Monday, April 8, 2013

Orphan Black, Season One, Episode Two: Instinct

Episode two begins where one left off.  When Sarah answers the phone, the person believes that she is talking to Elizabeth and asks her where she has been and if she has met the German. Sarah looks in the back seat of car and says that the German is dead and that someone shot her right in front of her.  The person says that it's true that someone is killing them and that they must have followed the German from Europe.  The person then asks if she got the briefcase and when Sarah says what, she tells Sarah to worry about that later and that she needs to get rid of the body.  When Sarah asks how, the person replies, "you're the cop, just  buy a shovel and make sure you get her samples." Sarah asks about the samples and is told hair and blood.  Sarah asks the person to come and help her and she replies that she would if she could and then says that she will call back, before hanging up.

It's now later that night and Sarah has driven to a remote area and begins digging a grave.  The wake continues on at Felix's. As they toast Sarah, she pulls the body to the hole she dug. Vic says that he cannot figure out why Sarah killed herself and points out that she found love.  Felix suggests that it's Vic's fault and Vic physically jumps Felix and has to be pulled off.  In the meantime, Sarah is going through Katja's pockets and finds her ID, before dropping her in the hole.  Sarah then takes the car to a car wash and calls a company to see about the windows, which were damaged by the bullets being repaired.

Vic is still on Felix's couch he holds out a drink and tells Felix to have a bourbon for Sarah. Felix downs it in one go,clearly desperate to get rid of Vic.  Vic says that he want to met Sarah's daughter and that he can help her out financially.  Felix reminds Vic that he is a drug dealer and that Sarah ran because he was abusive. A drunk Vic says that he wants to make up for that and that he wants to stay close to Sarah. Felix finally gets Vic out the door and adds that Kira is not Sarah and that Sarah is dead and not coming back.  Vic asks for a hug and Felix closes the door in his face.  As Vic is banging on the door, Sarah climbs the stairs but manages to turn away before Vic can see her.

In the apartment, Felix hears a noise and assumes that Vic snuck in but it turns out that it is Sarah. Felix admits that he had a wake because he was mad at her and decided to blow on the money from the stolen coke on it  Sarah asks if Kira thinks she's dead and Felix responds that he does not know. Felix adds that Vic screwed the whole thing up when he got a hold of Mrs. S somehow and that he does not know what Vic told Kira. Sarah says that Vic is obsessed and Felix agrees and adds that since she died, Vic has become even more obsessed and now wants to meet Kira. Felix assures her that they are not going to let that happen.  Felix then notices the blood on her face but Sarah says that she doesn't want to talk about it. Felix gets insistent and she tells him that she met the German and that she cannot explain what is going on. Sarah shifts gears and asks Felix to tell Mrs. S that she is not dead but Felix says no.  Sarah says that if she walks in there now after ten months that Mrs. S could make it hard for her to get custody. Sarah asks Felix to lie and tell Mrs.S that it wasn't her and then make sure that Kira knows she's fine. Sarah says that they can still get together and hands over the 75k saying that it will be enough to get away from Vic, lose the twin sister weirdness and go someplace safe with her daughter. When Felix opens the bag he finds the files left there by Art and the money gone.  Sarah begins to trash the apartment and Felix looks at the files and asks who Maggie Chin is.  Sarah tells him that Maggie is a woman who Elizabeth shot.  He also finds the official statements and photos of the crime scene. Sarah says that if she wants the money back from Art that she has to be Elizabeth again.  Felix asks how long she can keep "gaming a cop," and Sarah replies, "until I get our money."

Sarah picks up the phone and calls Art, who answers at the police station. When she asks him what is going on, Art claims that he is just following orders and that the Lieutenant told him to take his rookie by the hand and walk her right through the hearing. He then opens the drawer full of money asks if she thought to check before she crossed the border. Sarah tries to assure Art that he got it all wrong and that she is at home.  Art says that he never gets it all wrong and tells her to meet him at Fungs at noon.

Sarah returns home and Paul comes out asking where he was last night. Sarah claims that she was at the station and was catching up on the backlog.  Paul points out that she is under suspension and she lies and says that they reconvened the meeting and that she has to study the files.  Paul is not impressed and points out that first, she screwed him wild for the first time in months and then doesn't bother to call him when she has been out all night. Paul asks Sarah why she is suddenly dressing like a punk rock whore and says that he is worried that she is losing the plot again. Sarah says that she has a lot to do and that she can go to the station but Paul stands in front of her now and suggests that she is not ready for this and needs to take more time. Paul then tells her that he cannot take this anymore and that he is going back to Cody's for awhile.


