The Seestras are back! Plenty happened in the season three finale of “Orphan Black” but I’ll just name a few: we met the Castor boys, Delphine was killed, Alison won the election; the clones met the original, Cosima got her sample; Helena reunited with Jesse, and Rachel has a cyborg eye. This season begins with Sarah’s quite time in Iceland ruined by a Neolution attack. The only way forward is to go back.
Beth
We’ve learned so much about Beth through Sarah, but it’s time for us to learn about her on our own. Who was Beth and what did she know. In the hour long flashback, this episode of the much awaited season four begins with someone wearing a mask as she watches two people burying a body. A call is put out to Beth and when she arrives with the police and the coroner, they are shocked to find a man who is missing his cheek and who has had his penis surgically bifurcated. So who is this little lamb chop that helps Beth?
MK AKA Mika is another clone, also played by the amazingly talented Tatiana Maslany, and an informer for Beth… but she doesn’t trust Beth enough to talk in person. Everything is done over the computer in an abandoned trailer. MK is a professional hacker and as far as Neolution knows, she’s dead, but it is MK who knows a lot of what’s going on. I am really interested in seeing where this character takes us. MK is the one who clued Beth in about Paul being a monitor, but is Art also part of Neolution like MK suggests? After visiting Club Neolution, where all the freakie Leekies play, Beth shows a photo of Mr. Capra aka Mr. Bifurcated Penis, but everyone plays dumb.
It is here that we realize how involved Beth was with the other clones before Sarah ever walked onto the subway platform. Beth was already helping out Cosima and Alison by making sure that Cosima continued her education and Alison learned how to correctly handle a gun. I had to laugh when Alison had flowers delivered to Beth while she was still in her car and because Alison is such a soccer mom, she even included a bottle of urine that gets Beth out of a jam later on in the show.
Art
I love Kevin Hanchard as Art Bell, because he has protected Sarah, and later, the other clones, but aside from knowing he was Beth’s partner, we never knew how close he and Beth had become. Beth is a mess. She’s using drugs and she’s trying to do her job knowing that she’s a clone and that her lover Paul (Dylan Bruce) was spying on her for whoever created the clones. When Beth seeks comfort from Paul, he is distant. I don’t think Paul loved Beth, but there was no denying that he loved Sarah…go figure.
It was nice seeing the romantic side of Art Bell and especially when he and Beth wind up as lovers… but like I said, Beth was a mess and Art can only do so much to keep her out of trouble.
Conclusion
Orphan Black is about clones. There’s no denying this, but it is also a show about women fighting for identity and respect. All our favorite bad guys were brought back for this episode including my favorite, Matt Frewer. It was also nice to see Duval (David Richmond-Peck) and his tail. Tatiana Maslany has over the last three seasons mesmerized us with her ability to play different characters so easily that we forget that there is only one of her. I wonder when the time will come when she’ll say, “Enough!” I am hoping never.
This episode did a great job of filling in the missing pieces especially from seasons one and two. We know that Margaret Chen was killed by accident after Beth witnessed one of those worms removed from a man’s cheek. Are we dealing with aliens or just surgical evolution? Beth has enemies and one of them is her union rep, Detective Durko and, I’m guessing he knows that Beth now knows about the worm.
MK didn’t want Beth to tell the other clones what they really were, but I think Beth did the right thing. Beth had lots of enemies and she was using drugs, but Art risked his career to keep her out of jail. Season 4 will be more about the origins of the clones, the Castor boys and maybe those disgusting worms.
Before I end the review, I wanted to remind everyone to check out “After the Black” led by veteran InnerSPACE hosts Ajay Fry, Morgan Hoffman. This will be a weekly half-hour discussion with cast, crew and special guests. It’s something like “Talking Dead” with Chris Hardwick, but I’m hoping they’ll eventually find their groove with “Orphan Black.” Next week, we pick up with Sarah getting a warning from MK. “Run!”
Reblogged this on gilbertspeaks.