Monday, April 27, 2015

Orphan Black, Season One, Episode Two: Transitory Sacrifices of Crisis


Neelan heads downstairs and finds a dead body in a pool of blood.  He gets on the phone and says, "there's an issue."

Castor scar (Rudy) slips into an apartment with a drunken woman.  She double checks if Rudy is actually a special forces soldier and he brings her a drink, assuring her of his identity. Castor mustache (Seth) takes his place and removes her coat.  When she turns around, Rudy is back.  The woman lies on the bed and starts making out with Rudy and this leads to sex.  Seth enters the room and starts taking off his clothing.  When she opens her eyes, she finds herself in bed with both clones.  The woman says that this is not what she signed up for.  Rudy explains that they're brothers and were taught to share. 

Sarah is walking down the street with Kira and Cal (yes, sexy love interest is back). Sarah reports that Delphine is in Europe covering Rachel's business and has assured her  that Dyad is off her back.  Sarah wants to call Cosima but Cal has something he wants to show her.  It seems that Cal acquired a place and Sarah questions how he is going to live in city considering that he is a lumberjack.  Cal questions if there is anything about this Sarah likes and she says yes.

Seth has fallen asleep on the couch and he wakes when Rudy pours water on him.  The two brothers joke around until there is a knock at their door.  Of course, it's Paul, so the Castor boys go into military mode.  Rudy is not pleased with the freedom that Sarah has and snarks about how well Paul knows her. Paul decides to do some new age testing on the Castor boys which Seth fails.  Rudy tries to cover for his brother, saying that Seth is tired, adding that they drank last night.  Paul is not convinced and drops extraction orders on the table.  Seth says that they aren't done and haven't found the original sample but Paul simply gives them their travelling orders. Rudy questions if the orders are coming from Paul or the mysterious Mother but Paul is not in the mood to answer questions, so orders them to clean up and clear out. Rudy and Seth are ordered to return to base.

Scott shows up at Felix's where he tells Cosima that her bloodwork is extremely encouraging, though she will need an MRI. Scott tells Cosima that while the numbers are great, he cannot explain them. Cosima says that she's open to perspectives on the void and suggests that they get back to the lab. Scott says that while Nealon is twice the researcher that Leekie was, he doesn't trust him.  Cosima points out that Delphine put Nealon in charge.  Nealon wants a meeting this afternoon and Cosima confirms that she will be there.  Felix hands Cosima a new clone phone and she hands him her old one. 

At soccer practice, Allison and Donny watch as Marci Coates gives an interview and Allison declares that she is not going to allow Marci to put their kids in "ghetto." Really Allison? That's a bit much even for you.  Donny points out that it's just the next district but Allison starts to ramble about the quality of the playgrounds. Donny reminds Allison that they cannot afford a campaign until he gets back up on his feet, adding that they might have to sell the house.  Allison brings up the corpse buried in the garage and Donny does the whole "team Hendrix down but not out."  Marci waves at Allison.  Allison is then approached by Ramon, who reports that half of his clients are soccer moms.  Ramon questions if Allison is still clean and when she says yes, Ramon confides that he is getting out of the business.  When Ramon walks away, Donny returns to question who Allison was talking to.  Allison calls Ramon an opportunity.

Cal, Sarah and Kira are playing floor hockey in Cal's new home.  It's cute and very sweet.  Sarah gets a call from Art, who is back on the job.

Art tells Sarah that a woman reported an incident at a hotel last night.  Art holds a picture of Seth and Rudy and tells Sarah that they look like Mark.  Sarah asks about a mustache and a scar and if they hurt the woman.  Art confirms this.  When Sarah asks for more information, Art tells her that he has to go, promising that they will get into details later. Sarah tells Cal about the escaped Castor and he begs her to stay but she is insistent that she has to go because Castor has Helena.  Cal is worried about Kira, saying that he will do anything for her.  Sarah and Cal share a kiss. It's kind of bittersweet because there's no way these two are going to get a happy ending.

Helena is dragged into a room by armed men including one Castor, dressed in military clothing. Helena is then waterboarded. Is Helena ever going to catch a break? They quickly take samples from her and are about to start the waterboarding again when Dr. Virginia Cody enters and stops the test, announcing that Helena is pregnant. Cody helps Helena to sit up and tells her to just be still, adding that she is happy to meet Helena.

Felix is making tea for Mrs. S, who is clearly in rough shape.  Felix assures S that Sarah will come around but S is worried that she has lost Sarah and Kira for good.  S is worried that despite all she has done that she has not made Sarah or Kira safe.  Felix encourages her to do something about it and gives her a clean clone phone.  S claims that she has no use for it and Felix is adamant that she doesn't get to sit this one out.

