Monday, May 12, 2014

Orphan Black, Season 2, Episode 4: Governed as It Were by Chance



Sarah woozily comes back to consciousness, Daniel not being so lucky, and the guy who rammed them in the truck was Cal. Quick thinking there Cal. He helps her out of the car and suggests police – which she vetoes. But there’s already a police car racing towards them. Sarah looks like she’s ready to confront them – completely with Daniel’s gun – but the car races by. Cal brings her back to reality and she wipes the gun off (the gun that killed the cop) and puts it back in the car with Daniel. Plan B is to hide the car with convenient lying underbrush so Sarah can get a head start.

Sarah’s still trying to keep Cal out of everything but he’s pretty sure he’s involved now. He takes her to his secondary abandoned cabin he likes to keep for randomness – complete with a camper all ready for going on the run; none of it in his name. My this guy is conveniently equipped. On the run they go, with Sarah using Daniel’s phone to delay Rachel (yes but they can also track with that phone).

She uses skype to contact Cosima who is still watching Jennifer’s video diary. Sarah shows Cosima the Project Leda picture and Cosima tells us all about the mythology behind Leda (Zeus getting his swan sex on with Leda) and she notes the soldier in the background of the picture. Cosima promises to check it out before coughing in a worrying fashion. Sarah also asks Cal to look after Kira while she heads back into town which is probably not a good idea. But she makes her goodbyes to Kira (and gets a paper angel) and Cal.

And Daniel is still alive. Damn it why won’t you die already!

Mrs. S is back! And she’s talking to creepy Benjamin who assures her that he totally didn’t know about the betrayal – she calmly replies that she knows. Or he would be dead (but more politely). She wants to see someone called Carlton who has recently arrived from London.

She drops in a club to see him, guessing that he’d be “where you can get a pint and a pair of tits”, and he grabs her by the neck – being Mrs. S she puts a blade to his groin. They seem to be friendly and this is just their way of saying hello. Very very very friendly indeed

At the Prolethean farm, Grace is still not the biggest fan of Helena. Helena’s still a little zonked by the sedative and suspicious about what they did and their odd wedding-like-ritual last episode. She pulls away when Henrick tries to touch her face. She’s also wearing what looks an awful lot like a wedding ring.

Art is still stalking around the Proletheans taking pictures which doesn’t bother Henrick but does bother Bonnie (his wife?). Grace finally takes matters into her own hands and decides to suffocate her new cult sister, Helena. Yes, well, that goes as well as you could expect. After disposing of Grace (dead or unconscious) Helena is out and sneaking out in her big white wedding gown. She finds a medical room where she remembers what happened after the “wedding” – she had eggs harvested. This rather enrages Helena – and she’s always kinda enraged – and she runs (after grabbing a sharp thing). Her escape photographed by Art. He doesn’t stop her – but is quick to stop Mark and his posse of Proletheans and ask if they have permits for all those guns they’re carrying chasing down a running woman in a wedding dress.


Hey, be thankful Mark, if you had caught Helena you’d probably be dead.

Allison wakes up feeling awfully rough and with her arm in a sling after her little binge and collapse on stage. She doesn’t recognise where she is and when someone comes in she instantly assumes she’s been kidnapped by Dr. Leekie. But no, she’s in rehab.

Who should come help her in this time of need? Felix of course. He explains to her that she probably isn’t in there against her will, if she’s in rehab, she probably consented. He sets to encouraging her to spend a week in rehab which will probably be good for her.

Allison has trouble adapting (and the support worker, Yvonne, isn’t the most supportive). Allison gets a visit from Donny – he wants her to stay in rehab and if she doesn’t he will be taking custody of the children.

Sarah break sneaks into Mrs. S’s house to search it and is ambushed by Felix (he claims he was too buys to answer his texts – yes, focused on Alison). They search through Mrs. S’s things and find clippings about Carlton (who went to prison for people smuggling running the pipeline to hide people) and news of a lab that was destroyed – run by a Professors Susan and Ethan Duncan. The last name that Rachel uses; Rachel’s parents and the same people from Sarah’s photograph of Project Leda. So what did S know?

S is still at the bar questioning Carlton about Leda; he tells her that Kasof was the ferryman (whatever that means) but won’t give her more – even saying she knows more than him. And she warns him about Sarah digging deeper.

Sarah passes the info to Felix to give to Cosima while she looks up Rachel’s address – and a shadowy figure moves out of the closet. Using the phone and Sarah-imitating-Rachel-but-still-clearly-Sarah-because-Tatiana-Maslany-is-an-acting-mutant Sarah gives instructions to Rachel’s lackey Troy to get her apartment ready – giving Sarah chance to sneak in.

Cosima calls Sarah with all the info she’s found on the Duncans and how they disappeared, (they were Rachel’s adopted parents and Sarah was originally supposed to be the Duncans’ daughter) as Sarah finds home videos confirming it all. Cosima guesses what Rachel’s upbringing would have been like (cold and clinical) while the home videos make it clear this was far from the case

Infiltration interrupted by Daniel arriving, all blood stained, talking to Leekie on the phone. He’s not telling Rachel about the little disaster, but plans to find Sarah and discover what she knows. He finds Sarah in the flat (hey convenient!) and hits her, knocking her out.

Cut to Kira telling Cal he’s not worried because Sarah has a guardian angel… (this is ominous foreshadowing and doesn’t mean the little paper origami thing).

Daniel ties Sarah up in the shower – he intends to question her. With a knife. But we do find that Daniel, since he’s probably sleeping with Rachel (at least he shares wardrobe space with her) is her monitor. Even Rachel has a monitor. He cuts her behind the ear…. And music starts playing.

He goes to investigate with a gun – and we hear the sound of combat, a man in pain, then Daniel staggers to the floor clutching his neck. Hey there Helena. Now that is a much better quality guardian angel, complete with blood stained ragged wedding dress. Rachel is not exactly overjoyed to be “rescued” by Helena. Sarah freaks out since she thinks she shot Helen and Helen is dead and Helena sets whole new records of creepiness and after telling Sarah someone “took something from inside me” she has a blood stained creepy knife hug with her sister.

And at the Prolethean farm, Henrik successfully fertilises the egg they harvested.


For a while now I kept think of Allison as the scariest clone. This is because I clearly forgot about just how intensely creepy Helena could be

And that Tatiana Maslany is a mutant with amazing acting super powers.

While having eggs harvested against her will is horrific, I am happy that Helena wasn’t raped. She was still subjected to horrendous invasive violence – which did fit the story of the clones and their whole DNA – but the whole wedding scenario did not end the way that was feared.

I’m intrigued by Carlton – Yvonne is highly unlikely to be a regular character, but Carlton could be. He, Art or both could use a much bigger role on this show for inclusion purposes.

Otherwise the plot thickens and I am intrigued

And frightened of Helena.

ETA: There seems to be some lost in expression - what happened to Helena was definitely rape - there is absolutely not doubt about that. There is no way this is a good thing - even fitting with the story more, it is still rape, it is still horrendous and, yes, we could have done without it.