Orphan Black 4.05
May. 13th, 2016 02:40 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
selenakFeaturing the return of a clone, some new combinations and some answers.
I love it when Cosima is used as a scientist, and her infiltrating Brightborn and ending up having discussions with her other maker (she already talked to the late Ethan Duncan, after all), was very good to watch. Of all the non-Rachel clones, Cosime has always been the one to get the allure of the scientific possibilities on the one hand but having her ethical lines in place on the other. I mean, I would have liked the scenes even better if it wasn't so clearly signalled to Cosima that Brightborn is evil (cue misshapen baby carried off, which reminds me of a gutwrenching scene in last season's Call the Midwife), and to the audience that Susan Duncan is (in case we didn't get it before in all her scenes with Rachel so far, in this episode the writers present their answer to the question "how can we make Duncan family dynamics even MORE screwed up?", it being "I know! Mother-Son incest"). Then I would wonder about a storyline where Cosima actually is successfully tempted into going along with this, at least for a while, but as it is: nope, I don't think so, not even with her own death on the line, though she may pretend to. Still, her two scenes with Susan Duncan were great.
Meanwhile, last season's Donnie and Helena combination must have given the show writers the idea that combining Donnie with more Maslany characters could be a goldmine, and indeed it is. His scenes with Cosima were good, and the ones with Crystal were comedy gold. Crystal in general (returning to the show here) was great; her having taken up self defense after the two kidnapping experiences makes sense, and that she's continuing her investigations on her lonesome reminds me again how frustrated I was that Sarah and Felix didn't bring her in last season. Anyway, much as her storyline was for the most part comedy in this episode, there was an exception just where it should be - when she catches sight of Ira and of courser recognizes his Castor-face as that of her assailants.
Speaking of comedy mixed with straight drama: the reverse happens when during Art's meeting with the Neolution plant at the police, he learns that Alison and Donnie did a stint at cosplaying Breaking Bad in their suburb, and promptly feels very much like Hank when finally realising the truth about Walt when on the phone with Sarah. So far, so straightfoward drama (and as Sarah then says to Alison, it's Art's job on the line), but the Sarah and Alison phone conversation brings us back to comedy again, with Alison confessing her temporary drug dealing complete with a well-aimed dig at Sarah's cocaine-dealing past. I do wonder whether comedy or drama will prevail in the eventual fallout; as long as it was solely the Hendrix clan, they may have been able to keep this subplot as black humor, but with Art horrified to learn he may have been an unwitting accessory to drug dealing and three killings (none of which due to the clone situation, I might add), I wonder how long that's going to be true.
Sarah won't let go of her distruct of Felix' bio sister and swipes some DNA samples to have Scott run a gene check, which leads to more painful sibling scenes. I have a bit more sympathy for Sarah here than I did last week, because given all that has happened so far, her paranoia is more than understandable (and she'd be called stupid by the audience if the possibility of yet another plant hadn't occured to her), plus Felix bringing his sister to the safehouse is not just an aggressive move on his part but also a somewhat irresponsible one (again, given all that happened, and the way Kira's safety is on the line, too), which is why Mrs. S chews him out as well, not just Sarah. All understandable paranoia not withstanding, though, what makes this so painful and confusing for Sarah is that she's always been the most important person in Felix' life, with a unique connection, she's never had to share (while he of course has been sharing her with more and more people), and a biological sister who isn't evil is a threat in a way she can't handle. And then even Kira likes the sister competition, to add insult to injury.
Lastly: as I mentioned, in this week's installment of "The Duncans: finally overtaking last season's Evil Fundamentists - where poor Gracie had to carry her father's child as surrogate mother, even if it was artificially planted inside her- as Most Screwed Up Family", we get the tag scene revealing Susan has a sexual relationship with Ira, whom she raised. (And who therefore counts as her son; don't give me "adoptive ties don't count".) This even makes Rachel ordering her bodyguards to have sex with her look healthier by comparison. Speaking of Rachel, I missed her in this episode, but it was inevitable: not all clones can be in all the eps.
I love it when Cosima is used as a scientist, and her infiltrating Brightborn and ending up having discussions with her other maker (she already talked to the late Ethan Duncan, after all), was very good to watch. Of all the non-Rachel clones, Cosime has always been the one to get the allure of the scientific possibilities on the one hand but having her ethical lines in place on the other. I mean, I would have liked the scenes even better if it wasn't so clearly signalled to Cosima that Brightborn is evil (cue misshapen baby carried off, which reminds me of a gutwrenching scene in last season's Call the Midwife), and to the audience that Susan Duncan is (in case we didn't get it before in all her scenes with Rachel so far, in this episode the writers present their answer to the question "how can we make Duncan family dynamics even MORE screwed up?", it being "I know! Mother-Son incest"). Then I would wonder about a storyline where Cosima actually is successfully tempted into going along with this, at least for a while, but as it is: nope, I don't think so, not even with her own death on the line, though she may pretend to. Still, her two scenes with Susan Duncan were great.
Meanwhile, last season's Donnie and Helena combination must have given the show writers the idea that combining Donnie with more Maslany characters could be a goldmine, and indeed it is. His scenes with Cosima were good, and the ones with Crystal were comedy gold. Crystal in general (returning to the show here) was great; her having taken up self defense after the two kidnapping experiences makes sense, and that she's continuing her investigations on her lonesome reminds me again how frustrated I was that Sarah and Felix didn't bring her in last season. Anyway, much as her storyline was for the most part comedy in this episode, there was an exception just where it should be - when she catches sight of Ira and of courser recognizes his Castor-face as that of her assailants.
