Orphan Black 3.05
May. 17th, 2015 01:47 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
selenakIn the Castor HQ looks more like a tv set than ever, which is a bit distracting, and also more clone interaction is at hand.
I really appreciate that Helena didn't trust Sarah at first instead of accepting Sarah's protestations of her innocence re: Helena's captivity immediately, and also that she almost left Sarah behind even once the Paul conversation had convinced her it had been Paul and Mrs. S. who had traded her to the Castors. Yes, Sarah in this case was innocent and furthermore had been trying her best to find and free Helena, but Sarah's also an experienced liar whose acceptance of Helena as her sister is still relatively new, as opposed to the other way around, and I like it when characters don't act as if they know all the audience knows when they can't.
On a not unrelated note, as if to address some of my unease with all the clones (not solely Sarah, who had gotten to know her, but also Alison and Cosima, who mainly know of Helena as the crazy serial killer who murdered Katja and never experienced her as a person) embracing Helena in last season's finale and building on Sarah comparing Helena to the Castor clones in order to make a point to Mark last episode, in this episode Paul makes the same comparison to Sarah to make the reverse point. In neither case, the person to whom the comparison is made to has a good reply ready, because yes: both the Castors and Helena are trained and brainwashed killers. With a sibling loyalty thing. Who, one can add, have the potential to be more and break free from their original conditioning, as Helena has already proven and as Mark at least shows signs of, but they can also enthusiastically stick to the program. And in any case, the killer part is always there; when she finally gets out of the cell, we immediately get an illustration of how very dangerous Helena is.
Virginia Cody as the "bad mother" (as Helena and Sarah call her) is sort of set up as Mrs. S.'s mirrorverse counterpart, isn't she? Especially noticable in an episode where we see Siobhan mothering Gracie, more of Siobhan and Felix' relationship in action (thanks, show, just what I wanted) Sarah reflecting on Kira and Mrs. S. to Helena. Incidentally, when she after having taken the wedding ring away handed Mark the creepy black book in which he's supposed to report every sexual encounter, I at first assumed this was solely in line of the general policy to depersonalize sex for the clones so that it's solely a power or relief exercise and not an expression of a personal affection that might come to rival their ties to the army, but the end of the episode reveals there's actually an additional, medical reason why Virginia Cody insists on each encounter getting protocoled. Given that the female clones, except for Sarah and Helena, are infertile by design, I wonder whether whatever the male clones carry that infects their sexual partners isn't the result of them being designed infertile, too, with something having malfunctioned in the design. Or something. I suck at science. Anyway, it's clear nobody bothered to tell Mark about this so far.
Meanwhile, Gracie has a brief time of joy and fun courtesy of Mrs S. and Felix, and then the mysterious eye colouring illness catches up with her. Arggh. Don't kill her off, show, not that I seriously think you would just now, because Gracie's scenes with Helena last season were the only not cringe inducing scenes in the Prolethean plot line, she's become more and more interesting as a character, and I want to see more of her and Sarah's family.
Shae (spelling?) seems nice so far but alas also as yet another person with an additional agenda - can't Cosima get a girlfriend who isn't involved in something that has to do with spying on her?
In case it wasn't evident from the above: I loved the Helena and Sarah scenes, both the working together and Helena leaving Sarah (temporarily) behind.
Speculation: given Paul seems to have been seriously disturbed by looking through the late Parson's black book, and given Mark was lying to Virginia Cody during his debriefing (both re: tattoo removal and re: reason for wedding), I'd say Sarah has at least two more potential allies in the camp to help her escape if Helena's change of mind doesn't work out. Also, given that the episode made a point of letting Sarah impart the "biological sibling" information re: the Castors to Helena, I expect the next Leda and Castor combination we'll see will be Helena and one of the male clones, most likely Rudy who strikes me as her counterpart. And I still think Virginia Cody might turn out to be Susan Duncan. I guess we'll know for sure if she ever meets Rachel.
I really appreciate that Helena didn't trust Sarah at first instead of accepting Sarah's protestations of her innocence re: Helena's captivity immediately, and also that she almost left Sarah behind even once the Paul conversation had convinced her it had been Paul and Mrs. S. who had traded her to the Castors. Yes, Sarah in this case was innocent and furthermore had been trying her best to find and free Helena, but Sarah's also an experienced liar whose acceptance of Helena as her sister is still relatively new, as opposed to the other way around, and I like it when characters don't act as if they know all the audience knows when they can't.
On a not unrelated note, as if to address some of my unease with all the clones (not solely Sarah, who had gotten to know her, but also Alison and Cosima, who mainly know of Helena as the crazy serial killer who murdered Katja and never experienced her as a person) embracing Helena in last season's finale and building on Sarah comparing Helena to the Castor clones in order to make a point to Mark last episode, in this episode Paul makes the same comparison to Sarah to make the reverse point. In neither case, the person to whom the comparison is made to has a good reply ready, because yes: both the Castors and Helena are trained and brainwashed killers. With a sibling loyalty thing. Who, one can add, have the potential to be more and break free from their original conditioning, as Helena has already proven and as Mark at least shows signs of, but they can also enthusiastically stick to the program. And in any case, the killer part is always there; when she finally gets out of the cell, we immediately get an illustration of how very dangerous Helena is.
