Krysten Ritter’s Orphan Black spin-off series has been canceled by AMC after just one season. Orphan Black: Echoes was expected to draw strong audience numbers based on the success of the original 2013 series starring Tatiana Maslany. However, the 10-episode season drew mixed reviews, and it seems that it didn’t perform well enough to be given a second bite of the cherry, according to Deadline.
Orphan Black ran for five seasons between 2013 and 2017. As well as scoring strong viewership, and awards success for Maslany, who finally won an Emmy at the third time of asking in 2016, the series also holds an impressive 93% Tomatometer score and 92% Popcornmeter approval rate on Rotten Tomatoes. Orphan Black: Echoes, however, did not manage to maintain a similar level of praise, only just clinging to a “fresh” score of 60% from critics and a lowly 47% score from audiences.
The series picks up the story from Orphan Black with a time jump of 37 years. While Maslany does not appear in the show, her on-screen daughter from the original series, Kira Manning, does play a pivotal role. With Keeley Hawes stepping into the role (replacing Skyler Wexler as the adult version of the character), she and her wife attempt to help the ever-popular Krysten Ritter’s Lucy regain her memories.
While many reviews praised Orphan Black: Echoes for doing enough to ensure it wasn’t just a clone of the original series, a common complaint was that the spin-off couldn’t match the level of intrigue and mystery delivered by its predecessor. It seems that perhaps trying to follow the highly regarded original series was perhaps a task that could only ever have one outcome.
Krysten Ritter Wanted to Emulate Tatiana Maslany’s Orphan Black Performance
When Orphan Black: Echoes was released, Ritter spoke about her reasons for joining the spin-off series, and how she had been completely inspired by Maslany’s “epic” performance in the original series. She told ComicBook:
“I watched the show when it was out ten years ago, because of Tatiana Maslany and her performance and how epic she was. She was always nominated, and so I was aware of it then.”
“I think it was an exciting opportunity for me, as an actress, to play a character who doesn’t feel the way she’s supposed to feel, doesn’t have the memories that she’s supposed to have. It really is a big study of identity, and nature versus nurture, and love, and ‘How deep does that go?’ and ‘How does that play out?’ All of that stuff was what was so appealing to me, when the role came my way.”
Even though Ritter did not attempt to copy Maslany’s performance, making her character stand out from Sarah Manning, unfortunately, being lumbered with a storyline that just didn’t manage to come close to what had come before. Now, Orphan Black: Echoes has joined the growing list of shows that have joined the scrapheap of one-season wonders.
Orphan Black: Echoes
can be streamed on AMC+.
