Just in time for this week's episode, I'm ready to catch up with last week's episode. It's been busy over here.
After a somewhat middling season, these last three episodes of Orphan Black have really upped their game – and this one topped them all!
As suspected, Virginia Coady and Rudy are still alive, but the baby's skeleton and all her research are gone. The Castor clones are back on the clock, counting down to their imminent deaths. But a new face is at hand to inform her that all's not lost: he has a source inside Leda – and at this point the potential candidate seems to be either Rachel or Doctor Nealon, with my instincts leaning very heavily toward the latter.
Virginia tumbles to the conclusion that there are not two factions handling the clones, but an organization even higher up that's keeping tabs (and pulling strings) on both of them, suggested by the familial connection in the project names: Castor and Leda. If you brush up on your Greek mythology, you'll find that Leda was the mother of Castor and his twin brother Pollux, as well as Helen and Clytemnestra. What makes this story especially weird is that Leda was impregnated by both her husband Tyndareus and the god Zeus at around the same time, which meant that though Helen and Castor inherited godly gifts from their father Zeus, their twins and half-siblings Clytemnesta and Pollux were mortal like their father Tyndareus.
Yeah, Greek mythology is weird, but it does have its symbolic value. If the female clones are Leda and the male clones are Castor, who else are we meant to look out for? Zeus? Tyndareus? And does the mother/son relationship of Leda and Castor bear any deeper significance? I would argue yes considering the multitude of powerful woman that are leading all these projects – but we'll get to that later.
The real driving force of this episode was the multitude of attempts made by various characters to successfully get their hands on Ethan Duncan's copy of The Island of Doctor Moreau – though it comes with a catch. The code therein can only be translated by Rachel, and she comes with demands of her own.
She brokers a deal with Sarah – in exchange for a full translation of the book, she wants the identification of another clone so that she can evade the ever-increasing iciness between herself and Delphine and leave the country for warmer (and safer) climates. Driven by the need to save Cosima and the desire to know what's in the book, Sarah agrees – though not without hesitation. As Mrs S points out to her, Duncan's message could be useless, Rachel could be deceptive, and if all it reveals is how to save the Castor clones, then perhaps they would be better off letting nature take its course in removing that particular threat.
But Sarah isn't willing to wait, and the book could end up being a very valuable bargaining tool. Plus, little Gracie is at hand to ask whether Mark isn't just a "mayfly" too. There is at least one Castor clone whose life we're invested in.
What follows is everyone's plans simultaneously put into action, full of red herrings and double-crossing (the best kinds of plans, even if it takes at least two viewings to sort out what exactly is going on).
Cosima makes the call not to trust Delphine (who let's face it, is a much more interesting character this way), though Delphine has a plan of her own to outsmart them, which is further undermined by what Rachel has planned with Doctor Nealon. So what really happened? Delphine saw through Cosima's bluff that they had only one copy of the book and told Doctor Nealon to let Rachel "escape" before going to fetch the copy of the book at Mrs S's house.
But there was a deeper subterfuge at work: Rachel also had a plan with Nealon that involved her faking a seizure and being replaced with a comatose Krystal so she can get away scott-free. And to top it all off, Nealon might well be working for Castor, with or without Rachel's knowledge.
Though Nealon seems the most likely candidate for the Castor mole within Leda, the question of who tipped off Rudy as to the book's location remains unanswered for now. Delphine points the finger at Rachel, though we know that Nealon is at least tenuously connected to Castor due to the card he showed Rachel during one of her eye exams that featured the double horse heads (why he would even have such the thing beyond the fact that it's a striking visual clue to the audience as to his true loyalties must be chalked down to What Do You Mean It's Not Symbolic?)
Of course, if it was him it opens up the question of how he even knew about the book in the first place, in which case the best possible answer seems to be that Rachel and he were in cahoots together, as the last sequence shows. But there's also the possibility that Rachel doesn't know he's connected to Castor – if indeed he is. Man, this gets confusing.
