Orphan Black 2.08
Jun. 9th, 2014 09:07 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
selenakIn which everyone deals and there are players old and new.
First of all, re: Cosima, I must admit that during the show they had me worried, but post show, released from the immediate emotional grip, I was back to being cynical and thinking "Helena survived = everyone the audience is invested in survives" again. That this was supposed to be the equivalent of Kira's almost death in terms of scaring the audience.
Then again: the signs for "Cosima could really die as opposed to almost die" could be we were introduced to a new clone in this episode, and that Cosima got to be extra endearing, turning out to be a master at Dungeons & Dragons (of course she is) and making up with Delphine despite being so furious the previous episode. (Few shows are like Six Feet Under which killed off a main character when he was in a horrible state of relationship with another much loved main character.) So - I suppose Cosima could really be doomed?
I just don't know.
Cynical me also thinks that one reason for Tony the transman was that the producers wanted to have Tatiana Maslany smooch Felix without changing Felix' orientation, let alone going into an incest storyline. Be that as it may, Tony is certainly another case for life choices and character not being biologically ordained but due to individual experiences and decisions. Though come to think of it, he and Sarah picked similar professions, and his dead partner resembled Vic to a degree that had me wondering at first whether we were seeing a flashback to Sarah's life with Vic and Sarah was wearing a beard for some reason. Anyway, since I would find it squicky instead of thrilling if Felix were actually to fall romantically for a (male) lookalike of his sister, I was glad that he seems to have considered the kiss as another ploy of Tony's (never try to play a pro!). I also was glad to see Art and Felix interacting again.
Meanwhile, Alison and Donnie: you know, taken by themselves, within just this episode, I thought the scenes were well played, though I can't help but raise an eyebrow at the show so determinedly playing Alison's and now Donnie's killings as comic relief, even within the suburbia satire genre. I can also can believe them bonding over the sort of accidental murders. And within the episode, I can believe them as a couple who has affection for each other beyond everything they did to each other (though I don't think anyone will ever bring up Alison torturing Donnie by glue gun again). However, my problem here is that the previous show didn't tell me on either Donnie loving Alison (well, maybe his scene with Leekie in the previous episode, but nothing earlier than that); not just his spying on her, but there seemed to be a borderline dislike underlying their every interaction. A mutual one, because I never had the impression Alison was loving Donnie, either - again, the impression she conveyed even before getting suspicious was borderline dislike underneath force of habit. So when their interaction in this episode started with Alison - who now that the truth about her being a clone and him having been her monitor was out in the open, didn't need to pretend, especially since at that point the kids weren't around - kissing Donnie's shoulder, I was weirded out. Their later interaction, the mutual confession scene, as I said, would have sold me completely on Alison and Donnie as people who really were together since high school and maybe don't love each other but do have great basic affection beneath the irritation - if I had only met Alison and Donnie in this episode.
The Kira and Sarah scene where Kira asks after Helena seems to confirm that Sarah has no intention of checking out how Helena is doing (or what happened to her post arrest) - as one of my commenters said last week, for Sarah "family" is her, Kira, Felix and Mrs. S. (distrustful as she's become of her), and everyone else may be a friend (or not) but can be discarded.
Ethan Duncan is a good deal less absent minded professorial and more focused this episode, and I didn't just think that in the last scene which revealed he's left his scientific notes (presumably the key ones about the clones) in the copy of Doctor Moreau which he gave Kira before going to the Dyad Institute - revealing he may love Rachel as his daughter but does by no means trust her. His scene with Rachel was fascinating in every aspect - the new information it gave us, and what it said about him and about Rachel. Who rapidly becomes one of the most interesting clones to me. There were worries last season that Sarah's fertility and the other clones' sterility may indicate Sarah is the original or somehow special, while they are somehow lesser or defective, which would go against the show's stated ethos. I don't think anyone guessed what Dr. Duncan reveals here - that the other clones are sterile because all clones were designed that way, and Sarah is fertile (ditto Helena, but Dr. Duncan doesn't know that yet) because she's defective. (Perhaps them being twins is the reason, i.e. this wasn't planned and the twinhood counteracted the sterility when the egg parted - I'm no biologist, I'm a horrible laywoman!)
