Review: ‘Orphan Black’ Season 4, Episode 3, ‘The Stigma of Process’: Going Fishing
Amber Dowling
Cloning Around
Things with Sarah continued to grow worse in this week’s continuation of the Neolutionist storyline (that has us all freaking out about the potential existence of bugs in our jaws). Growing desperate for answers, the leading clone turned to her foster brother for support but was rebuffed yet again as he continued to work his own stuff out, forcing Sarah to take some drastic measures. Rather than live with a cheek worm threatening to explode all over her face with just one wrong move, she fell back into her Beth persona and trusted a complete stranger to perform surgery on her. It was a rather Sarah thing to do despite all warnings, so it was lucky for her that Ferdinand returned just in time to save her hide. You’ve got to love his sarcasm and wit as he comes in like a knight in Neolutionist armor.
Science Class
When studying a potentially deadly bug thingy, what better way to do so than on an actual prototype? Enter some more amazing Donnie and Alison scenes as they dug up a very decayed Dr. Leekie from their garage, leaving everyone to wonder how on earth the neighbors haven’t called the cops on them yet.
Speaking of Coppers…
While we’re on the subject, we haven’t often had a chance to watch Helena impersonate one of her sestras, so it’s been fun seeing her pretend to be Alison whenever needed this season. First there was last week’s ultrasound mission, then this week she did it again when the police showed up to question the bloody blowout from the busted up drug deal last season. Somehow, despite everything awful that Helena has done over the seasons, you can’t help but root for her because she just wants to be loved. And she’s smarter than she lets on, which she proved by remembering all the random names from Alison’s campaign in the nick of time.
Family Feud
Something tells us that Felix’s newfound sister Adele (guest star Lauren Hammersley) isn’t everything she seems at the outset — especially given this show’s track record of introducing new, potentially shady characters. Doesn’t everyone have a secret Prolethean or Neolutionist agenda these days? While it’s nice to see Felix break away from the supporting character he’s always been and have his own story to fall back on, it’s also a shame that it feels as though it’s all going to blow up on him. We like our Felix light and quippy, not dark and tortured, thank you very much.
The Formative Years
We’ve always known there’s more to Kira than meets the eye. After all, the kid has always been able to tell the aunts apart no matter who they’re impersonating and knows who the good guys really are. (She was the first one to trust Helena, after all.) But now that she’s getting a little bit older, she seems to be sick of everyone treating her with those kid gloves. Between dumping game boards all over the floor and having creepy visions of her aunties burning her mom because “she was changing,” it’s obvious that Kira is about to enter those crazy teenage years a little early. Really, it was only a matter of time before she began acting out, given everything going on in her life lately.
Wretched Return
If anyone was wondering what happened to Rachel it’s now safe to say that she’s working on mommy issues of her own. Seeing her interactions with her own adoptive mum make it clear why she’s as cold as she is, but it works because she’s also got Charlotte to soften her up. Watching the two of them work together to get messages out gives us hope that Rachel will join her sisters in the near future, especially now that we know Ferdinand is the one she’s sending those messages to. It’s just such a shame that Charlotte is now sick with whatever Cosima has and with whatever the other clones were dying from. And just when we were beginning to question why no one else seemed to be affected by this thing, too.
Tatiana Who?
Kudos this week to Lauren Hammersley for her role as Felix’s own sestra. The Canadian actress has appeared in several Canadian series over the years but this role is very different than what audiences are used to seeing her in — and it suits her. While we still don’t trust the character, it’s fun to see Felix brandying about with someone who doesn’t have a care in the world. It’s so completely un-Sarah-like that we can’t help but love the comedy it produces.
Eye For an Eye
Let’s just never have to watch those awful eye-injections again, please? Obviously creators John Fawcett and Graeme Manson love the body horror stuff (basically anything invoking David Cronenberg), but the eyes were just too much. Yech.
Lab Results
“Orphan Black” has a history of relying on coincidences to get its leading characters out of sticky situations, but with such an impulsive leading character and the show’s quick pace there’s rarely any other way to get Sarah out from the corners they back her into. This week it was Ferdinand, whose importance may grow over the coming weeks as more secrets are uncovered. For now it’s safe to say the sestras need to trust him in order to make their next moves and hopefully put this Neolutionist movement to bed once and for all. Especially since Mrs. S has kind of put them in a situation where they have no other choice.
Grade: B
“Orphan Black” airs Thursdays at 10pm on BBC America and co-producer Space in Canada. Check out a trailer for the new season below.
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