The Small Fries

I was elated to see Orphan Black return to my television last weekend. It’s definitely one of the most unique shows on television. Last season, Sarah Manning and her fellow clones (all played by the incredible Tatiana Maslany) found out that they are not the only set of clones out there. The season ended with the revelation of Project Castor, a set of male clones developed by the Armed Forces.

The season premiere deals with the revelation of these new clones and how it affects the Project Leda ladies, an arc that will probably last the entire season. No one is quite sure what their motivations are, but one thing is for certain: no one is safe. The Castor clones were bred to be perfect soldiers, making them quite the force to be reckoned with. Sarah agrees to work with Delphine, who is now leading the Dyad, to see what the male clones want in exchange for help in finding Helena. Sarah confronts one of the captive clones to question him, but he essentially laughs in her face. Shortly afterwards, the captive clone’s brother breaks him out of captivity and they escape together. The unhinged performance of Ari Millen as all of the Castor clones is very noteworthy. I’m excited to see where these characters go.

However, the team of Sarah and Delphine continues throughout the episode. A higher-up named Ferdinand comes to visit at the worst time possible. With Rachel recovering from a pencil through the eye, Delphine calls on Sarah to play Rachel. During a rough BDSM session with Ferdinand, Sarah-as-Rachel discovers his and Rachel’s plan called Helsinki to have the clones killed. Sarah and Delphine successfully shut the plan down.

Tatiana Maslany as Sarah and Ari Millen as Rudy

Afterwards, Sarah confronts Mrs. S about selling out Helena in exchange for her and Kira’s safety. Mrs. S called it “a wartime decision”. Sarah is infuriated, saying it wasn’t her call to make. Meanwhile, Helena is released from a crate into the army base where the Castor clones are located.

The second episode of the season sheds a little more light onto two of the Castor clones, Rudy and Seth. The episode opens with them assaulting a drunken girl, which puts Art on the case to find the clones. However, adding some backstory to the male clones does not interfere with the diverging storylines of Sarah, Helena, Cosima, and Alison.

Meanwhile, Cosima shows Scott the genome sequence hidden inside of the book Duncan gave Kira. Together they ask the doctor to see if he is aware that the sequence is out there. He supposedly doesn’t know, but I suspect that there’s more beneath the surface of this mysterious new doctor.

After deciding to run for school board, Alison finds out that her husband Donny lost his job. She comes up with the plan of buying a local drug dealer’s supply off of him both to supply income and guarantee voters. This storyline will presumably bring a few laughs this season. The dynamic between Alison and Donny is so entertaining, especially when they are up to no good.

Ari Millen as Rudy

Sarah is given a brief moment of happiness in this episode when Cal buys a house for them. A game of stickball is interrupted by a call from Art regarding the Castor clones. She goes to him to see what he has found and to hopefully get closer to finding Helena. As a viewer, it is so heartbreaking to see those moments of happiness for Sarah, knowing that they are temporary given her situation. Later on, Kira is yet again held hostage, this time by Rudy. Sarah attempts to bargain with him, but it is only when he hears Seth’s screams that he lets Kira go. Rudy then mercifully kills Seth to make him stop “glitching”. The remorse shown by Rudy after he kills Seth illustrates the closeness of the brothers. After the incident, Sarah decides to let Kira and Cal leave the country for their safety.

Helena is being tortured and experimented on by the military in an unknown location. She is being waterboarded until the newly-introduced Dr. Coady tells the soldiers to stop because Helena is pregnant. What is impressive about this scene is that Tatiana Maslany was actually being waterboarded. Talk about commitment to your craft! The tests being done to Helena are the same sort of tests administered to the Castor men. Down the line this might explain why some of the Castor boys glitching.

All in all the first two episodes of Orphan Black have been dizzying. There are so many new plotlines and characters being introduced so rapidly that I’m sure I’ve forgotten something. However, the breakneck speed of this show is part of the reason why it’s so enjoyable to watch.

Catch Orphan Black Saturdays on BBC America 8/7c

--Julie