Rachel trying to play it cool and matter of factly when with Ethan Duncan intercut with Rachel crying and raging after he left and she's alone added to the power of the scene. And now of course there is great anger mixed in her love for him. Note that she immediately deduced why he had created them this way instead of asking whether the Institute ordered him to do so, that it was his choice; their discussion of the Dr. Moreau quote about forgiveness and responsibility (which later had the additional pay off in the scene with Kira) was fascinating. (Note, he, too, knew she was still interested in Kira, and by implication wouldn't keep to the "Kira is off limits if Ethan Duncan returns to the institute" bargain.) Btw, never mind H.G. Wells and Dr. Moreau, I was reminded of Victor Frankenstein and his Creature, because in Mary Shelley's novel when he's pondering whether or not to fulfill the Creature's request of a mate he has a "what if they procreate, horror! Must act responsible at last and prevent that" moment (at which point the modern reader wonders how he can have studied medicine and not know about sterilization, but the answer is probably Mary Shelley didn't). Rachel with her father-and-creator had definitely a Creature-and-Frankenstein vibe in this episode when the realisation that he designed her in a way that forever took one key choice from her hit home.
In conclusion: Rachel & Dr. Duncan & Dyad Institute plus Felix & Art are the plot threads I find myself invested most currently. I do hope Cosima is only mostly dying and not really dying, of course, but Helena's survival has assured I can't commit myself to either worry/sadness or relief until it's done.
First of all, re: Cosima, I must admit that during the show they had me worried, but post show, released from the immediate emotional grip, I was back to being cynical and thinking "Helena survived = everyone the audience is invested in survives" again. That this was supposed to be the equivalent of Kira's almost death in terms of scaring the audience.
Then again: the signs for "Cosima could really die as opposed to almost die" could be we were introduced to a new clone in this episode, and that Cosima got to be extra endearing, turning out to be a master at Dungeons & Dragons (of course she is) and making up with Delphine despite being so furious the previous episode. (Few shows are like Six Feet Under which killed off a main character when he was in a horrible state of relationship with another much loved main character.) So - I suppose Cosima could really be doomed?
I just don't know.
Cynical me also thinks that one reason for Tony the transman was that the producers wanted to have Tatiana Maslany smooch Felix without changing Felix' orientation, let alone going into an incest storyline. Be that as it may, Tony is certainly another case for life choices and character not being biologically ordained but due to individual experiences and decisions. Though come to think of it, he and Sarah picked similar professions, and his dead partner resembled Vic to a degree that had me wondering at first whether we were seeing a flashback to Sarah's life with Vic and Sarah was wearing a beard for some reason. Anyway, since I would find it squicky instead of thrilling if Felix were actually to fall romantically for a (male) lookalike of his sister, I was glad that he seems to have considered the kiss as another ploy of Tony's (never try to play a pro!). I also was glad to see Art and Felix interacting again.
Meanwhile, Alison and Donnie: you know, taken by themselves, within just this episode, I thought the scenes were well played, though I can't help but raise an eyebrow at the show so determinedly playing Alison's and now Donnie's killings as comic relief, even within the suburbia satire genre. I can also can believe them bonding over the sort of accidental murders. And within the episode, I can believe them as a couple who has affection for each other beyond everything they did to each other (though I don't think anyone will ever bring up Alison torturing Donnie by glue gun again). However, my problem here is that the previous show didn't tell me on either Donnie loving Alison (well, maybe his scene with Leekie in the previous episode, but nothing earlier than that); not just his spying on her, but there seemed to be a borderline dislike underlying their every interaction. A mutual one, because I never had the impression Alison was loving Donnie, either - again, the impression she conveyed even before getting suspicious was borderline dislike underneath force of habit. So when their interaction in this episode started with Alison - who now that the truth about her being a clone and him having been her monitor was out in the open, didn't need to pretend, especially since at that point the kids weren't around - kissing Donnie's shoulder, I was weirded out. Their later interaction, the mutual confession scene, as I said, would have sold me completely on Alison and Donnie as people who really were together since high school and maybe don't love each other but do have great basic affection beneath the irritation - if I had only met Alison and Donnie in this episode.
