Orphan Black Review: Trusting the Right People
Carissa Pavlica
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Things take a rather surprising turn in Orphan Black Season 2 Episode 2 as we learn who has Kira and why, as well as more info on the freaky cowboys.
Answers to both of those mysteries are -- it ain't good news for the clone twins, Sarah and Helena.
The titles actually hold some meaning so, before I delve into the review, let's talk about the origins of "Governed by Sound Mind and True Religion."
Sir Francis Bacon (does anybody remember him from their history lessons?) foresaw the power of organized science. When he was writing about it, however, people were generally frightened to death of witchcraft and black magic. To calm their fears, he wrote about the Book of Genesis, claiming it explained that the technological mastery of nature was a God-given power.
Bacon's assumption was that man would use this new power well, and wrote the following, "Only let the human race recover that right over nature which belongs to it by divine bequest; the exercise thereof will be governed by sound reason and true religion." You can see the title of the episode snuggled right up in there and you can also surmise from the goings on in this installment that Bacon was wrong in his assumption.
We really need to know what the hell Project LEDA is like, right now. Leda slept with Zeus and produced twins that were demi-gods, so there must be some reference to the twins intertwined here. Of all the clones, Sarah can have children and Helena, whose organs are mirrors of normal anatomy, seems to be a super healer. She was shot in the heart (and you're to blame) and is walking around already. They're rather miraculous.
Mrs. S. was holding Kira, surprising the hell out of Sarah. They're holed up in a location Sarah had been to before -- when they first arrived from the U.K. The same people who ushered them into their new life in the U.S. was going help Mrs. S. squirrel Kira away again for safe keeping.
The pesky Proletheans got them and they turned on Mrs. S., so they didn't want to help her after all. Kira is a smart clone-baby and has pretty much decided Mrs. S. doesn't have any secrets that are good. That scares Sarah enough for them to hit the ground running.
Tomas seems to have lost track of his flock. The cowboys are a sect of the Proletheans over which he doesn't have much influence. Watching Henrik inseminate a cow was just EWW and gave us a hint of later conversation -- he wanted to know if Tomas thought maybe Helena could produce magical offspring just like her twin.
Poor Helena. Despite her slightly mean spirit, she's also very childlike (with her sugar packets and lollipops) and the idea of her being tossed between sects using her like that is upsetting. My hope is that Sarah learns more about Mrs. S. and LEDA and realizes that Helena is as much of a pawn as she is and helps her out.
It wasn't all about Sarah and Helena, of course. Alison did another 180 and came to the realization that Donnie is her monitor. She figured this out at Aynsley's funeral, where Alison was dressed as Audrey Hepburn from Breakfast at Tiffany's and chugging the chardonnay.
I simply love that Alison has come to rely on Felix as much as Sarah. Their scenes together are fabulous, even when they're talking on the phone. They devised, after a boatload of chardonnay, a plan.
Felix: OK. You got any ideas or do you just want to keep drinking?
Alison: I think I need to keep drinking for a while and then I'll have an idea.
It was to trick Donnie into following Alison, proving he was her monitor and I was so ready for Felix to be dressed as Sarah in the cemetery! He wasn't, but the result was positive. Alison got her proof. When Felix went on the run with Sarah, Alison was bereft. What's she going to do without her new confident? At least he left her on a good note.
Alison: I killed Aynsley, Felix!
Felix: Aynsley wore a scarf in the kitchen.
That line is like classic Kurt Vonneget. You can't blame yourself for not saving someone dying when they were stupid enough to wear a scarf in the kitchen. She should have known death was on the horizon. Brilliant!
Cosima gets into her new lab, which is hardly anything to write home about. She's assured she can tailor it to her liking. Thankfully, we see no signs of her deteriorating health, but that doesn't necessarily make me feel any better. When Cosima meets Rachel and wants access to her own genome, she's told instead that her priority will be to work on Sarah's. Yep, she's going to find out what makes that womb fertile.
Other bits and bobs:
- I finally trust Delphine. It's so hard to know who to trust, but their tandem lies about never trusting Sarah sealed the deal.
- Felix painting a nude in the nude got us our token Fee skin this week!
- Art took relatively no time to be convinced of the cloning, and Felix couldn't believe he was part of the Clone Club, to which Art says, "Well, I'm over it." After so much investigating, the most outrageous answer just makes the most sense.
- I hope Sarah and Fee aren't on the road too long, because I will truly miss their interaction with the other clones, especially Alison. Otherwise, Ali has to integrate with someone else to pick up the slack. Art?
- Unless Tomas had a clone, buh bye! I wonder how Helena will take that.
Do you have any ideas on Project LEDA? It seems like they might be at the origin of the cloning, but how would they have lost control? Maybe they stole some clone embryos and split them to implant. There are so many questions with LEDA, Dyad and the Proletheans and we're only on episode 2!
It all comes down to trusting the right people. Sarah wrongly assumed she could trust Mrs. S. Alison waffled between Aynsley and Donnie being her monitor and now she's suffering guilt over a death she didn't cause, but she also didn't stop. Cosima is thrust right into the hornet's nest with people she may or may not be able to trust and has to pick them off one at a time. Helena seems to know she can trust Sarah, but the reverse isn't true. Who would you trust?
Be sure to watch Orphan Black online and if you're already here why not stay a while and drop a note with your thoughts about the show in the comments? You can't possibly tell me there aren't a million things running through your head!!
Favorite Felix Moment?
Carissa Pavlica is the managing editor and a staff writer and critic for TV Fanatic. She's a member of the Critic's Choice Association, enjoys mentoring writers, conversing with cats, and passionately discussing the nuances of television and film with anyone who will listen. Follow her on X and email her here at TV Fanatic.
