Orphan Black season 3 episode 2 review: Transitory Sacrifices Of Crisis

Tatiana Maslany's not the only one delivering impressive performances in Orphan Black season 3...

This review contains spoilers.

3.2 Transitory Sacrifices Of Crisis

On this week’s episode of Orphan Black, Ari Millen gets his chance to share the spotlight, and he absolutely delivers.

My one complaint last week was that I couldn’t really tell the male clones apart. On any other show, that would be understandable, but Orphan Black prides itself on having one woman play half its main cast so well that you can tell which character she’s playing just from a still photograph. Next to that, not being able to tell the male clones apart was a glaring problem. I’m happy to say that with a bit more screen time this week, Ari Millen was able to rise to the challenge with aplomb; not only was he able to create distinct characters, but to actually make me emotional about their relationships with each other in the same way I am emotional about the sestras.

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A lot of the episode focuses on the relationship between Rudy and Seth. It’s clear that they are the male version of Sarah and Helena; one is competent and protective while the other is mentally unstable and in need of help. At first, Rudy seems willing to go to any lengths to help Seth, who has started “glitching” due to the military’s tampering with the males’ genome. He even holds Kira hostage while demanding that Sarah give him answers she doesn’t have. When Seth breaks down, screaming in pain from his “glitch,” Rudy is forced to abandon this pursuit and do the only thing left to him: shoot Seth and hold him as he dies. It harkens back to season one, when Sarah thought she’d killed Helena, and how much that relationship has changed by now. Strangely, it’s clear that this was the only way Rudy had left to protect his brother.

Elsewhere, Millen’s original character, Mark, has locked himself in a hotel bathroom with a blowtorch to burn off his horse tattoo that identifies him as a clone of Project Castor. Which brings me to an important question: I was under the impression that Mark didn’t know he was a clone, much like Sarah didn’t know prior to witnessing Beth’s suicide. But Mark burning off his tattoo must mean that he knows it is significant; it’s a way of trying to hide. How much does he know about his genetics?

Cal and his beautiful beard are back this episode as well, and after all is said and done with the Castor boys, Sarah reluctantly comes to the conclusion that it has become too dangerous for Kira to stay. With Mrs. S’s help, she arranges for Cal to take Kira out of the country and into hiding, and I am not even going to pretend that I didn’t cry more than a little bit about it.

Finally, in what is probably my favorite storyline of the season, Alison and Donnie decide to buy out her former dealer’s drug business both to make money as well as to ensure Alison’s electoral win. It’s exactly the sort of thing Alison would do because you can practically hear her thought process about how she saw it on that TV show and it seemed to work out fine! Sure, she’s only seen the first season because she’s very busy and doesn’t have time to watch the entire thing, but things certainly seemed to be well in hand!

I’m really glad we got to spend so much time with Ari Millen’s characters this week. It was very much needed to give him time to develop them more and create an actual connection for the audience to care about. I hope we get more time with Helena next week; she’s the only one I feel hasn’t been given enough time yet this season, and I’m desperately curious as to what’s going on with her and Castor. What did you think of the episode? Are you buying Millen’s characters? Are you sad about the loss of Cal’s amazing beard? Hit up the comments and I’ll see you next week!

Read Kaci’s review of the previous episode, The Weight Of This Combination, here.

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