Orphan Black 2.06.
May. 25th, 2014 01:47 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
selenakIt's saying something - not sure what - that in a show which pulls off a premise of clones the one thing I find unbelievable is the idea a stranger without documentation on her would be left alone in a sort of library/storeroom of documents. Not by any archive employees I've ever met, that's for sure.
Also why all this stuff should be stored in the basement in an old (for a North American value of old) church where one uses flashlights instead of regular electricity is beyond me, but that aside, I enjoyed the episode a lot. The Sarah and Helena road trip part at the beginning was a great mixture of funny and touching, and I continue to be amazed at Tatiana Maslany's ability to have chemistry with herself. They had competition in the "delightful combination of very different characters" this time around, though, what with a) Allison & Vincent, and b) Art & Felix. The later among other things made me wonder whether s1 mentioned Art being married or having a significant other (if so, I've forgotten), or whether we can ship him with Felix, because they'd be great together. Hey, other cop & shady sort of trickster combinations get their own shows! Shipping potential aside, it makes sense Sarah asked Art to look after Felix given what just happened to Fee, and Art unceremoniously drafting Felix as his latest crime solving partner not only distracts Felix from his woes and gives him something constructive to do but shows yet again why Art is the best.
Vincent, previously proof that Sarah used to have lousy taste in men, seems to have gained some intelligence via going through the AA/NA programm, and is downright charming to watch in an odd couple fashion with Allison, which I hadn't expected...and then we find out that, speaking of Art's partners in crime solving, Angie has by no means given up and is currently blackmailing Vincent into befriending Allison. I'm torn between admiration for Angie's resourcefulness and determination and being appalled for Allison's sake.
Also a very interesting character combination to watch: post- sowing of lips Gracie tracking down Helena and actually persuading her to come back to the Prolethians with her. I mean, this is of course horrible news, but it works on so many levels. Gracie has powerful motivation - not wanting to get pregnant with a clone baby herself would do the trick - , and does what no one in the cult previously has thought of doing, i.e.tells Helena about the whole baby idea. Helena, who asjesuswasbatman has pointed out and as the episode itself reminds us via her conversation with Sarah about Kira earlier, is fascinated by the idea of children, does get hooked, all the more so since Gracie has the smarts to play on her insecurity about Sarah by predicting Sarah won't come back for her. Helena recognizing the marks around Gracie's lips as what they are (and mentioning she'd been punished similarly in the past), and Gracie's honesty about her previous attempt to kill Helena, also makes this a very odd bonding moment of sorts.
And then we get Sarah reunited with Mrs. S. when she's managed to track down Swan man, Dr. Ethan Duncan, currently living under a pseudonym and evidently not in the best mental health; he seems to be the Walter Bishop from Fringe type of brilliant scientist who did something because he could and saw not just his family and life explode but many more people suffer as a consequence, with the result that he's oddly childlike in his personality and Sarah has to visibly contain her anger when talking to him. Learning that Dr. Leekie seems to have had a power struggle with the Duncans and decided to get rid of them, suceeeding however only with Susan, isn't that much of a suprise; Ethan Duncan's continuing love for Rachel and insistence she's not a monster was moving, but I also noted that while he sees Rachel as his child, the other clones still seem to be a triumph of science. Though Rachel was that as well. Sarah asking whether she was Duncan's child or experiment and his reply "both", and that yes, he was also her first monitor, conveyed that particular brand of screwed upness. Like I said, I had Fringe flashbacks to Walter and Olivia as well as Walter and Peter. Since they showed us the video of child!Rachel with the Duncans again in the previouslies, it struck me she looks a lot like Kira there, which makes sense - I wonder whether Sarah noticed as well?
And speaking of Kira: Delphine telling Cosima's science pal who figured out that the stemm cells for Cosima's treatment aren't from another clone but from a close relation of a clone (child or parent) that he must never tell Cosima of course begs the question: did the Dyad Institute ever have the chance to get their hands on enough genetic material from Kira? I don't think so. She was in the hospital after the car ran her over, but the Dyad people didn't know of her then. Also, stemm cells are from embryos, aren't they? And Sarah was unmonitored when pregnant. Mind you, just because Kira is the only known biological child of a clone doesn't mean she's the only one in existence. Helena we now know to be fertile, and Cosima never had the chance to ask the dead clones like Katya whether they ever had a child. Or a miscarriage. Stemm cells don't even have to come from an actual child. They could be from an embryo never carried to term.
Alternatively, they could be from a biological relation because whoever donated the sperm and/or the egg the clones all hail from could have had other children (with another person) - a sibling would still share enough genetics to qualify as a donor, after all.
Lastly: when Mrs. S. brought Paul the tea, I was sure the cup, not the tea itself, was poisoned, but apparantly not. Anyway, it made for another great scene, and of course Mrs. S. would spot Paul when he's following Sarah.
Also why all this stuff should be stored in the basement in an old (for a North American value of old) church where one uses flashlights instead of regular electricity is beyond me, but that aside, I enjoyed the episode a lot. The Sarah and Helena road trip part at the beginning was a great mixture of funny and touching, and I continue to be amazed at Tatiana Maslany's ability to have chemistry with herself. They had competition in the "delightful combination of very different characters" this time around, though, what with a) Allison & Vincent, and b) Art & Felix. The later among other things made me wonder whether s1 mentioned Art being married or having a significant other (if so, I've forgotten), or whether we can ship him with Felix, because they'd be great together. Hey, other cop & shady sort of trickster combinations get their own shows! Shipping potential aside, it makes sense Sarah asked Art to look after Felix given what just happened to Fee, and Art unceremoniously drafting Felix as his latest crime solving partner not only distracts Felix from his woes and gives him something constructive to do but shows yet again why Art is the best.
