What a great followup to last week’s series-defining episode, Variation Under Nature. While I figured last week was a marquee episode for the show, it was really just a setup for the best episode yet of Orphan Black.
Turns out crazy psycho killer clone introduced last week is named Helena, and she’s a bit of a religious nutter who happens to be closing in on Sarah’s dual identities after their confrontation last week. The show opens with Helena (still with creepy screech sound effect theme music!) doing some self surgery to repair wounds in the stranger’s house that we saw at the end of Variation Under Nature, then she pulls their random young son into the bathroom so he can watch. For no apparent reason, because later we see that he’s fine. Yep, that’s weird.
The Clone Club hijinks are in full effect this week as Sarah decides to enlist Alison to play her when a mandatory play date with Sarah’s daughter Kira conflicts with the hunt for Helena. There’s some funny and cute stuff with Felix trying to help Alison get the accent and attitude of Sarah down well enough to fool Kira and Mrs S. There’s also a pretty badass sequence when Helena comes to the police station as “Beth” to discover just how much Sarah has been playing cop and leaves her a calling card to let her know the game is truly afoot.
In the climax, Sarah confronts Helena in the apartment where Beth shot the “unarmed” woman that caused her suspension. Whew, my brain has the hurts. Turns out this wasn’t some random accident and this woman may be involved with the clone conspiracy, as we are also made privy to the idea that Helena was brainwashed to believe clones are an abomination in God’s eyes and they must be destroyed. Oh! And that she was the original that all the copies come from… yeah I said she was a nutter…
…one thing I will say that’s starting to bother me is all the things that happen to Sarah/Beth on the job with the police that get totally swept under the rug. There is not a police chief anywhere that would allow her to stay on duty after the behavior she has displayed, especially at the end of this episode, so I’m hoping this is addressed going forward.
Effects of External Conditions has some of the best performances and character moments to date on the show, as well as introducing bigger aspects to the show’s already interesting mysteries. Who are the shadowy group behind the clone killings? Was Beth way deeper into the conspiracy than anyone? How many clones is too many for Tatiana Maslany to play?! I say let her take over ALL the roles on the show. Especially Plot Device Paul. Maybe leave Felix…
The Good:
Should I just permanently put Tatiana Maslany here? The humor. The tense opening and closing scenes. Helena.
The Bad:
Will the police ever realize Beth is acting crazy?? Kira picked up on Alison’s deceit immediately but Mrs S was completely oblivious?
The Verdict:
The story has started to rocket along at super-speed and this episode manages to trump the previous by paying off the great setup while continuing to flesh out the mythology.
★★★★★