Spoilers are ahead for Orphan Black: Echoes season 1, episode 1, “Pilot.”

At the end of its pilot episode, Orphan Black: Echoes perfectly pays homage to the series its based on. A fan-favorite sci-fi series, the original Orphan Black starred Emmy-winning actor Tatiana Maslany as a number of unique clone characters — genetic identicals with separate lives who discover that they are part of a larger experiment and illegal human cloning trials. The show’s protagonist, Sarah Manning — also the only Leda clone to have given birth to a child, Kira — goes to great lengths to protect her family from the corporations that claim to own their bodies.

Set thirty-seven years after the events of the original series, Orphan Black: Echoes‘ new cast of characters grapple with fresh scientific advancements — and all the moral and ethical implications that go along with that research. In the pilot, Krysten Ritter’s Lucy wakes up in a room with no memory of her past. Mid-escape, Lucy learns that she is a 3D-printed human — the byproduct of a scientist’s endeavors to 3D print more than just organs. Much like Maslany’s clones, Lucy navigates her identity, past, and the many dangerous mysteries that populate the world of Orphan Black.

Orphan Black: Echoes Episode 1’s Ending Reveals Kira Manning Is 1 Of Its Main Characters

Kira Followed In Cosima’s Footsteps In The Orphan Black Sequel

In the final scene of the stunning spinoff Orphan Black: Echoes, the show reveals that the scientist who’s responsible for Lucy’s creation is none other than a now-adult Dr. Kira Manning (Keeley Hawes). As of the first episode, not too much is known about what Kira went through in the intervening 37 years, though she’s clearly a game-changing scientist who’s learned to save an untold number of lives by 3D printing organs that are fit for transplants. Lucy, it seems, is the next step in Kira’s research — a fully functional, 3D-printed human being.

After evading Kira and her corporate forces for a year or so, Lucy is finally tracked down to a remote farm. Realizing that she must literally meet her makers, Lucy returns to the city to take the fight to Kira. While there, Lucy encounters Jules Lee (Amanda Fix), a teenager who bears a striking resemblance to Lucy. When Lucy abducts Jules, a frantic Kira calls her Aunt Cosima for advice. The name-drop alone isn’t the only indicator of Kira’s identity; the camera pans to her desk, which is stocked with photos of Sarah, Felix, Mrs. S, Cosima, and Alison.

Echoes’ Premise Perfectly Pays Homage To Orphan Black While Remaining Separate

Orphan Black References & Easter Eggs Don’t Get In The Way Of The New Narrative

The teaser trailer for Orphan Black: Echoes season 1 reveals that a few original characters will crop up. However, the Kira reveal — from the unheard phone call with Cosima to the all-too-familiar pictures on Kira’s desk — suggest a very promising approach. Orphan Black: Echoes could have easily shoehorned in tons of references and Easter eggs into its pilot. Instead, the show practices restraint, delivering a bit of fan service as an end-of-episode hook. This allows Echoes to set up its own story, while still feeling like part of the Orphan Black timeline.

Kira Manning Is On The Other Side Of The Science In Orphan Black: Echoes

Kira Questions The Ethics Of Her Research

In addition to making its Orphan Black connections relevant, Orphan Black: Echoes cleverly flips the script on Kira Manning’s character. By the time Orphan Black season 5 ended, Sarah and the rest of the Clone Club had been through it. A traumatizing, life-threatening, and identity-shattering experience, the clones’ struggle against forces like Dyad reiterates the ethical complexities of ground-breaking science. Kira herself was abducted, studied, and experimented on as the seemingly impossible child of a clone. Needless to say, it’s surprising to see Kira creating a troubling life for Lucy that echoes her own family’s harrowing struggles.

New episodes of Orphan Black: Echoes air Sundays on AMC through August 25, 2024.