Orphan Black brings back familiar faces as it explores the past
This week’s Orphan Black faded in from black with a face that we as the audience didn’t think we’d actually see again. Susan Duncan, in all of her self-important glory, sat in her hospital bed like her spawn of Satan daughter didn’t just attempt to murder her. If Orphan Black is known for anything, it would be its impressive ingenuity when it comes to bringing past characters back in the fray. Not just any characters though, Orphan Black brings back characters that we are convinced have met their demise. (Delphine anyone?) In “Let the Children and Childbearers Toil,” we are reintroduced to Susan (we didn’t need to be, but here we are), Virginia Coady (Kyra Harper), and even Felix’s (Jordan Gavaris) multi-faceted sister Adele (Lauren Hammersly), who we knew wasn’t dead, but hey, out of sight out of mind. These characters are bound to wrap up story lines we’ve been eager to see a resolve to, no matter how big or small.
Related | Orphan Black 5×04: “Let the Children and Childbearers Toil” Synopsis, Photos, and Promo
With the revelation that Susan and Virginia used to work together before Leda and Castor split into two separately run entities by PT Westmoreland because of a clone experiment gone wrong, the writers were bound to set off a firestorm of new questions for the fans heading into the final 6 episodes. Elsewhere, Cosima followed the science and landed herself in the belly of the beast looking for answers. Mud directed her to leave and in doing so, makes us question why Mud is so intertwined with everything going on in Revival. Could the rest of the season set up for an epic unraveling of answers? Or are we in for cliff hanger after cliff hanger?
We know you all must have a lot of questions that you’d love to be answered. So, we should get to it and meet our guests for this week’s Orphan Black roundtable. We’re definitely curious to hear what they thought.
Marta - (@martamushroom) “I think, intensely.”
Anny - (@clonepatronus) “Artist, theorist, lifelong Beth Childs lover.”
Kay - (@Gouldeniehaus) “Clone clubber and whacky theorist.”
Karen - (@PaisleyClover) “Really likes television”
Marzia - (@clonesmar) “TV shows nerd, music lover and books enthusiast.”
1) Thanks for joining our Orphan Black roundtable. Let’s jump right into it. What are your thoughts on Charlotte? Do you think she is going to have a bigger role heading into the season finale?
Marta (@martamushroom): I think she is going to have a bigger role once they unravel most of Revival’s history. And I hope we get to see more of her and her treatments/cure
Anny: (@clonepatronus): I absolutely love Charlotte and I very much hope so that we’ll get to see her involved in some bigger plot this season. However, something tells me that both her and Aisha are just filler roles and they might not contribute much to the bigger picture.
Kay (@Gouldeniehaus): I definitely think Charlotte is going to at least open a can of worms, and trigger us FINALLY getting answers of some sort. Whether she will be aware of it is a different story!
Karen (@PaisleyClover): I think she demonstrates one of the major flaws in the cloning concept. She isn’t one of the original clones, but a clone of a clone. It’s like photocopying. A photocopy of a photocopy is never going to be as clean as a photocopy, which in turn will never be as clean as the original. OTOH, Cosima said she seemed to be doing better. Maybe I’m completely off the mark and Charlotte will somehow be the key to a cure. Either way, I can’t think she won’t be important as we head into the homestretch.
Marzia (@clonesmar): I really like Charlotte and I think she’s a really interesting character, but honestly, I don’t think she’s going to have a bigger role this season. I think (and as the writers said) they want to explore more about Kira and the reason on why she’s “special.”
2) Do you believe Delphine and Scott are still working together?
Marta: I don’t think she’s working with Scott, but Delphine and Mrs S must have a reliable source of intel [and I’m so confused right now] to know such things as Virginia being locked at that facility [still shook].
Anny: I actually think that currently, the only person Delphine cooperates with is Mrs. S. It would also explain how secretive she is about it and why Sarah cannot know about their alliance. I think that Scott and HellWizard operate independently based on Siobhan’s leads that are actually from Delphine.So indirectly, yes.
