Monday, April 29, 2013

Orphan Black, Season One, Episode Five: Conditions of Existence

Helena is being treated in a factory like setting. She whispers the name Thomas and is told, "yes, easy now. Sleep child."

Allison and Sarah are on skype together and Allison is not impressed that Sarah stopped impersonating Beth and that Helena is still on the loose.  Sarah says that this is not why she called and in fact wants to thank her for what she did with Kiera. Allison tells Sarah that she is very lucky. That night when Allison gets into bed, her husband goes to make the moves on her and she simply slaps his hand and says no.

Sarah is in the shower at Beth's, when Paul let's himself into the apartment.  By the time he gets to the bathroom, the water is running but Sarah is no longer in there.  She confronts him with a nail file and pauses when she realises who it is.  Sarah invites Paul into the shower and they have sex.  Later that night in bed, Paul asks her to go away because she is now off the force and he hates his job.  He wants them to pack their bags and leave.  Sarah turns to him and says, "let's talk about it in the morning." That night Sarah dreams that she is in a lab.

When she wakes and brushes her teeth in the morning, she chokes on something metal and has a flash back to that same piece of metal in the lab. Sarah examines her arm and finds a puncture wound.  She heads back to her bedroom to get dressed and Paul asks how she is feeling and again suggests that they leave and go to Rio.  Sarah tells them that they cannot leave but Paul says that she wanted a commitment.  Paul asks her what's wrong because she is shaking like a leaf, and Sarah says that she is just going out for some air.

Sarah gets on Skype with Cosima and shows her the piece of metal she found that morning.  Cosima tells her that it's an electrode from an EEG helmet, which monitors electrical activity in the brain. Sarah realises that what happened was not a dream.  Allison steps forward and says that they are like lab rats in an illegal experiment.  Cosima asks where Paul was while all this was happening and Sarah starts to talk about the doctors and Felix interrupts to suggest that Paul could be in on this. Allison has a gun and has started to assemble it saying that someone has to be watching the lab rats, someone we know.  Cosima says that if it were her experiment that she would put an observer close to the subject, someone who could keep tabs and accumulate data. Sarah asks what they did to her and Cosima says that she thinks Sarah would know if they did anything invasive and that an EEG is like a neurological test and that they probably took a blood sample. Sarah says that she is not sure that Paul is in on it and Felix asks if this is because Paul slept with her.  Allison is shocked by this and Sarah says that they just sort of ended up shagging.  Allison adds far be it for me because she may be sleeping with her spy as well. Allison grabs her bag saying that she left the gun Sarah wanted.  Sarah asks about the money and when Allison asks what it's for, Sarah says that it's the self defence fund and that the last time she checked, she was the only one defending them.  Allison hands over twenty thousand and tells Sarah to use it wisely.  Sarah says that she is going to shoot Paul's balls off but Cosima tells her to just squeeze them because Paul is their way into this whole thing.  Cosima warns that if her subject were to suddenly become self aware that it would either be a eureka moment, or she would terminate. They end they chat.

Sarah gets a call from Raj and she tells him that she is off the force.  Raj tells her that he is going to need all of the surveillance stuff that he lent her back before an inventory is done. Raj then asks if this is just about Paul, and Sarah tells him that she will get the stuff back to him in a couple of days and hangs up.  Sarah stands up and says to Felix that Beth had surveillance equipment and Felix suggests that she was onto Paul as well.

Allison's husband is searching through drawers while he is on the phone.  Donnie says that one week she (read: Allison) is fine and the next week it's like Armageddon.  Donnie asks what their options are if it gets any worse.  Allison returns home and catches Donnie searching and asks why he is searching through her vanity.  Donnie says that he was looking for scissors and Allison asks him who he was talking to.  Donnie says that he was talking Big Rich from work about about Susan Teller because she has been all over them this quarter.  Donnie leans over and asks her to cut the tag off his shirt.

