Orphan Black – Clutch of Greed

By: Michelle Lopez

We open on Sarah (Tatiana Maslany) dreaming of Kira (Skyler Wexler) and Siobhan (Maria Doyle Kennedy) telling her to wake up and that she’s going to have to let go. Sarah wakes up calling for Kira, but instead of seeing her daughter she gets hit some serious deja vu. She’s in a Dyad holding cell wearing the official uniform of Dyad hostages. She starts raging because in the past few days Rachel (Tatiana Maslany) has stabbed her, hunted her, shot her with a tranquilizer dart and imprisoned her. Ferdinand (James Frain) shows up to let her know that Rachel doesn’t want to harm her or her family – she wants to end this ridiculous war. To prove his point, Ferdinand patches Sarah into a video call from Alison (Tatiana Maslany). Alison lets her know that Donnie (Kristian Bruun) and Helena (Tatiana Maslany) are on the run and Rachel’s people brought her back home safe and sound. Art (Kevin Hanchard) jumps in on the call to let Sarah know that there is no more wiggle room with the Neos. Satisfied that Alison is alright, Sarah asks about Cosima (Tatiana Maslany),so Ferdinand switches over to a video call with her. Cosima’s doing fine in Revival. Rachel gave her the cure and if it works, Cosima’s going to cure all the sestras. Satisfied he’s proven his point, Ferdinand cuts off the call, pulls up a live feed of Kira and asks Sarah if she’s finally ready to behave (she’s not).

Don’t Drink the Kool-Aid

Sarah’s all business when she enters Rachel’s office. She wants to know where Kira is and what the hell Rachel wants with her daughter. Rachel wants to study Kira and discover the cause of her special abilities so she proposes joint custody. She wants to end the war, cure the sestras and do whatever else P.T. Westmorland (Stephen McHattie) asks of her. Kira and Siobhan are ushered into the office and seem to be on board with Rachel’s plan so Sarah has no choice but to agree.

Ferdinand drops them off at home where Felix (Jordan Gavaris) has been anxiously waiting. Ferdinand reminds them that Rachel’s going to pick Kira up from school for their first Dyad date. When he leaves, Siobhan turns on the vacuum so they can plot their way out of this situation without the Neos listening. Siobhan’s network and their house are under surveillance so an escape isn’t going to be easy. Felix sneaks out to see what help Scott (Josh Vokey), Hell Wizard (Calwyn Shurgold) and Ira (Ari Millen) can be.

Sarah walks Kira to school, assuring her that she’s got nothing to worry about, but Kira (as perceptive as ever) knows Sarah’s the one who’ll be doing all the worrying. She tries to reassure her mom that she’ll be fine with “Auntie Rachel,” which stops Sarah in her tracks. There’s a snowball’s chance in Hell her daughter is going to be calling Rachel “auntie.” They arrive at school and Kira’s teacher offers his sympathies about the car accident that stabbed Sarah in the leg.

At the comic book shop, Felix tells Ira that he’s got to go back to the island to work on usurping Rachel with Susan. Since learning about Rachel stabbing his mother/lover, he’s no longer loyal to her. Scott’s got new super encrypted clone phones for everyone, including MK (Tatiana Maslany). She reached out to one of their Sarah avatars. He shows Felix the last message they received and MK’s hiding out in Felix’s loft.

Siobhan has confirmed that the house is bug-free as Sarah receives a video call from Felix, who’s with MK…and she’s got some news to share. Dyad’s been recruiting surrogates to start up human cloning again. She’s got a plan to help Sarah and Kira escape and she’s sicker than Cosima. Sarah’s main concern is for her sestra’s health. She promises MK that she’s part of the family now and they’re going to get her the cure.

At Dyad, Rachel and Ferdinand are sitting on the floor, partially undressed with their legs intertwined. Ferdinand is ready for some BDSM fun, but Rachel’s transcended to a place where she doesn’t want to play anymore. Ferdinand is pissed because for some reason he believes Rachel owes him after all that he’s done for her. They switch to business mode and head out to pick up Kira.

Siobhan, Felix and Sarah prepare to kidnap Kira and escape through MK’s underground. They’ve got to get past all of Rachel’s security around Kira and switch cars a few times, but if they pull it off then Sarah and Kira will be (metaphorical) ghosts. They’ll be free from Rachel, but they’ll never be able to come back. MK’s hacked into Dyad Security and sends Sarah a picture of Rachel’s outfit for the day.

Rachel and Ferdinand arrive at Kira’s school and split up to watch all the exits. Inside, Sarah dressed as Rachel picks Kira up a few minutes early. Kira’s not sure that running away is a good idea, but Sarah’s not listening. Rachel shows up in the classroom asking where Kira is and realizes she’s been played. She alerts her people and they jump into action. Being actively pursued, Sarah covertly hands Kira off to Siobhan and they manage to make it out. MK didn’t follow the plan and hide out with Scott though. Instead, she stayed at Felix’s loft. Sarah takes a detour to get MK (with Ferdinand hot on her tail) while Siobhan and Felix get Kira to the rendezvous location.

