​​​​​​is a crowd-pleasing show, its science is not only integral to the entire show, but also remarkably well thought-out.

This is because Orphan Black had an official scientific consultant in Cosima Herder, a friend of showrunner and co-creator Graeme Mason, who has a PH.d. in the history and philosophy of science, technology, and medicine (via Vanity Fair). It was under her advisement that the genetic engineering in Orphan Black was as grounded and accurate as possible while still being entertaining to watch.

Of course, intriguing, well-researched science only gets a sci-fi show so far. For viewers to really care, there has to be humanity to it, and that’s where Maslany comes in. From protagonist Sarah Manning to clones who only appeared for a single scene, Maslany made all 17 of the clones she played unique, lived-in, and fully fleshed-out individuals who were impossible not to root for despite their flaws.

Fans adapted the moniker #CloneClub to identify themselves online, and though love for the show didn’t translate into a successful spinoff series — Orphan Black: Echoes was canceled after one season — it certainly says a lot about Orphan Black‘s indelible mark on sci-fi television.

Release Date

2013 – 2017-00-00

Network

Space, BBC America

Directors

Ken Girotti, T.J. Scott, David Wellington, Grant Harvey, Helen Shaver, Aaron Morton, Brett Sullivan, Chris Grismer, Peter Stebbings

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  Sarah / Cosima / Alison / Helena / Rachel

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  Jordan Gavaris

  Felix ‘Fee’ Dawkins