Random thought: So Helena and Kira have super fast healing "powers", which the others clones don't have (presumably because they had something altered by DYAD's monitoring). Since we don't really know DYADs agenda, and based on Leekies talk about "self guided evolution" their healing powers could be displaying just that! "We are fundamentally flawed human beings" he says, but here are clones that can self heal and survive the deadliest accidents. But it can be even more than that! (1/2)
Leekie talks about Infrared, x-rayed, eye vision. What if the clones (maybe new ones) start displaying more superhuman abilities - this whole thing is eugenically in end right? How will politics play a role? I mean, you would think that there would be really influential stakeholders in this.. we already saw the Chinese as players, the Germans on the phone. Basically, all I’m saying is that we don’t know anything yet and there is just SO MUCH POTENTIAL. (2/2)
I also realize that everything I said may have been totally obvious but I sometimes find myself forgetting that they are experiments and that their science has a purpose that goes beyond who these clones are as people. I guess that’s the whole point of the show though. :)
One of the questions is whether or not all the clones are completely genetically identical. I think we’re supposed to infer that they are. I wish I knew more about genetics here, but natural-variation is by far anyone’s better bet for the science talk. I mean, there is the question of natural mutations or even if Dyad were testing techniques in gene expression, i.e. turning on and off genes in individual clones. The illness may be an issue of something triggering its expression, which would be interesting because it would mean environment or lifestyle choices would put certain clones in more danger than other clones. Or it could be some breakdown issue in their genes as a consequence of the cloning. We’ll find out~
The nature of the experiment is also not yet clear. Is this a nature vs. nurture experiment? In what ways? Were the creators interested in physical developments or psychological and social ones? Or are they testing gene variance factors in a sort of “designer babies” thrust, i.e. trait specifications they can control? Certainly organism stability is a question for them: would a clone live as long? Every time the question has been posed—What’s the point? Why do we exist?—it has been neatly sidestepped and/or outright ignored. (Thanks, Leekie, Rachel.) This is the hottest question, in my opinion, and I’m sure we won’t get an answer until like the Season Finale where it will act as a great Twist and leave us going, “WHAAAAAAAAT?” in either amazement at the brilliance or the cop out. :D
Or we’ll find out next episode and it’ll be a non-issue.
As for the politics, it was the Koreas, actually, which gave me a lot of pause because North and South Korea sitting civilly in one room? Hm. I’ve watched enough K-dramas to be skeptical. (Sidenote: Mary had great objections to the Germans as apparently Germany has harsh views on GMOseugenics [that makes way more sense]. XD)
I was thinking about OB because this show is so damn addicting, and then I had a thought re: "I'm invested now". I can totally envision Delphine being the type to resist having to monitor her subject on pure grounds that she just wants to deal with the science and from behind the scenes (like they promised her) and there's something kind of unethical about the monitor job description. I dont think she has an issue with the "unethical" science, but being engaged as a monitor bothered her. (1/1)
But Leekie knew that she would be the perfect type to seduce Cosima or to at least befriend her, and what more important clone to monitor than the science geek who is probably self-aware. Then Leekie maybe was like “we gave you this great opportunity to get involved in revolutionary research. As a scientist you know that the most important part of an experiment is proper observation and reporting, getting close to your subject is no different Dr. Cormier.” (2/2)
For me, it would be interesting if someone made a misstep (read: Aldous Leekie) in bringing Delphine into the project and she perhaps wasn’t as enthused on the project as predicted, and so sending her to bring Cosima into Dyad would have been like a “killing two birds with one stone” scenario. Dyad gets Cosima and further binds Delphine to the Dyad Institute through ties of entangled involvement and/or actual emotional stakes in Cosima, however you want to read that, whether that’s platonic or camaraderie or what. Because the way Delphine acted—and what she kept expounding on: THE GREATNESS OF LEEKIE AND DYAD—suggested that there wasn’t any intention to keep Cosima on the outside but the pressure was to bring Cosima into the fold.
I think you’re right to ping into a reluctance to violate some scientific integrity, perhaps even of observation/monitoring itself—that is to say, perhaps not quite an objection to an ethical aspect, as much as it is that Delphine just turned out really bad at it and unsuited, because, hello, scientist—since Delphine really did want to just sort of let Cosima disclose and to progress at an … organic rate. She didn’t like being told to go dig into stuff.
