Orphan Black Season 5 Episode 2 Review: Clutch of Greed
Caralynn Lippo
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During the hiatus between the Orphan Black Season 4 Finale and Orphan Black Season 5 Episode 2, little Kira morphed into an irritable preteen.
And that transformation had serious consequences.
"Clutch of Greed" picked up shortly after where the action-packed Orphan Black Season 5 Premiere left off.
Sarah, who had been shot with a dart and captured by Rachel after a long, painful ordeal on the island at the end of the premiere, awoke in a cell. She knew immediately what had happened, and it felt as familiar to her as it did to us. "Not again," indeed.
What's creepiest about Rachel this season is that she's not even mad anymore. She reached the apex of her anger last season, and now she's eerily calm.
She's been preaching the "enlightenment" that she's found thanks to PT Westmoreland.
At first, I was sure that Rachel's whole gung-ho Neolution attitude was a ruse – just something she needed to do in order to assure her position of power.
Power hunger is Rachel's defining characteristic, after all – hence preparing to restart the human cloning trials, regardless of having firsthand experience with the myriad ways cloning can go wrong (biologically and ethically).
But Rachel has been acting like a true convert. That was most noticeable during her interaction with Ferdinand, who, for his part, is not down for the whole Neolution thing.
Especially when he found out that Rachel wasn't interested in continuing their kink-filled sexual relationship any longer.
I don't need to hit you, Ferdinand. I don't need to anymore.
Rachel
Bizarrely, Rachel sounds saner than ever. But Ferdinand severely fell off the deep end. Not that he was ever very far from it to begin with.
I'm talking, of course, about his brutal murder of MK. RIP MK!
That scene was incredibly difficult to watch.
Ferdinand had what can best be described as a toddler-like tantrum and literally stomped on poor MK's chest, killing her. (Though I'm sure the fact that she was already dying of the clone disease didn't help maters.)
You have no idea the volcano that outfit is inspiring in me right now.
Ferdinand
"Volcano" is one way to put it.
Ferdinand's act was the result of a perfect storm of emotions, set off by seeing MK in Sarah's replica of Rachel's outfit.
He was hurt by Rachel's rejection, pissed off at Sarah (as always), and he was face to face with the woman who had torture during him and stolen his money (fair retribution for his past heinous actions, obviously).
Still, it didn't make the death any less awful to see.
The other big development was Kira's big (and honestly, foolish) decision regarding her future.
Rachel's ice-cold demeanor seemed to have convinced Kira that defying her mother made sense in any capacity. (Without having seen the rest of the season, I can already pretty much guarantee that it doesn't.)
In theory, I understand Kira's reluctance to go on the run again. She's just a kid (as Sarah so often reminds people), and she's been uprooted and unmoored for pretty much her entire life.
Seeing Kira so excited to be in school was really heartwarming, too. We already knew she was smart, but seeing her happily asking her homeroom teacher if there were Bunsen burners and helping a fellow classmate with math were both really nice touches. I did genuinely feel for Kira.
That said, Kira thinking that things are different now and referring to Rachel as "Auntie Rachel" pushes the bounds of believability.
Of course, there is the question of how much Kira really knows about everything that has happened and Rachel's many misdeeds. But assuming Sarah has even scratched the surface with her daughter, Kira (who's already been shown to be a smarter than average girl) should know better than to trust her.
I get that she's desperate to find out why she's got these weird empath powers, but trusting Rachel to perform experiments on her seems like an obviously stupid way to go about that.
I want to know why I'm like this. And I don't want to go with you! I'm going with Rachel!
Kira
It was seriously distressing to see Sarah in so much pain being rejected by her daughter in that way. Tatiana Maslany played that pain immaculately.
Elsewhere, it appears that Cosima might be falling under Westmoreland's spell, just like Rachel.
Cosima started off her time at Revival rightfully suspicious about what was going on there. I'm not sure if she's just playing a part, but didn't she look genuinely excited as she and good ol' PT chatted about continuing her research and finding the cure for all the clone sestras?
For a lover of all things science like Cosima, it's no wonder that she's more than a little starstruck being in the same room as the 170-year-old.
Finally, there was the Delphine situation.
After Kira departed with Rachel, Mrs. S found Delphine at her doorstep, an unexpected visitor.
I was a bit confused about this because weren't we just told that Delphine was headed to Sardinia to do sketchy Neolution research?
Stray thoughts:
- The low-key funniest moment of Orphan Black ever – when Hell Wizard, referring to Susan, assured Ira that his "mom" would be okay. #Awkward.
- Alison didn't much factor into this hour, but her brief scene set the stage for what's sure to be another funny Hendrix domestic intrigue subplot next week. Though to be totally honest, at this late stage in the game, I'm not sure how any silly minor plot won't feel like a time waster. We've only got eight more episodes left of this show, people!!
- I will never not love the Helena/Donnie combination. This episode didn't disappoint on the comedy front. Even with the whole gruesome stabbing through the face with the needle thing.
What did you think of "Clutch of Greed"? Share your thoughts by commenting below, and remember to watch Orphan Black online anytime here at TV Fanatic!
Caralynn Lippo is a staff writer for TV Fanatic. Follow her on Twitter.
