Orphan Black 4.04.
May. 6th, 2016 06:02 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
selenakIn which we find out more about Helsinki, and M.K.
Independent from this, may I say I loved the scene where Mrs. S sits down Sarah and Felix and makes them talk to each other? We've rarely seen her in the maternal role to them both at the same time, and this was a good reminder she's Felix' mother as well as Sarah's.
Speaking of mothers: Donnie makes the mistake of trying to explain Alison's issues to Helena who takes this as a signal that she needs to move out. Woe. The unexpected bro-ship of Helena and Donnie was one of the joys of the show to me. Let's hope Helena soon comes back. Though the episode gives us a new (still possible, given a big ensemble!) combination of characters producing golden scenes, to wit, Felix and Donnie, ticking off another box in the columm of "Fanfic Tropes Orphan Black Does In Canon", to wit, "undercover in a gay bar". Well, in a fertility clinic, but still. Donnie promptly making the mistake of playing gay over the top until Felix sets him straight, no pun intended, was typical, and yet also not something the show vilifies him for.
I have to say, Sarah getting Mika's/MKs/Vera's pal to trust her and become her temporary sidekick with just the clone revelation was something I didn't buy. Yes, Sarah is charismatic and can sway people to her side, but not THAT quickly. Unless he's a plant?
Anyway: we learn more about M.K in this sepisode, including her original name, which was Vera, and the fact that as several viewers (but not me) had guessed, she's a survivor of what Ferdinand and Rachel referred to as "Helsinki" last season. This more than explains her paranoia. It also means she wants revenge because of her dead friend (and the other dead clones), and Ferdinand just happens to be in town. I was all on board with this storyline, not withstanding the fact that James Frain is tremendously entertaining as Ferdinand, and I hope they won't kill him off for a good long while. (He's been terrific with any Maslany character and Mrs. S so far.) Because if you ally by necessity with someone who is responsible for a tremendous amound of death and suffering, it shouldn't be handwaved with "oh, that Ferdinand!", and bringing one of the victims without devalueing said victim's pov always makes that point well.
(Mind you: the show is still playing favourites, because no loved one of Helena's victims - that weren't scum-of-the-earth types - has shown up yet. What would Sarah do if, say, Katja's best friend or adopted daughter showed up and wanted revenge on Helena? Methinks "she was raised by fundamentalist and brainwashed" wouldn't hold much sway. Which, given recent cinematic events, makes the silly part of me mentally go Orphan Black: Civil War. "She is my sister!" "I don't care- she killed my Mom!")
Meanwhile, at a secret facility, Rachel makes sincere efforts of taking Helena's "clone with the most fucked up mentality as the result of raising" crown from her as Susan Duncan makes her go through a mental exercise of "do we give Charlotte medical treatment which is painful and likely not successful BUT as of now is the only chance she's got, OR do we let the illness progress to collect data that might help heal the rest of the clones (both Leda and remaining Castors like Ira whom Susan raised, and of course Rachel herself). This is so screwed up, by which I mean I loved the scene, not least because you could tell Rachel hated it but still made that choice, which is in line with Rachel (not a misunderstood heroine, our Rachel) as we know her, and yet Susan presenting her with this choice again explains a lot about Rachel. And then, just for kicks, reveals she's intercepted Rachel's second message to Ferdinand. Ouch.
Cosima gets more information about what the bug is actually doing in those cheeks via the one Alison retrieved from Leekie's skill, and it's apparantly rewriting DNA, if I understood correctly. Hm. But to what purpose?
In conclusion: the scenes involving any member of the Hendrix clan, Rachel and Ferdinand were my favourites. (Btw, M.K in the end taking all his money was perfect. Though it will deprive him from occasions to cook gourmet style for Mrs. S in the near future.)
Independent from this, may I say I loved the scene where Mrs. S sits down Sarah and Felix and makes them talk to each other? We've rarely seen her in the maternal role to them both at the same time, and this was a good reminder she's Felix' mother as well as Sarah's.
