Orphan Black #CloneClub Recap: “Newer Elements of Our Defense”

“Say my name.”

Welcome to this week’s Orphan Black #CloneClub Recap! Episode 4 of the season, “Newer Elements of Our Defense” finally gives us the direct Breaking Bad reference we’ve been waiting for! Oh, and some other clone-related stuff, too. Let’s dive in!

“Escape Crazy Lady With Gun, or Save Crazy Clone Who Held My Sister Prisoner? Decisions, decisions…”

S3, Episode 4 – The Basics:

• When we last saw Sarah (Tatiana Maslany), she was hiding from Bonnie (Kristin Booth) who’d just shot Mark (Ari Millen) in a cornfield. But it turns out, Mark’s not dead! Sarah dodges Bonnie, finds Mark, and drags him to safety. When they’re a safe distance away, Mark tells her she needs to get the bullet out of his leg, and she agrees – as long as he’s prepared to give her answers about his mission. In a really gross moment, Sarah successfully removes the bullet with a pair of pliers and nearly vomits. Meanwhile, Mark tells her as much as he knows about his mission: how the Castors were raised all together; how they were raised to hunt; how he wants to find the genetic samples and deliver them in exchange for his freedom, but that all he found was a box of “junk.” Eventually, Mark passes out, and Sarah finds his motel key in his pocket. She heads over there to check out what exactly is in this box. But she’s not the only one! Rudy’s on his way to the motel in search of Mark! Sarah finds the notes and folders Mark had found and calls Cosima, who tells her the Castor samples aren’t in test tubes – Heinrich Johansson (Mr. Head Prolethean) had a son with Bonnie who died, and that baby would have the genetic material they need. Mark finds her at the motel room, and after initial skepticism, goes with her to the cemetery where Johansson’s son is buried. As Sarah finds the tiny coffin, Mark passes out again, and Rudy arrives with a gun. Sarah catches him off guard, hits him in the head with a shovel, and runs off to hide. But Rudy finds her! MEEP! But then Mark, having regained consciousness (that guy is a freaking TROOPER!), shows up just in time to pull rank on Rudy and stop him from killing Sarah. Except that Rudy reminds him that, even if they take the genetic material back to base, they can’t “leave loose ends.” Mark agrees, and they close in on Sarah. MEEP AGAIN!

“Favorite show in Ukraine was MacGuyver. He would make escape with bone from meat.”

• Meanwhile, Helena’s busy being badass. Using military protocol to her advantage, she and her scorpion friend use the military’s procedure when dealing with one of her outbursts to get out of her cell and have enough time to get the layout of where she’s being held. Using a makeshift tourniquet on her arm, she staves off the effects of sedatives they give her after she threw a bucket of her own poop at Miller long enough to get the lay of the land. She also spots a heretofore unknown Castor clone being held in a secret room. After several scenes of watching her really go to town nibbling a bone, we finally see why she’s doing it. SHE MADE A BONE KEY TO GET HERSELF OUT OF HER CELL! Because badassery, that’s why. As she escapes, she can’t resist the secret room, and when she enters, she discovers the Castor clone, Parsons, restrained with his skull cut open and brain exposed. He begs her to kill him, and is clearly scared and in extreme pain. In a moment of enormous tenderness, Helena comforts Parsons just long enough to put him out of his misery by jabbing a scalpel into his brain. This doesn’t make Dr. Coady (Kyra Harper) too happy, and Helena is apprehended.

“No one believes you’re the Heisenberg, Donny.”

• Things are going well for Alison and Donny’s (Kristian Bruun) drug soap business. That is, until a “messenger” shows up in their yard  saying that, despite their having paid Ramon $30,000 for his business, it wasn’t Ramon’s to sell, and his boss wants a meeting with him. Donny is ready to take down some fuckers with a gun if things go wrong, but the boss pretty much just wants to talk to Alison. In a crazy, and totally Alison-like turn of events, the drug boss turns out to be her ex-boyfriend, Jason (Justin Chatwin), from high school! ZOMG! They reminisce, and Alison confidently tells him that if he lets her keep her inventory, she will double Ramon’s rate, and they shake on it. Because Alison is a BOSS. Also, when trying to hide the drugs earlier in the episode, Donny says “we can keep them in a storage locker. Like on Breaking Bad,” confirming their completely obvious Jesse Pinkman/Walter White relationship. But Donny’s Pinkman, because Alison is TOTALLY Heisenberg.