I do feel like Delphine probably just ended up fitting a job description. That they wanted someone to bring Cosima in and who better than someone already involved with the project themself and what better option than a woman highly articulate, attractive, socially adjusted? Delphine as a package is not going to scare someone away. It might have also hinged on the fact that Aldous was banging Delphine~~
(In fact, this irony would be delicious if, after being brought into the confidentiality of the clone project, once Delphine saw what it was, she felt hesitation—and then Aldous sent her to basically do the same thing to the actual subject herself. It doesn’t get more dramatically ironic than that!)
Mary suggested SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS that Delphine was working on the disease problem and Delphine failed to save Jennifer:
Mary: I think Delphine was hired in DYAD because of Jennifer.She did not save her.So Leekie used her elsewhere"Do not screw it this time, Dr Cormier"Just my morning thoughts:Dme: I’m still hung up on the “I’m invested” linelike maybe she hadn’t been invested in the project so muchor maybe you’re rightsomething discouraged herand the ploy to use her to get Cosimawas also about reinvesting DelphineMary: She will be invested on many levelsBut guilt and need to prove that she is the best immunologist evah can be among themme: EVAHyesit’s just that the stakes are suddenly much higherMary: Yessss
Which is another interesting theory.
END SPOILERS END SPOILERS END SPOILERS END SPOILERS
Then again, the “I’m invested” line might not refer to anything in the past at all and everything to do with the present and allaying Leekie’s clear suspicions of her, which he presents up front when he says, “Be careful playing for the other team, Delphine.” She has to demonstrate she’s invested in Team Dyad and what Dyad is doing if she doesn’t want Leekie shutting her out of things she’ll need to know to potentially help Cosima.
Then again again, it’s a juicy line that doesn’t necessarily have to add up to anything, but just sounds really good in the ear.
I want all those same things, trust me. Like we talked about before though, this show has a lot of crazy big picture things to deal with so maybe the under the rug will be the m.o. I guess it's time for those amazing fanfiction writers to come out of the shadows and start filling in the gaps *hint hint* ;) Oh and happy easter!
;_;
I was just really surprised by the leap. And, by implication, how clear it is that Delphine and Cosima are bad at decisions .Oddly, it feels so different from Paul and Sarah, who can easily jump into and out of bed with each other without the sex feeling so potentially momentous and fraught. Sarah proved she could have scam sex with Paul. Paul himself has been shown to be either ambiguous or distant from Beth, so it's not hard to believe him sleeping with Sarah for kicks, especially since he enjoyed the physicality of the sex he had with Sarah so much.
Delphine and Cosima, though--one or both give the impression of (potentially) being too invested. Cosima's explosive reaction to Delphine broadcasts that she got in too deep for that to be some casual spy screw to use her monitor. Delphine . . . Delphine, narratively, could still be playing Cosima, but even if she is playing Cosima, she's definitely soft where Paul is not soft with Sarah. (That's just Paul's personality as a hardass because he also makes gestures of caring, but not in the let-me-softly-say-"Hey"-to-calm-you-down-and-then-make-professions-of-loyalty-when-you-reject-me and envelope-you-in-a-full-comforting-hug way that Delphine does with Cosima.)
Don't look at me for 'fic. There's a reason I never wrote about what happened when Cosima returned with Eskimo Pies. (Not for people's lack of effort to get me to write about it.)
I'm having the same issues with the untold subplot, did the sex actually happen (show don't tell!- jk)? but seriously I feel like that would be a big emotional step for both of them. Did Delphine cry this time too? Probably not. How did Cosima react to this new delphine? I picture Cosima getting up from bed instead of cuddling this time, maybe waking up to get water and asking "are you hungry?" and delphine looks a bit confused but says "no", and silence hangs between them.
I mean. If I had written it, it would have been desperate and messy and maybe featuring a bit more force on Cosima’s part than necessary, wih her probably angry—for a number of reasons. She’s sick, Delphine has betrayed her before, she’s got a goddamn patent in her genes, everything seems to be going to shit. And Delphine—I don’t know. Does she respond with just as much passion or does she let Cosima have her way? Does she try to make up for “It showed”? Or does she try to communicate comfort and understanding and penitence? AND WHERE DID THE EQUIPMENT FOR DRAWING BLOOD COME FROM? (Because I’m pretty sure Felix wouldn’t keep that on hand with his drug paraphernalia, stored away by Alison. (And I wouldn’t trust them to be sanitary if he did.) HOW DID THEY GET FROM POINT A TO B TO C? How do you go from “Thanks for the bang, I’m glad we got all that tension out of the way because it was eating me up all day, so let’s draw some blood, yeah, sounds like a plan?”
