by Kevin Ranson:
Orphan Black Recap: “Instinct”
Original Air Date (BBC America): Saturday April 6, 2013
Season 1 Episode 2
I think I’m a clone now… there always seems to be two of me around…
“Hello?” Sarah says into her clone-phone. A woman on the other end asks where “Beth” has been and if she met with the German. When Sarah tells the caller what happened, she’s told it must be true: someone is killing them. Them? The caller mentions the briefcase as well as blood and hair samples, then instructs Sarah to get rid of the body. “You’re the cop; buy a shovel.”
While digging a lonely grave at night for the German, Sarah finds Katja’s identification and a hotel key card. Sarah also appears to be frighteningly efficient at removing forensic evidence from luxury vehicles. The wake continues back at Felix’s place, where Vic confesses his “imperfect” love for Sarah; Felix tells Vic that her death was his fault. Later, Vic confesses in a drunken haze that he wants to meet Kira and make up for being an abusive boyfriend before Felix throws him out – narrowly missing seeing Sarah coming up the steps.
After Sarah scolds Felix again for the wake and possibly screwing things up with Kira and Mrs. S, she presses him to smooth things over since it was his fault. Felix spots some blood that Sarah missed cleaning up and tells him about the German being another twin, confessing that she can’t explain it. That’s when she discovers Beth’s money missing – taken by Art – and the confidential files left in its place, sending Sarah into a fit. Art sets up a place to meet when she calls him.
“Why are you dressing like a punk rock ho?” Paul asks, surprising Sarah again at Beth’s flat. Sarah’s creep radar has been going off on Paul since she saw his picture on Beth’s fridge; Vic is starting to look like a catch in comparison. While Sarah stresses and picks a fight, Paul has a seemingly genuine moment of concern for Beth’s boozing and drug use, conveniently offering to crash at “Cody’s” for a while well Beth sorts out her life.
Felix bikes to Mrs. S to convince her that Sarah’s wake was a ruse, but Mrs. S has zero intention of letting Kira go “until she says Sarah is ready.” Meanwhile, Sarah absorbs the files Art left her and meets with him, convincing him that she’s ready for the hearing in order to get the money back. Beth had been following a perp names Xan Yip before mistakenly shooting Maggie Chen. Art confesses he knows about Beth’s pills – covering for her as well as staging the crime scene. Whoa. So why did Beth actually shoot Maggie?
Felix reassures Sarah about fixing it with Kira and Mrs. S. When the Nokia clone-phone rings again, the caller reminds her of the briefcase. To the tune of “These Boots Were Made for Walking” – kudos on using German lyrics! – a disguised Sarah enters the hotel and finds the room tossed. A decapitated doll burned with cigarettes is sitting on what appears to be a bible with the word “truth” written – a warning of some kind – but Sarah doesn’t read the outlined texts. I would have; wouldn’t you? Security catches her at the door to demand restitution for the room’s damage; Sarah breathes a sigh of relief when Katya’s credit card on file covers it. The briefcase, as it turns out, was in the hotel safe. “Rock and roll.”
Finding a secluded spot – on top of an inner city rooftop parking garage at night where no cameras could possibly see her smashing open a briefcase – Sarah finds the samples inside. There are more twins with addresses in Italy, Austria, and France. One clone per country is starting to sound like a defunct Russian sleeper agent project. The clone-phone rings again, but Sarah decides to stop being Beth and be herself. The caller asks a question: “Just one, I’m a few; no family, too… who am I?” Sarah dismisses it as some kind of riddle, prompting the caller to hang up.
Using a local address in the files for “Alison,” Sarah tails and locates another twin: an actual soccer mom. Confronting her as quietly as she can, the soccer mom freaks, denying Sarah’s confession that Beth is dead and telling Sarah to wait for a call.
Art calls and tells Sarah that the shrink has ruled Beth unfit for either the hearing or duty, that she wasn’t making any progress. Sarah confronts the psychiatrist, leveraging the fact that Beth’s bathroom was overflowing with prescription medications. “I’ll just explain to the board I shot the civilian after mixing up all your overlapping scrips,” she threatens, “or am I making progress?”
The hearing proceeds without delay and goes off without a hitch, but Art won’t give the money back until Beth is officially reinstated. Soccer Mom Alison calls on the clone-phone with instructions on meeting that night, so Sarah takes Felix with her as reluctant backup. When Alison brandishes a firearm after inviting Sarah in, another twin introduces herself as Cosima, that she was the one Sarah talked to on the clone-phone.
“Bloody hell… how many of us are there?”
Happy to oblige, Sarah! The current count stands at four you’ve met, two of which are dead, and three you have yet to meet – but who, if anyone, is the original?
Kevin A. Ranson is the author of The Spooky Chronicles and the upcoming vampire thriller The Matriarch. He also the creator/critic for MovieCrypt.com and the “ghost writer” for its horror host Grim D. Reaper (often seen skulking around horror conventions). Find him on Facebook, on Twitter @KevinARanson, and his author blog at ThinkingSkull.com.
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