At the Dyad institute, Scott and Cosima have arrived for their meeting with Neelan.  Neelan reports that Cosima is doing well and now they are going to make treatment choices together.  Cosima brings up the Castor clone who escaped and Neelan claims that it was supposed to be his first order of business.  Scott brings up the original genome, claiming that it would solve everything and questions if it was really destroyed.  Neelan claims to want the source material as well but says that thanks to the Duncans, it's lost to them. Apparently, Leda started as a military experiment under the guidance of the Duncans and when the military shut down the project,  Dyad recruited them.  The Duncans took the location of the original donors to their grave and Lyda believed that Castor was unsuccessful.


Art is talking to the woman who was attacked by the Castor twins.  He sees Sarah approaching and cuts her off at the pass, calling Sarah crazy for showing up.  Sarah wants to talk to the victim and does so ignoring Art's directions.  Sarah introduces herself as Beth, saying she knows what these guys are capable of.  The woman says that Rudy became angry for Seth, as though she had insulted him by rejecting Seth. It seems she thought Rudy was going to kill her.  The Castors went through her ID, wrote down all of her information, then yanked out some of her hair and put it in a bag.  The woman wonders if she can even call herself a rape victim because she consented to the first guy. Art affirms that she was assaulted. The woman gets into the car and Art warns Sarah that if she pulls something like that again, they're finished.  Sarah explains that Helena has been taken and she is only trying to figure out what is going on. Art informs Sarah that the clones have the same tattoo of a two headed horse on the left forearm. Art then warns Sarah again stay away from there.

Allison and Donny are waiting inside a school for Ramon to arrive.  Allison wants to buy Ramon's business - inventory and customer list.  Ramon questions if they are up for this work but Allison makes it clear that they have the stones for this, adding that most of Ramon's clients are in her circle. Allison the drug dealer? Really?

Seth is waiting by a car flipping the hell out.  He punches a car window in frustration.  Seth then gets a call from Rudy, who says that he is not returning to the base.  Rudy tells Seth that he knows Seth is glitching and asks how long it's been happening. Seth reveals it's been happening for a week or two, so Rudy declares that he is not going to stand by and watch it happen.  Seth reveals that it's getting worse and that he doesn't know what to do.  Rudy breaks into Felix's loft and tells Seth that he is going to finish the job.

Cosima is looking up the Castor myth and explains it to Sarah.  Sarah questions why they took the victim's hair and Cosima suggests medical testing which would be a gold mind if they got a follicle. Sarah points out that this doesn't get them closer to Helena.  Cosima suggests going to S because S can get Sarah in touch with Paul. Sarah is resistant but Cosima points out that this is their best shot.

Helena is now hooked up to the same machine that Paul hooked the Castor boys to and is being administered the same test.  Helena has trouble concentrating because the scorpion is talking to her again. Virginia takes Helena outside and reveals that the clones came to her when she was little.  Virginia then gives Helena a plate of food and tells her that Sarah sold her out.  Helena does not believe Virginia, who assures Helena that she is not expendable to her. 

Rudy is looking through Felix's apartment. The book is on the shelf but because he doesn't know what he is looking for, he misses it.

Sarah shows up at S' place and Felix orders Sarah to go easy on S because S is not herself. Sarah tels S that she need to get in touch with Paul but is informed that Paul has gone dark now that he has gotten what he wanted.  Sarah moves to leave and S calls out that Cal is not helping because he is pretending they can have a life there. Sarah is quick to cut off S but S continues, advising Sarah to take Kira away.  Sarah declares that she is not taking advice from someone who sold her sister.  S however says that she will live with her decision but that Kira shouldn't have to.  S adds that she doesn't know where Castor comes from, adding that they shouldn't fight under these conditions.

Ramon takes Donny and Allison outside and shows them his massive drug supply - a street value of 80k.  Ramon holds up his client list and Allison offers Ramon 32 K for the works. Donny tries to suggest some sort of consignment deal but Allison is firm in her offer.  Ramon agrees to Allison's offer and Donny drags Allison off, saying that they don't have this kind of money. Allison points out that they have cash in their retirement plan and the list will also be a list of constituents.  Allison suggests that the list will provide a good voter base and Donny smiles at her scheming.