My brain didn’t want to make that leap because I was like, “Bwah? Huh? Who what now? You mean there was no explanation for HOW THEY GOT IN BED? AND WHY THEY TOOK THE TIME TO LIGHT ALL THE CANDLES? AND THAT THEY TRUSTED FELIX’S SHEETS? AND WHY WOULD THEY BE TAKING BLOOD SAMPLES IN BED? WHAT KIND OF SCIENTISTS ARE YOU?”
Just jumping into sex after all their issues is a really big leap and there are considerations to take into account in the case if they addressed everything that came before or didn’t. You can sweep all that shit under the rug, but that’s gonna be a lumpy rug—and the implication is that this isn’t going to be some one-off last-hurrah night between exes. So. You know. Would have liked some kind of nod or acknowledgement of what exactly happened or didn’t happen. I’ll gladly fill in the details, but give me lines to shade in.
I feel a bit uneasy about Cosima saying something like “I won’t apologize for my heart” because that is the least reassuring thing anyone who wants you to do the logical, smart thing wants to hear. Not only that but it surprises me that Cosima would categorize her feelings on that level. The lack of denial—of emotional connection, not of the sex itself, ‘cause you can brush that off as it just being a physical thing, like “I’m not going to apologize for whom I sleep with” like kind of like Sarah with Paul—took me aback. I was like, “Oh, Cosima is … there. And I suppose with all we’ve been told, Delphine is … there. These are two idiots. DON’T LEAVE THEM TO THEIR OWN DEVICES. EVERYONE SEES THAT THIS IS A HORRIBLE IDEA. THEY CAN’T BE LEFT TO FEND FOR THEMSELVES. STOP THEM, SOMEBODY!!!”
I’m totally here for Delphine/Cosima happening but I guess I am a bit of a romantic at heart because I want to see emotional ties built and worked through and some healing taking place?!?!?!?!
I was also curious about the "I'm invested" and all the situations you point out are plausible. I mean, also beyond Cosima herself this is the first clone that has the respiratory disease and is still alive/in the beginning stages of it. So as an immunologist she's invested because she can save this person, and oh coincidentally its the love of her life.
Anonymous said:
I initially thought the invested comment had the double meaning of being invested in the work but also in Cosima. Caring about her and such and wanting to get to the facts about the disease, because she wants to save her if AT ALL possible? But I don’t knooooooooow! I’m already concerned, let’s put it that way lol
evolutionarydevelopment said:
I am glad Scott is still there. He is cool! I like him. I really want to know what Delphine was implying by saying: “Congratulations. Now, I am invested”. So weird. Before that episode, I thought that Delphine was really happy about her job at the DYAD instutite… And only start to question everything when Cosima came around… !
Delphine is absolutely willing to be unscrupulous.
Giving Leekie the blood sample at first surprised me because it seems in direct violation of Cosima’s wishes—and at one point I was willing to believe that this was part of some SEKRIT MASTER PLAN between Delphine and Cosima, but that would be kind of too subtle at this point—but it makes perfect sense on a number of levels. First, the gesture serves as a sign of her commitment/investment to Leekie and Dyad: Here is information on Cosima, as you always wanted me to gather, didn’t I dig goddamn deep, goddamn quickly? Two, it comes accompanied with the message that Cosima is showing signs of illness. (This was a surprise reveal to me, in that I thought the “reveal” of this information would come between Cosima and Sarah and co., but that doesn’t seem to have happened there yet, at least not explicitly. There’s a lot of dropping of information to show that information was shared, like Cosima name-dropping Daniel Rosen—CYLON—to show that they all have discussed his role and who he is. Very interesting that Cosima doesn’t seemed to have clued Sarah in yet.)
But, three, Delphine needs Dyad to be aware of Cosima’s circumstances in order to take full advantage of Dyad focusing their resources not only on the disease but on Cosima specifically afflicted with the disease and whether or not Cosima presents a unique case as opposed to “the other two.” I.e. maybe one solution may not be a universal solution, so get on that shit!