Felix has gone to Kira but before he can say more, Mrs.S sends  Kira up to her room and adds that she and Uncle Felix have some talking to do.  As Mrs. S is making tea, she says that she knew it was too good to be true and that Sarah is to tough to commit suicide.  Mrs. S asks why Felix would help Sarah stage a funeral to get away from Vic and  Felix simply says that Vic is a dick. What neither Felix or Mrs. S realise, is that Kira has snuck own downstairs and is listening to their conversation. Mrs. S says that Sarah has not seen her daughter in 10 months and that she believes it should remain that way. Felix asks Mrs. S to tell her herself and says that he is not going to play Felix in the middle.  Mrs. S points out that this is exactly what he is doing by being there in the first place but Felix argues that he is there to make sure that Kira does not believe her mother is dead.  Mrs. S says that she left London to bring the two of them there, to give them a fresh start and that she would do it all again, even the calls from the police, every missing person's report and every punch they threw because Kira is a gift. Felix assures Mrs. S that Sarah knows that but Mrs. S responds, "no, she hasn't a clue." Felix says that Sarah is trying in her own way and then he notices Kira.  Kira asks when her mother is coming and Mrs. S responds that she knows when.

Sarah is reading over the case files at home before walking into the restaurant to see Art. She sits down and tells Art that it's not a payoff, so Art asks where it came from.  Sarah says it belongs to both her and Paul and that she cleaned out their joint savings account but has not told him yet. Sarah says that she was going to leave town to clear the shooting and that she isn't dirty but just freaked out. Art grabs her hand and asks if she has ever seen Margaret Chen before, or had any previous connection.  When Sarah says no, Art asks her to walk him through it again, "so I know you won't crack under questioning."  Sarah breaks down what happened that night from the study she did of the files. It turns out that Art is worried that Sarah will mess up and let them know that she called him first and that he put the phone in the victims hand to cover her "tweaker ass."  It looks like Elizabeth had a drug problem.  Sarah assures him that she won't do that and that she will take care of what she did. Sarah assures Art that none of this will end up on him but Art says that to be sure, he is going to hang onto the money until she is clear.

Sarah returns to Felix's place and he tells her that Kira is fine and does not believe that she is dead. Sarah asks about Mrs. S and Felix tells her not to worry about it and just take them with her when she leaves again.  Sarah promises to do so. Felix goes into the kitchen area to make tea and Sarah tell him that Art won't give her the money, until she clears Elizabeth's shooting. Elizabeth's phone goes off and Felix asks if it is the German.  Sarah responds that it is definitely not the German and says that Elizabeth was investigating the twins to and she believes whatever Elizabeth found drove her nuts and that is why she killed herself. Sarah answers the phone and puts it on speaker phone.  The woman asks if she got the German's brief case and Sarah says no.  The woman then asks where The German was staying and then Sarah opens her bag and pulls out the stuff she took from Katja and says the hotel and room number. The woman on the phone instructs her to get the brief case before the others do and says that she will call back at midnight before hanging up.  Felix asks who was on the phone and then Sarah says that every time she thinks she knows something, it turns out that she is wrong. Felix pulls out the birth certificates and asks if the woman on the phone is Allison Hendrix.

Sarah  decides that she is going to go and get the briefcase and heads off to the hotel. She walks by the front desk, even as the desk clerk calls out, Ms.Wurzburg repeatedly. Sarah gets on the elevator as a black man approaches the front desk clerk to ask if Sarah is the woman he is calling to.  Sarah opens the door to find that the room has already been torn apart. The phone in the hotel starts to ring and Sarah ignores it and starts to do a bit of searching.  Suddenly, there is a knock at the door, so she puts on her sunglasses and it is the front desk agent. Back at the front desk, they tell Sarah that they checked the room because of a noise complaint and discovered that it was trashed.  Sarah responds, "Rock n Roll." The front desk clerk hands her an itemized bill for well over 6 thousand dollars. Sarah says that they have her card on file and she asks for her briefcase. The card authorizes the payment and she is handed the briefcase.

