Orphan Black S01 E09 – Nailed it

Previously: Helena lured Kira out of the house AND THEN SHE GOT HIT BY A CAR.
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Unconscious Selection

Lorraine: We watch as an ambulance carries a broken Kira to the hospital, and then as paramedics rush her into an operating room. Kira and Siobhan follow behind them closely, crying and distraught, until they are told they can go no further. Sarah’s outcry makes me… have hay fever. It’s the weirdest thing.

Sweeney: IT’S THE WORST. I was already pretty devastated over the wounded child but mother-losing-her-shit is a kind of heartsick that is fully contagious.

Lor: In the waiting room, Sarah is blaming herself for what happened, while Felix and Siobhan try to comfort her. Alison asks if anyone would like coffee, and she’s trying to help, but it’s the wrong thing to say. Felix pulls her aside and she doesn’t need to hear it. She knows she’s in the way, but she can’t help but feel like it’s her daughter in the hospital. Felix tells her to go home and get some rest, but she can’t. Home isn’t safe for her after she assaulted her monitor. Felix hands her the keys to his flat. She thanks him and stands to leave. She wants to say something to Sarah before going, but no words come. She turns and heads out.

Operating Room. A technician is performing an ultrasound on Kira. She calls the doctor’s attention to the ultrasound, because there is something he needs to see. We catch a brief glimpse of it, and from my end it kind of looks like a band-aid swimming in her stomach, but you know: blogger not a doctor.

Sweeney: Maybe there would be fewer poor blogger jokes if we were also doctors.

Lor: Too true. Plus, I could tell you what TV ultrasounds mean.

We cut to the doctor exiting the operating room with news for Sarah and family: it looks like Kira is gong to be just fine. There is no internal bleeding, no head trauma and her ribs are in tact.

Miraculously fine, you say? Team #MMHMMMOKAY.

DNA and SCIENCE and NEAT-O SCREENSAVER.

Sweeney: It’s like the credits were responding that #MMHMMMOKAY.

Lor: After the credits, Kira is back at home, in her bed with Sarah watching over her. Kira talks a bit in her sleep about Helena.

We cut to the Murder Lighting Boat. Helena is rocking back and forth on her cot, smacking herself in the face. Tomas tells her to get it together, and refuses to believe that Sarah could have a child. He snatches the letter Helena is holding, the one from Kira to Sarah. Helena blames herself for Kira’s accident.

Traumaland’s One Legit Police Station. Deangelis is all about getting “Beth” back into the station since her prints matched that of Jane Doe and Sarah Manning. Art doesn’t think they have a charge that will stick, but Deangelis offers, “obstruction of justice.” She thinks this all goes back to the shooting of Maggie Chen. Art shushes his partner as the lieutenant approaches, asking for an update on the case. Art says they are still looking for a break and they just need until the end of the day. After the lieutenant leaves, Deangelis says she’s starting to wonder if Beth has something on Art, seeing as he’s so reluctant to give her up.

Murder Lighting Boat. Tomas wants to know how Helena could’ve let Sarah go, especially if she is a “natural mother.” Helena says the child is innocent, and she did as she was asked, using Sarah to get to the others. Tomas asks where the other are then, as he crumbles and throws Kira’s letter. Helena scrambles after it, and reminds Tomas that she totally de-tailed someone for him. He isn’t as impressed as he should be. Helena’s phone rings and Tomas struggles with her and grabs it. It’s Sarah. He demands that Helena lure Sarah to the Murder Lighting Boat. Helena answers the phone and asks how Kira is. Sarah wants to talk about it in person. Helena says it was all an accident and then knocks the phone out of Tomas’s hands. She tries to run away but he’s right there next to her, and smacks her. Sarah hears all the ruckus and hangs up.

Beth’s Townhouse. Dr. Leekie is examining it, looking at pictures of Beth and Paul, saying it was all a very convincing lie. Unfortunately, Olivier’s lie the previous night was not. Dr. Leekie knows that someone tampered with the video at Neolution and there were in fact two clones there that night. Leekie’s been looking for Helena for many years, and he knows she’s feral. He doesn’t buy that Helena could impersonate Beth, so he asks Paul where Sarah is.