Sarah calls MK to let her know she’s not leaving her behind, but MK’s tired. She’s spent her whole life running and being as sick as she is, she’s ready to stop. MK tells Sarah she’s been followed and they see that Ferdinand has shown up. MK wants Sarah to just leave, but she can’t leave a sestra behind. Sarah arrives at the loft and tries to get MK to come with her, but Ferdinand shows up before she can convince her. To save her sestra, MK steals the Rachel outfit and tells Sarah to go save Kira. MK and Sarah both wish things could have been different for them, but it’s not. So, they say their final goodbye. Ferdinand kicks in the door and finds “Sarah” dressed as Rachel waiting for him. He blocks her attempt to stab him and throws her to the floor. Taking a good look, he realizes it’s MK he’s got trapped.

Sarah arrives at the rendezvous and explains that MK’s on her own. She tells Kira that MK will be fine, but Kira’s sestra-senses are going haywire so she refuses to get in the car with Sarah.

Ferdinand completely loses it and channels all his rage toward Rachel onto MK. She’s accepted her fate so she tells him that he can’t hurt her. He wants to hurt her and her denial of that sets him off. He stomps on her ribs chanting “you hurt me” between blows until MK takes her last breath. His cathartic release stomping the literal life out of MK is the most powerful and disturbing scene this show has ever done. We’ve never lost a clone we’ve had a chance to love and it hurts.

Kira feels the moment MK dies. It’s so painful that she finally puts her foot down. She’s been shuffled from place to place trusting her family to take care of her but she, much like MK, is done hiding. She wants to learn about herself and Rachel’s her best option. Though Sarah tries to force Kira to flee with her, Siobhan knows better than to take away Kira’s agency. She sends the driver away and they go home. The next day, Rachel picks Kira up for day one of this new reality.

That night Siobhan answers the door to find Delphine (Evelyne Brochu) outside. She has something to share with Siobhan as long as Sarah doesn’t know they’re communicating.

Neonatal vs. Neolution

At the Hendrix house, Art and Maddy (Elyse Levesque) force Alison to play her voicemails on speaker in the hopes that Donnie called. Aside from her mom and the local reverend, Alison’s phone is empty. Hoping to have appeased Maddy, Alison tries to excuse herself so she can get back to her life. With Donnie and Helena still in the wind, Alison is on house arrest.

Helena wakes up in the hospital, confused. Donnie quickly explains where they are and how the surgery to remove the stick went well, aside from one minor complication. A nurse explains that the stick stabbed one of the babies so a neonatal specialist is on their way to do an ultrasound. Helena hears “Neo” and begins to panic, but Donnie assures her that neonatal and Neolution are not the same thing. Donnie helps the nurse prep Helena for the ultrasound while they wait for the doctor. When the doctor arrives, she cuts straight to the point and suggests a c-section if the baby’s wound is as bad as it initially looked. The doctor and nurse perform the ultrasound and are shocked to see no injuries on either baby. The doctor orders a CAT scan to confirm what she just saw.

Helena knows that her babies have the same healing abilities as Kira and to protect them she wants to get the hell out of the hospital. Donnie wants to fight her on it, but with the army of Neos hunting them the less anybody knows about Helena’s babies the better. She tells him where she’s planning on hiding out with the condition that Sarah is the only person he tells. She whispers it to him as the doctor enters and tells Donnie he needs to go answer some questions about the accident. After Donnie leaves, the doctor explains that she needs to take some amniotic fluid from Helena to test for infection. Helena’s knows that the sample can also be used for DNA testing, which is the last thing she wants. To avoid putting her babies at risk, Helena stabs the doctor in the cheek with a massive needle, steals her car keys and makes a break for it. When the doctor is discovered, they call a “code white” and the people questioning Donnie rush off. Donnie follows, sees the poor doctor and makes a break for it himself.

Follow the Science

Over lunch Cosima and Charlotte (Cynthia Galant) discuss what the “vitamins” everyone on the island takes could be for. When Cosima has another coughing fit, Charlotte gets concerned about the treatment not working, but all good things take time. Cosima notices Aisha (Sirena Gulamgaus), the girl with cancer that Delphine brought to her attention and asks Charlotte to introduce her.

In the school, Cosima asks Aisha about her illness and meeting Westmorland. Aisha begins to tell her about her cancer and Westmorland when The Messenger (Geza Kovacs) and Mud (Jenessa Grant) bust in, wondering what Cosima’s doing with Aisha. They’ve come to take Cosima to see Westmorland.

Mud ushers Cosima up the stairs to Westmorland’s house while talking about him as if they are close friends. Cosima picks up on that and tries to pry some information out of Mud, but she deflects. Cosima enters the house alone, calling out and receiving no response. She wanders around until she stops to admire a picture of Westmorland and Darwin with a giant tortoise. When Westmorland arrives, Cosima’s shocked that he truly hasn’t aged since that picture was taken. He shows her the results of her latest test, which show the treatment working. They toast over the good news and Westmorland offers Cosima the opportunity to work with him after she cures her sestras. Cosima’s not keen on being part of some collection her “creator” has, but Westmorland isn’t interested in collecting her – he wants Cosima to follow the science, wherever it leads. He ushers her out and tells her to go save her sisters while she considers his offer.