Virginia Cody as the "bad mother" (as Helena and Sarah call her) is sort of set up as Mrs. S.'s mirrorverse counterpart, isn't she? Especially noticable in an episode where we see Siobhan mothering Gracie, more of Siobhan and Felix' relationship in action (thanks, show, just what I wanted) Sarah reflecting on Kira and Mrs. S. to Helena. Incidentally, when she after having taken the wedding ring away handed Mark the creepy black book in which he's supposed to report every sexual encounter, I at first assumed this was solely in line of the general policy to depersonalize sex for the clones so that it's solely a power or relief exercise and not an expression of a personal affection that might come to rival their ties to the army, but the end of the episode reveals there's actually an additional, medical reason why Virginia Cody insists on each encounter getting protocoled. Given that the female clones, except for Sarah and Helena, are infertile by design, I wonder whether whatever the male clones carry that infects their sexual partners isn't the result of them being designed infertile, too, with something having malfunctioned in the design. Or something. I suck at science. Anyway, it's clear nobody bothered to tell Mark about this so far.
Meanwhile, Gracie has a brief time of joy and fun courtesy of Mrs S. and Felix, and then the mysterious eye colouring illness catches up with her. Arggh. Don't kill her off, show, not that I seriously think you would just now, because Gracie's scenes with Helena last season were the only not cringe inducing scenes in the Prolethean plot line, she's become more and more interesting as a character, and I want to see more of her and Sarah's family.
Shae (spelling?) seems nice so far but alas also as yet another person with an additional agenda - can't Cosima get a girlfriend who isn't involved in something that has to do with spying on her?
In case it wasn't evident from the above: I loved the Helena and Sarah scenes, both the working together and Helena leaving Sarah (temporarily) behind.
Speculation: given Paul seems to have been seriously disturbed by looking through the late Parson's black book, and given Mark was lying to Virginia Cody during his debriefing (both re: tattoo removal and re: reason for wedding), I'd say Sarah has at least two more potential allies in the camp to help her escape if Helena's change of mind doesn't work out. Also, given that the episode made a point of letting Sarah impart the "biological sibling" information re: the Castors to Helena, I expect the next Leda and Castor combination we'll see will be Helena and one of the male clones, most likely Rudy who strikes me as her counterpart. And I still think Virginia Cody might turn out to be Susan Duncan. I guess we'll know for sure if she ever meets Rachel.
no subject
Date: 2015-05-17 06:39 pm (UTC)Gracie with Felix and S reminded me how rarely we get scenes without Tatiana Maslany in any of her variations on the show. I loved the combination, anyway, but I'm guessing it's additionally a way to give Maslany some off-time.
(ETA: I loved the idea of Felix as a "budding delinquent at six." He and Sarah must have been challenging to raise to say the least. That's the criminal energy of a Bart and the intelligence of a Lisa Simpson doubled and distributed over two children!)
Since Shae is played by Ksenia "Kenzi" Solo of Lost Girl fame, it was almost a given that she wasn't just a random hook-up, although I admit I thought that Delphine was simply using her new status to spy on her erstwhile girlfriend.
I'm with you on Virginia being most likely either Susan Duncan, or someone who like Gracie's father was involved with Project Leda/Castor on the periphery, and wanted to have her own part. I'm rather glad we have her as an antagonist this season, as opposed to someone like Leekie or Johannsen, who both always seemed far too cartoonish to me.
no subject
Date: 2015-05-17 07:46 pm (UTC)I want to know where S got Budding Delinquent Felix from! She probably wasn't a registered foster mother (given her illegal activities), after all. But she really seems to have a talent for kids, see also how she interacts with Gracie here.
Re: Virginia, yes, so far not a cartoonish supervillain a la Leekie or Johannssen. (Gracie's mother, otoh, is, well, Johannssen's worthy mate.)
no subject
Date: 2015-05-17 08:50 pm (UTC)Given that the woman Art interviewed had a child, I'm wondering if it has something to do with the women having conceived, and also if it is connected to whatever killed Abel Johannsen, who apparently was born at least, or did I get that wrong? I guess they'll tell us more soon.
How S got Felix: That's a good question. Maybe a child of other activist friends? And she's definitely a good Mom, all the kids she's raised turned out well. Sarah may have had a rough patch, but she said herself in this episode that it was partly because she was overwhelmed by having a child so young, and I guess in situations like that, Vics can happen.
Oh, Ms. Johannsen. That one really escaped from Crazy Fundamentalists 101. If she were wearing more old-fashioned clothing, I'd take her for an extra from the set of Big Love. Although the frightful hatred she seems to have for Gracie strikes me as exaggerated, but not completely unrealistic? She probably blames herself on some level that her son died, and having only one more child, and a daughter at that, likely really drove the "failure" home.