Orphan Black is really crushing it this season, continuing with “Ruthless in Purpose, and Insidious in Method.” It’s an episode that recalls an event only briefly shown in the premiere, sees a deal made with the last person Clone Club should ever trust in an attempt to translate Duncan’s code, raises the question of the identity of a mole and features action in the back room of Bubbles not like what it used to see in Alison’s high school days.
I’m not even going to attempt to choose my favorite part of this episode. There’s Felix’s conversation with Krystal, as he continues to be the clones’ sounding board and confidant (even if the clone doesn’t know it in this case). There’s the fact that they even bring Krystal Goderitch back and show that she’s struggling to deal with what’s happened to her and she’s not as blonde as she seems. There’s Rudy with Scott’s cat. There’s the moment every time there’s a pencil around Rachel now that acknowledges how she lost that eye. There’s Helena and Donnie in Bubbles. It’s an episode filled with moments that, put together, make for a strong episode and the kind we should have as we near the finale.
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Making Deals with the Devil (Clone)
After her latest relapse, Cosima insists she’s fine. Unfortunately Sarah can’t be used as a treatment for Cosima even though she’s immune, but Cosima can help her. Cosima directs Sarah to contact Scott, but she has to close Skype because Shay comes home.
While Shay does a bit of holistic healing on her, Cosima asks what she thinks about near death experiences. Shay’s theory? “As we’re dying, we see what we love, the ‘can’t-live- without-it-love,’ and if it’s strong enough, something we fight our way back.” (Cosima did see Delphine…)
Scott updates Sarah on Rachel and Duncan’s code and suggests telling Delphine, but Sarah agrees with Cosima that they can’t risk it. That means she has to talk to Rachel to get answers, which is easy enough to accomplish with Delphine still thinking Scott’s teaching Rachel Agricola. However, Rachel wants something from them: to get her out of Dyad so she can go off and live a quiet life. (Really? Does anyone anywhere actually believe her?) Since she’s officially dead, she needs a new identity: Krystal’s. As proof she can read the code, she offers a translation from the page Scott gave her: “In London Town, we all fell down and Castor woke from slumber.”
While Mrs. S. is doubtful about freeing Rachel after just that one bit, Sarah argues that it could save Cosima. It’s their best chance, and if this works, Delphine would have no choice but to work with them because they’ll know what Duncan’s code says. That means it’s time for Sarah and Felix to take a road trip to Krystal.
Concerns at Dyad
After Shay offers Cosima a ride to work, Cosima shows her the lab and introduces her to Scott. When Shay takes Duncan’s book off a shelf, Cosima quickly grabs it and Scott puts it in his bag. Then Delphine walks in. Initially, Cosima tells Shay she can stay, but when Delphine mentions it’s about a sequencing issue with the European trials, Cosima has Scott show her out.
Delphine insists that her concerns are about security, not jealousy, and she just wants them to put their minds together like they used to, leaving the “crazy science” out of it. Cosima agrees, which is good because Delphine doesn’t have good news. A Polish Leda clone died, and they think Cosima is going to need another stem cell treatment from Kira in the next month. However, Cosima refuses to use Kira like that.
How Much Does Krystal Know?
Following her encounter with Rudy, whose scar she was into, and his “identical twin” (or so she thinks), Krystal hasn’t been quiet about what happened to her, as she tells Delphine as she gives her a manicure. (Apparently if you go to Krystal for a mani/pedi, it comes with a side of “these creepy identical twins almost kidnapped me and killed my boyfriend.”) As Krystal puts it, she figured, “Whatever, this guy’s hot. Nobody dies.” (Well, Hector did.)
While Delphine tells Dr. Nealon that Krystal is still “very” naive, Felix goes to see her to steal her identity, showing that, like his sister, he can con with the best of them. That turns out to not exactly be true. Krystal tells him the same story she told Delphine and admits that she has no one else to talk to and her biggest fears are twins and clowns. Anyone else would just continue with the conversation. Felix immediately wonders if she said “clones.” (No, Felix. Clowns. It’s a common fear, especially if she’s seen American Horror Story: Freak Show.) Sarah gets him back on track to get her information, like her first pet’s name and her mother’s maiden name (a.k.a. her porn name).
