Clone Rudd: Living with Yourself is great sci-fi in the Orphan Black mold

Enlarge / Two Rudds are better than one in Living with Yourself. (credit: Netflix)

It's easy to criticize long-running sci-fi series for losing their way after a few seasons. The initial spark might fade; ridiculous plot twists might emerge; the whole thing might end with a painful hand-wave of logic.

But let's not forget that these hit TV series, and the expectations assigned by their fans, all start with some incredible coincidences. How often do we see the right cast, writers, directors, and out-there concept come together in a watchable, memorable series? And what about when such a series jumps on a seemingly familiar sci-fi trope, yet still digs up new ideas?

By the time I finished marathoning the debut season of Living with Yourself, a Netflix series about cloning starring everyman Paul Rudd (Ant Man, Anchorman), I was floored by how this modest series had defied my expectations. When I first sat with this show, I wasn't hot for its shameless use of the "cohabitating clones" concept from Orphan Black. Unlike that BBC America series, Living with Yourself comes with no genetic-research intrigue, no identity-hunting mystery.

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