The funny thing is the story starts with Beth jumping in front of a train. Except for Beth, of course it doesn't start there.

It actually begins with a scientific study led by the military into human cloning. Apart from this (incredibly notable) difference, the world in which Orphan Black is set is largely one and the same as our own, with a few scientific advances that have been hurried along for the sake of plot. While the cloning study begins as a military endeavour, it split off into two sects - project CASTOR for the males and LEDA for the female clones, who are taken over by a corporation, Dyad. The men were raised on a military base and were aware of their state from birth, but the female clones were kept in the dark. Instead monitors were placed into their lives in the form of friends, family members or even partners, to observe the clones as they went about their day to day business and report back to Dyad. Enter Elizabeth Childs.

Beth' origins are something of a mystery. We know at least that her parents desperately wanted her, a product of IVF like all of the LEDA clones, and that a stringent screening process was in place to prevent so called "undesirable" candidates from signing up. Something was missed in the Childs family though, and Beth's own creator apologises years later for not picking up on this quality sooner, implying that he was in some way harmful towards Beth.

Beth is 28 when her life completely changes. She's a detective in homicide, living with the love of her life Paul, and she may or may not have a bit of a substance abuse issue but things are good, until another clone tracks her down. A German woman, Katja, finds Beth and tells her the truth about their origins and that there is someone killing off the clones in Europe. Using facial recognition software that totally exists (???) Beth is able to pull the licenses, passports and photo IDs of women all around the world that share their faces, the other LEDA clones. This is how she finds two of the prominent figures in this story, Cosima Niehaus and Alison Hendrix, and of course she promptly shatters their worlds as well.

The trio become as tight as any three women connected only by a shared genetic code can be, Beth assuming a leadership role as they try to figure out what the hell is going on and just how it might come to affect them. Cosima moves schools to be closer to them. Beth becomes more stressed. Alison learns how to shoot a gun. Beth's drug problem is becoming more and more apparent. Her relationship with Paul continues to break down as Beth discovers that he is her monitor, and the knowledge that the man she loves is only with her as a spy only pushes her further down the spiral. The discovery of yet more shady technology pulls her further into the conspiracy, and a traumatic set of events witnessing scary surgeries and generally grim things leads a panicked and drugged up Beth to shoot a supposed civilian. Later we discover that Maggie Chen, the woman shot, was in fact involved in all the creepy Dyad business. Beth, however, thinks she's shot an innocent, and her mental state only gets worse.

Her quest for answers ultimately leads her to be batted back and forth between the creator of the clones and Evie Cho, the woman responsible for the horrific surgeries Beth had witnessed prior to her civilian shooting. Ultimately she believes the woman responsible for their creation, Susan Duncan, when she professes to be both professionally and emotionally invested in the wellbeing of the clones. Beth turns her sights on eliminating Evie Cho, beating the woman severely before Cho drops the kicker on her - even if Beth kills her tonight, they are no longer safe. Her loved ones are now a target - in fact almost anyone she's come in to contact is at risk of becoming collateral damage in the quest to silence Beth Childs. And there's only way to stop it - to turn the gun intended for Evie on herself instead.

After an emotional farewell with one of the clones she'd grown close to, Beth heads to the train station. She methodically removes her shoes, her jacket, and her handbag, leaving them neatly on the side of the platform. Moments before she makes the jump, she crosses paths with one Sarah Manning - but it's too late by then. She doesn't have time to educate and induct another clone into the club. Only seconds after seeing Sarah, she steps off of the platform and into the path of an oncoming train. She dies almost instantly.