When Krystal admits that she knows when something’s not right, like her boyfriend is being on a two-year rotation, security guards carrying machine guns and the cops dropping things so quickly, Sarah has to stop Felix from telling her the truth. Instead, he excuses himself and goes into the staff room. He gets her wallet, but he also finds a pink notebook in her bag:
Krystal is piecing everything together, Felix realizes. When he goes back out to her, he says he has to go, and she thinks it’s because she talks too much. She used to trust people, she explains, but now she feels like she has to be paranoid all the time. (Krystal, go with those instincts.) Felix then uses his “truth voice” as he calls it (a.k.a. his regular voice) and assures her, “The only thing that you need to know is that you are one of a kind. You’re a survivor, Krystal, and you’re not alone.” With that, it’s time for him and Sarah to get out of there before they make it worse.
Unfortunately for Krystal, Felix isn’t the last one to come to see her. That would be Dr. Nealon. As she’s closing up and asks if she can help him, he tells her, “I’m afraid you can, Krystal.” Uh-oh, Krystal.
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What Kind of Monster Threatens a Man’s Cat?
Still in Mexico, Dr. Coady asks the waitress who helped Sarah, if any twins came through. The waitress says that she doesn’t remember any sisters, but Coady only asked about a blonde and brunette; she didn’t mention their gender. Sure, she could have assumed, but to someone like Coady? Must be suspicious.
While Coady is focused on the fact that without the original genome, her boys will be dead within a year, Benchman has some good news for her: he has a source inside Leda. That’s when Coady realizes there’s more to this than just Castor and Leda, but he doesn’t tell her who’s in charge. “Keep your boys alive, Doctor. We can all get what we want,” he assures her.
So where’s Rudy? Well, he’s hanging out in Scott’s apartment, waiting for him to come home and spends some quality time with Denise, his cat. He wants the “very special” edition of The Island of Doctor Moreau and the fact that he knows Scott has it, is very suspicious. Fortunately for Denise, it’s in Scott’s backpack after Shay picked it up earlier in the lab. So Denise lives to see another day, but Cosima and Scott face a situation not unlike being called to the principal’s office as Delphine scolds them for not telling her about the code and finds out Rachel can read it.
Using Subterfuge Once Again to Put the Plan in Action
Just like Alison used Ramon to deliver a gun to Sarah via a bouquet of flowers, Scott enlists one of his gaming friends to deliver a copy of Duncan’s book to Sarah. “Of course we made a copy. We’re not complete idiots,” Cosima says, promising to keep Delphine busy while they get Rachel out.
Delphine accuses Rachel of tipping off Castor, but Scott argues she doesn’t even have the internet, and when Delphine goes off to talk to Cosima, he stays behind under the pretense of playing Agricola. Once it’s time, another one of Scott’s gaming friends lets them out of Rachel’s room and leads them to the elevator. Scott brings Rachel to Mrs. S.’, and her new IDs are waiting for her, so now it’s time to translate. Here, Rachel, have a pencil and a magnifying glass.
Back at Dyad, Cosima gives Delphine her resignation. Delphine argues that she can’t quit because she’ll lose her access and control. She’ll become just another subject, and anyone could be a spy, like Shay. How will she know without her, Delphine asks. “If you’re not going to be with me, if you’re not going to switch sides, let me go,” Cosima tells her. She then admits to almost dying and seeing her. “I came back for you,” Cosima says, and Delphine kisses her.
At Mrs. S.’, Rachel’s translation is coming along. “Find the first, the beast, the cursed, the original has a number.” Is H46239 that number? Unfortunately, that’s as far as they get because that’s when Dr. Nealon bursts in. Felix manages to grab the translation, but the doctor gets the copy of the book — and Rachel when she falls to the floor, seizing.
Dyad’s medical team brings Rachel in, and Delphine questions Dr. Nealon’s prior claim that she could handle them moving her. Sure, they have a copy of the book, but without Rachel, they can’t read the code, and she’s going into surgery. Later, Dr. Nealon tells Delphine that Rachel suffered an acute intra-cranial bleed and he induced a coma, but she may never recover.
Cosima tries to explain that they couldn’t give Delphine the book because they couldn’t risk it falling into Topside’s hands, but Delphine points out they lost the book because someone close to them tipped Castor off and it would’ve been safer with her. With that, Delphine accepts Cosima’s resignation, as well as the one Scott didn’t give, but before having security see them out, she has one last thing for Cosima: a file on Shay.
As for the translation they do have, Mrs. S. suggests that their best lead is London. They have to get to the Castor original first. “Bloody hell,” Felix realizes. “Are we going home?”