So where do we stand by the time the end credits roll? Castor has the book but no way of translating it, Dyad has the copy but believes Rachel is in a coma, Rachel has no copy and has more-or-less faked her own death (again), and the Clone Club has a small translation that's leading them to London and the Castor Original. Whew.
As it happens, I get the strong feeling that the writers didn't know what exactly Duncan's book contained when they introduced it, or at least realized how ungainly it would be if Rachel sat there and decoded the whole thing, so what we're left with is a riddle to keep things mysterious and kick-start a field trip to London.
But perhaps the most intriguing thing to come out of all this is that Rachel is now in the care of yet another woman – perhaps from Topside? As of yet she remains nameless and faceless, though it can't be a coincidence that all three factions warring over the fate of the clones are headed by women: Dyad (Marion), Castor (Virginia) and now Topside (mystery lady). There's clearly a thematic purpose to this choice, especially in a show that's so concerned with female autonomy, but for now at least it's difficult to grasp what that purpose might be.
***
If there was an unexpected star in this episode, it was Tatiana Maslany breathing life into yet another clone, one that we glimpsed briefly at the start of this season and who I hoped would return for an extended appearance. Naturally, Maslany knocks it out of the park. Krystal is unlike any of the other clones we've seen before: she's flighty, chatty, vulnerable, and peppers her language with plenty of "likes". She's also a lot smarter than she looks, and it's Felix who discovers that although she's still unaware of her nature as a clone, she's intelligent enough to realize that there's something very strange in the details of her near-abduction.
In her short time on-screen we come to care about her deeply, and her fate is all the more disturbing because of it.
We also get a chance to see Felix in his role as a hustler, though both siblings have enough of a conscience to grapple with the idea of conning someone like Krystal. As we've seen before when it comes to Felix interacting with the clones of his sister (sans Rachel) he is empathetic and protective towards the women who shares Sarah's face – though the show keeps things interesting by adding a subtle but clear flirtatious vibe between him and Krystal.
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| To which Sarah responds to perfectly... |
In many ways, Sarah/Felix is the relationship at the heart of this show (though you could make a case for Sarah/Helena), and his love for Sarah often – almost accidentally – spills out onto the other clones. And surely it's this closeness that made him pick up on Krystal's intelligence when Delphine simply dismissed her as a ditz.
***
Over at the Hendrix house I can understand why Donnie would be unhappy about sharing his house with a serial killer. I don't even care that the show deliberately included a scene to indicate the children were completely safe around Helena; it's still a terrible idea, especially since the show has yet to address the fact that Helena has killed the likes of Amelia, Katja, and countless other clones.
As it happens, I quit Once Upon a Time mainly because I was sick to death of that show demanding I feel sorry for an unrepentant mass murderer, thought Guy of Gisborne's eleventh hour redemption on Robin Hood was the sloppiest part of an already sloppy season, and have trouble grasping the fact that Darth Vader's sins (up to and including the murder of children) are wiped clean when he saves his son in the final moments of his life. It's not that I don't like tales of atonement, but for heaven's sake you have to actually WRITE them, not just handwave past evils away.
For what it's worth, I can buy Helena's integration into the Clone Club easier than most, partly because Tatiana Maslany plays her with such depth and partly because it's clear Helena is a product of brainwashing and abuse. Most of the time (if it doesn't sound too dehumanizing) she comes across as a feral animal that is gradually being integrated back into human relationships, and certainly has a better grasp of morality than the likes of Rachel. Her forgiveness of Mrs S, her newfound crush on Donnie (which seemed to make him both nervous and flattered) and her reconciliation with Gracie (who remember, did try to smother her at one point) seem sincere – I just wish the writers weren't brushing over her previous crimes without so much as a mention. Some remorse and backstory would go a long way when it comes to Helena's current characterization.
