Krysten Ritter has lost her memories in trailer for Orphan Black: Echoes

Fans of the dystopian sci-fi thriller series Orphan Black have been waiting to see more of the new TV show set in the same fictional world: Orphan Black: Echoes, starring Krysten Ritter (of Jessica Jones fame). That time has arrived with AMC's release of the official trailer.

(Some spoilers for the original Orphan Black series below.)

The original series was co-created by Graeme Manson and John Fawcett. Tatiana Maslany (She-Hulk) starred as Sarah Manning, a British con artist in Toronto who witnessed a woman who seemed like her doppelgänger commit suicide and assumed her identity as a police detective. Sarah soon discovered that both she and the dead woman were clones. And there were many more clones out there—all expertly played by Maslany, who finally won that richly deserved Emmy in 2016—thanks to the eugenics research of the Dyad Institute, the base of operations for the so-called "Neolution."

There was another faction, the Proletheans, intent on assassinating all the clones, which they believed to be abominations—including Sarah, especially after they learned she had a daughter named Kira (Skyler Wexler) and was thus the only known clone capable of giving birth. Much of the series focused on Sarah and Kira trying to avoid being captured and/or killed by either faction, while more and more clones appeared on the scene—some 274 in all, as we learned in the series finale. At least Orphan Black gave mother and daughter a happy ending: The final scene showed Sarah and her foster brother, Felix (Jordan Gavaris), taking Kira to the beach for an idyllic day.

Orphan Black: Echoes is set in 2052, 37 years after the finale. Fawcett is back as a director and executive producer, with Anna Fishko serving as showrunner. Per the official premise, the series "takes a deep dive into the exploration of the scientific manipulation of human existence. It follows a group of women as they weave their way into each other's lives and embark on a thrilling journey, unravelling the mystery of their identity and uncovering a wrenching story of love and betrayal."

Ritter stars as Lucy, a young woman with amnesia about her past. Keeley Hawes plays a grown Kira Manning, now a scientist who is married to a neuroscientist, Dr. Eleanor Miller (Rya Kihlstedt); they have a son named Lucas (Jaeden Noel). Avan Jogia plays Lucy's army medic boyfriend, Jack, who has a deaf daughter named Charlie (Zariella Langford-Haughton). Amanda Fix plays Jules Lee, the adopted teen daughter of wealthy parents, while James Hiroyuki Liao plays billionaire Paul Darros, founder of the Darros Foundation. In addition, Jordan Gavaris and Evelyne Brochu reprise their Orphan Black roles as Kira's uncle, Felix, and aunt, Delphine Cormier, respectively.

 

We got a brief teaser last October showing Lucy waking with no memory of her identity, apart from a few disturbing flashes. A woman scientist asked her some probing questions, and when Lucy asked what was wrong with her, the scientist merely replied, "You've been through a procedure." The teaser ended with a shot of Lucy rising up out of a vat of hot, pink primordial goo.

The full trailer opens with a nice little montage of Lucy's seemingly normal life: hanging out with boyfriend Jack and playing with Charlie. "I like SpaghettiOs, long walks on the beach, and I have an almost pathological desire to avoid talking about the past," she says in a voiceover accompanied by more flashes of ominous imagery. Cut to Darros at a press conference confidently proclaiming that they are changing the world with his foundation's research. But Kira has serious misgivings about the project and fears Lucy might be in danger. Darros seems unconcerned: "Sometimes we have to make sacrifices for the greater good."

It looks like Lucy ends up on the run from dangerous people while trying to figure out who she really is. Then she encounters Jules, who is a dead ringer for Lucy herself at 16 (and apparently, Lucy is a dead ringer for Eleanor as a young woman). Jules is in danger, too, so the two team up to find the answers. It might not end well... for someone.

Orphan Black: Echoes premieres on AMC (streaming on AMC+) and BBC America on June 23, 2024. New episodes will air weekly after that.

Listing image by YouTube/AMC+