Cal is busy unpacking when he hears a noise.  Cal heads outside to check it out and when he heads back inside, he finds Paul with a gun. Cal is ordered to place his hands on his head and move to the center of the room.  Paul tells Cal that Sarah has no idea what she is in the middle of and Cal asks if Paul found what he was looking for when he infiltrated Dyad. It seems that Cal and Paul know each other.  Cal was a former weapons designer - a war profiteer and  Paul rightly surmises that Sarah doesn't know about Cal's past.  Paul then questions why Sarah isn't taking the time and space the deal provided her with, adding that if Sarah keeps coming, it's going to end badly for everyone.  Paul tells Cal to get Sarah out of there because Sarah won't listen to him.

Sarah and Kira have returned to Felix's and Kira questions if they are going to live with Cal. Sarah says it's a possibility when Cal is set up. Sarah is drawing a bath for Kira, so she misses Cal's call.  Kira climbs into the tent she created and finds Rudy with lipstick X's painted over his eyes.  When Sarah enters the room, she finds Kira sitting on Rudy's lap.  Rudy wants to learn about Duncan's research and tissue sample of the Castor originals.  Sarah says that she doesn't know anything about that.

Cal arrives at Felix's and is stopped by Seth, who pretends to be a panhandler.  Cal notices the tattoo and punches Seth. Seth has another glitch but manages to pull a knife, saying that his brother is not to be disturbed.

Upstairs, Rudy draws lipstick marks on Kira's face.

Downstairs, Seth is starting to glitch, talking about yogurt and Turkey. Cal grabs a wrench while Seth is distracted.  Seth collapses on the ground screaming. Upstairs, Sarah and Rudy hear the screaming. Sarah begs saying that she doesn't have the original genome, so Rudy pushes Kira at Sarah and heads down to check on his brother. Rudy orders Cal to drop his weapon, as Seth lies screaming on the ground.  Rudy shoots Seth twice in the chest and then tells his brother that it's alright and that he shouldn't hold on.  Rudy tells Seth that he loves him and Seth dies.  Rudy takes Seth's phone and with his weapon still pointed at Cal leaves.

Sarah is packing Kira's things as Felix, S and Cal look on.  Sarah sends Kira to say goodbye to S.  Sarah wonders whether she is doing the right thing and Felix confirms this, calling her a good mum. S hands papers to Cal, saying that her people will get them out of the country.  Cal promises to keep Kira safe and the two kiss goodbye.  Sarah promises Kira that she will put a stop to this so they can be there together.  Kira hands Sarah a paper reindeer saying that there are reindeer in Iceland. Mother and daughter hug goodbye and Kira leaves with Cal. Felix asks what now and Sarah says that her plan is to find Helena and finish this. Since Castor has Helena, the plan is to contact Mark the Prolethean.

In a dump motel, Mark is in the bathroom.  Mark shoves a rag in his mouth and burns off his Castor tattoo. 

Alright....I still think that Orphan Black has a bit too much going on.  I had trouble following the story and all of the characters from time to time.  I just want to see it slow down a bit because at times it felt like they were trying to squeeze so much into this episode.

At any rate, poor Helena.  I just want to see something go right for her.  Helena is the clone who has taken the most abuse and never seemed to fit in anywhere.  Why the hell were the waterboarding her? I like that she is tough and is a survivor but I really want to see her have some good times.

Cosima seems to be over Delphine rather quickly.  We had the tearful goodbye last week and she is already on the don't trust Delphine train.  I am rather disappointed because Delphine and Cosima were the only good GLBT inclusion on the show.  Yes, I know Felix but considering what Orphan Black has done with Felix I refuse to squee because I think the portrayal is problematic.

I did enjoy Cal's reappearance and the floor hockey thing but it was apparent from the get go that Sarah was not going to be allowed to play house. If anything, the whole thing is a tease. I do however want to know more about Cal's background and his connection to Paul.  I have a feeling that there's so much more to Cal than we have seen.

On the Castor's.  Clearly when they fall apart it's so painful that a mercy killing is the best way to go. It's clear that the Castor clones are just as close as the Dyad clones. They refer to each other as brother and are more than willing to die for each other.  I am however not convinced by Millen's portrayal of the Castor clones.  It seems like they are all the same. I don't know if it's the writing or Millen's performance to date.  The only one who is different is Mark.

Allison.  Oh dear.  Allison the drug dealer?  Allison has done some whacky things in the past but drug dealing is just way off the radar.  I knew from the moment Marcy challenged Allison there was going to be trouble.  As amusing as team Allison and Donny can be, I really want to see her interacting with the other clones more.  It seems to me that Allison is really separated from everything else that is going on. I like it better when the clones are actively working together and plotting together.

What were your thoughts on this episode?