Orphan Black season 3 episode 8 review: Ruthless In Purpose, And Insidious In Method
In this week's episode of Orphan Black, virtually everyone betrays somebody else, and poor Scott just can't catch a break...
This review contains spoilers.
3.8 Ruthless In Purpose, And Insidious In Method
Let’s start with the positives – Helena has moved in with the Hendrix family, which Donnie’s not happy about, and promptly bonds with the children because Helena’s heart softens only for her sestras and for kids. Alison even hires her to help make soap at Bubbles, where Helena meets Gracie (who Alison has also hired) for the first time since the farm. Gracie tries to apologize for her miscarriage, but Helena has none of it. She reassures Gracie that it’s not her fault and that Gracie can be an “auntie” to her baby, something that Gracie (seemingly truthfully) says that she’d like very much. Unlike when Helena forgave Siobhan, I actually believe that she’d bond with Gracie so quickly; Helena has always had a soft spot for victims. It’s why she was so kind to the tortured Castor boy she mercy killed. Helena probably sees a lot of her own miserable upbringing in Gracie, and it makes her choose to be kind.
Elsewhere in Bubbles, Alison apparently told Donnie about Jason kissing Cosima, and Donnie is livid. Alison promises that she’ll set Jason straight, only to end up kissing him herself before finally telling him that it will never happen. Unfortunately, Donnie can’t let it go, and lures Jason back to Bubbles at night on the pretense that Alison has changed her mind. Donnie’s a lot of things, including a murderer, but he’s definitely not a fighter. When punches start getting thrown, it’s Donnie who ends up knocked out on the floor. I can’t help but feel bad for him, even though he’s the one that turned things into a physical altercation. I really wish other characters would quit throwing it in his face that he took Alison’s name, though. It’s a as valid of a choice as any other, something that he obviously does not feel ashamed of, so when other people insist he should, it feels ridiculously outdated. It’s 2015, and I’m over it.
The rest of the episode is two intertwined stories featuring the rest of the cast. First off, we’re introduced to a new clone, a manicurist named Crystal who has somehow managed to avoid being pulled into Clone Club so far, only to get pulled in in the worst way possible.
Rachel gets her wish to talk to Sarah, only to insist that she will only translate the page if Sarah gets her out of Dyad and helps her escape the country. With S’s contacts, that shouldn’t be too difficult, especially since they can simply steal Crystal’s identity for Rachel’s travel documents. Cosima and Scott betray what little trust Delphine seems to have in them by sneaking the book home with Scott only for Rudy to show up, threatening Scott’s beloved cat. He hands the book over in exchange for her life, then freaks out and calls Delphine, spilling the truth in his panic.
At Mrs S’s, Rachel only manages to translate one page of the copy of the book that Cosima and Scott made before Dyad comes bursting in to take it back. Delphine, it turns out, knew that Scott and Cosima were lying about there being no copies, and she’s double-crossed them by taking it back. Rachel falls to the floor, spasming, and Dyad rushes her into surgery, and later her doctor informs Delphine that she’s in a coma from which she may never wake. Delphine is livid that their only hope of translating the book has been taken from them, leading her to accept the resignation Cosima had tried to tender earlier, as well as to fire Scott in the process. He really can’t catch a break, can he?
But come on, this is Rachel. None of us really thought she’d just slip quietly off into a coma, did we? Of course not. From the second Crystal appeared on screen, she had a target on her back. Not only did Rachel steal Crystal’s identity, she gave Crystal her’s. I shudder to think about what the doctor must’ve done to Crystal to put her into that coma, as far away Rachel is being fitted with a glass eye.
This was a really good episode, but I’m extremely sad over the betrayals in this episode. Something about these characters just makes me want them all to be on the same side, even as I know that they never will. What did you think of the episode? Hit up the comments and I’ll see you next week.
Read Kaci’s review of the previous episode, Community Of Dreadful Fear And Hate, here.
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