Orphan Black 5×06: “Manacled Slim Wrists” Roundtable

Orphan Black 5×06 hints at a clone reunion in its no holds barred fight to the finale

We’ve waited for so long to see beloved clone Krystal (Tatiana Maslany) back on our screens. Luckily for us, she made an appearance in the 6th episode of season 5 of Orphan Black. While we entered into the episode hoping to have answers from previous episodes, it was such a welcomed change of pace. Krystal and her blog partner in crime Brie, set things off in comedic fashion as they thanked fans for watching and subscribing to their vlog. As they tended to Brie’s freshly curled hair, the unthinkable happened.. it fell out! Krystal then brought Brie to Scott (Josh Vokey)  and Art (Kevin Hanchard) under the impression that her friend was being poisoned by big cosmetics. Leave it to Krystal to jump to the most unlikely conclusion ever. (Even though we think she’s secretly a genius who will be the key to bringing down Neolution and it’s minions). With the knowledge that Krystal had stumbled into something well beyond her metaphorical pay scale, Sarah (Tatiana Maslany) set up a trap and dressed up as our beloved blonde clone in order to get more information about Neolution and Lin28A. Or as Krystal would say:

“Linda something!”

However, Sarah and Art learned yet again, that you don’t just do things without Krystal getting involved. In true Krystal fashion, she got back to her apartment for her date with the cosmetic mogul before Sarah could intervene. After being distracted by his good looks and charm, Krystal finally came to her senses. She told Sarah:

“I’m peeing, and then I’m gonna kick him in the balls.”

A short time later, she did just that and literally beat the crap out of him in order to get answers. We learned that DYAD is making every effort to use skin care products in their attempt to carry out their shady deeds. Leave it to Krystal to become an unsung hero and get answers that could bring down the entire corporation.

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At Revival, Cosima (Tatiana Maslany) was finally released from her cage by Ira (Ari Millen) who needed her help so that Susan (Rosemary Dunsmore) and the rest of the clones could start to try to take down Neolution. While trying to run away, Cosima revealed to all of Revival that PT Westmoreland is a hoax and he’s not at all who he says he is by showing them a picture of him as a young man in the 60’s, proving he’s lying. She also told them that he’s using all of them for his all personal agenda and they’re all just his pawns. The townspeople set the compound on fire and let Cosima escape to the boat to wait for Ira and Susan with Charlotte. In an ironic turn of events, as Ira was going to find Susan to bring her back to the boat, Susan was found dead. Ira, who had been glitching for the past few episodes, sat down and seemingly took his final breaths next to her.

This episode forced us to say goodbye to some characters, lose trust in others, and get excited for the final 4 episodes. With all that going on, we need to sit back and discuss the craziness with our roundtable guests. Let’s meet them shall we?

Lindsay (@vausemanprepon) – “I just want to make, like, crazy science and talk Orphan Black with you.”

Tara (@Tarzapam) – “Pop Culture Tattooed, Clonesbian, Ebro fanatic.”

Shai- (@niehausbrochu) – “A huge fan of Tatiana Maslany and Evelyne Brochu, spends 100% of her time talking about anything Orphan Black.”

Al (@eveylnebrochu) – “Gamer. Orphan Black & Evelyne Brochu enthusiast.”

Nahrain, Daneela, & Christina (@CloneClubTO) – “Three regulars at Bobby’s Bar”

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1) Krystal has become one of the most beloved characters on Orphan Black. Even though she isn’t on that much. What are your thoughts on her?

Lindsay (@vausemanprepon):  I absolutely love Krystal and everything she brings to the show. To me, she’s a perfect representation of the beauty of Orphan Black and they way it treats its characters. Krystal could be shown as nothing more than a dumb blonde, but the show depicts her as the complex being that she (and every other human being) is. Yes, she fits many stereotypes given to women like her, but we get to see the emotional and intelligent side of Krystal as well. I also think that it’s brilliant how the writers of the show use her to perfectly blend together comedy and crucial plot lines on the show. What is Orphan Black without a little bit of humor mixed with a lot of stress?

Tara (@tarzapam): I think Krystal is hilarious. I was already a big fan of the inspiration source for Tat with the character (Liz from Kroll Show). She’s so different from all the other clones and I love that.

