Written by Karen Walton & Graeme Manson
Directed by John Fawcett
Airs Saturdays at 9pm EST on BBCA
This week, on Orphan Black: Alison gets bad news, Cosima gets a lab, and Sarah gets answers
Orphan Black came back running, literally, last week and episode two continues this momentum with another strong episode. The season one-ending decisions by Alison and Sarah to sign, and not sign, their deals, respectively, remain less of a limiting factor than many may have guessed, though that surely can’t last much longer. With Alison on to Donnie, she’s likely to begin acting out again. Having signed her rights away, how much space will The Dyad Institute give her before they intervene? Tatiana Maslany continues to shine particularly bright as Alison and her desperation at the end of the episode is palpable, and incredibly affecting.
If there’s one question mark with this corner of the show right now, it’s her children. Yes, Alison is less than stable at the moment, thanks to her overwhelming guilt over Aynsley’s death and the confirmation of Donnie’s monitor status, but unfortunately life doesn’t stop for such trivial matters as secret negligent homicide- there are still lunches to pack and homework to be finished. We’ve gotten a sense of this with Alison’s community theater rehearsals, but this should extend to her children as well. If anything, one would imagine Alison would be even more protective of them now that she no longer trusts Donnie. Instead they barely warrant a mention. Hopefully the writers have a long-term plan for Alison that remembers that she has two children she loves dearly.
After her increased presence in the premiere, this week’s episode wisely dials back on Rachel, giving her only one scene, with Cosima and Delphine. Cosima moves closer this week to her shiny new lab and, while she may remain wary and quibble with Delphine over the details, she looks like she’ll settle into a routine at The Dyad Institute easily. Should Cosima sign up, she would be the first clone to do so fully understanding what she’s signing- Alison did so before finding out about their genetic patenting. With the Institute so interested in the clones, one would imagine she could negotiate from a point of power. Will she work out a better deal for herself than Alison? Can she go to work for the Institute without giving away her biological rights? We’ve yet to get a clear picture of Rachel’s motivations, so perhaps the Dyad Institute crew already aren’t all baddies ala Leekie, but having Cosima agree to work for the Institute while actively despising their methods or goals makes them more compelling and opens up narrative possibilities within that arm of the story. How many of the Institute’s employees are True Believers and how many have been manipulated into being there?
Rather than the Neolutionists and the Proletheans being diametrically opposed entities, they are increasingly being presented as two sides of the same coin. Leekie has always approached his work with religious fervor and this week, the more conservative elements of the Proletheans are snuffed out by those in favor of a more modern approach. This is a very pleasant surprise. While Helena’s survival is great news for fans of everyone’s favorite Jello-loving crazy person, the religious fundamentalist angle of this storyline was explored fully in season one. The last thing this show needed was more time with Tomas or a core struggle between two central antagonists, Leekie (Science) vs. Tomas (Faith). This idea has been explored time and again on television and at this point is frankly a bit tired. Instead, we look to be getting an exploration of science with faith (and faith with science), and that’s far more interesting.
Art and Angela get quite a bit of time this week and it’s promising to see their screen time upped while Paul sits the episode out. With Sarah running around committing crimes as needed, having a police officer in Clone Club* will undoubtedly come in handy. Plus Art provides a clear tie back to Beth Childs and the pilot. It’s easy to forget just how little time has passed in-show; keeping Art and Angela present in viewers’ minds helps with this and also gives us two characters outside of the clone drama, able to comment on it when needed.
*Orphan Black remains one of the few series on TV right now to organically incorporate fan slang into the series- “Clone Club” works just as well when Felix mentions it this week, after having been adopted as the preferred name for the fan base, as it did when Cosima first used it in season one.
Felix is once again amazing this week, particularly in his opening and closing scenes with Sarah and his scenes with Alison. Orphan Black may be the Tatiana Maslany show, but Jordan Gavaris is absolutely crucial to its success as well, acting as an anchor for Maslany and grounding the most ridiculous of plot twists with his open, relatable performance. Felix not only provides self-awareness and comedy, but as such a light-hearted character, when he gets serious, the audience gets serious. He’s the heart of the show and it’s great to see it recognize this and make him even more prominent this season.
The single most significant element of this episode, though, is the return of Mrs. S and Kira. Thankfully the writers do not extend that mystery any further, keeping Mrs. S the badass we started to see in season one while very actively not trading on the suffering of a minor for dramatic stakes. Like Felix, Mrs. S grounds Sarah and provides a trustworthy sounding board despite the insanity going on around them and like Gavaris, Maria Doyle Kennedy lends gravitas and honesty to what could easily become an over the top cliché of a character. The most interesting casting of the episode is the near-cameo by Julian Richings, who pops up as Mrs. S’s driver (hopefully we’ll see more of him soon), but the rest of her old crowd are effective as well and do a good job adding shading to her and her past without providing too many answers.
It’s only episode two and already Sarah and Felix are headed outta Dodge with Kira. It’s way too easy. That being said, it’s refreshing to see leads embroiled in this complicated and dangerous of a situation actually leg it and with them out of the way, perhaps we’ll have more time to spend with the rest of this full and interesting cast of characters. Either way, Orphan Black is off to a strong season two. Here’s hoping they can keep this momentum going for the next eight weeks.
Kate Kulzick