Felix and Sarah arrive at Beth's and Sarah tells him to find the surveillance stuff and then put everything back where he found it. Felix calls the place antiseptic and says that Paul's whole world feels fake now.  Felix starts to search and hands Sarah a card for Trexcom Consulting. Felix asks that if Paul was observing Beth, what makes her so sure no one is observing Sarah Manning. Sarah says that Mrs. S hates her and hasn't seen her in a year and that she is giving Felix the benefit of the doubt. Sarah finds nothing on Beth's computer.   Felix finds a box with Beth's gun and picture of Paul indicating that he was formerly in the military.  They check out Beth's car and find surveillance equipment in the trunk.  Sarah says that it's time to check out where Paul works and Felix agrees saying, "I bet you that there's nothing there."

Sarah heads to the consulting firm and finds an empty building. She is met by a woman who says that they downsized and points to where Paul's office is now. The woman says that he is in a meeting and Sarah replis that she and Paul got into an argument this morning and that she brought him some lunch as a peace offering. The woman leads Sarah to Paul's office and she sits in his chair.

While Donnie is outside, Allison starts searching through his things.  She finds porn videos at the bottom of his chest of drawers. Allison continues her search and finds a metal box with a padlock on it.

Sarah plugs in a device under Paul's desk and she is now in contact with Felix. Paul walks into his office and she tells him that she brought him lunch as a peace offering.  He says that he would rather talk about last night and kisses her on the neck and notices that she is missing a scar on her neck room the mountain bike crash.  Sarah tells him that she is using a new lotion and he thanks her for lunch. Paul sits down at his computer and pulls up video of Beth and focuses in on her scar, then slams the computer closed.  He calls Madison and tells her to clear his afternoon because something came up.

When Donnie returns home, Allison asks him what is in the box. Donnie says that it's private but Allison again demands to know.  Donnie says that he is entitled to a little privacy, "even in this house." Allison demands that he open the box and the two start to struggle over it.  He screams, "Allison stop it," and grabs the box

Cosima is at the lab and she examines a sample of blood and says that it looks fine. Scott asks who the subject is and Cosima says, "subjects, and if I told you that, I'd have to kill you."  Cosima then asks Scott to check the sample for genetic markers. Scott asks what's in it for him and Cosima answers, "how about you get to have sex with yourself."  Across the lab, Cosima listens in on Delphine, who is speaking French and when she leaves behind a piece of paper, Cosima picks it up and finds grades.

Sarah calls Felix and says that Paul is a bastard. She is reading a letter and says that Beth loved him but he wouldn't love her back and he wouldn't leave her. Felix says that Paul has changed his tune now and that he is falling for Sarah.  Sarah says that she is outside of Kiera's school and that her daughter is the only thing that really matters.  There is a knock on Felix's door and he tells Sarah to give Kiera his best and hangs up.  When Felix opens the door it's Colin the morgue attendant.


When Kiera sees Sarah, they hug and Sarah tells Kiera that she missed her so much.  Kiera asks why Sarah is wearing such fancy clothes and Sarah replies, "you don't miss a thing do you?"  Kiera asks if Sarah is okay and Sarah says that she is now. As they walk home, Kiera asks why Sarah didn't tell her about auntie Allison and Sarah replies that she didn't know about her.  Kiera then asks if someone is trying to hurt them because Allison said that Sarah is making sure they are safe.  As Sarah bends down to assure Kiera, someone takes a picture. 

Cosima is walking through the hall when she runs into the woman from earlier.  Cosima hands over the results. Delphine says that she is sorry and that she had a bad breakup.  They talk about their scientific disciplines for a while.

Sarah is at Mrs. S and she tells her that she was the one who introduced her to punk rock.  Sarah says that she is happy that Kiera does not have to bounce around like she did.  When Sarah says that she was Kiera's age when she came to live with Mrs. S in London, Mrs.S replies a little bit older. Sarah touches Mrs. S hand and says that she got her this far and asks what she really knows about where she came from.  Mrs.S tells her that she was part of the system and that she doesn't know who her parents her.  Sarah says she just wanted to know if Mrs.S knew anything else.  Mrs. S asks about Vic and Sarah promises tht Vic is done.

