Orphan Black – Gullotines Decide

By: Michelle Lopez

We pick up shortly after the events of last episode, Kira (Skyler Wexler) is back home asleep out on the couch with Sarah (Tatiana Maslany) struggling to keep her eyes open. As always, Siobhan (Maria Doyle Kennedy) is awake and armed ready to protect them.

After removing her robot eyeball with broken stemware, Rachel (Tatiana Maslany) hobbles onto the elevator, hits the down button and collapses inside unsure of what she’ll find when the doors open. All we see is some well-polished shoes before cutting to a hotel room where a doctor fixing up Rachel’s eye. The next morning Rachel wakes and finds Ferdinand (James Frain) watching her.

Siobhan’s up bright and early preparing tea when Sarah rushes in apologizing for falling asleep. Sarah’s used to the world crumbling under her feet and hearing that everything’s calm has her panicking. To distract Sarah, Siobhan sends her to wake Kira in preparation for their friend’s arrival.

A short while later, Art (Kevin Hanchard) shows up with Charlotte (Cynthia Galant) to take her and Kira to his ex’s place for safety. Sarah doesn’t understand why Neolution hasn’t come after them and Siobhan figures that Rachel spilled the beans on PT so the cabal is more concerned about saving face.

In the comic shop where Cosima (Tatiana Maslany) seems to be living, Delphine (Evelyne Brochu) receives news that Neolution has gotten a bunch of European countries to move forward with legislation that’ll require everyone to submit DNA. Delphine’s panicking, but Cosima wants to live in the moment and have brunch with her girl because the world will still be falling apart when they get back. Unfortunately for “Cophine,” Siobhan has requested a summit to discuss the latest mess.

While waiting for Cophine to call, Sarah’s a ball of anxiety because she’s not used to standing still. She snaps at Siobhan for being calm, but she knows something Sarah doesn’t. Moments later Felix (Jordan Garavis) and Adele (Lauren Hammersley) burst through the door. They’re back for Felix’s art opening. Both Sarah and Cosima (now on video chat) think it’s risky having a big party, but Felix isn’t going to let Clone Club ruin his moment. He apologizes to Cosima for her not being able to attend because he’s not allowing sestra drama to ruin his night. Sarah can’t focus on Felix’s big night because she’s worried about the cabal’s next move. Siobhan thinks they all deserve a night off for their efforts and Delphine agrees because A) they’re right and B) she’s in cahoots with Siobhan.

At the convent, Gracie (Zoe De Grand Maison) thanks Helena (Tatiana Maslany) for letting her stay. Helena asks about Mark (Ari Millen) and how she managed to find her because she’s not sure she can trust Gracie. Mark allegedly died two weeks ago and she remembers Helena telling her about Sister Irena, which is how she found her. Gracie knows Helena doesn’t trust her and offers to leave, but Helen’s a Hufflepuff at heart and assures Gracie that she still has family with her.

In Felix’s whitewashed loft, Alison (Tatiana Maslany) and Donnie (Kristian Bruun) are hard at work hanging up Felix’s paintings of his sestras. Donnie asks Alison to help place the pictures, but she’s still riding her California zen and isn’t going to micromanage Donnie… until she sees his suburbia inspired outfit. Usually she’d be onboard with such a look, but she’s a free spirit now and the confines of suburbia’s expectations suffocates her. Felix tells Donnie he looks fine and will be tending bar while Alison skiddadles because no sestras are allowed.

At home, Adele’s preparing snacks for Felix’s show while Sarah obsessively pours over Neolution documents. Siobhan wants Sarah to take a chill pill and help Adele while she runs out to take care of some business. Sarah doesn’t buy this “standing down” nonsense like her sestras so she forces Siobhan to admit that there is no such thing as standing down in this war. Even though they’re still fighting, Siobhan needs Sarah at the opening to make sure nothing goes awry.

At the comic shop, Scott (Josh Vokey) and Cosima have created 144 doses of the cure that Cosima plans on giving to every Leda she can find. Delphine makes for the exit, which confuses Scott because they were planning to go to Felix’s together. Delphine’s a bit cagey about it, but Cosima sends her off without fanfare because she’s trusting that Delphine is doing what she needs to do to keep her promise.

