Friday, May 13, 2016

Orphan Black, Season Four, Episode Five: Human Raw Material


Poor Art, from the very beginning, I very much feel as though Art has gotten a raw deal and in this episode, it only continues.  Det. Duko not so casually decides to inform Art that the Hendrixs, who he questioned about a triple homicide, are also drug/soap peddlers. Duko suggests that Art let go of his fascination with Beth and start to concern himself with his real family. Yep, that's a threat.

Art quickly gets on the phone to confront Sarah about the Hendrixs drug empire and he is not impressed to have eaten dinner at a drug front.  How many times can Art compromise himself for the Leda clones?  Sarah promises to look into it and Art makes it clear that he wants no part of this.  This actually made me happy because for the longest time, Art has been a lap dog.

Sarah gets on the phone with Allison and confronts her about selling drugs.  Allison warns Sarah not to get high and mighty because when they first met, Sarah was trying to sell a kilo of cocaine. Allison explains that they are out of the drug business now and only sold the pills to save their home.  Sarah is still not sympathetic and argues back that Art could lose his job.

The conversation switches to Helena, who Allison accuses Sarah of dumping on her three months ago. Allison goes on to add that they are missing some camping equipment and haven't seen Helena for a few days. Geez Allison, nice of you to let the others know that Helena's missing.  I guess envelop stuffing is just so engrossing.  Allison argues that she is not the keeper of the pregnant sister and hangs up the phone.  Yes, this is one of those moments where I am not at all an Allison fan. Clearly Allison's ovaries are screaming jealousy but Helena deserves much better treatment.

Sarah's day of drama is far from over.  Sarah has dedicated the day to spending time with Kira and together they decide to go and visit Felix.  Sarah expected a warmer reception than she received, given that Felix got involved with trying to figure out what is going on with the mouth maggot. Much to Sarah's surprise, Felix is not home alone and is in fact still hanging out with Adele.  The tension and the jealousy in the room is thick as hell. Sarah goes all Maury Povich and calls Scott to arrange for some DNA testing.  As Sarah gathers a Felix's brush from the bedroom, Adele gives Kira a few ballet tips.  This seems to enrage Sarah more and she quickly scoops up Adele's glass when her back is turned.  Having had enough, Sarah calls an end to the visit and mentions to Felix that Mrs. S might like to see him for dinner.

As so many family dinners do, this one quickly goes bad.Sarah is not pleased that Felix brought Adele with him particularly because the location was meant to remain secret.  Sarah quickly starts pushing Adele for information on GeneConnection - the company which brought her and Felix together that is linked with Neolution.  Felix is outright pissed at Sarah's instant distrust of Adele, thinking that once again, Sarah is making everything all about herself.  In the middle of the epic blowout, Scott calls and reveals that Felix and Adele are indeed related. Picking up on her mother's feelings, Kira is quick to ask to be excused, before leading Sarah away. Yes, that's Kira acting like the only reasonable person in the room.

Sarah finds comfort in her daughter who reveals that she is connected to all of the clones.  It seems that Kira knows when Helena is feeling lonely, when Cosima is sad, when Rachel is angry and how clones she hasn't even met yet feel. Sarah apologises for thinking that what Kira thought were just dreams.  The two hug and take comfort in each other.  Orphan Black has been beating around the bush when it comes to Kira for quite some time now. I think they need to explain why Kira is so special.

Krystal's back and she got issues to deal with.  Also, damn, am I the only one who didn't realise that Tatiana Maslany is in such epic shape? Krystal is certainly not the brightest of the clones and so when she waltz's into Brightborn with a ridiculously transparent false name, it's absolutely only a matter of time before she gets involved in trouble.  Unlike the clones we have met so far, Krystal has no idea about Leda or the fact that she is a clone.  Predictably, Krystal is quickly spotted by Evie, except she is mistaken for Sarah.