Vic is being manhandled and he tells the boss that Sarah jumped in front of a train and that he doesn't know why she did it. Vic explains that Sarah had the coke on her and that he believes that  the  cops must have it now.  Vic asks for one week to get his money. The boss is not pacified and says that Vic said that already and makes a signal for Vic's fingers to be cut off.

Allison gives her kids some money to buy candy, while she walks into a store to buy some surveillance equipment. Vic is in the same store with Allison's kids and his hand is wrapped in a bloody towel.  He tells the kids to stay in school.  When Allison comes out of the store, Vic sees her and mistakes her for Sarah.  He starts to follow her saying, Sarah it's me.  Felix asks how she could fake his death. Allison uses pepper spray on Vic and puts her kids into the car.  Allison then calls Sarah and tells her that she was just assaulted by a disgusted thug who thought she was her.  Sarah asks what happened and Allison tells that Sarah  she pepper sprayed Vic.  Allison then asks what's going on with Paul and Sarah says that they think Beth was spying on Paul because they found surveillance gear. Allison says that Beth never told her about that and asks if Paul is a mole.  Sarah says that she doesn't know anything yet.  Allison asks Sarah to call her when she knows something for sure.

Olivier shows up at Paul's work and says that they need to talk about Beth.  Olivier asks how Beth was this morning and Paul says that she was fine and that everything is fine.

Sarah heads to Felix's apartment and hides when she sees Colin. When the Colin leaves, Sarah forces her way into Felix's apartment and lets Felix know that she is not impressed that Felix was sleeping with the morgue attendant that they tricked into identifying Beth's body as Sarah's.  Felix says that Colin is the first nice boy he has meet in ages. Sarah snarks "like what, six weeks?"  Sarah asks where he thinks this is going to and Felix replies, "oh, I completely forgot rule number one, that your life is always more important than mine."  Sarah says that it's just more difficult and that Vic is back and after running into Allison, now believes that she is alive. Sarah then asks what happened at Paul's office and Felix says that he was busy but the machine did record something. They turn the machine and hear Paul talking to Olivier about Beth's mental health. Olivier says that Paul's role as monitor is not to interfere and that if there is anything pertinent that he should know. Paul says that if there were he would tell him.  Felix stops the recording, when Paul calls to tell her that they need to talk.  Sarah asks what they have to talk about and he tells her that he needs her to come home.  Sarah hangs up the phone and says that she cannot go back there.  Paul then sends Sarah a picture of her and Kiera. 

Vic then walks through Felix's front door asking, "is this a bad time?" Vic points out that he was tazed and maced and is not going to walk away like he's nobody. He adds that he took the fall for the coke that Sarah stole from him and that he had his finger off.  Vic says that if he doesn't come up with fifteen thousand that he is going to be turned into lobster.  When Sarah stands, Vic tells her to sit.  Sarah asks if he wants the money or not and hands him the twenty thousand from Allison and says that it's fifteen thousand for his debt and five thousand for his pain and suffering. Vic says that it must have been some play but Sarah says that it's piss off money and that he is not entitled to know anything.  Vic holds up his bloody hand and says that he is entitled to know everything and asks her how she did it, lying there in that morgue holding her breath while he cried.  Vic says that though he is standing there looking at her and all he can think about his Myrtle Beach. He tells her that they were on top of the world but Sarah says that they were parasites.  When Vic says that they were in love, Sarah replies, "not me, ever." Felix tells Vic that Sarah means it and Sarah says that if he wants the money he should take it and go.  Vic picks up the money and says that it's not over as he heads for the door.  Felix asks if every man in Sarah's life a complete wanker except him.  Sarah grabs her jacket and asks Felix to go to Mrs. S house and make sure that Kiera is okay.  Felix tells her not to go back to Paul's and Sarah says that she will not let him threaten her daughter and heads for the door.

Allison has Donnie's lockbox again and this time she manages to get it open and finds more porn. Donnie is outside on the phone burning something and he says, "it's fine really. If anything else comes up, I'll let you know." 

