Haf (thewetcloud) here! Welcome to the penultimate installation of this little project. It’s been fun so far, yeah?! Great. Let’s break it down.
First, let’s talk endgames: Even in a cliffhanger type situation like Orphan Black, endgames are proof positive that everything happens for a reason—and nowhere is that concept more important than in storytelling. There’s a sense of satisfaction that comes—as both a reader and a writer—when a plot point that was established early on comes to a head. Orphan Black as a story has huge potential to expertly execute that concept, and what we’ve tried to do in part with this project is depict our version of how those loose ends set up in the first and second seasons come to a head. So, hang on to your hats, Clone Club, because we’re setting up some HUGE answers.
On Our Lioness Confronting The Lion: Sarah’s come a long way in OBSpec. She’s dug into pasts that might have been better let to rest, she’s picked at the scab that is DYAD and its hydra-esque machinations, and she’s gone into the lion’s den to save a sister who truly seemed done for — and may yet still be in a different sort of way. OBspec Episode 9 finds her cornered with nowhere to go, and what’s exciting about putting Sarah in that position is that now we have to watch her do what she does best: fight. And Sarah Manning fights dirty. In an intense conference with the father of the woman who started everything, she finds herself again flipping through her emotional manipulation playbook to keep herself in control. But it seems, Sarah has met her match with a military man who is all too well familiar with mind games and strategy. Just the antagonist our protagonist needs.
On The Ties That Bind And Bend: Jumping off of Sarah and the Colonel, we naturally come to Sarah and Harrison, or as we now know him, Beth’s brother. Harrison could be considered Beth-Surrogate, if you read between the lines. All this time we’ve been waiting for Beth to resurface in some miraculous way and now, obliquely, we have her. In Harrison we get fragments of her history, her personality, even her voice. But, we get her under complicated circumstances and through the medium of a complicated man. Harrison and Beth’s relationship grew under the watch of a father who was perhaps more chess player than parent, and they each evolved into complicated adults, full of questions, resentments, and angers. In that moment of Sarah attempting to break through Harrison’s emotional shield, you can get a sense for how bizarre the situation really is, and how little Sarah seems to comprehend that.
On The Glass Psyche: Rachel Duncan is not who she thinks she is. It’s a scary twist to arrive at for this character. Rachel loves power so much that she’s constructed her own imaginary history, erasing the things she doesn’t like, inserting the things she does piecemeal from memories that aren’t hers. In OBspec, we make the unsettling discovery (via some carefully set up Niehaus lingo) that Rachel’s sense of self is a hopeless lie. To make matters worse, she’s sick, her grip on Topside is arguable, and now Gracie (she believes) has killed herself rather than give birth to a child that all but belonged to Rachel. But why and from where is this crazed, fractured self clawing outward? You had everything, Rachel. Didn’t you? Didn’t you???
On The Science of the Syph: It wasn’t all fun and games! From Alison’s perspective, certainly. The light-hearted-ish romp of Alison’s STD scare arrives at a surprising twist which, in turn, sets up potentially groundbreaking results. This is a prime example of a story thread being set up to lead somewhere unexpected and satisfying, not to mention intriguing. And all because of something seemingly invented for the sake of Suburban Shenanigans.
On Literature: DELPHINE, WHAT’D YOU DOOOOOO. PUT IT BAAAAACK, PUT IT BAAAAAAAAAACCCCCKKK!
That said, how interesting. As for Cophine, it’s easy to relegate favorite characters to their relationships. But we have to remember, these are individual women from very different backgrounds — both personally, educationally and professionally. At this point, we know who Cosima is, and we know what her priorities are, but who is Delphine, really? Think about the book she’s walked off with…and what the story of Dr. Moreau is about…and then think about who Dr. Delphine Cormier might be.
On What’s Up With Felix Dawkins: Felix is OBspec’s dark horse. Where does he come from? What’s his story? Besides being there for Alison when she needs a getaway driver, besides playing second fiddle to Cosima’s matchmaker, besides trying to have an actual life of his own, we find these tiny threads creeping out from the seams of the major plot arcs that always lead back to Felix Dawkins. But, Mrs. S isn’t giving any answers. Which begs a second question for another dark horse character: what is Siobhan, international Birdwatcher of mystery, hiding?
For OBspec, no one’s story is expendable, and no one is left floating in the aether while things happen around them. Not by a long shot. So, stay tuned for Episode 10, Clone Club. Things are about to get gnarly.