Donnie is cuddling the cutest (I mean designed to make an ovary twitch) baby in orientation when Krystal casually strolls in.  A panicked Donnie claims he has to shit (damn he's cool under fire) and takes off, hoping to find Cosima. When Donnie catches up with Krystal later, she claims to want a massage as a cover for the fact that she has stolen skincare items.  Donnie pretends to be an employee and awkwardly offers Krystal a massage. Krystal proves that she's blonde for a reason and reveals her belief that Dyad and Birghtborn are conducting human experimentation (as you do to perfect strangers). When Krystal says that she would be dead if it were not for a French blonde doctor, Donnie asks if she means Delphine. Thus begins Krystal's freak out which only gets worse when Donnie addresses her by her real name. Krystal uses the self defense she was practicing earlier in the episode to get away from Donnie, only to be picked up and locked in a room.

Naturally, Krystal thinks her detainment is because she stole skin care products and empties her purse on a table apologising.  On the CCTV, Susan identifies Krystal and since Krystal is neither aware or bright, she is escorted out of the facility.  This would have gone smoothly had Krsytal not seen Ira, who we know is a Castor clone.


Finally, let's get to Cosima, who has decided to go to Brightborn and pose as Donnie's surrogate. Cosima steps in for Allison because being a scientist, she's better able to know what questions to ask and what to look for. During the orientation, Evie shares her background and what drove her to work in this field.  It almost humanises this character for me. Cosima tries to sneak off during the tour of the facility but is caught and so sits by the pool.  Susan shows up and pretends to be a regular employee of Brightborn and Cosima jumps all over the opportunity to ask some direct questions. Cosima's first question is why all of the babies in the pamphlet have dimples but Susan explains it all away as confirmation bias.   Cosima however doesn't give up because this is a subject she is passionate about.  Cosima asks about germline editing (messing with the DNA of an embryo) and while Susan admits that it's illegal in many places, she doesn't deny that Brightborn is doing this. Cosima is of course concerned that this could cause problems with following generations.

Cosima's second meeting with mommy dearest happens after she steals a keycard and some scrubs.  Cosima gets called into a delivery room and is present for the birth of a baby which is extremely deformed. The Doctors take the baby away while discussing all of the things which are wrong with it. Susan arrives and this time, Mommy Dearest is upfront about who she is.

Cosima is taken to a room where she points out that her sickness is a result of genetic experimentation and that what is being done isn't even remotely ethical. It's time for Susan to dangle the carrot to defuse the situation.  Susan makes it clear that Cosima doesn't have the resources to cure herself and that Cosima is dying. Susan suggests that should Cosima share Kendall's DNA (The source), they can make a cure which will help everyone.  Hmm, will Cosima betray her sisters?

In the final scene of this episode, Susan informs Ira that they are the closest they've ever been to a cure. She walks slowly into the pool and the two of them kiss.

 stupid gross gif

Did anyone really need to see that? It screamed incest to me. Just freaking Ewww.

Now that Adele has been proven to be Felix's sister, I don't think that this is over by a long shot. I think her sudden entrance is suspicious to say the least and that in the end, it will be proven that Sarah was right to be suspicious of her.  This of course will be a problem because Felix is not wrong to want someone in his life outside of Sarah. It irks me that Sarah thinks that she owns Felix, and that he should make his life completely about her. I fully believe that this storyline is going to be used to affirm Felix as Sarah's slave.

Speaking of Sarah, while she was surprised to learn that Helena is missing, her response is indeed hypocritical.  Allison is right when she pointed out that Sarah just dumped Helena on her.  If Sarah had been paying any attention to Helena at all, she wouldn't have had to be told that her sister has been missing for days.  If Sarah had been paying any attention to Helena, she would have known that Helena was not faring well despite her little foray into arts and crafts.

The big question of this episode I suppose is will Cosima share Kendall's DNA in an effort to save her own life? I think it's too much to expect her to just sacrifice herself.  The trouble of course is that getting into bed with Susan is going to come with its own set of complications.  Cosima also feels strongly about human testing and so who knows what Susan will do with whatever they discover.

On a final note, if we have to bring back a clone, why couldn't it have been Tony?