Even More Subterfuge Than They Know
There’s more going on than Sarah or Delphine know, as is made clear with one look between Rachel and Dr. Nealon. While he’s checking on his patient in her room, he’s talking to Rachel on the phone. That’s because it’s really Krystal in Dyad, with one eye covered to make everyone think she’s Rachel. Meanwhile, Rachel is abroad, ready for the surgery for a perfectly matched prosthetic eye.
There’s a mystery woman with Rachel, and after she thanks Dr. Nealon, he tells her, “She’s in your hands now.” So much for not being able to afford to play favorites anymore, Dr. Nealon. But who is this woman? Am I the only one thinking she could be Susan Duncan and she didn’t die in the fire? (After all, Ethan didn’t.) Or is she someone from Topside?
Quick plea: Someone please rescue Krystal. She really doesn’t deserve this. The only problem? Someone would have to notice she’s gone and with everything else going on, it doesn’t seem like anyone will even think to check on her. Considering Delphine’s the only one left in Dyad, she may be her only hope.
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Store Room Hijinks
The Hendrixes continue to live their own separate story/TV show as their Breaking Bad business continues, with help from Helena and Gracie making soap in the back room of Bubbles. Though Donnie initially wants Helena to go live with one of her other sisters, he seems to warm up to her after she tells him that Alison has good taste in men. “You have meat on your bones,” Helena explains. “You are strong like baby ox.” And as Donnie shows her how to make the soap, he suggests, “maybe we need two baby ox” since it’s not usually that thick when Alison does it. I have to admit, I want to see more of those two together.
When Gracie joins Helena, she apologizes for losing the baby, but Helena says it’s not her fault and she’ll be an aunt to her baby. Gracie would like that and they hug. The way Helena is with Gemma and the way she is with Gracie just emphasizes what Felix tells Donnie: she may be “crazy pants,” but she’s good with kids.
Meanwhile, Donnie’s focused on the fact that Jason kissed Cosima thinking she was Alison and even suggests that his wife would have kissed him back. That turns out to be a legitimate concern since when Alison does talk to Jason about it, he kisses her again and she does kiss back, for a moment, before pushing him away. No one needs to know, he argues, and even though she sends him on his way, he knows she felt something.
Even though Alison tells Donnie it was just a misunderstanding, he texts Jason pretending to be her and sets up a meeting in Bubbles’ back room. Once there, Donnie basically asserts his claim on his wife — or tries to, at least. “You work for me now, you understand? If I want your wife, I’ll just take her,” Jason tells him, and so Donnie punches him. Jason shoves him back and slaps him, and the fight ends with Jason knocking Donnie out and leaving him there on the floor. Oh boy.
Is Shay the Castor Mole?
It sure looks like it. Sure, it’s easy to point fingers at Rachel like Delphine does, but as Scott points out, she doesn’t have access to the internet. How would she be in contact with Castor? And why? And yes, Gracie even looks a bit suspicious since she eavesdrops on Sarah, Mrs. S. and Felix while they’re talking about Rachel and the book (and Mrs. S. mentions the book by name), but all signs point Shay’s way.
First, there’s her job. At a time when Cosima needs all the help she can get, (and she even tells Sarah that Shay is what she needs right now), she just so happens to meet a holistic healer on Sapphire?
Then Shay offers Cosima a ride to work since she’s late, which presents the chance for a tour of the lab, and once she’s in the lab, she just so happens to pick up The Island of Doctor Moreau? It almost seems casual too … first notice the game, then move on to the book. That can’t just be a coincidence. Plus, she sees Cosima’s immediate reaction to her holding it and Scott put it in his backpack. When he gets home, Rudy just so happens to be waiting and knows he has the book? As Delphine put it, Castor knew exactly what they were looking for.
Also, could there be more to her turning down Scott’s offer to sequence her genome than “I draw the line at sharing that information with a corporation”?
Furthermore, Rudy says he heard that Cosima is not doing well and Shay was there for Cosima’s latest relapse.
Maybe this is all just a coincidence. Maybe Shay’s too obvious a choice. But maybe not.
Orphan Black season 3 airs Saturdays at 9pm on BBC America.
(Images courtesy of BBC America)
Contributing Writer, BuddyTV
If it’s on TV — especially if it’s a procedural or superhero show — chances are Meredith watches it. She has a love for all things fiction, starting from a young age with ER and The X-Files on the small screen and the Nancy Drew books. Arrow kicked off the Arrowverse and her true passion for all things heroes. She’s enjoyed getting into the minds of serial killers since Criminal Minds, so it should be no surprise that her latest obsession is Prodigal Son.