Speaking of comedy mixed with straight drama: the reverse happens when during Art's meeting with the Neolution plant at the police, he learns that Alison and Donnie did a stint at cosplaying Breaking Bad in their suburb, and promptly feels very much like Hank when finally realising the truth about Walt when on the phone with Sarah. So far, so straightfoward drama (and as Sarah then says to Alison, it's Art's job on the line), but the Sarah and Alison phone conversation brings us back to comedy again, with Alison confessing her temporary drug dealing complete with a well-aimed dig at Sarah's cocaine-dealing past. I do wonder whether comedy or drama will prevail in the eventual fallout; as long as it was solely the Hendrix clan, they may have been able to keep this subplot as black humor, but with Art horrified to learn he may have been an unwitting accessory to drug dealing and three killings (none of which due to the clone situation, I might add), I wonder how long that's going to be true.
Sarah won't let go of her distruct of Felix' bio sister and swipes some DNA samples to have Scott run a gene check, which leads to more painful sibling scenes. I have a bit more sympathy for Sarah here than I did last week, because given all that has happened so far, her paranoia is more than understandable (and she'd be called stupid by the audience if the possibility of yet another plant hadn't occured to her), plus Felix bringing his sister to the safehouse is not just an aggressive move on his part but also a somewhat irresponsible one (again, given all that happened, and the way Kira's safety is on the line, too), which is why Mrs. S chews him out as well, not just Sarah. All understandable paranoia not withstanding, though, what makes this so painful and confusing for Sarah is that she's always been the most important person in Felix' life, with a unique connection, she's never had to share (while he of course has been sharing her with more and more people), and a biological sister who isn't evil is a threat in a way she can't handle. And then even Kira likes the sister competition, to add insult to injury.
Lastly: as I mentioned, in this week's installment of "The Duncans: finally overtaking last season's Evil Fundamentists - where poor Gracie had to carry her father's child as surrogate mother, even if it was artificially planted inside her- as Most Screwed Up Family", we get the tag scene revealing Susan has a sexual relationship with Ira, whom she raised. (And who therefore counts as her son; don't give me "adoptive ties don't count".) This even makes Rachel ordering her bodyguards to have sex with her look healthier by comparison. Speaking of Rachel, I missed her in this episode, but it was inevitable: not all clones can be in all the eps.
no subject
Date: 2016-05-17 12:47 pm (UTC)Susan Duncan being evil: I agree that it wasn't strictly necessary to also give her an incestuous relationship with her son (and obviously I agree with you here, she raised Ira as her son, so the power dynamics between them are the same as they would be between a biological parent and child. It's abusive either way, and depending on how and when this started, she could be accused of grooming him to be her partner.). However, it seems to fit her personality, given how controlling she is - and it makes her not just a horrid mother/foster mother to Rachel and Charlotte, but also to Ira, which makes it look less like the narrative punishing Rachel for being horrible by making her parents specifically mistreat her.
Crystal: I loved that she came back, and the things she has done in the meantime. I don't know why the character works so well for me, but she's incredibly engaging in her own way. If/when they introduce her into the ever-growing clan, she should team up with Adele, I'd say they would get along great.
I'm also glad that they keep finding ways to include Art, but I'm curious about that cop/Union rep. He's in the main credits, so his role seems to be important for the bigger plot, and obviously he is connected to Brightborn (which is a not-to-subtle riff on the Lebensborn project, isn't it? No, these guys were never going to be neutral), but why someone in the police? It can't be specifically because of Beth, because in that case, he'd be gone by now.
Seeing Sarah and Felix fight like that actually legitimately hurts, which I didn't expect. I hope they'll make up eventually, and that Adele won't give up on the contact after that wonderful dinner, because, horrible accent aside, she's actually a fun addition, and having someone aside from the Clone Club/S/Kira who isn't related to Sarah somehow is good for Felix. (And saying that, she'll probably turn out to be Kendall's cousin twice-removed next ep.)
no subject
Date: 2016-05-17 05:54 pm (UTC)Very good point. BTW, did you have a Profit flashback when she entered that pool? Come to think of it, Jim Profit could so be a clone. Though evidently the Adrian Pasdar model is too good looking to use as widespread as the Castor model. :)
Crystal and Adele: great idea!
and having someone aside from the Clone Club/S/Kira who isn't related to Sarah somehow is good for Felix.
Not to mention it would be good for the narrative, in order to avoid implications of "not related = not as important/lesser". Which I'm sure aren't intended! But having Kendall be Mrs. S.' mother last season really was pushing it...
no subject
Date: 2016-05-18 02:34 pm (UTC)Everyone's related: they got a bit caught up in that, true, although I enjoyed the twist that Kendall is technically father *and* mother to Leda and Castor (which I had actually guessed beforehand - there is this one relatively unknown Stephen King novel which had a writer having to deal with the presence/soul/whatever of his re-absorbed evil twin trying to take over his existence, so I was aware that people may have two sets of DNA (not the only way, either, but the one most frequently used in sci-fi and horror fiction)).
Actually, the Brightborn arc might be a way of dealing with the idea of "not related=lesser?", too, without necessarily vilifying the people hoping to be parents involved. We've seen how much not being able to have biological children has taken a toll on Allison, and there seemed a hint of that, too, when Donnie met this one mother and her little boy. And the Brightborn doctors manipulate the prospective parents based on these feelings so they'll get the money to conduct their experiments.