Vincent, previously proof that Sarah used to have lousy taste in men, seems to have gained some intelligence via going through the AA/NA programm, and is downright charming to watch in an odd couple fashion with Allison, which I hadn't expected...and then we find out that, speaking of Art's partners in crime solving, Angie has by no means given up and is currently blackmailing Vincent into befriending Allison. I'm torn between admiration for Angie's resourcefulness and determination and being appalled for Allison's sake.
Also a very interesting character combination to watch: post- sowing of lips Gracie tracking down Helena and actually persuading her to come back to the Prolethians with her. I mean, this is of course horrible news, but it works on so many levels. Gracie has powerful motivation - not wanting to get pregnant with a clone baby herself would do the trick - , and does what no one in the cult previously has thought of doing, i.e.tells Helena about the whole baby idea. Helena, who as
jesuswasbatman has pointed out and as the episode itself reminds us via her conversation with Sarah about Kira earlier, is fascinated by the idea of children, does get hooked, all the more so since Gracie has the smarts to play on her insecurity about Sarah by predicting Sarah won't come back for her. Helena recognizing the marks around Gracie's lips as what they are (and mentioning she'd been punished similarly in the past), and Gracie's honesty about her previous attempt to kill Helena, also makes this a very odd bonding moment of sorts. And then we get Sarah reunited with Mrs. S. when she's managed to track down Swan man, Dr. Ethan Duncan, currently living under a pseudonym and evidently not in the best mental health; he seems to be the Walter Bishop from Fringe type of brilliant scientist who did something because he could and saw not just his family and life explode but many more people suffer as a consequence, with the result that he's oddly childlike in his personality and Sarah has to visibly contain her anger when talking to him. Learning that Dr. Leekie seems to have had a power struggle with the Duncans and decided to get rid of them, suceeeding however only with Susan, isn't that much of a suprise; Ethan Duncan's continuing love for Rachel and insistence she's not a monster was moving, but I also noted that while he sees Rachel as his child, the other clones still seem to be a triumph of science. Though Rachel was that as well. Sarah asking whether she was Duncan's child or experiment and his reply "both", and that yes, he was also her first monitor, conveyed that particular brand of screwed upness. Like I said, I had Fringe flashbacks to Walter and Olivia as well as Walter and Peter. Since they showed us the video of child!Rachel with the Duncans again in the previouslies, it struck me she looks a lot like Kira there, which makes sense - I wonder whether Sarah noticed as well?
And speaking of Kira: Delphine telling Cosima's science pal who figured out that the stemm cells for Cosima's treatment aren't from another clone but from a close relation of a clone (child or parent) that he must never tell Cosima of course begs the question: did the Dyad Institute ever have the chance to get their hands on enough genetic material from Kira? I don't think so. She was in the hospital after the car ran her over, but the Dyad people didn't know of her then. Also, stemm cells are from embryos, aren't they? And Sarah was unmonitored when pregnant. Mind you, just because Kira is the only known biological child of a clone doesn't mean she's the only one in existence. Helena we now know to be fertile, and Cosima never had the chance to ask the dead clones like Katya whether they ever had a child. Or a miscarriage. Stemm cells don't even have to come from an actual child. They could be from an embryo never carried to term.
Alternatively, they could be from a biological relation because whoever donated the sperm and/or the egg the clones all hail from could have had other children (with another person) - a sibling would still share enough genetics to qualify as a donor, after all.
Lastly: when Mrs. S. brought Paul the tea, I was sure the cup, not the tea itself, was poisoned, but apparantly not. Anyway, it made for another great scene, and of course Mrs. S. would spot Paul when he's following Sarah.
no subject
Date: 2014-05-25 12:48 pm (UTC)My town's historical documents are in fact stored in an old church (and the relics in an open museum at the side of the bakery) and anyone can go look at them, so I didn't find that bit strange at all! There was no creepy asylum here, though, just lots of whiskey bootlegging, a massacre and hundreds of shipwrecks.
Cosima mentioned the stem cells were from the pulp of baby teeth, which is one way to get stem cells - embryos are a common source too. Women with fibroids and other conditions affecting the uterus can often get pregnant but can't carry to term, so that's certainly possible considering what Delphine and Cosima have described of the illness. Or maybe Mrs S handed over a baby tooth of Kira's in an effort to cure the illness? Or maybe the stem cells aren't from Kira at all but the original source for the clones' genetic material?
Also, I am totally shipping Art/Felix in an Odd Couple kind of way (there's a Felix in that already!) - as far as I remember, no significant other was mentioned for Art in S1.
no subject
Date: 2014-05-25 01:39 pm (UTC)Or maybe the stem cells aren't from Kira at all but the original source for the clones' genetic material?
I think that's possible - with two fathers introduced in a row (Cal as Kira's bio dad, Ethan Duncan as Rachel's adopted dad and as the creator of the clones, so a symbolic father as well), we're due a Leda without whom after all the swan would ot have gotten anywhere.
no subject
Date: 2014-05-27 04:51 am (UTC)And Mrs. S providing one of Kira's teeth was the explanation we came up with re: the stem cells (though not when or why), though of course there could be plenty of other answers.