Kay: I think if there’s anyone Delphine would trust with information aside from Mrs. S it would be Scott. He however, seems to be left in the dark as much as Sarah and we all are.
Karen: I wouldn’t be surprised. I suspect I’m in the minority, but even though I like Delphine and like her and Cosima together, I’ve never been able to bring myself to complete trust her.
Marzia: I don’t think so. Delphine on the first episode told to Cosima that she wasn’t allowed to contact her, so I definitely don’t think that Delphine and Scott are still working together, but I highly hope that they’re gonna do it before the show ends. They’re two great characters and to see them together it’s always a pleasure!
3)What is the story with Mud? Why is she so sketchy?
Marta: Mud is honestly a mystery to me. I wish I could come up with a theory about her, but I think I’m just going to let myself be surprised. I don’t think I trust her, though. But it seems to me she has lots of issues due to what she’s been trough, at Revival so I don’t think I should judge her character yet.
Anny: I think this episode unraveled a lot more about Mud than we expected. She’s not just the tour guide of Revival, but she also seems to have a close relationship with P.T. I’m absolutely down for any kind of theories that she’s his great great great great great granddaughter. However, I don’t think she’s as sketchy as we think she might be. She’s pretty bad at lying and keeping any secrets and as soon as she’s about to spill something, she starts panicking.
Kay: No comment.
Karen: I have wondered what Mud’s story is and I really don’t have a clue. I’m having trouble moving on from the question of why she’s called Mud. Who would go through life with that for a name? Maybe she’s really old and doesn’t age, like Westmoreland, and he has to invent a new birth date for her from time to time, and M.U.D. is an acronym for Made Up Date. Maybe I have no idea what I’m talking about. Maybe I’m actually brilliant. You decide.
Marzia: Honestly, I like Mud and I’m starting to trust her. She seems to want to help Cosima or, at least, keeping her far from the woods and from the creature that is wandering. She still can’t give her answers about the island but I think that’s because she P.T.’s assistant and so she doesn’t want problems.
4) Why are Ira/Virginia still around? Do you think they’re going to be important characters with an impact on the story?
Marta: Yep. Well, for Virginia at least. They brought her back for a reason. I’m still pretty shaken up by the fact she’s alive, so yeah.
Anny: I don’t think they are crucially important for the actual closure of the whole story, but I think what Orphan Black is doing is that they’re actually picking up all the loose ends (or a majority of them) that they’ve left scattered through all the seasons and tying them up, so that there are as few plot holes as there can be and honestly, that’s probably one of the best things they could do. As for Coady, however big of a majority of us doesn’t like Castor, it needs its proper closure and it was a great move.
Kay: I really thought Virginia would be dead, no one survives a blast that big and then Ferdinand. No one. I think her information may be critical to the taking old man PT down! Either that or we get a fight to death with Susan. Either way I’m here to see more of her.
Karen: With Orphan Black winding up it’s run, I don’t think they can afford to reintroduce old characters without any purpose. If nothing else, Susan telling Ira about the atrocities Westmoreland and Toady committed in the name of playing God gives us some exposition. It makes sense that Toady would return. They are where all this began, and everything is giving me a full circle-ish vibe.
Marzia: Hard to say, but the fact that Virginia used to work with Susan has been a great plot twist. I really didn’t expect that. I don’t know if they’re going to have an impact on the whole story, but for sure I want to know more about this involvement!
5) Why do you think the “ogre” in the woods trusts Mud and no one else?
Marta: About what I said before, I think Mud went through a lot of odd stuff at revival. She kind of identifies with the ogre, or vice versa. I don’t know, I think she empathizes with him for a reason. She probably knows everything about his history. Or knew him before they turned him into a ‘monster’… Could they be related or something… dude, that’s complex.