That said, it would appear from next week's preview they haven't forgotten how dangerous she can be (after all, the scene in which she killed a man during her escape was given a certain amount of weight) so I'm just going to sit back and have faith that the writers know what they're doing.
***
Finally, this show has always been great at giving supporting characters unexpected moments of heroism. Last season it was Donnie confronting Vic and Deangelo in the unmarked police van; this season it was Scott hustling up his board-game buddies to assist in Rachel's escape – much to their excitement, his exasperation, and Rachel's disdain.
Gotta love the completely unnoticed thumbs up from the fake security guard.
In all seriousness though, the duo of Scott/Cosima has become one of the most touching relationships on the show. Check out this look of abject devotion:
And it was very sweet of Cosima to comfort Scott by understanding that his cat was in danger. We need more male/female platonic relationships like this one.
Miscellaneous Observations:
To be honest, I'm not even sure what the clones are actually looking for at this stage. Something sequencing, something genomes, something synthetic DNA structure? Whatever, I'm just here for the ride.
The cantina lady gets a brief cameo, in which she covers for Helena and Sarah. I still can't shake the feeling that she's important somehow, but hey – if that's it for her, she made quite an impression.
Sarah mentions that she's been thinking about Beth and wants to "finish what she started". So what would that be? Finding out the truth? As you'll recall, Beth was investigating the clones with Cosima when things got too much for her and she stepped in front of the train, so presumably Sarah just wants answers as to why they all exist in the first place.
Where is Donnie and Alison's son? He's been missing for a while now, so I suspect the actor has gotten too old for the age he's meant to be playing. I'm sure he's simply meant to be off-screen somewhere, but his absence still feels odd. Can't they at least refer to his existence?
Helena is back in possession of the canister with her eggs. Presumably they went back to Felix's place before heading to the Hendrix house, but it would appear to still be a secret at this point.
Jason, I liked you as a mild flirtation for Alison to keep Donnie on his toes, but now you've decided to be a dick about all this. If the blood on Helena's body (as seen in the preview) is yours, I can't say I'll be too devastated.
The trio of Mrs S, Felix and Sarah muttering "bloody Rachel" in unison was glorious.
Donnie defending his decision to take Alison's last name was great, and coincidentally topical considering Zoe Saldana's recent marriage.
I totally missed Felix ripping the page out of the notebook the first time around. Nice reflexes!
As with Sarah, Delphine's motivation in trying to get her hands on Ethan's book is clearly all about Cosima, so I'm not entirely sure why they're so distrustful of her at this point. At a guess, I'd say they suspect her relationship to Topside, but as Mrs S points out, they also need her protection from it. Cosima using herself as a distraction to smuggle out Rachel was a rather tense scene, and it's difficult to tell what she was planning to do, and what she ended up spontaneously divulging.
One suspects that she was going to throw Delphine off with her resignation, only to break down into a confession about her near-death experience. But still the question remains: what was the real stalling tactic – handing in her notice or bringing up their past relationship?
Either way, Delphine's reaction to the deception is very cutting. "Your resignation is accepted." Ouch.
I'll admit, the Cosima/Delphine relationship has always been a little bewildering to me. It didn't come pre-established like Felix/Sarah or Alison/Donnie; instead we see it unfold in real time in which it's clearly fraught with dishonesty right from the get-go. Delphine fakes the fallout of a bad relationship to get close to Cosima. After they sleep together for the first time, she takes advantage of Cosima's absence to search her belongings. And now her relationship with Topside remains ambiguous.
I actually prefer Delphine as this quasi-villainous figure, one who's clearly hurt by Cosima's mistrust, though I can also understand her frustration with Cosima's seeming lack of interest in her own wellbeing. It would be nice if the show were to clarify where exactly Cosima's attitude is coming from: does she genuinely fear Delphine or is she just bitter over the breakup? Because a lot of the time it feels like the latter, which is a rather petty reason to explain all this current drama.
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