The clones are back! Instead of picking up where the series left off, the Orphan Black Season 4 premiere will be jumping back to the beginning of the tale to shed light on outstanding mysteries. BuddyTV caught up with Executive Producers Graeme Manson and John Fawcett. They revealed the theme of the season, discussed Delphine’s supposed demise, Helena’s pregnancy, and new Leda and Castor clones.
[WATCH] Orphan Black Season 4 Premiere Sneak Peek: See Who Returns in the First 4 Minutes>>>
On the scope of Season 4
Manson: This year– What’s kinda nice when you get into three and four seasons is that you’ve built a mythology. There was a lot of stuff that John and I raced past in our first couple season and we were like, “We’re gonna come back to that. We’re gonna come back to that. There’s more there. There’s more story there.”
So we had a plan always to loop back on some of the concepts that we had in the first season. And that’s really what Season 4 is about. It’s about going back to the beginning in order to move forward.
Fawcett: We also like the idea of a series of short of mini-climaxes, but loved the idea that at the end of– after leaving two seasons kind of in dangerous cliffhanger, that at the end of Season 3, there would be more a feeling of answers and resolution and a feeling of safety and security before blowing things open again in Season 4.
Also, in Season 4, I think we very much like the idea to somehow get back to the feel of Season 1 where it feels again like Sarah’s kinda of functioning off her back foot and it’s very much a first person approach to the mystery. And for her, she doesn’t know who the bad guys are. She’s kind of set adrift in this kind of world of Neolution and it’s kind of a frightening revisit from the past.
On Delphine and Whether She’s Dead or Alive
Manson: It was a big part of the cliffhanger of the season. After Evelyne Brochu’s magnificent season last year, where she played this role, where she had to take on so much more responsibility, and be a bad guy and give up love. And to go out with this heroic bang, the answer is [what happened that night] is a huge part of the mystery of Season 4.
Fawcett: It’s something we knew that was going to be a big part of the fabric of the story of Season 4. What happened? There’s a lot of mystery around what we saw in Season 3 for the various characters. Cosima is in a place where she’s having a difficult time moving forward because she doesn’t have the answers and is kind of in her own way investigating to try and find out the truth of what happened. That is part of Season 4 for us.
What’s the timing of Season 4 and with Helena’s Pregnancy?
Manson: Different than other seasons, we have a little bit of a time gap this year. We left people in a pretty happy– or a false sense of security is the way John put it. We advance time a little bit. I don’t think it’s too much of a spoiler to say that Helena with a baby bump is something pretty awesome.
Fawcett: We’ve been dying to see that.
Manson: The season– like our other seasons- once it lands it charges pretty fast. We’ll get a bunch of Helena this year and her pregnancy. We’ll leave it a mystery how far that goes this year.
Fawcett: We just like seeing her wear Alison’s clothes.
What new clones will we see this year?
Fawcett: We have talked about MK, this new clone MK. She is a sort of mysterious figure from Beth’s past. She was a kind of ally or information source for Beth. So for Sarah to hook up with this new clone that– she is a very mysterious person with a lot of information that will help us in this season.
Manson: It’s another example of having to go back to the past, because she was connected to Beth. She comes from Beth’s world and she has some answers for us there. Ari’s coming back. He’s still on the call sheet. I think it’s safe to say that we will be meeting a new [Castor] clone this year and I think that will be pretty surprising for people.
Orphan Black Season 4 premieres Thursday, April 14 at 10pm ET on BBC America.
(Image courtesy of BBCA)
Contributing Writer, BuddyTV
Contributing Editor and Writer for Collider, BuddyTV, TV Fanatic, CliqueClack, and other publications. TV criticism, reviews, interviews with actors and producers, and other related content. Founder of TV Diehard.