Felix’s Frisky Flat. Allison washes dishes, cleans the tub and the toilet, makes the bed, and vacuums. I appreciate this so much because I am totally a nervous/stress cleaner. Felix gets home and he’s shocked in a bad way over the cleanliness.

Sweeney: I’m also a nervous/stress cleaner, but I am otherwise a super messy person and hate when people touch my shit. I KNOW WHICH PILE THE THINGS I WANT/NEED ARE IN, OK? Basically, I would have both of these reactions depending on whose position I was in.

 

This reminds me of the time we found out that part of Christian Grey’s housekeeper’s job was washing the butt plugs. I hope she had amazing benefits. Definitely with dental and vision. (S: 1430.)

What was I saying? Ah, yes, Alison tries to casually mention staying at Felix’s while she apartment hunts. Felix begrudgingly says she can stay for one day. Alison next asks him to come with her back to the abode so she can pick up some of her things. She grabs Felix’s hand and says please. This is probably cheating since she looks exactly like his sister. (S: Nice observation.) He gives in, but first he has to change.

Sarah calls Cosima to ask if this thing with Kira being suspiciously fine could be a consequence of the clone thing. Cosima postulates that if they were genetically modified, it could be something that Sarah passed on to Kira. She explains, “lizards regrow limbs.” Sarah huffs that Kira is not a lizard, but the point is that it’s all stem cells. Cosima has that Lab Mate sequencing her genes next to the German’s to see if her sickness was genetic. She offers to have him do the same for Sarah and Kira’s genes, but Sarah’s not having it. Cosima claims to only be following the science, as they agreed. Sarah says she’s more afraid of scientists than the science. There is a knock on the door so she hangs up with Cosima.

We cut to Sarah racing downstairs to answer the door. It’s Paul, bringing coloring books and puzzles for Kira. Okay, aw. (S: AWWW) Siobhan eyes him all, “ALRIGHT SARAH. GET YOU SOME.” She was not exposed to their rapey beginnings so she’s shipping them right away. Mostly because of Paul’s face, I think. Maybe because of the coloring books. Paul isn’t there with good news, though. He tells them that Dr. Leekie knows about Sarah.

Tomas drags Helena through the Murder Lighting Boat. He strips her of her jacket and shoves her in a cage. She screams and cries against the restraint. He yells that he gave her everything, a reason for living, and in return she gave him weakness. “You’re no better than they are,” he says and Helena roars at him. For real. She kicks at the cage door and it’s heartbreaking. It reminds me a lot of a child throwing a tantrum.

Sweeney: This whole bit was major heartbreak. It doesn’t absolve Helena of being a giant murderer, of course, but while this whole show is making a huge nurture > nature argument, Helena is the most dramatic element of that. She may not be excused but this psychotic level of abuse certainly earns her a fair bit of sympathy. She’s mentally unstable – to the point that she seems like a child – and is being abused and exploited in the worst ways. OK, Helena, you get some of my feels too.

Lor: A healthy dose of feels.

After a Not Break, Paul explains that Dr. Leekie wants to meet. He knows that the clones are in contact and wants to make a deal. Sarah wonders if Cosima gave her up. It’s incredible to me the pacing here. Nine episodes in and we not only discovered the doctor behind the experiments, but now both parties are aware of each other. Paul says they can meet Dr. Leekie safely and on Sarah’s terms.

Science, Science, Science Lab. Lab Mate has finished sequencing and analyzing more than 4000 base pairs for Cosima. There are some differences, which Cosima declares impossible. She quickly hides the papers when Delphine arrives in the lab and those two make plans to see each other later.

Sarah kisses Kira’s head as she sleeps. Sarah tells Siobhan to tell Kira that she’ll be right back, though Siobhan questions if she will be. Sarah asks if she’ll be fine and Siobhan pulls her shotgun into view. Downstairs, Beth’s phone rings. Sarah answers and tells Art that she’s busy. He wants to talk though, off the record, telling her this is her last chance. She asks where he is.