Siobhan finds Delphine camped outside Rachel’s hotel room. Delphine isn’t sure hiding their plan is a good idea because it’d be safer and they wouldn’t need to lie to their loved ones. Siobhan knows her daughter and if Sarah knew they were working with MK’s killer she’d lose it. They knock and Ferdinand leads them to Rachel. Siohan explains that they’re on an even playing field since Rachel outing PT put a giant target on her back like her family’s had since day one. Delphine provides the evidence they’ve acquired while fighting the urge to punt MK’s killer off the face of the Earth. Siobhan asks for a moment alone with Rachel that she’s earned by saving Rachel’s life by calling Ferdinand.

At home, Sarah’s getting Adele drunk to try and get some information about what Siobhan and Delphine have been up to, but Adele’s in the dark. She understands what Sarah’s trying to do but their brother needs them.

With Delphine and Ferdinand gone, Siobhan explains that Neolution’s goal is commercialization of evolution to the rich and sterilization to everyone else courtesy of Coady (Kyra Harper). The word sterilization peaks Rachel’s interest because she’s been fighting the majority of her life for the ability to procreate. Siobhan and Delphine have all the information, but they need Rachel to provide evidence that the secret cabal has been bribing governments. Siobhan takes a chance and hands over all their evidence. She asks Rachel to provide the proof they need to end Neolution so that all the sestras can be free.

At the loft, Hell Wizard (Calwyn Shurgold) is DJ-ing as Alison is trying to convince Felix to allow Cosima to attend but he’s on a mission to avoid any clone drama. Alison has Felix to pause and look around the gallery, there’s already plenty of clone nonsense going on since the entire show is his paintings of his sestras. Colin (Nicholas Rose) arrives and meets Alison as Sarah and mentions that time he ID’d her body because he’s still salty. Thankfully, other guests start to arrive so Colin drops it.

At the convent, Gracie’s cleaning the room while Helena works on her memoirs. Sister Irina stops in to let them know she’s headed to town so it’s their turn to clean the toilets. Helena jumps to it and tells Gracie to head over when she’s done in their room. With Helena gone, Gracie gives Mark a call and lies to him. She tells him that she wasn’t able to find Helena because despite their rough history, deep down they’ve always been on the same side of this war. The calls ends and on Revival Coady asks Mark if Gracie is lying.

At the opening, Felix freaks because a famous gallerist showed up and he doesn’t believe his showing is adequate. Alison suggests he spice up the show by using this sestras to enhance the show. He agrees to clone swapping and introduces Alison as Hestia, the god of hearth and home. Alison is unapologetically herself and all the crowd can comment on is how she looks different than in the painting. Felix jumps in to remind everyone that IDENTITY IS A SOCIAL CONSTRUCT. Alison and Cosima swap places and Felix introduces her as Metis, the god of wisdom and deep thought.

Back at home, Adele’s trying to get Sarah to drop her investigation, but Sarah’s a pigheaded as they come. She snaps at Sarah for putting her issues ahead of Felix’s and in an attempt to appease Sarah she drops the only tidbit of information she’s got. Delphine and Siobhan were in communication with some guy named Ferdinand. Sarah stops dead and let’s Adele know that Ferdinand killed her sister.

In the hotel, Ferdinand is looking through Siobhan’s files, which are apparently a goldmine. Rachel’s got the key to confirming Siobhan’s intel which would give everyone freedom from the boards influence. She claims to have no ties to Sarah and company because she gave Kira back, but the bond of sestrahood goes far beyond Neolution nonsense.

At the opening, Felix is tired of the barrage of texts from Sarah about Delphine and Siobhan being shady so he asks Delphine what’s up. She tells him they are up to something and that’s enough for Felix because he really doesn’t care tonight.

In the hotel, Rachel’s setup a meeting with the board for Ferdinand to crash. He wants to blackmail them into giving them a giant payout using Rachel’s evidence, but Rachel’s got another idea. She’s got money saved up that they can use to take down Neolution AND go live their lives far away from this nonsense. Ferdinand likes the idea, but he’s not in this for anything other than wealth. When he dismisses her idea, Rachel gets that Ferdinand cares about wealth more than her. She gives him the flash drive and sends him off to his meeting.