Outside, Sarah manages to pry the briefcase open and finds x-rays and a blood sample for a Daniel Fourier. She finds out that there are other women in France, Austria, and Italy.  Her phone rings and the woman asks if she got to the hotel. Sarah says that the room was ransacked. Sarah says screw it and uses her normal accent and adds that Elizabeth said to say she has the briefcase and asks if she wants it delivered.  Sarah then drives to Allison's address, which she found in the briefcase, but as she arrives, someone is pulling out in a mini van, so Sarah decides to follow.  Two kids get out of the mini van, along with a woman who is clearly another twin.  Sarah watches from the car, as the woman supervises a soccer practice and then leaves when she gets a call.

When Sarah runs into her new twin, Sarah tells Allison that she has the briefcase. Allison is upset that Sarah showed up around her children and asks where Elizabeth is. Sarah comes clean and says that Elizabeth is dead, as Allison reaches for a knife. Sarah asks who they are to each other and Allison says that she is not doing that and that this is not her responsibility. Allison tells her to wait for a call and to hide her ugly face all the way out of there.  Allison returns to the soccer practice and hands out oranges to the kids.

As Sarah is walking away, Art calls and wants to know where she is. Sarah lies and says that she is in the tub with a bourbon, so Art knocks on her door and says that she is not there because he is outside of her home.  Art then asks what Beth said to Dr. Anita Bower because she has been ruled unfit for duty. Sarah asks why and Art points out that unfit means no hearing tomorrow and that this crap goes on, which means he is keeping Sarah's money.  Sarah says that she will go and see the doctor now but Art replies that it's too late. Sarah tells him to get her another appointment and to say that he is worried about her. Art asks what she is going to say to change Dr. Bower's mind and Sarah answers that she will figure something out.  In the office, Dr. Bower tells her that she is not read for duty.  Sarah says that she wants to move on but Bower is adamant that she is not ready for duty.  Sarah reads off a list of medication prescribed to her by Dr. Bowers and says that she will explain to the board that she shot the victim after mixing up all of her over lapping scripts.

Sarah is back in front of the board and she begins her testimony.  After she is done, her phone goes off and its Allison who tells her to come by after nine tonight and knock quietly.  Art sees Sarah out and she tells him that she nailed it. Sarah says that Paul does not know that she took the money and that she wants to put it back. Art tells her that he will hang onto it until she is reinstated and that's the deal. Sarah replies that there was no deal  but Art says that he is looking out for her.

That night, Sarah and Felix pull up at Allison's.  He is not impressed to be in suburbia and complains that his skin breaks out the moment he leaves downtown. Sarah tells him that she is going to have the money in a couple days, will make good with Mrs. S and then they can take Kira somewhere warm. Sarah gets out of the car and tells Felix that the German is dead and that this one is an uptight soccer mom.  Felix is not happy and points out that she always does this but Sarah says that she just needs him to be her back up and know where she  is. Sarah takes off to the side of the house and Allison opens the door.

Allison is holding a gun and instructs her that if she wakes her kids, or they see her face that she will shoot Sarah.  Sarah responds that she has never known a blood relative but being her twin sucks. Allison says that Sarah really has no idea and then another twin comes around the corner and introduces herself as Kissma.

Okay, we still have Felix playing gay BFF to the hilt.  He didn't want to see Mrs. S to straighten things out for Sarah but went anyway.  It seems he simply cannot say no to her no matter what the circumstances.  Though this is only episode number two, it's clearly becoming a trend.  Does Felix even have a life outside of serving Sarah? Yes, we saw a lover and his painting but beyond that, he is busy doing her errands.

Can I just say that I love Allison's character. Watching I had assumed that Sarah would be the tough twin but clearly, Allison the soccer mom is in a world of her own.  I couldn't help but laugh at the idea of shooting someone for waking their kids.  As a mom, I've been there. You finally get them to sleep and when something wakes them, you just want to stomp whatever it is.

We learned more about Elizabeth and the more we see, the more fascinated I am by who this woman was.  Was her drug addiction simply over medication from the doctor and an inability to deal with what she learned about her twins?  Also, how many of these women are out there?  Yes, Black Orphan is building a mystery.

My only issue with this show is that they need to figure out where it's set. Having NYPD police cars with Ontario license plates screams confusion and BAD BAD BAD directing. The money Sarah received was also clearly Canadian, as a fifty dollar U.S. bill is green, like all the rest of their hideously ugly money.  They talk about the bay area but there is no bay area in the GTO, which they clearly are because Allison lives in Scarborough.   This is just the stuff I picked up passively and cannot imagine if I was paying stricter attention what other faults I would find.