Alison’s Abode. Alison finds a whole group of people sitting in her living room staging an intervention.

 

Alison sits down and Donnie starts by saying that the pills and drinking have to stop. The constant criticism and the hot glue gunning were really hard on him. Aynsley says that the thing that hurts the most is that Alison turned her back on their friendship. Donnie asks if Alison really wants to break up their family, for the sake of their kids. Alison starts to get teary so she gets up and runs away.

Beth!Sarah meets Art and he shows her a picture of Felix. He knows that Beth!Sarah visited his house with 75k in her trunk. Art says this is her last chance to come clean. She tells him that they’ll each do what they have to and drives away.

Helena is still raging against her case, until she sees a hook not too far away. She undoes her belt, loops it, and starts trying to lasso the hook.

Sarah drives up to the mobile office at what appears to be a construction site. She’s talking to Cosima via Pink Phone. Cosima admits she was wrong; they can identify them through their DNA. There is a synthetic sequence in their DNA which acts as something like a barcode. That explains why Olivier knew she wasn’t Beth, but she doesn’t think that explains how Leekie knew her name. She asks if Cosima mentioned anything to Delphine. Cosima denies it but pulls out her Clone Case File, the one Delphine looked through, and starts inspecting it. Sarah says she’s about to meet Dr. Leekie and Cosima asks her to give him a chance. He cares about them. Sarah doesn’t buy it, and says she was thinking of putting a gun to his head.

Sweeney: That’s one way to make your lack of trust clear.

Lor: Though an argument could be made for the less dramatic, “using your words.”

Paul leads a blindfolded Dr. Leekie to the mobile office. Sarah gives Paul a wave and he removes the blindfold. Sarah looks at him stone faced. He looks at her in wonder. After a Not Break, Leekie tells Sarah that he doesn’t have all the answers. Like the monitors, like Olivier, he only knows his part. He collects data and quantifies the clones’ well being. Dr. Leekie reaches out to touch either Sarah’s face or hair, which just proves that he’s evil scum. What about any of this seemed like an invitation to touch her?

Sweeney: RIGHT? She wants to murder your face off. Snark Squad PSA: People who want to murder you are not (unless they explicitly state this wish that runs contrary to what all other facts suggest) inviting you to touch them. The more you know, friends.

Lor: Dr. Leekie says he looks out for them, but Sarah corrects, “not me.” Leekie agrees. She and Helena are the clones that got away. Sarah asks what this is all about, but first Dr. Leekie wants to come to an agreement regarding Helena. He explains about Tomas and Maggie Chen, who oppose them. They found Helena and raised her to kill clones. They call themselves Prolethians, Leekie says with an air of mocking. “Right, ‘Neolutionist’ is way better,” Sarah counters. Leekie wants Sarah to bring Helena in so they can “deprogram” her and get her the help she needs. If Sarah does this, then she and her friends can live their lives as they please, with no monitors. Their lives, according to him, were never directed, just observed.

Sweeney: LOL, sure. He’s clearly full of shit on at least one count because if he’s just a data collector then there’s no way he has the authority to make this offer. More likely he’s full of shit on both counts.

Lor: Better to assume it’s on both counts.

Delphine lets herself into Cosima’s apartment and gets an icy reception. She asks if Cosima is okay, and Cos flips the question. She turns around her laptop screen and reveals a picture of a group of scientists including Delphine and Dr. Leekie. Delphine immediately apologizes, and Cosima calls herself stupid. Delphine rightly assumes that Cosima knew about the deception all along, and she did, but she still wanted to trust Delphine. “I know these girls,” Cosima cries. Delphine hurries closer to Cosima and claims she had to tell Dr. Leekie because she’s in danger. “Of what?” Cosima demands, but Delphine doesn’t know. “Then you’re the real danger,” Cosima finishes.

Alison’s Abode. The League of Suburban Bitches is outside of the bathroom door, and Aynsley tells Alison she’s only making things worse. From her post, locked inside the bathroom, Alison tells them she only wants to talk to Felix.