Shai (@niehausbrochu): I agree about Krystal being one of the most beloved characters in the fandom. I’m actually one of those who do! We met Krystal just very recently, unlike most of the clones, Krystal came late in the picture though surprisingly enough, she got so much love despite the amount of her screen-time. Personally, I don’t think the amount of time a character is seen relates to how much the viewers like them. Krystal is so different from her sestras, she sees things on a completely unique perspective. Not only is she naturally hilarious, but she’s pure! Her innocence somehow managed to solve even more problems than anyone’s awareness. This is why I so love Krystal. She doesn’t just occasionally break the ice during tense moments, but she’s also a very useful and effective ally.

Al (@eveylnebrochu): Krystal has been one of my favorite clones ever since she first appeared. She’s one of the funniest characters on the show in my opinion and you just know that whenever she’s in an episode you’re guaranteed to have a good laugh.

Nahrain, Daneela, & Christina (@CloneClubTO: Krystal’s hilarious and has no filter! We really hope she meets the other sestras soon. She definitely has that stubborn quality that runs in all the clones’ DNA. It was apparent in last night’s episode.

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2) Who or what do you think is the key to finally bringing down Neolution?

Lindsay: In my opinion, the downfall of Neolution is going to come down to Kira and Delphine. It is clear that Delphine and Mrs. S are setting the Sestras up to be in a position of power over Neolution. I believe that whatever Delphine has planned for them is going to lead them to success. At the same time, Kira has been the holy grail/the most desired object for both sides of the fight in this season. Now that she has been taken and she’s planning with Sarah, I can’t help but feel like she will play a gigantic role in taking the Neos down for good.

Tara: Cosima has definitely gotten the ball rolling on that front. I think it needs more people from within to turn on it. I’m not sure if Rachel could be a key factor in that regard.

Shai: With regards to Neolution, I strongly believe Rachel will play a huge part in taking it down. I’m only basing on what I’ve seen so far, but yes, I think Rachel, a Neolution bred, PT’s right hand, will be taking a huge part in bringing that corporation down. With the whole of Clone Club of course. She’s got actual access to anything related to Neolution, for one. We also witnessed Mrs. S saying, “you’ll be needing us one day,” which generated a clue that she might actually side with them at the end of the day. Not to mention that Susan, her mum, was killed and that PT’s deepest and darkest secret is now out in the open. He isn’t PT Westmoreland, he isn’t 170+ years old, he is a scam and he killed her mum. Rachel was fooled and I don’t think she’s just gonna let that slide. Well if she doesn’t know the truth yet, that is.

Al: I really have no idea, but that’s the thing about this show, you can have lots of theories that could work out very well, but then it turns out to be something completely different. It wouldn’t surprise me though if Krystal ended up being the one to bring them down, but either way, I’m sure it will be something we didn’t expect at all.

CloneClubTO: The same thing that helped bring Brightborn down. Neolution and everything that goes with it needs to be exposed to the world through media.

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3) Are you glad to hear Mud’s background story? It seems to give her a little more depth.

Lindsay: Definitely. Back story is so important in the understanding of characters in any show and we needed that for Mud in this episode. I think it helped to give an explanation for why Mud does what she does. It also explains why she chooses to save PT at the end of the episode.

Tara: I was pleasantly surprised to have this new layer with Mud. It shows how vulnerable she is and how she feels like she owes something to PT for “saving her life”. It also shows how well PT can see people he can manipulate.

Shai: Mud is a new character so it’s natural that the viewers are curious about her and where she basically came from. I wasn’t particularly glad about knowing that part of her back story, but I do think it was necessary for us to understand her narrative deeper. I always knew Mud had motivations for being who she is right now and doing what she thinks is right, and getting to know what those motivations are was like getting a free treat, we didn’t specifically ask for it, but we were served anyway. I always loved knowing something more about the characters, regardless of the roles they play, so I thank the writers for giving us a deep insight about Mud.

Al: Honestly, Mud’s background story did touch me a little bit and I thought she was finally trustworthy, but at the end of the episode she proved me wrong. It did give her some depth, but she’s still not my favorite.

