“The questions keep piling up and sliding off of each other as the season marches on. All we know for sure is that we root for Sarah, Cosima, Alison, and Helena (strange to say that now), and everyone else is a potential problem.” – Jonathan Raeder
Back on track from a strangely disjointed episode last week, Orphan Black comes roaring back with an excellent set-up for the season (hopefully not series!) finale.
Cosima survived her painful seizure, but she’s now one step closer along the track of becoming just like the naïve swimmer clone who died first from the disease. She’s putting a brave face on it, but her time’s running out, and tooth fairy presents won’t be enough. Sarah needs to let the Dyad have Kira’s bone marrow – which is dangerous and unsettling in all sorts of ways. Kira’s body isn’t even her own anymore – she’s progressed (regressed?) from a plot device to an actual tool and object of study, even more so than any of the other clones. She’s given the autonomy to decide if she wants to undergo the treatment, but Kira’s too young to really understand what she’s risking. Of course she bravely volunteers, and of course she ends up kidnapped.
The theme of motherhood echoes throughout this episode in nearly every storyline; a shaking Sarah cries “What kind of mother am I?” as she watches her daughter go through an invasive surgery for the benefit of an evil corporation, Helena is impregnated with children she wants while Gracie is impregnated against her will (by her father, to make it even more revolting), and Rachel, her vision of herself as the perfect clone shattered by the revelation that only Sarah (and unbeknownst to them, Helena) can have children, kidnaps Kira to raise her as her own. But let’s back up.
When we last saw Helena, she was heading back to the Proletheans voluntarily, goaded by Gracie in an attempt to prevent herself from being used as the “broodmother” for the new clone-children. Helena doesn’t understand that she’s being used – she just sees an opportunity to have someone in her life that cares about her and that she can care about in return. She wants to be Sarah, to have sisters and a child, and these people seem like the best way to get that. Yet Gracie doesn’t manage to escape her father’s horrible scheme, and in anger and revulsion, tells Helena the truth. Henrik reveals his true colors to everyone, Mark leaves the Proletheans, and Helena enacts her revenge in a fittingly gruesome scene – one no less disturbing for being totally deserved.
Meanwhile, Rachel shines as the true star of the episode. We’ve seen Rachel for half of Orphan Black’s length, yet she still seems more distant and shrouded in mystery than the other clones. That’s on purpose – she’s always been monitored her entire life. She’s lived with the thought of herself as some perfect feat of science, a powerful woman supposedly in control of her life in most ways and complicit in any of the institutions experiments involving her and her sisters. Yet Duncan’s revelation shattered her view of herself, and now, bereft of Leakey (who despite killing her adoptive mother, was still a father-figure), she has no anchor. The rest of the clones have each other, a child, a lover, or a husband to cling to, yet Rachel has nothing, and can never have anything. She’s cut herself off from people and can’t even have a child now that she wants one. So, gazing at the video of the life the Dyad gave to her and then stole from her, she concocts her plan.
It’s a nice callback to the beginning of the series, where Sarah impersonates a clone in order to defeat Rachel. She’s learned from the best, and does her best Sarah impression, successfully, to spirit away Kira yet again.
Alison’s story doesn’t quite connect with the others, but it doesn’t matter because it’s just so hilarious. Season two of Orphan Black has turned Helena into a loveable and sympathetic character without ridding her of her violent tendencies or childlike danger, and it’s also, perhaps even more surprisingly, managed to turn Donnie from pathetic jerk into a more resolute, loving, hilarious, and…still pathetic, man.
His interactions with Alison as the two attempt to get rid of the body (a situation placed for black comedy a la Breaking Bad) were amazing and responsible for some of the best lines of the episode. Alison’s “do we have a boat?!?” to Donnie’s stupid suggestion was great, but nothing tops his maniacal “Have a shitty day!” to Angela and Vic.
One of Orphan Black’s defining features (whether it’s a fault or blessing is not clear) is that the ground of certain knowledge is continually shifting. The nature of the two defining organizations attempting to control the clones is still mostly a mystery, and now we don’t even know how they’re structured. Leakey is gone, Delphine is in his position but loves Cosima, Rachel has bypassed all her likely restrictions and stolen Kira, Miriam exudes evilness, and we’ve seen no one else involved in the Dyad at any higher level. What are they trying to do? Who’s in control now? Is Rachel purely on her own now, obsessed with being Kira’s new mother?
The mysteries extend to the Proletheans. What were they planning on doing with all the children and why did it obsess them so much? What’s their history? Were they all in the house when Helena set it ablaze? Is this the last of them? The questions keep piling up and sliding off of each other as the season marches on. All we know for sure is that we root for Sarah, Cosima, Alison, and Helena (strange to say that now), and everyone else is a potential problem.
So yet again Kira is kidnapped by a member of the Dyad Institute, though she may have snapped and gone rogue. Cosima is dying, Delphine screwed up big time, Alison and Donnie are busy “being nasty” near a dead body, and of course Sarah is angry and upset. There’s no telling how the season will resolve itself, but let’s hope it’s not another “Kira is kidnapped” cliffhanger. Let’s hope she’s safe again, Cosima is cured, and Rachel joins the clone club. That’s going to happen…right? Right?
Tidbits:
- I just need to mention how especially great the music was in this episode. From the reversal of Helena’s theme scoring a triumphant scene to the child-like bells after Kira’s surgery, the soundtrack was excellent.
- “I hate this garage” – Vic the Dick
- “Have you ever seen Dexter?” – Alison
- “How about cow baby?” – Helena
- I just noticed this, but Angela’s last name is Deangelis. Her name is Angela “Angie” Deangelis. Wow.