The Kira and Sarah scene where Kira asks after Helena seems to confirm that Sarah has no intention of checking out how Helena is doing (or what happened to her post arrest) - as one of my commenters said last week, for Sarah "family" is her, Kira, Felix and Mrs. S. (distrustful as she's become of her), and everyone else may be a friend (or not) but can be discarded.
Ethan Duncan is a good deal less absent minded professorial and more focused this episode, and I didn't just think that in the last scene which revealed he's left his scientific notes (presumably the key ones about the clones) in the copy of Doctor Moreau which he gave Kira before going to the Dyad Institute - revealing he may love Rachel as his daughter but does by no means trust her. His scene with Rachel was fascinating in every aspect - the new information it gave us, and what it said about him and about Rachel. Who rapidly becomes one of the most interesting clones to me. There were worries last season that Sarah's fertility and the other clones' sterility may indicate Sarah is the original or somehow special, while they are somehow lesser or defective, which would go against the show's stated ethos. I don't think anyone guessed what Dr. Duncan reveals here - that the other clones are sterile because all clones were designed that way, and Sarah is fertile (ditto Helena, but Dr. Duncan doesn't know that yet) because she's defective. (Perhaps them being twins is the reason, i.e. this wasn't planned and the twinhood counteracted the sterility when the egg parted - I'm no biologist, I'm a horrible laywoman!)
Rachel trying to play it cool and matter of factly when with Ethan Duncan intercut with Rachel crying and raging after he left and she's alone added to the power of the scene. And now of course there is great anger mixed in her love for him. Note that she immediately deduced why he had created them this way instead of asking whether the Institute ordered him to do so, that it was his choice; their discussion of the Dr. Moreau quote about forgiveness and responsibility (which later had the additional pay off in the scene with Kira) was fascinating. (Note, he, too, knew she was still interested in Kira, and by implication wouldn't keep to the "Kira is off limits if Ethan Duncan returns to the institute" bargain.) Btw, never mind H.G. Wells and Dr. Moreau, I was reminded of Victor Frankenstein and his Creature, because in Mary Shelley's novel when he's pondering whether or not to fulfill the Creature's request of a mate he has a "what if they procreate, horror! Must act responsible at last and prevent that" moment (at which point the modern reader wonders how he can have studied medicine and not know about sterilization, but the answer is probably Mary Shelley didn't). Rachel with her father-and-creator had definitely a Creature-and-Frankenstein vibe in this episode when the realisation that he designed her in a way that forever took one key choice from her hit home.
In conclusion: Rachel & Dr. Duncan & Dyad Institute plus Felix & Art are the plot threads I find myself invested most currently. I do hope Cosima is only mostly dying and not really dying, of course, but Helena's survival has assured I can't commit myself to either worry/sadness or relief until it's done.
no subject
Date: 2014-06-09 08:15 am (UTC)I'm presuming that the sterility must come later in their lives (or later in the pregnancy) and something that they've done gives the uterine growths which also became lung growths for Jenny and Cosima (so far). It sounded like Amelia absconded with Sarah and Helena extremely early in the process, otherwise they would have known about the twins, if not where they were. I can't think of a way that being twins would relate to the fertility issue, though. It really fascinates me what Rachel might or might not know about it, though, and whether she's tried to have a child herself, or just knows about the uterine growths through reading her own medical records. She must know that she's in line for the lung growths, in that case.
no subject
Date: 2014-06-09 10:53 am (UTC)I think it's quite possible Rachel knows she could be next with the lung growth, but the way she responded to finding out there was never a chance she could have had a child if she wanted makes me suspect she did indeed try it at some point. Considering that after the deaths, or "deaths" of her parents, who were with her long enough for her to remember them and remember the affection, she had Leekie and then monitors-slash-boy-toys in terms of people close to her, for which she seems to have had a mixture of need and distrust (and the need to dominate them), I wouldn't be surprised if she hadn't tried at some point to (re)create the family experience with a child of her own.
