'Orphan Black': Clones, questions abound in Season 2

Think you're going through an identity crisis? Try discovering that you're a clone.

Sarah Manning (Tatiana Maslany) found herself in that unusual predicament at the start of Orphan Black, BBC America's sci-fi cult favorite returning for its sophomore season Saturday (9 p.m. ET/PT). Since then, Sarah has discovered nearly a dozen others like her, forming allegiances with some (Alison and Cosima), making enemies with others (Rachel) and witnessing the deaths of the unfortunate few (Beth, Katja and Helena, whom she killed).

So what do these women have in common aside from their shared DNA? They're all played by Canadian actress Maslany, who says the lives of the show's key clones were turned upside down at the end of last season.

"Their worlds have changed forever. Everything they knew and everything they thought they knew about people in their lives is totally up for grabs now," Maslany says. "They really start to veer off on their own individual tracks" — Sarah, searching for her kidnapped daughter; Alison, trying to deny her role in her best friend's death; and Cosima, facing her own mortality.

Viewers will begin to learn more about Project LEDA, the apparent origin of the clones, and Sarah's mysterious foster mom Mrs. S (Maria Doyle Kennedy), teases co-creator Graeme Manson. They also will be introduced to new clone Jennifer Fitzsimmons, a former swim coach hospitalized for a respiratory illness that is now afflicting Cosima.

But don't expect to have it all figured out by the end of the season: As Maslany likes to say, Orphan "asks five questions for every answer it gives you."

"Part of the balancing act of the show is to give some satisfying answers," Manson says. "At the same time, when you open a door, you close a window and vice versa."

Orphan first sprung into Manson's life more than 10 years ago, when co-creator John Fawcett pitched him what became the pilot episode's opening scene: A young woman sees her doppelganger on a train platform, only to watch her commit suicide moments later. "We didn't even have clones at that point," Manson says of what they envisioned as a feature film, but was better suited to a TV series influenced by The X-Files and Alias. "We always said that if we're going to do a show about clones, it better not take itself too seriously, so that undercurrent of black humor and love of pulp shows through." (In one of the series' most memorable scenes, Alison ties up her husband in her basement craft room, waving a hot glue gun in his face as a way to make him talk.)

During the auditions, Maslany and dozens of other actresses were put through the wringer: asked to shift from one character to the next in an instant and sport a variety of accents. Yet it was her screen test with Jordan Gavaris (who plays Felix, Sarah's closest friend) that landed both of them their roles, Manson says. "Jordan had this sass and Tatiana had this older-sister (vibe). They absolutely owned it."

The experience also made the now-co-stars instant pals.

"She's tireless," Gavaris says, referring to Maslany's technically challenging shoots in which she'll play two or three different clones in a single scene. "Nineteen hours later, she's still smiling and giving everything she has. She inspires me not only to be a better actor but a better person."

While Season 1 could be summarized as "conception," Season 2 is defined by "evolution," Gavaris says, of both the characters and their relationships. As the clones go their separate ways and Felix distances himself from Sarah, the season's overarching theme becomes apparent: that they are stronger together.

"All of the characters exist in that place of neither good nor evil, neither moral nor immoral," Maslany says. "There's this nice flexibility to everybody that keeps audiences guessing and keeps me guessing. I don't know where it's headed and the writers are really brave in that way of never making it simple. It's always quite challenging."

Although the actors may still be in the dark, Manson says he has an endgame in mind for Orphan — how they will get there is another story entirely. "Do we get to it in the next season or two and then reboot? It's a difficult question, but we want to spin this out for several more seasons," he says.

Wherever the path may lead, Maslany is happily along for the ride. Just leave the new clone suggestions to the writers.

"She'd be in a box, so we'd never have to see her or know she's there," she jokes of her ideal clone. "Then I could have some time off."