Orphan Black Review 4×03: “The Stigmata of Progress”

Welcome back Rachel Duncan, is that… a heart you have?

Orphan Black has certainly been consistent so far this season with their hit the ground running approach. Episode 3 of OB didn’t deviate from the status quo and offered up some gory moments, more answers, and so many more questions.

On a mission to figure out what the Neolutionists have implanted in her cheek (super creepy attack worms), Sarah (Tatiana Maslany) sets out to find answers in any way that she can. After consulting the ever adorable yet somewhat ailing Cosima (Tatiana Maslany), she’s eager to get to Felix (Jordan Gavaris) to tell him everything that’s been going on. Obviously Felix would be super intrigued and concerned right? Wrong. Unbeknownst to Sarah, Fee has tracked down his biological sister, Adele. Without giving Sarah the time of day or listening to her growing list of problems, he shuts her out in favor of spending time with Adele. Sarah is visibly upset, but she leaves in order to track down more answers.

Sarah heads to see Dizzy, MK’s contact. After feeling her cheek for the implant, Dizzy agrees to give what little answers he can. He explains that while the implants could be used for things as innocent as drugs or insulin, why would Neolutionists put the implant in the cheek? His reasoning? To be in close proximity to the brain for something far worse than a simple drug injection. Sarah is visibly freaked out and heads to see the unsung sestra hero, Art (Kevin Hanchard).

“I’m too scared to even bloody brush my teeth, Art.”

After Art is able to provide the location for the man that Dizzy mentioned, Sarah heads to a dentist office in order to have the implant removed. However, nothing is ever as it seems in the world of Orphan Black. The sketchy hygienist thinks that Sarah is Beth. Just as Sarah thinks she’s going to have the “robot maggot” removed, the hygienist attempts to keep her there. Luckily, Mrs. S (Maria Doyle Kennedy) being the protective, kick-ass momma bear type, has called in some help. Ferdinand (James Frain) shows up just in time to slit the hygienist’s throat and remove Sarah from the under the needle she’s stuck with.

Elsewhere in clone world, Helena (Tatiana Maslany) has called Sarah in order to give her the good news that she is expecting twins. In a true heart breaking moment Helena tells Sarah:

“Sestra, can I say something? I don’t want them to grow up like me.”

Sarah is excited by the news and honestly, while we hope they have a better upbringing, we hope they grow up to be just like you, Helena.

Meanwhile, Alison (Tatiana Maslany) and Donnie (Kristian Bruun) are trying to extract Aldous Leekie’s body from their garage so that they can get to the chip he must have had implanted in his cheek. Inside, the door bell rings and their ever-hungry house guest Helena answers the door. When she realizes it’s the police wanting to question the Hendrix’s about the murders in the garage, she plays hostess with the mostess… by impersonating Alison. In a way that only Helena can do, she charms the cops the best she can:

“Can I interest you in some breads?”

Perhaps one of the most interesting parts of the episode was the reintroduction of Rachel Duncan (Tatiana Maslany) back into the mix and her interaction with child clone Charlotte, who happens to be sick. Their interaction is genuine, but does Rachel grasp the idea of caring about others yet?

Yippee, a new Castor

Okay, while Ari MIllen is a genius in his ability to play the Castor clones so differently despite very few physical changes, the Castor clones story was so over played in season 3 that we were kind of ready and willing to move on from it. With that said, Orphan Black introduced yet another Castor clone to know and well.. not entirely love in this episode. However, the introduction of Castor clone Ari brings up one of the most interesting underlying themes in Orphan Black to date. The idea of nature vs. nurture. While most of the Castor clones grew up in and around an Army setting, they were taught to be violent, methodical, and even ruthless. Mark was raised in a religious cult and was taught to be a follower who listened only to their beliefs. Ari was raised by Susan Duncan. His entire aura is different than that of the other Castors. He is quiet, subdued, and his entire disposition is different. While it seems as though he has a still waters run deep kind of vibe where he may snap at any moment, he is different. Is it because he was raised so differently? Do all the Castor clones have a dark side simply because they share DNA? The Leda clones are all entirely different in their own right, undoubtedly because of where and how they were raised, but they all share a deep bond and protective nature over each other. At the end of the day, with the exception of Rachel at this point, they would do anything for each other. How would the clones from both side be different if they were allowed to grow up together?

Rachel’s Heart

Oh, Rachel Duncan. We should want to hate her. We should want to celebrate every defeat she’s handed. For all the horrible things she has said to the other Leda clones, for all of the back stabbing, lying, and violence she’s resorted to in order to get herself ahead. Rachel Duncan is actually the worst. So why do we shockingly end up feeling bad for Rachel in this episode? In what moment do we shift focus from hate to pity? It’s the moment we see her look at Charlotte. There’s such a subtle, simple glimmer in Rachel’s eyes that we can finally see that something matters to her. Someone matters to her. There’s no agenda, she just enjoys being around her. Rachel’s growth as a character was the most interesting part of this episode. Her redeeming qualities are few and far between, but you can’t help but feel for her. We see how poorly her mother Susan treats her after leaving her in isolation for weeks and how she berates her for being a failure. Rachel confronts her mother in a pretty powerful moment of clarity:

“Because you abandoned me. I always thought that Neolution killed you, but you were Neolution.”

Rachel had no real hope of forming meaningful bonds because of the way she was raised. To believe only in what could get her ahead. For a short moment though, when Susan explains to Rachel that Charlotte is a clone made from her, there’s a lightness to her. A hope. A realization that she wants to be that mother figure to her. When that moment is shattered by Susan with rude, biting remarks on how she wasn’t good enough to get it right the first time around, it visibly cuts Rachel to the core while leaving us feeling upset for her. It’s intriguing that maybe, just maybe, she could become a likeable character.

Could Kira just be fed up?

Poor Kira (Skyler Wexler), girl’s been shipped around the world and back more times than Helena eats in a single day. She’s fed up. A constant moving target and never in one place for very long, it’s easy to see why shes’ starting to rebel. This episode of Orphan Black really hinted at a deeper struggle for Kira. Is she just upset about Sarah being gone all the time? Or is something more going on? When she zones out and Cosima checks on her to see if she’s okay; Kira turns into a prophetic, somewhat scary, shell of herself. After coming back to reality she explains to Cosima that she’s just had a dream about the sister clones burning Sarah to death… while being wide awake. Does she really have some sort of power that makes her more in-tune with the world around her? Or is she just sick and tired of not being a normal child with a normal life? And for the love of Babka, could someone please enroll this girl in school.

Orphan Black 4×03 Final Verdict: A little disheveled, a lot of love

Orphan Black does one thing better than just about any show out there, it redeems characters that we had written off a long time ago. While this episode felt a little disjointed and had too much going on, one thing remained noticeable. The creators love these characters. They don’t write one note clones that feel stale or boring. Rachel Duncan was horrible and still is, but we’ve found the chink in her armor. Especially when she realizes Charlotte is sick. She has a heart under her rough exterior. Helena was arguably one of the most ruthless characters on TV. Look at her now, living with Donnie and Alison and pregnant with TWINS. This show is all about evolution and growth. While the clones (Cosima) could use a little more screen time, its’ refreshing to see the Leda clones become the focus again.

Orphan Black Questions/ Comments:

• Can Helena just have one episode where she’s at a birthing class?
• STILL waiting on Delphine news. Bueller… Bueller?
• Helena should have a cooking show
• EMMY FOR MASLANY