by Kevin Ranson:
Orphan Black Recap: “Unconscious Selection”
Original Air Date (BBC America): Saturday May 25, 2013
Season 1 Episode 9
Why does the caged clone sing? She doesn’t; she just calls another clone for help.
Mrs. S and Sarah ride along inside the ambulance rushing Kira to the emergency room. While waiting to hear from the doctors, both Alison and Fee arrive for support. Alison is so paranoid about being watched that she’s afraid to go home; Fee hands over the key to his place. The doctors say Kira’s lucky – no head trauma, no internal bleeding, not even a cracked rib – but Sarah suspects that more than luck is involved. Hmm.. super girl?
While Helena confesses to Tomas her inability to kill Sarah and take Kira, Angela pressures Art to go after “Beth.” Sarah calls Helena, but Tomas demands Helena make Sarah come to her; Helena defies Tomas and gets caged for her defiance. As Dr. Leekie questions Paul at Beth’s flat over how many clones were actually at Olivier’s club, Alison starts nesting and cleans up Fee’s place. Fee owns a Dyson vacuum?
Cosima is informed of Kira’s condition; Sarah asks if Kira might be “different” but isn’t willing to hand over any genetic material to Cosima to let her confirm it. Mrs. S gets to meet Paul – and is a bit taken with him – but he reveals that Dr. Leekie knows who Sarah is; Paul suggests a safe place for a meeting him for a chance to get answers. Mrs. S is prepared to defend Kira at all costs should the worst happen, and she’s got the presumably loaded shotgun to prove it.
Art calls to meet with Sarah and give “Beth” one last chance to come clean. Art shows Sarah a picture of Fee and mentions the Maggie Chen shooting, but Sarah counters that Art is equally dirty for helping cover it up. Meanwhile, Fee goes with Alison to collect a few things from her home to discover half the neighborhood and her husband, Donnie, waiting for her; it’s an intervention!
On her way to meet with Leekie, Cosima calls with info about a genetic marker; there’s an artificial sequence in each clone’s DNA that separates them, but they’re otherwise identical. Cosima tells Sarah to give Leekie a chance, but the creepy way he reaches for her – without permission, mind you – is like he’s trying to pet a dog. Leekie claims he doesn’t have all of Sarah’s answers, that his part is overseeing data collection. Leekie does offer that Helena is a common enemy, and that he knows that Tomas – a member of an anti-science group calling themselves Proletheans – is the one directing Helena. He asks Sarah to bring in Helena to “get her the help she needs” and offers to stop monitoring the clones since they have become aware of what they are.
Cosima confronts Delphine about her part in the clone experiment. Delphine swears she is only trying to keep the clones safe from harm and didn’t give up Kira’s existence to Dr. Leekie, but the conversation doesn’t end well as Cosima’s heart breaks. Back at Alison’s house, she and Fee form a plan of attack – “Share-sies!” – but Alison goes for the kill instead, revealing her accusers’ infidelities and bringing the intervention to a halt. While Art discovers new footage back at the train platform that reveals Beth as the one actually jumped in front of the train, Helena resourcefully retrieves her clone phone and begs Sarah to come and free her.
Kira goes to bat for Helena’s feral nature, saying that she needs Sarah’s help. Finding the docked Prolethean ship, Sarah tries but can’t bring herself to kill Helena, freeing her instead. Tomas enters, forcing Helena to confront both her past and present, but Sarah’s words carry more weight. Helena attacks Tomas bare handed, but Sarah keeps her from killing him, locking him instead in Helena’s cage. An urgent call from Mrs. S interrupts Sarah from handing Helena over to Dr. Leekie, but who is the mysterious woman Leekie calls in to report to?
With Helena bound in the trunk, Mrs. S introduces Sarah to Amelia , her – wait for it – birth mother! Amelia was a surrogate for a young couple but fled when she learned that they were actually scientists posing as needy would-be parents. But wait, there’s more! Amelia gave birth to twins; one went to Mrs. S while the other went to a convent – Helena isn’t just a clone, she’s actually Sarah’s biological twin sister.
Does this mean the reason no one knew about Sarah is because every other clone had been accounted for? Is being a twin the reason Sarah could conceive a child when no other clone could? Who is Leekie’s mysterious boss lady? And are we going to lose any more clones in the season finale?
Are you watching? Have a theory? Just love or hate something? Leave a comment!
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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