CloneClubTO: We could have done without it to be honest. She made a big mistake at the end. Any sympathy we had for her at that moment went away when sided with Coady.

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4) Do you think Mrs. S was foreshadowing when she told Rachel, “there will come a day when you need us?”

Lindsay: Next week’s episode is all about Rachel. I fear that Mrs. S’ words might come back to haunt Rachel sooner than she imagined.

Tara: Absolutely. Things have begun to fall apart in Neolution with the curtain being pulled away to reveal a regular man behind the PT facade. Rachel may have stabbed Susan, but I will be interested to see how she reacts when she finds out Susan has died at the hands of Virginia Coady and PT.

Shai: That line was a foreshadowing! That one line alone resonated a lot of theories about Rachel’s fate at the end of this season. I had almost lost all the hope for Rachel to actually redeem herself and side with her clone sestras, but it seems like there still is hope after that line was delivered. Considering the reaction Rachel gave after Mrs. S said that as well. I honestly believe Rachel cares for Kira dearly, not the she’s my subject type of care, but the genuine kind of care. Something’s telling me that she’s only forced by her strong will to prove herself to do what favours PT and their experiments. I can’t tell if finding out PT’s secret would let her see the light but it would surely spark a reason (to redeem herself) in her.

Al: You never know what Mrs. S has up her sleeve. I’m very sure she was foreshadowing, especially when you saw Rachel’s facial expression to what Mrs. S told her. I’m really excited to see what happens in the upcoming episodes, and if Mrs. S did foreshadow.

CloneClubTO: Yes. A small part of us really wants to see Rachel connect with the sestras at the end. We doubt it will happen, but we can dream.

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5) Ira basically sacrificed himself to free Cosima and help the clones. Have your opinions changed about him since the beginning?

Lindsay: Completely. At first, I found Ira annoying and I never really saw a point to having him in the show (besides keeping Ari around because the man is amazing). This season he has really grown on me. He has been forced to doubt everyone and everything around him and I think that allowed him to think for himself for once.

Tara: For me, this was the best we have seen Ira. The scene when he finds Susan’s lifeless body was just heartbreaking. He hasn’t been given a lot to do other than be Susan’s lap boy, but he stepped up big time in this episode.

Shai: I have always been indifferent towards Ira. I’ve never actually hated or particularly liked him, though we can say he is easily the most decent Castor clone along with Mark who did help Sarah and Helena escape the desert. I believe Ira is innocent and just really wanted a peaceful life, with Susan. But his sacrificing his safety to save Cosima was really admirable. How he was glitching all along the way, and how he provided Cosima an important evidence of PT’s dirty motives. It really broke my heart seeing him continuously glitch and all the more seeing him witness Susan’s dying. I’ve come to admire Ira when he listened to Clone Club suggesting he should back to the island to get intel and I did even much more when he helped save Cosima and everyone else in that Island.

Al: Yes, a lot. When we first were introduced to Ira I didn’t know whether to like him or not. My opinion changed on him after a couple of episodes and during season 5 I’ve come to care about him a lot, he’s become one of my favorites indeed.

CloneClubTO: Ira helped Cosima because he was desperate and knew there wouldn’t be someone else on the island to help him. He does whatever mommy dearest tells him to. Therefore, no we don’t have different feelings for Ira. Happy to have seen him glitch.

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6) Susan essentially died because of Mud. Do you think Mud will have a moment where she realizes she’s been on the wrong side?

Lindsay: I think we already saw that process beginning for her. When she picked up the picture of Susan and PT, the look on her face seemed to show that perhaps she’s rethinking her decision. The girl has been played by PT since the beginning, he used her because she was weak. In my opinion, she just needs to step back and see it for herself because as soon as she does, she will stand up and fight back.

Tara: I think we have already seen that on her face as she picks up the photo of Susan and PT from the 60’s. That’s the moment the gravity of what has happened has hit her.