 

Alison tells Fee that this is all Aynsley’s doing. She grabs a bottle of pills. “Sharesies?” Felix asks and they pop the pills together like friends do. Alison says that maybe they are all monitors. Felix jokes that the reverend seems alright. Sexy even. Not very much in a joking mood, Alison asks him what she’s supposed to do. He grabs her hands, and tells her to put her chin up and be a woman. “This is backstabbing 101.” Or, like one of the lawyers I work with likes to say, “I went to high school.” Alison doesn’t think she can do it, but Felix assures her that she can. She just has to eat some humble pie, let Aynsley thinks she’s won, so Alison can fight another day. She smiles, stands and regards herself in the mirror. She tsk, tsks at what she sees and asks Felix to help her get her face on.

I know Felix errs on the side of trope-y and stereotypical at times, but I can’t help but like these two unlikely allies. Sarah’s drama always takes the front seat in the series, making Felix little more than a sometimes used side-kick. Not to say that the character doesn’t care for Sarah, just commenting on how the character is used. To see him so needed by Alison here is kind of fantastic, as is considering the bond they have because of who they are, as well as the bond they are building, because of what they are going through.

Sweeney: Yes! All of this. A+

Lor: Art walks along the subway tracks where Beth killed herself. He looks at everything suspiciously before he spots a security camera.

Murder Lighting Boat. Helena is still trying to get free when she hears her cell phone ringing. She redirects her attention and starts trying to grab her cell phone. Sarah hangs up. Siobhan asks if Sarah plans on handing Helena over, but she is unsure. Mrs. S reminds her that Helena came after her daughter. Sarah knows that, but it’s also difficult because when she looks at Helena, she sees herself.

Mrs. S says she got in touch with her people in England regarding Sarah’s origin, but they were scared, as if something is happening across the pond as well.

Cosima’s Crib. Cosima packs her bag while Delphine begs for her understanding. She swears she only told Dr. Leekie the 7 names, and she didn’t even tell him about Kira. She seems to be trying to fish trust out of Cosima, but it is again, the wrong thing to say. Cosima’s voice is catching as she says that Delphine can use her, but she needs to stay away from Kira. Cosima screams for her to get out, but Delphine keeps trying to plead her case. She fell for her, and that is not a lie.

Delphine finally leaves and Cosima cries.

Sweeney: THE SADDEST TEARS. I CAN’T HANDLE THE AMOUNT OF HEARTBREAK THAT NEEDS TO BE DOLED OUT THIS EPISODE.

Lor: Art watches the security cam footage from the subway station. He sees Sarah Manning see Beth jump and he sees Sarah grab Beth’s purse. Considering everything the clones have discovered, it’s funny that the police have been the slowest on the uptake. Still, they can keep their title of the only functioning police force in Traumaland.

Sweeney: They’re doing so much actual investigating. Slower than Clone Club, of course, because the cops aren’t the heroes and plot demands this, but look at all this police work! You go Fake-Maybe-Toronto-Or-Connecticut-Or-Who-Knows PD!

Lor: Sarah is sleeping with Kira. Helena finally manages to grab her phone and she calls Sarah. As soon as Sarah answers, Helena tells her she’s the only one she can turn to.

Downstairs, Paul and Mrs. S question the phone call. They think she should give Helena to Dr. Leekie but Sarah thinks that just gets the doctor one step closer to Kira. Sarah doesn’t know what to do, and asks for a minute. Upstairs, she finds Kira awake.

 

Sarah says Helena is beyond help. We cut to her going back downstairs and finding the living room empty. She grabs Paul’s gun and her jacket and takes off.

Alison’s Abode. She’s listening to her friend Meera tell the story of how she saw Alison having sex with Chad in his mini-van. Aynsley says they all trusted her. Alison acknowledges that Aynsley was responsible for the intervention. She called all these people and told them everything. Aynsley beams that she was trying to help. Alison thanks her, and Donnie and Aysley smile, thinking they’ve finally had a breakthrough, but Alison continues: for scrutinizing every detail of my life since the day I moved into this fishbowl. Behind her, it’s Felix’s turn to smile. “You have pried and snooped and gossiped about me like I was your own personal laboratory subject.” So, regardless of if Aynsley is her monitor, Alison admits that she’s always felt studied. She asks Aynsley how she would like it if she told all the gathered parties her dirty secrets, that Chad cheated before Alison, or that she gave a roofer a blow job. Everyone is shocked.