But—eeeeeeeeeeeeeee—Delphine’s steeliness!!! I can’t get over it because it makes me so happy. Even with Sarah. Delphine’s not necessarily afraid of Sarah when she confronts her as not being Cosima—she’s sort of angry like, “WHUT YOU DOING IMITATING COSIMA, DON’T BE STARTING SHIT AS COSIMA, WHERE COSIMA, THIS MEANS COSIMA ISN’T COMING, DAFUQ YOU DOING MESSING THINGS UP, I GOTTA CONVINCE COSIMA TO JOIN DYAD, ARGH, wait, whut, kidnapping, what? More shadiness out of Dyad? Rachel? Only know of her, but somehow I know that huge shady deals are going on behind the scenes,* let me tell you since you’ve threatened to involve Cosima, why are people always threatening Cosima and her safety and wellbeing, why do I always have to cover her ass, merde, the things I do for love.”
*I actually laughed out loud and was like: Why would Delphine know this?????
It’s so interesting because it suggests that 1x09 Delphine breaking down and trying so hard to convince Cosima—emotionally, desperately, graspingly—that she, Delphine, is on Cosima’s side is not the baseline state of Delphine’s personality, but rather an exception to how she usually approaches life, stressful situations, anxiety-inducing unwanted surprises. That Delphine in 1x09 had been caught off guard and fallen apart for a moment. That that heightened emotional response is not the rule of Delphine’s behavior and personality, that once she’s got cards in her hands and a grasp on the situation, she’s cool, collected, controlled. It’s interesting because, since so much gets colored with retrospect, it’s like S1 Delphine always had her weight on her heels, leaning back, forced to react, but, beginning with the woman who emerges in 1x10, now the tables have turned and she’s turned proactive and assertive—she tells Cosima that they have leverage, but Delphine herself is leveraging both sides well and calmly and it’s sort of glorious.
(I think I should address, too, that when asked where Cosima is, Delphine gives Leekie a physical location. Cosima is in town. Considering your offer. As if Leekie hadn’t told her Cosima’s location in the first place? SO HOW DID YOU FIND HER, DELPHIIIIIINE? Or were you actually just going to Not-Toronto because that’s actually where you work out of originally and were assigned and it’s just super convenient that EVERYONE was in Not-Toronto? GUYS, I’M ALSO SUPER CONCERNED ABOUT COSIMA’S APARTMENT AND ALL HER PLANTS, LIKE IS SHE GOING TO GO BACK TO PROPERLY PACK UP HER STUFF OR WHAT?)
In light of this emerging personality, the “I’m invested” line has such beautiful ambiguity because it’s so open. It can mean anything and everything: Delphine is invested in Cosima, she’s invested in the science, she’s invested in the project, she’s invested in a cure. She is an immunologist so the question still remains as to what exactly propelled her into being recruited(?) into the clone project.
I have so many thoughts i can’t even get my head around them. LIKE SCOTT! That Cosima is going to continue to involve him in this—without any real regard that if she gets caught, she could be putting him in danger? Like Cosima is forming her own on-the-side TEAM SCIENCE and that’s sort of amazing, too. Here I thought all the science shenanigans would be contained at Dyad, but NO, COSIMA WANTS TO ACTUALLY CONDUCT HER OWN RESEARCH ON THE SIDE, HOW IS THIS EVEN GOING TO WORK OUT? I don’t know. But I feel kind of bad for Scott being dragged along without being told much. :(
thewanderingme replied to your post:it's ask grey out hour!?!
Yes! this is about to turn into a tumblr version of the bachlorette …. are you ready?
It is?! I'm not prepared! But are you prepared? Because if you're jumping into these shenanigans, then first date: What are we doing? What are we eating? Where even are we?
Oh man, quite a bit of random events but one of my favorites was when I was in San Francisco. It was around 3 am and I was walking back to the hotel with a friend of mine, we were both pretty drunk, and we ran into a homeless man on the street. There was no one else around, so we started talking to this man who turned out to be a very good singer. He said he would sing to us, and he did, an we waltzed on the street to his voice. It was beautiful. What makes you happy greywing?
I don't know if that story makes me happy or sad.
Chocolate makes me happy. Gifts of chocolate because someone thought of you when they saw it are the sweetest. The magical moments where everything in the universe aligns for the five minutes I play a piece well, my fingers move agilely on the strings and my bowing is in sync with my left hand, and it's like all my molecules are vibrating in tune with the music. When I smile at a stranger and they smile back. Sometimes there are these moment, usually when I'm in a car driving or as a passenger, when the world looks super vibrant and suddenly I'm filled with just a sense of peace. Random things. XD
Tell me about something small that makes you happy?