At the opening, Delphine buys Felix’s picture of Cosima as they discuss what they plan to do with the freedom they’re so close to obtaining. Felix calls for a clone swap because Sarah’s arrived. Sarah isn’t interested in the opening as much as getting to the bottom of Siobhan’s plans. Felix sympathizes, but this bad news isn’t going to stop his show so he pushes her into the room and introduces her as Athena, god of war.

At home, Siobhan’s putting together a bouquet of roses, collecting all her guns and writing a note for her chickens. She knows a lot is at stake tonight so she’s not leaving without all her affairs in order. She shoots Delphine a text to let her know their plans are a go and Delphine rushes out of the party.

At the convent, Helena’s found Gracie’s phone and confronts her about it. Gracie swears she didn’t rat her out because she knows that Helena is her family. Unfortunately, she didn’t realize they could trace her phone. Helena tries to rush them out of there, but Maddy (Elyse Levesque) is already there. Her goons subdue Helena while Maddy executes Gracie. If Maddy thinks she’s going to escape Helena’s wrath, she’s got another thing coming.

Ferdinand crashes the board meeting and taunts them a bit before pulling out the flash drive. The board is ready to pay him off as soon as he proves it’s legit. The flash drive is empty because Rachel would rather take that relaxing retirement over insane wealth. While Ferdinand’s meeting goes south, Rachel’s handing over the evidence to Siobhan. In the boardroom, Ferdinand’s survival instincts kick in and he takes out security and escapes.

At the party, Siobhan finally shows up with the bouquet of roses. Sarah attacks her with questions and since the end is in sight she gives her chickens the truth. They had to work with Ferdinand to get to Rachel and it worked because Rachel handed over everything they need to expose all of Neolution’s human experimentation and Coady’s sterilization plan. They have it all and are ready to send it off.

Cut to Cosima and Delphine preparing to send the documents to all concerned parties. Cosima takes a moment to revel in the moment and “Cophine” pushes the send button together.

At the party, Felix takes his moment to address the crowd. He calls up the important women in his life and thanks them for all they’ve done. He thanks Siobhan for raising Sarah and him into the people they are today. We’re all a combination of nature versus nurture and Felix owes all his nurture side to his “galaxy of women.”

Back in the hotel, Ferdinand returns pissed that Rachel double crossed him even though he completely ignored her wishes. He never loved her, he loved the wealth and power she could give him. He wants money and she wants freedom. He realizes she gave the evidence to Siobhan so he attacks her, but Rachel knows how to play him. She calls him “daddy” and he runs away.

At the opening, Felix tells Siobhan about the opportunities that have arisen so far from this opening. She’s beyond proud of him and all he’s accomplished and when she meets his boyfriend, Colin, she’s overjoyed. Hell Wizard turns up the music and transforms the art opening to a full on party. Sarah sends Siobhan a thankful smile as she finally relaxes for the first time in ages. Knowing that Ferdinand won’t give up his dream easily, Rachel gives Siobhan a call to warn her that he’s coming after her. With one final look at Sarah, Siobhan rushes out of the party and heads to her house armed and ready for war.

She finds the place trashed and MK’s killer lurking. They end up face to face bantering back and forth about how much they want to kill each other. Siobhan calls her shot, one to the throat before they agree to put their guns down. Siobhan has ruined Ferdinand’s life by taking away his opportunity to profit from the exploitation of another generation of women. She tells him the files are going public as they speak so he pulls a gun from his back pocket and shoots her in the chest. At that exact moment Sarah knows something’s wrong and realizes Siobhan’s not at the party anymore. Siobhan takes a seat in her armchair and asks Ferdinand to pass her the picture of her kids, but being the ass that he is he drops it at her feet giving her the opportunity to pull the gun she stashed in the chair and shoot him in the throat, as promised. She picks up the picture and stares at her children uttering their nickname one last time “chickens.”