The reverend tries to turn the attention back on Alison, but she shuts him down with a, “no more words!” Donnie agrees, saying this has gone far enough. He kicks everyone out. Aynsley is the last to leave. She tells Alison this was her olive branch, and torching it was a huge mistake. After she’s gone, Felix says that went well. Alison calmly answers back that she thought it did indeed go well.

Sweeney: YOU GO GLEN COCO. That verbal smackdown was awesome.

Lor: Agreed.

Sarah finds the Murder Lighting Boat and locates Helena, still locked in her cage. Helena asks how Kira is and Sarah tells her she’ll never see Kira again. Helena would never hurt Kira. Sarah points the gun and she lets her head fall forward as well, so that the gun is pressed against the barrel. Here is a woman who has killed a handful of others. Here is a woman who lead Sarah’s child into danger. “Do it,” Helena tells Sarah. But Sarah can’t. She shakes, and she tries, but she can’t.

“You care,” Helena says, but Sarah denies it, even as she grabs the keys to open the cage. Sarah tells Helena to stay back as she opens the cage then grabs her gun again. Helena gets out and hugs Sarah. They both cry against each other when Tomas enters the room. Helena quickly grabs the gun from Sarah.

Helena is caught between her clone and her father. The woman who saved her and the man who indoctrinated her. She points the gun first at Tomas, and then at Sarah and then back again, as they each plead their case. Tomas says that Kira is an innocent child, and that means that she is rightfully Helena’s daughter.

 

Sarah grabs the gun away from Helena, but she still launches herself at Tomas and beats him across the face before digging her fingers into his eyeballs. Sarah uses the gun to knock Helena out.

When we come back from a Not Commercial Break, Sarah is locking Tomas in the cage. Tomas whispers to Sarah that he knows who she is. Sarah declares herself the one with the keys, and threatens that she might hand them over to Dr. Leekie. Sarah grabs Helena, not forgetting the famous green jacket, and leads her out of the Murder Lighting Boat. It’s almost touching until we see that Sarah has locked Helena in the trunk. Mrs. S calls Sarah and says she needs to come home ASAP, with Helena. Mrs. S is sitting in front of someone we cannot see.

Sarah drives off just as Paul and Dr. Leekie pull up to the mobile office, and find it empty. Paul says that Sarah said she’d meet them there. Dr. Leekie pulls out his cell phone and places a call, to a woman who stands in front of a large window, looking out over a city. We can’t see her face, just a reflection that is somewhat familiar. Dr. Leekie tells her that Helena didn’t show. “Blood is thicker than you think, Aldous,” Reflection Lady says.

At the station, Deangelis shares her findings with the lieutenant. Art walks in later, and asks his partner, “really?” He said at the end of the day, she reminds him. The lieutenant says it’s time to arrest Beth, and Art tells him that Beth is dead. They need an arrest warrant for Sarah Manning.

Sarah gets back to Mrs. S’s house. In the living room we see a black woman who Mrs. S introduces as Amelia. With lost of emotion, Amelia announces that she is Sarah’s birth mother. Amelia apologizes for not being what Sarah expected. She came from Cape Town as soon as she heard Sarah was looking. We cut to them settled on the couch as Amelia explains that she was paid to be a surrogate by a wealthy English couple. It seemed like a sweet set-up, but Amelia noticed that the medical tests were extensive. Amelia heard them mention “neolution” and she found that the couple were actually a pair of scientists. She feared for the safety for the two children she was carrying.

Two?

Yep. Twin Clones. Amelia gave birth to the kids in secret and gave one up to the state and one to the church. Sarah puts it together: Helena.

HELENA CALLED IT. They have a connection!

Sweeney: CRAZY CLONE NAILED IT! Still crazy, but snaps for you, girl!

 

Next time: Sarah has to make a decision about her twin clone in Orphan Black S01 E10 – Endless Forms Most Beautiful.