15 Underrated ‘Orphan Black’ Characters

9. Aldous Leekie

Smooth-talking Leekie (Matt Frewer) wields significant power at Dyad, leading the clones to have a tough time determining what side he is on. He hides his terrible past actions — including burning the Duncans’ lab — extremely well, making himself out to be a force of good.

Leekie is a relatively mysterious character, his true motives never shown, but the way he navigates Dyad and playing to both Delphine and Cosima shows that he’s skilled at lying and is very used to it.

He is also in charge of many of the monitors, which gives him the ability to manipulate many aspects of the Clone Club.

Leekie deserves recognition for his sudden character death when Donnie shoots him in the car by accident. Although an anticlimactic moment for such a powerful character, the resulting scenes requiring Donnie and Alison to bury his body in their garage are some of the series’ finest comedic material.

10. Vic Schmidt

Vic (Michael Mando) is the first scrap of proof that maybe Sarah doesn’t need a man in her life as a romantic interest. Vic is understandably dubbed “Vic the Dick” for his many regrettable actions and abusive behavior, and his presence grows increasingly annoying.

His behavior towards Sarah may stem from a certain genuine level of care, but he does more harm than good.

Vic shows that he may, in fact, be redeemable if he gets clean and rids himself of his obsession with Sarah, but he may simply be a product of a society that doesn’t provide good care for mental health.

His constant nagging and frequent appearances at Felix’s apartment allows for some tense interactions and confrontations. He’s a skilled con artist and could have even aided Sarah if he weren’t so desperate for her love.

Ultimately, Vic’s a character the viewer can hate to love — a terrible person, but entertaining to watch.

11. Ramon

Despite his shady nature, Ramon (Alex Ozerov) is business-savvy (and only in high school) and caters to the “unconventional needs” of various suburban neighborhood mothers, cleverly making friends with all of them.

When selling a gun to Alison, he knows exactly what she’s looking for and acts discretely, showing that he isn’t playing around and really knows what he’s doing.

By way of selling drugs and weapons to the suppressed and conservative neighborhood, Ramon is actually an excellent entrepreneur and most likely incredibly wealthy (he knows his target market!).

While he is a source of comic relief, his drug-dealing and weapon-selling business helps Alison in more ways than one, giving her a chance to rise to the top of the neighborhood food chain.

It’s mournful to see Ramon go when he sells his business to Alison, but he gets a good deal out of it and holds out to make sure Alison knows what she’s doing — surely he made plenty more money selling more illegal products in college!

12. Colin

Colin (Nicholas Rose) is a great foil to the more outgoing Felix, giving the latter a chance to express himself while not helping Sarah out from a tight spot or going on the run. 

Colin and Felix strike up an on-and-off romance, but their times together are unfortunately frequently interrupted by Sarah and Vic.

Colin doesn’t appear in many plot-driving scenes, but he could have provided well-needed assistance to the Clone Club when they required some discretion. He’s careful, wary, and has all the hallmarks of a useful member of the team, despite mostly interacting with Felix.

As one of the only onscreen love interests for Felix, Colin’s time is treasured but limited. Together, they’re adorable, and the fact that they met in the morgue only makes their relationship even more amusing.

13. Amelia

The kindly Amelia (Melanie Nicholls-King) is given the short end of the stick one too many times — initially duped by the Duncans and eventually killed by Helena, her own surrogate daughter.

She’s well-intentioned and cares about Sarah and Helena even years after she saves them from becoming Leda property.

A reveal of Amelia’s backstory shows that she was clever enough to escape Leda before the Duncans could find her, allowing Sarah and Helena to be free — even though Helena is not happy about being left in a church orphanage.

Amelia did the best she could under the conditions that she had and ultimately saved them from a similar fate as Rachel.

Although Amelia is eliminated quickly, she sets Sarah off on a quest for truth after revealing that Mrs. S knows more about Leda than she is letting on. 

14. Donnie Hendrix

Donnie (Kristian Bruun) is constantly overshadowed by Alison and other characters, despite being a very valuable member of the team and in Alison’s life as a husband, father, and partner-in-crime.

His personal growth and otherwise noteworthy actions, however accidental — killing Leekie, scaring Vic, exerting his dominance in the neighborhood community — demonstrate his relevance in the series.

Together with Alison, the dynamic duo comprises some of the best comedic scenes in the series — a sort of bumbling suburban Bonnie and Clyde. Donnie grows from a somewhat emasculated character into his own self, teaming up with Alison and rekindling their romance.

Donnie really grows into himself after he’s let in on the Clone Club, showing his devotion to Alison and making sure that she is kept safe. At heart, he is, relatable, good-natured, and well-meaning, protecting Alison at all costs and through anything and everything.

15. Daniel Rosen

If Johanssen is the definition of frightening, Daniel (Matthew Bennett) is the epitome of dangerous.

He virtually lives to serve Rachel and do her dirty work, not sparing anything to do his job and carry out her violent orders. In this way, he is very skilled at his job and does it with discretion, all while wearing a spiffy suit.

Daniel also knows how to play the long game, having frequent sexual relations with Rachel, which allows him to get closer to Rachel and force her to rely on him in more ways than one.

Because he is Rachel’s lawyer as well, he has both street smart fighting abilities, as well as the cunning of a lawyer, combined all into one villainous minion.

Daniel’s presence on the show is felt all throughout Season 2, but the scene when Daniel tortures the frightened and traumatized Sarah gives way to one of Maslany’s stand-out Season 2 — if not series-long — moments.

This scene is made all the better when Helena eventually tracks down Daniel just in time, killing him and saving Sarah. This gives Daniel time to shine as a villain, Sarah a moment to show her vulnerable side, and Helena a chance to show her devotion to the Clone Club.

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Which Orphan Black characters do you think are underrated? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

Orphan Black is currently streaming on Amazon Prime.

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