Life in the Clone Club

"There's a reason we look exactly the same Art. Why the prints match and the DNA is screwed up. But you have to promise to protect me and my daughter." — Sarah Manning, "Orphan Black"

Last year there was one show on BBC America that became a phenomenon. I didn't see it when the show originally aired, but I soon heard everyone buzzing about "Orphan Black," a sci-fi drama with an incredibly layered mystery.

As the second season debuted April 19, I decided to catch up on what I'd missed. Over the past month, I've ripped through all 15 available episodes of "Orphan Black," and it's fair to say I know what all the buzz is about.

The show is addictive, original, and well crafted. Below are three thoughts I've had getting to know the phenomenon that is "Orphan Black."

1. Tatiana Maslany is incredible. As the central character(s) on the show, she has to change accents, personalities, appearance, and more to create distinct clone characters. The raw emotions she exhibits in scenes are all the more amazing when you consider that she's often acting in scenes with other characters she is playing, meaning that the great performance comes opposite a stand in. That's just one of the fascinating aspects of this show. She was nominated for an Emmy last year, but didn't win. That was a crime. If any actress on TV deserves an Emmy, it's Maslany.

2. This is a brilliantly produced show. As mentioned above, Maslany is not only in just about every scene, she's often more than one character in those scenes. That's what makes the production so great. You are drawn into the world, the characters, and the story — and the production design is so strong you don't even think about how what you're watching was created. That's not always the case with efforts of this type. In addition to Maslany — and her myriad of characters — this is a strong cast that helps build the world.

3. This show does for English accents what so many European actors have done on American network television. This show airs on BBC America. Many of the characters have British accents, some French, and some Irish. When watching the interview show that kicked off the second season, I expected to hear a lot of European accents when the actors were using their normal voices. I didn't. The show is filmed and produced in Canada, and the actors portraying all these various European characters are North American. What a stark contrast to interview shows here, where have the "American" characters are played by natives of England and Australia.