Mad Science PIHM Edition: Cosima Niehaus of Orphan Black
Figure 1 The Clone club: Clockwise from top: Sarah, Allison, Helena, and Cosima
For Pride, I wanted to talk about one of my favorite queer scientists in recent science fiction, Cosima Niehaus from Orphan Black. Minor spoilers for the series!
Orphan Black mainly follows the character of Sarah Manning, a young mother with a criminal past, who discovers she is a clone. The series focuses on her and her many “sisters” (sestras for fans) who are genetically identical. They try to discover why they were made, who made them, and to find freedom from these individuals or organizations over the series. These closes are found throughout the world, but we mainly focus on those in the US and Canada. Cosima is one of the first clones Sarah meets and she, Sarah, Allison, a hilarious high-strung housewife, and Helena, a seemingly psychotic killer hiding a sweet, childlike side, comprise the original “Clone Club”. All the clones are played perfectly by Tatiana Maslany. While costuming and hair do a great job of giving each clone a distinct look, Maslany excels at making each clone feel different, and I often genuinely forgot she is much of the cast! One of the funniest things is watching her when one of the clones has to pretend to be another one.
I loved that Cosima was named in honor of the series’ science consultant, Cosima Herter. Herter does a great job of allowing the show to stay somewhat grounded in genetics, evolution, molecular biology, etc. while allowing for more wacky sci-fi hijinks to take place. For example, Cosima is the only clone to wear glasses, how can that be if they’re all genetically identical? Well, her poor eyesight is acquired because of her constant studying/straining her eyes, compared to a hereditary issue. Something many doctors fear could lead to nearsightedness in more children as they spend a lot of time indoors and looking at screens than past generations.
Compared to her sisters, Cosima is a spunky, fun, and excitable woman. She is incredibly brave, often working alongside her enemies or putting herself at risk to help her sisters. She is also not only a near genius in her field but a huge geek who enjoys smoking pot when relaxing at her apartment. Although she can lash out, she is one of the most caring and compassionate clones. She truly sees the others as family from her introduction to series end. Too often, scientists in media are portrayed as very stoic and straightlaced, so she feels refreshing. Anecdotally, I have met many researchers like Cosima, who get motor mouth if you start asking about their research or topics they study. She is a crucial part of the team as a Ph.D. student focused on Experimental Evolutionary Developmental Biology, or evo-devo as she calls it. Her background with the biological sciences is helpful for the clones to untangle their past. She often runs tests on her sisters’ samples using her access to lab equipment or friends who work in the lab.
Her skillset is even more important when it becomes clear there is something faulty with the clones. These defects are eventually revealed to be built into their DNA. Almost all the clones are infertile and have issues with their ovarian health. They, and any of their derivatives, are proprietary, intellectual property of their makers, after all. If that wasn’t bad enough, a few of them begin succumbing to what appears to be some sort of autoimmune illness that destroys the epithelial tissue throughout their body. This illness is fatal and leads to lung damage complete with racking, bloody coughs and exhaustion as the disease progresses. Cosima spends much of her time in the series not only trying to study and cure this disease but also trying to survive it herself. Don’t worry, Orphan Black does not succumb to “bury your gays”.
Cosima is also unabashedly queer. She identifies as either a lesbian or bisexual/pansexual, but her relationships in the series are with other women. Her main romance is with the lovely Delphine, played by Evelyne Brochu. Delphine’s intentions are murky at first. She is duplicitous and Cosima is right to be wary of her. They fall for each other, and their relationship is never quite solidified due to Delphine’s loyalties being in question a few times. However, the two have a true love and end up making it work by the end of the series.
I enjoyed that the series allowed both women to be brilliant scientists without sacrificing any femininity or looking cliched either. As a woman in STEM, I am harsh on portrayals of STEM femmes as either complete tomboys or supermodels in miniskirts and a lab coat! Both women are almost always in lab appropriate attire but retain an individual style that makes them more real.
I appreciate that the series didn’t try to make Cosima cold or unempathetic to her loved ones. It is disservice that media makes it out like you have to be a joyless robot if you want to go into STEM, especially as a woman. I struggled reconciling who I was with who the people I worked with thought I should be. It may sound silly but seeing these women did help me stop trying to force myself into the box people thought I should fit in. That as a woman in STEM you need to sacrifice your heart in favor of your brain. I loved that Orphan Black showed, through Cosima, you can be a brilliant researcher without losing your compassion and kindness.
If you haven’t checked the series out, I think it is worth a watch. It can get a bit wild by the end but the love the clones have for one another, and the performances of the cast, are well done! I truly enjoyed the many different clones and other LGBT characters, even if not all of them were handled as gracefully as they could be.
Follow Dee on Twitter @sirenofscience and Bluesky @sirenofscience.bsky.social
