#bernadette hendrix

[clojanhorse]

INT. ALISON’S HOUSE, FOYER - DAY

Donnie walks toward the door.  The bell RINGS repeatedly. 

Donnie opens the door to BERNADETTE (Late 50’s), short brown hair, pearl earrings, and a dignified posture.   She has a wrapped box in her hand.

She takes off her sunglasses when the door opens.

[obspec]

Very interesting that Leslie was immediately trusted with the clone secrets, while Bernardette is obviously not. How do you think she'd react to learning about the clones? If that's not a spoiler ;)

What a fantastic thing to notice! Yes, it’s true. Leslie gets inducted into Clone Club almost right away. Bernadette? Not a chance. We did this on purpose. Part of it is to show the differences between Cosima and Alison — Alison’s good at keeping secrets. Cosima, not so much. Alison wants the fact that she’s a clone to be nonexistent. Cosima’s embraced it, and so she’s quicker to share. 

But it’s also to show the differences between Leslie and Bernadette too. Leslie gets a membership to Clone Club because Leslie is a woman who rolls with it. Leslie has the Cosima wonder-eyes in her. So, when she notices that something’s up, we trust that she’s not gonna run away in fear or anger. Bernadette? Hmmm. Bernadette’s not quite an out-of-the-box thinker. She has that perfection-seeking streak to her (same as Alison). She’s harsh, gilded with nail polish and a perm. And when something seems off, Bernadette isn’t about to “roll with it.” Bernadette’s gonna pretend it never happened, then most likely she’s gonna throw it at you veiled in unintentionally snarky comments for the rest of your life. Which, being Alison, you’d probably rather not be on the receiving end of. Much cleaner to keep your clone secrets to yourself. 

But what’s really interesting here is that both Leslie and Bernadette raised daughters that ended up very similar to themselves. (You can say the same thing about Mrs. S and Sarah, actually). But, here’s the thing about nurture…relationships add this whole other dimension to it. The similarities between Alison and her mother make them butt heads. The similarities between Cosima and her mother make them gel perfectly. Becoming your parents isn’t cut and dry. Everyone gets pieces. Sometimes it’s your entire worldview. Sometimes it’s as simple as the way you smile. Which pieces you get (and how many) depends on your parents, depends on you, depends on a billion different factors. Every parent’s different. Every child’s different. Even if you’re a clone. And that’s pretty awesome. 

[obspec]

Mom knows what’s up.