Anny: Get ready for my crack theory! The ogerusnotrealicus has been admitted as a child before the clones were born and then they performed many tests and mutations on him. As far as we know, Mud has lived in Revival for her whole life. She probably had access to some life span altering devices already (especially if she’s really related to P.T.) and although she appears very young, she could very well be in her forties now, what do we know? My theory is that as the little boy was being medically performed on and continuously tortured, maybe she was a child back then too and maybe she was his only company that didn’t cause him any pain or suffering. And that’s maybe why of all people, he only trusts her.
Kay: The ‘orge’ like creature was taken as a child to unlock the perfect genome; the child - now monster who was possibly chained up for years and years in that dark cold room. I feel like Mud took pity on him and helped him escape to go roam the woods! If I was the creature finally freed by this weird girl I would form trust too.
Karen: I’m just surprised he trusts anyone. And I rather take exception to the term ‘ogre.’ He is a victim, as much as anyone else, and more than most. The only real difference between him and the Leda crew is that they look like Tatiana Maslany and he, well, doesn’t.
Marzia: I think because she’s the only one who feeds him and P.T. doesn’t know about this. I think she feels sorry for that creature. After all, he’s the result of an experiment gone wrong, right?
6) Do you think Kathryn Alexandre should have another a walk-on roll before the series is up? She totally deserves it.
Marta: HELL YES.
Anny: While she definitely deserves it and I will chant about Kathryn Alexandre wherever I go, I’ll say no, because unless Alexis McGann
(Kathryn’s character in season 2 and 3) has any clones, it just really wouldn’t fit. Also, Kathryn was nearly just as busy as Tatiana for the whole season and I can’t imagine there was much time left for any walk-on roles. However, if they want to tie up the loose end with Alexis, I’m all up for it. I was so happy to see Kathryn in the actual series, she deserves every bit of recognition she can get.
Kay: YES. KATHRYN ALEXANDRE SHOULD DEFINITELY HAVE ANOTHER WALK ON ROLL BEFORE SEASON FIVE ENDS. She deserves that and more. Alexis the midwife could come back to deliver Helena’s babies.
Karen: Didn’t she have a role on Orphan Black? I believe she played Alexis, the midwife.
Marzia: Kathryn definitely should have a walk-on-roll before the series is up. I remember she had a little part on season 3 and she was amazing as always. Kathryn totally deserves more visibility and recognition. We know that she IS there, even if we can’t see her, but a walk-on-roll? Oh yeah, I want it!
7) With all of these characters being brought back before the series finale, who is one character you’d like to see make an appearance?
Marta: I always go back to Beth, you know. It started with her. And I feel like we can never have enough of Beth.
Anny: (Beth Beth Beth) I would also really love to see the Euroclones, Jennifer and Tony. They do not have to have a major role; I’d just
like to see that nobody forgot about them by the end of the series. Same for Angela DeAngelis, Sarah Stubbs, Gracie Johanssen, Bobby, maybe even Marion Bowles since we never really found out anything about her besides the fact that she died. I think that since the series is ending, it would be very nice to at least mention or show all these smaller characters who helped to shape the show into what it actually is.
Kay: I really want a return of Cal or at least some closure on him.
Karen: That’s easy. I’d like Cal to return.
Marzia: Cal Morrison or Tony are two of the characters that I’d definitely like to see make an appearance. I feel like their story haven’t got a proper conclusion, so I hope that before the season ends we’ll have the chance to see them. Fingers crossed!
Orphan Black 5×04 “Let the Children and Childbearers Toil” Final Verdict: Why are you still here?
While nothing too intense happened in this week’s Orphan Black episode, we know that everything that did happen, was a major catalyst for the story moving forward. The introduction of characters new and old have made us believe that the writers really want to address plot points that we think they may have forgotten about. It’ll be interesting to see how Virginia will use the visitor card she stole from Sarah. (We assume she’ll use it to wreak havoc on the clones). We also can’t wait to see how the original clone experiment gone awry will impact the Leda clones, if at all. With so many new dynamics added in this episode, we just can’t wait to see what happens next. Hey Orphan Black, can we suggest more Delphine please?
Make sure you catch Orphan Black every Saturday at 10 pm on BBC America.
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