Orphan Black Season 3 Episode 6 Review: Certain Agony of the Battlefield
Lindsay MacDonald
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There are some major SPOILERS below, so tread carefully before reading this particular review.
Tonight's episode was truly explosive (too soon?), serving up the death of a beloved character, who has been a part of the series since the pilot. As far as shockers go, Orphan Black Season 3 Episode 6 definitely delivered.
That's right clone club, the stunningly sexy Paul Dierden has left us for good.
Join me in mourning and wailing because it was TOO SOON! He still had so much left to give!
Paul's death came as a bit of a surprise, since there were no signs up until tonight that he would be going anywhere. Seeing has how he was in the middle of taking down Dr. Coady and her power-mad research, not to mention his mission to rescue Sarah, it just didn't seem like a great time to kill him off.
But as far as deaths go, Paul got a pretty epic one. He received multiple stab wounds to the stomach, six gunshots to the chest, and then topped it all off with a grenade explosion right below him.
His final words are really what hit home though. Through it all, Paul has remained incredibly loyal to the Castor clones, searching doggedly for a cure to their defect. His last request, as he sat dying in front of Coady, was that she give up her bio-weapon research, and finish what they started.
Cure them, Virginia. Drop the rest.
Paul
At least he took the rest of Coady's research with him, knowing she would never truly give it up. His sacrifice saved countless women who would have no doubt become her new lab rats.
It's also fitting that for Paul's last episode, we also got another look at Beth.
No, no, she wasn't resurrected. But she did make appearances via video and hallucination. Her talk with Sarah was my favorite scene of the episode. It was flawlessly shot -- with Sarah seeming to exist in every place at once, as needed -- but what really grabbed my attention was the desperation both girls showed.
Sarah truly does see her mission to save her sisters as a continuation of Beth's work. And Beth (hallucination or not) acknowledges her failure to do so.
That scene has some amazing layers, and I hope we see more reflection like that on Sarah's part.
It also might have prompted Sarah to start looking in a new direction in this search for answers.
We do terrible things for the people we love. Stop asking why. Start asking who.
Beth
An element of the episode that was heavily promoted but turned out to be a bit of a let down was Felix's confrontation with Rachel.
Seeing Felix break down and show genuine emotion is always a treat, but for the most part, his conversation with Rachel was mostly one-sided and he left with no more information than he came with.
Scott, my sister is missing, and I am really, really desperate. Okay? Now, nut up and lead me to the cyclops.
Felix
We can only hope that the paintings Scott absconded with prove to be more useful.
As far as Sarah goes, I can only say that I'm glad she got one last moment with Paul before the end. Their relationship -- no matter how turbulent -- has always been a compelling aspect of the show. And at times, the love between them was truly genuine.
In the end, Paul saved her from having to undergo any more experimentation at Coady's hands, and he gave her one last confession of love.
And hey, Helena did end up coming back for her after all. Something tells me she's going to need her sestra's support right about now.
On a lighter note, Alison's drug business might be picking up! Though it looks like her love triangle might be picking up too. It's hard to say whether this plot is succeeding or not. It's definitely airing out a pretty heavy season, but it might be a little too light in comparison to everything else going on.
Drug dealing or not, there's still a lot of pink glitter getting thrown around...
In the meantime, what do we think of Cosima's new love interest? We barely got a peek at her this week, but her questions about Sarah seem like a red flag. Is she another plant, meant to gather information and report back to a mysterious source? Or has Cosima finally found a real, uncomplicated relationship?
Will you miss Paul? Sound off with your thoughts in comments below!
Watch Paul's tragic death again and again when you watch Orphan Black online via TV Fanatic. Be sure to bring the tissues.