• Cosima’s illness is getting much better, but her heart isn’t. She’s still broken up about Delphine breaking up with her, and Felix (Jordan Gavaris) is not having it. Despite Cosima’s protestations that she’s “not pining. I am anti-pine.” Felix encourages her to get out of Delphine’s “yeti-like sweater” and go to the bar with him, where he proceeds to convince her to try to find ladies using a Tinder-like app for lesbians called Sapphire. (Sorry, lesbians. That’s not a real thing.)

• Meanwhile, in Crazytown, Gracie (Zoe de Grand’Maison) has been welcomed back into the Prolethean fold. That is, until she miscarries her baby – which is apparently totally her fault, even though it totally isn’t – and she suddenly becomes useless to them. After welcoming her so warmly, her mother casts her out. PS – she banishes her while Gracie’s still lying on a table bleeding, because why waste time, right?

“Mental note: no more hiding in barns or garages.”

The Awesome:

I KEEP FALLING MORE AND MORE IN LOVE WITH HELENA EVERY EPISODE. She’s an amazing, fascinating character, and I love what they’re doing with her this season. Sarah is right when she says that “Helena’s not a monster.” Despite her training and upbringing, all Helena really wants to do is care for people and have a family. Her scene with Parsons is utterly heartbreaking, and Maslany’s performance is killer as she brings a child’s sympathetic sensibility to the act of killing a man. The fact that she jeopardized her own freedom to save someone in more pain than she’s in speaks volumes.

The bond forming between Mark and Sarah is really interesting. They are both reluctantly a part of all of this, but are both doing what they need to do to be with/protect the people they care about. Also interesting is the fact that Sarah is ready to acknowledge the Castors as brothers, even if Mark isn’t.

Even more important to me than Grand Feminist Gestures are the small ones that let me know feminism is so ingrained into the fabric of a show it can’t be removed no matter how hard you try. For example, the show actively comparing Alison to Heisenberg, rather than comparing her to another female, suburban drug dealer like Nancy Botwin from Weeds. Just because they are women doesn’t mean they’re the same, and Orphan Black seems to know this. ROCK.

Oh, this guy…

The Not-So-Awesome:

• While Felix had a bit more to do this week, he’s still relegated to Gay Best Friend territory. Don’t get me wrong, Gavaris is charming as hell, as is Felix. But just once, I’d love to see him be smart and help them figure out something important re: Clone Club rather than constantly picking up after his seestras. While it’s subversive to have a male character essentially be “the girlfriend,” it’s not interesting when you replace one stereotype with another.

• I wish the Proletheans were more nuanced. I mean I get it: Religious Cult Bad. But come on. I know plenty of very religious people who are super-conservative while still managing to be warm/kind/caring, especially when it comes to their own. I can’t imagine NO ONE would sympathize with or try to help Gracie. Maybe we can expect something from Mr. Appleyard, the new blind elder? Or maybe Alexis the midwife? All I know is that the show has managed to make the non-religious characters who are doing hateful things nuanced and sometimes-sympathetic. I wish they’d do the same for the Proletheans. They’re starting to get uber-mustache-twirly.

That’s it for this week! Orphan Black airs Saturdays at 9PM EST on BBC America. If you missed last week’s recap, CHECK IT OUT HERE. Also, make sure you’re reading our Orphan Black Science Recaps, which walk you through the plausibility of the science of each episode! See you next Monday! Til then, don’t leave any loose ends. Oh, and here’s a bonus Behind the Scenes shot, because reasons:

Ari Millen’s lost his head! Oh, shut up. You couldn’t resist a pun either!

(Images via BBC America)

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