Shai: No one saw that coming, no one guessed that Susan would die this episode. And the fact that it could’ve been the other way around had Mud not let her poor judgement cloud her mind is still bugging me. We could’ve been celebrating PT’s dead by now, but justice just never works the way we want. And I sincerely hope Mud realizes that. She, PT and Virginia Coady killed Susan, and if they’re giving us justice, Mud has to be a part of that. We saw her looking at that picture of Susan and PT at the latter part of the episode though, I hope that makes her reflect on all the misjudgment she’s done and realize that she’s been just delusional about PT’s ‘wonders’ all this time.

Al: I think so. In the last minutes of episode 6 where you see Mud with the photo of Susan and P.T. Westmoreland, while everything is burning in the background, you can clearly see she’s realizing something. We don’t know if it’s good or bad yet, but hopefully she will open her eyes and figure out the truth.

CloneClubTO: Mud looked like she knew she was on the wrong side the moment she picked up that photo. We never trusted Mud that much to begin with so we hope she’s stuck there on the island for good (harsh, we know).

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7) Unfortunately, we’re half way through the final season of Orphan Black. Do you think there is something that needs to be addressed that hasn’t been?

Lindsay: With a show as complex as Orphan Black, it will be nearly impossible to tie up every loose end. That being said, I think they’ve done an excellent job so far this season at addressing the main issues that I have been pondering. For me, the only thing that hasn’t been brought up yet would be Cal. I just want to know where he is and I would love for him to return to the show.

Tara: Maybe where or what happened to characters who seemingly dropped off the face of the earth? i.e Cal, Marian Bowles, Shay, Mark. I think we’ll get answers on at least one of those people soon.

Shai: There’s still a lot of things that need to be addressed! To name a few, will we ever get justice for Mika by killing Ferdinand? Or is being abandoned and thrown in the streets by Rachel the only punishment he’ll have? Not that I’ve been itching to see Ferdinand, but I won’t be content until I see justice is served for Mika. Also, I know we’ve already had that little background of Cosima’s parents during the previous episode, but we need more. It really feels like we’re lacking Cosima related back story and as one of the main clones, this still has to be addressed. If they could give us more insights about her parents and any story from her past, it would greatly help fill the void. I have high hopes for both of these. Another important one, we’re past half of the final season already and only now does it feel like the sestras are reuniting. It took 6 episodes for Cosima to escape that Island, Helena is still in the convent and Alison is still out-of-town. I hope to see them together finally from the next episode until the last. And lastly, Clone Club recognize, appreciating, and welcoming Delphine into Clone Club. I know she has always been part of Clone Club in a sense that she’s on their side, but I wanna see all of them welcoming and thanking her for everything that she’s done and is still doing for all of them. I have been wanting to see this moment more than anything. Delphine and her loyalty being finally accepted and recognized is something that I would do anything for to see.

Al: I think they’ve come across everything very well. The only thing I hoped we saw a bit more of is Cosima’s back story. Learning some more about her parents and things like that would be really great.

CloneClubTO: We feel a lot of things still need closure. Will Charlotte stay with the Sestras (we hope Delphine and Cosima adopt her)? Will Delphine ever just stay in one place to be with Cosima? Will Rachel be forgiven? Where’s Cal? (Even though we think he’s helping Mrs. S in Geneva). There are so many little things the fans care about that need to be addressed. This season is almost over and we still haven’t gotten a Felix and Delphine scene! Oh, and we really really hope there’s a final clone dance party with all the characters that have survived until the end!

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“Manacled Slim Wrists” final verdict: There will come a day when we need Orphan Black

This season of Orphan Black has been filled with ups, downs, good moments, and moments we’d rather forget. Episode 5×06 left us with more questions than answers and even though we’re pushing fast toward the finale, we still need to know things about our beloved characters. Will Cosima and Charlotte make it back to the mainland? Will Rachel seek vengeance for her mother’s death? Can Krystal actually be the key to bringing down Neolution? Also, for the love of everything Orphan Black, please bring Felix and Delphine back before we have no time left to enjoy their characters. While Mrs. S made it pretty clear that Rachel will need her and the clones sooner rather than later, it’s still too soon to see when that’ll happen, but there’s one thing we know for sure. Orphan Black has always left us wanting more and we’re positive that there will come a day when we look at this show and need it more than ever. Please don’t leave us.

ORPHAN BLACK airs SATURDAYS at 10/9C ON BBC AMERICA