Speaking of mothers: Donnie makes the mistake of trying to explain Alison's issues to Helena who takes this as a signal that she needs to move out. Woe. The unexpected bro-ship of Helena and Donnie was one of the joys of the show to me. Let's hope Helena soon comes back. Though the episode gives us a new (still possible, given a big ensemble!) combination of characters producing golden scenes, to wit, Felix and Donnie, ticking off another box in the columm of "Fanfic Tropes Orphan Black Does In Canon", to wit, "undercover in a gay bar". Well, in a fertility clinic, but still. Donnie promptly making the mistake of playing gay over the top until Felix sets him straight, no pun intended, was typical, and yet also not something the show vilifies him for.
I have to say, Sarah getting Mika's/MKs/Vera's pal to trust her and become her temporary sidekick with just the clone revelation was something I didn't buy. Yes, Sarah is charismatic and can sway people to her side, but not THAT quickly. Unless he's a plant?
Anyway: we learn more about M.K in this sepisode, including her original name, which was Vera, and the fact that as several viewers (but not me) had guessed, she's a survivor of what Ferdinand and Rachel referred to as "Helsinki" last season. This more than explains her paranoia. It also means she wants revenge because of her dead friend (and the other dead clones), and Ferdinand just happens to be in town. I was all on board with this storyline, not withstanding the fact that James Frain is tremendously entertaining as Ferdinand, and I hope they won't kill him off for a good long while. (He's been terrific with any Maslany character and Mrs. S so far.) Because if you ally by necessity with someone who is responsible for a tremendous amound of death and suffering, it shouldn't be handwaved with "oh, that Ferdinand!", and bringing one of the victims without devalueing said victim's pov always makes that point well.
(Mind you: the show is still playing favourites, because no loved one of Helena's victims - that weren't scum-of-the-earth types - has shown up yet. What would Sarah do if, say, Katja's best friend or adopted daughter showed up and wanted revenge on Helena? Methinks "she was raised by fundamentalist and brainwashed" wouldn't hold much sway. Which, given recent cinematic events, makes the silly part of me mentally go Orphan Black: Civil War. "She is my sister!" "I don't care- she killed my Mom!")
Meanwhile, at a secret facility, Rachel makes sincere efforts of taking Helena's "clone with the most fucked up mentality as the result of raising" crown from her as Susan Duncan makes her go through a mental exercise of "do we give Charlotte medical treatment which is painful and likely not successful BUT as of now is the only chance she's got, OR do we let the illness progress to collect data that might help heal the rest of the clones (both Leda and remaining Castors like Ira whom Susan raised, and of course Rachel herself). This is so screwed up, by which I mean I loved the scene, not least because you could tell Rachel hated it but still made that choice, which is in line with Rachel (not a misunderstood heroine, our Rachel) as we know her, and yet Susan presenting her with this choice again explains a lot about Rachel. And then, just for kicks, reveals she's intercepted Rachel's second message to Ferdinand. Ouch.
Cosima gets more information about what the bug is actually doing in those cheeks via the one Alison retrieved from Leekie's skill, and it's apparantly rewriting DNA, if I understood correctly. Hm. But to what purpose?
In conclusion: the scenes involving any member of the Hendrix clan, Rachel and Ferdinand were my favourites. (Btw, M.K in the end taking all his money was perfect. Though it will deprive him from occasions to cook gourmet style for Mrs. S in the near future.)
no subject
Date: 2016-05-15 08:08 pm (UTC)That M.K. might be connected to Helsinki occured to me when they said she had a Scandinavian accent in 4.02 - Mika being a Finnish name (albeit usually a male one) fit to that.
Orphan Black: Civil War: lol. I will say that Sarah makes a pretty odd Steve Rogers. Though Helena and Bucky (or even Helena and Natasha) could be a potentially hilarious combination of "characters brainwashed into killers by cult-like evil organisations". More seriously, the show has kind of quietly dropped the more problematic aspects of Helena's career as the most deadly clone, but even if they wanted to do a storyline with people demanding retribution, they probably won't do it now that she's pregnant.