Incidentally, I forgot to mention this in my review, but: considering Donnie has Leekie's body still with him, Rachel doesn't yet know he's dead, which means when she's telling everyone he died of a heart attack (strongly implying she did away with him when talking to Delphine), she's actually covering for his supposed escape.
no subject
Date: 2014-06-09 07:51 pm (UTC)Re: Rachel dominating boytoy monitors--I was a bit sad about that scene because it was smoking hot to me (it's a dynamic I quite like in het, and a rare one) but I couldn't settle in to enjoying it since it seemed like Paul was being pressured into it at best. I mean, he seemed to be into it on some level, but on another level it was basically sleep with Rachel or lose his job, and he wasn't too thrilled about having to work for her in the first place. I'd say that might have been the final straw that pushed him to go AWOL.
But as a sex scene, yowza.
no subject
Date: 2014-06-09 09:28 am (UTC)I'm really interested in what "went wrong" or was different about Sarah (and Helena), though. I'm sure there will be some kind of technobabble explanation. And IDEK about Kira: there's something a bit unusual about that child.
Tony's hair and makeup weren't the greatest, but I loved that they had a trans male clone. I mean--why not? The show really seems to be going for them all having the same physical template to start with, but everthing else is up for grabs. If Cosima can be gay and the others not, Tony can be a boy. But mostly I loved how the other characters treated him--Felix and Sarah were just so matter-of-fact about it. The way this show is handling LGBT characters continues to be so much closer to my real life than, like, any other show ever. (Not that I know rent boys or conmen or genius scientists, but it's just so integrated into the characters' actual lives.)
Also kind of hilarious how alike Tony and Sarah are. And Felix's "Holy Tilda Swinton!" made me laugh.
I'm not too worried about Cosima but I feel like with everyone else being worried, maybe I should be! I don't want her to die! D: Please be okay. Given that none of the other major cast clones is sick, though, and that figuring out how to cure the illness(es) seems like a way to develop all sorts of plot threads, I can more easily see them managing to make Cosima better rather than killing her off and having someone else be sick & then cured. So, IDK.
Loved the gaming scene--was a little annoyed at the gaming bros + non-gaming woman for a minute there, but then she just got to have so much fun. And I think I'm actually sold on Cosima/Delphine as an actual romance who actually do care for each other for the first time in ages now. (Delphine starting out as someone sleeping with Leekie and getting close to Cosima for monitor-reasons made me very leery of her for a long time.)
The humour with Alison and Donnie is kind of dark, to me, kind of twisted in its comic relief. And it is something of a relief after Alison having to keep that secret for so long.
Argh only two more episodes this season (unless it goes longer than season 1)!! What cliffhanger will they leave us with this time?!!
no subject
Date: 2014-06-09 10:42 am (UTC)Excellent point! Unless, of course, Rachel is sick, and that furthers her urgency to get a hold of Sarah and Kira, but in that case only Dr. Duncan would be worried and motivated, so no, your argument still stands.
no subject
Date: 2014-06-09 01:52 pm (UTC)Excellent. I'm glad that makes sense to someone else, and I really hope I'm right! Cosima is one of my favourites because science! and general geekery. Plus somehow she's hotter to me than most of the others, which--it's all the same actress! Facepalm.
no subject
Date: 2014-06-09 04:43 pm (UTC)Evidence of a very good actor. I certainly find some characters of an actor very hot, but not others.
no subject
Date: 2014-06-09 05:17 pm (UTC)This is true. Very unfortunate when you're doing one of those "watch everything they've been in!" binges, and turn up the disappointing things where their character's not appealing. (Not thinking of Maslany here--haven't seen anything else with her in it.)
no subject
Date: 2014-06-28 10:48 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-06-29 03:42 am (UTC)