Sarah is in the car when she gets a call from Cosima who asks where she is.  Sarah says that she is about to go in and shoot Paul in the balls.  Cosima tells her that this is their chance to get answers.  Sarah says that Paul followed her to Kiera but Cosima counters that Paul also covered for her because Olivier asked if anything was wrong and Paul said no.  Sarah says that Paul may be falling for fake Beth.  Cosima says that this is excellent and that they can use that. Cosima adds that it sounds like Olivier runs Paul and that this is some sort of double blind.  Cosima believes that Paul is in the dark, so that he cannot effect the results. Cosima adds that Paul may not even know that he is watching a clone but Olivier definitely knows and that Olivier is the one they need to get through.  Sarah says that she needs to get through Paul first and hangs up the phone and grabs her gun.

Sarah walks into their apartment and he comments that she is armed. Paul is  holding a gun and tells her to put it on the table and sit down.  When she complies, Paul says, "I couldn't put my finger on it but I knew.  It was the day of the hearing and we hadn't had sex in months and you were wearing that Clash tshirt."  Sarah tells Paul that she missed him and asks if he is complaining that they had sex on the kitchen counter.  Paul points out that she quit the force after refusing to even think about it before.  Sarah says that he knows what she has been through. Paul sits forward and shows Sarah the pictures of Kiera and says that he was there when Beth found out she couldn't have kids.  Sarah tries to say that Kiera is her half sister but Paul says that Kiera is her daughter.  Paul then says that he was watching video today and Beth was training for a half marathon and he asks what the last race was she ran and what city it was in. When Sarah doesn't answer, Paul aims his gun at her and asks, "where is Beth?"  He stands up and says, "one last time, whoever you are, where is Beth?" Sarah tells him that Beth killed herself jumping in front of train.  Tears appear in Paul's eyes and he says, "you're English, who are you?"  Sarah tells Paul that she is Beth's twin. Paul asks if this is a test and says that Beth didn't have a sister.  Paul asks Sarah what her name is and she tells him Sarah and that when Beth died she assumed her identity.  Sarah adds that she was just going to clean out Beth's bank accounts and didn't mean to get all tangled up with Paul.  Paul asks if Beth really is dead, how he knows that Sarah didn't kill her.  Sarah tells Paul that he killed her and that he is her monitor. Paul asks what that is and Sarah says that Paul observed Beth and let people into her home like last night. Sarah says that doctors came and medically examined Beth in her sleep and she knew. Sarah tells him that he is a plant and that Beth killed herself because the man that she loved turned her whole life into a lie, then throws the letter Beth wrote to him at his feet. Sarah says that Beth knew he didn't love her and didn't understand why he wouldn't leave until she figured it out. Paul says, "this isn't true and that it's a sick test." Paul's hand starts to shake on the gun and Sarah asks, "she trusted you, how could you do that to her?"  Paul lowers his weapon and says, "you think I had a choice." Sarah asks why and he responds, "they don't tell us why."

OMG that was the absolute best episode of Orphan Black yet. The mystery just keeps getting deeper and I am absolutely hooked.  I was not happy with Sarah sleeping with Paul while pretending to be Beth because it really does amount to rape by deception but it seems he knew from the beginning that something was wrong.  What he did to Beth is absolutely horrible and is equally a breach of trust.  What I wonder is that since Paul was in the military, is if the clones are some sort of military experiment. 

I had to giggle at Donnie hiding porn to throw Allison off the trail.  That is exactly the sort of thing that some husbands would hide from their wives. Donnie is not nearly as smart as he thinks he is though. It will be interesting to see what lengths Allison will go through to get the truth. 

I was glad to see Felix finally tell Sarah that she expects her life to be a priority over his because this is an absolute truth.  Sarah really didn't listen to him and continued on going on with her problems. I wish that Felix had  pushed this a little further though.  There needs to be more equality in the relationship between them because Felix is still largely in a servant role to Sarah.

Okay so they each have a handler and judging from Paul's participation in the military, I suspect that they are the result of some sort of military experiment. We still don't know what the objective was for creating the clones in the first place and why they are all so radically different.  Is it the different life experiences which created such very diverse personalities?  Is Sarah the only one who can have children and if so why?  Questions.... yes more questions but this is why I really like Orphan Black.