Courtesy of BBC America
#CloneClub heads to London to track down the Castor original and S (Maria Doyle Kennedy) gets pulled deeper into the conspiracy.
Let’s bitch it out…
As Orphan Black barrels towards its season finale next week, the search for the Castor original heats up. Thankfully the writers remember that the show only works because the audience cares about these characters, so they wisely spend a big chunk of time with S, Sarah (Tatiana Maslany) and Felix (Jordan Gavaris) reconnecting in a London pub. Obviously they’re there for more than a tour of S’ old haunts and friends, but after sidelining the Clone Club matriarch for the better part of the season, it’s wise to revisit the bond between these three characters before pitching them off the deep end with an unexpected twist in the episode’s final scene.
In hindsight, bringing S further into the conspiracy is a smart decision. She’s always been on the outskirts of this whole Leda drama, seemingly more involved as a mercenary who kept her foster kids safe by protecting and hiding them. By bringing her mother, Kendall Malone (Alison Steadman) in as both the Leda and Castor original, Orphan Black draws S deeper into the show’s mythology. Intriguingly the unique solution to the show’s biggest red herring plot point also reinforces Orphan Black‘s forward-thinking take on gender and sex. Castor and Leda aren’t simply brother/sister as we believed; they’re actually part of the same whole, which adds additional depth to the cloning premise.The symbolic linking of the object of desire for both groups also offers a tantalizing narrative urgency going into the finale: Kendall can’t simply be disposed of (as S suggests) because she holds the cure to Leda’s infertility and Cosima’s illness, even though her existence also portends doom if she falls into Castor’s hands.
It’s an audacious twist that will hopefully pay off in next week’s finale. With the Castor/Leda original now revealed, Ferdinand (James Frain) closing in and time running out for Rudy (Ari Millen), the stage is set for an epic showdown.
Courtesy of BBC America
Other Observations:
- It’s a bit of a cliché to score a fight sequence with music cross-cut from another scene, but I’m willing to make an exception since it’s fun to see someone like S rock out on stage. I’ll confess that I thought Doyle Kennedy’s voice wasn’t superb, though. Thank goodness she’s an excellent actor.
- The jaunt to London offered an exciting opportunity to change up the visual aesthetic, but it’s clear that the journey across the pond didn’t actually happen. Our London scenes are either generically decorated sets that could be located anywhere (and lit in the same cold blue hue as always), or murky exteriors covered in shadows. It’s a little disappointing that London isn’t made more visually distinct in the same way that Mexico was earlier this season.
- The battle of the exs continues when Cosima and Scott (Josh Vokey) deduce that Shay (Ksenia Solo) is the Castor mole who fed Rudy info on the Duncan codebook. Things escalate quickly when Delphine (Evelyne Brochu) pays Shay a visit and threatens to kill her and stage it like a suicide. At episode’s end we have no idea whether Delphine did, in fact, follow through on the threat, despite Cosima’s last minute call about the mole’s true identity. My gut says no, but if Delphine did go “single white female” as Shay suggests, this would be an easy way to dispose of a romantic rival.
- The idea of cutting the veins in your feet is vomit-inducing. Thanks for that visual, Orphan Black.
- Even if Shay isn’t working for Castor, how to explain the picture of her in military garb? There’s still more to this mystery.
- The true mole is, of course, revealed to be Gracie (Zoé De Grand Maison) who orchestrates her exit early in the episode with an obviously fake doctor’s appointment. It is only because everyone is so busy with their own shit that they fail to see through her charade and by episode’s end Gracie is back in Mark’s loving arms. Aww, lovebirds.
- The latest pairing we didn’t know we wanted is Donnie (Kristian Bruun) and Helena. These two were obviously going to have an adventure based on their interactions in the last few episodes, but who knew that we get this? Watching Helena try to impersonate Allison (badly) to secure the return of the drug money and her frozen babies is ridiculous and amazing. It’s a funny, bloody resolution to the drug storyline that should have some dire consequences of its own moving forward.
Best Lines:
- Helena (when Donnie insists he ran into a pole): “A post made of fists, I think.”
- Donnie (after Helena, posing as Allison, coughs that she has a cold): “Yeah, it’s one of those really bad ones that mess with your syntax”
- Donnie (putting away his money): “This is a bit more than we were owed.” Helena: “I don’t think they will be coming back for change.”
- Felix (as Sarah leaves him behind alone in the street): “I’ll be here, pissing my pants.”
Your turn: are you surprised by the Castor/Leda original twist? Glad that S is being brought deeper into the show’s mythology? Were you happy to see Ferdinand return? Did Delphine harm Shay? What effect will the destruction of the drug cartel have on Allison and Donnie’s business? Sound off below.
Orphan Black airs its third season finale next Saturday at 9pm EST on BBC America. Here’s a preview that, predictably, features Castor coming after the original in a big way.