Orphan Black #CloneClub Recap: “The Stigmata of Progress”
"You don't get to decide what bothers you, or not. That's why it bothers you." -Rachel
It’s that time of the week again! S4, Ep 3 of Orphan Black is all about family values … if those family values were skewed and viewed through a kaleidoscope on drugs. (Can kaleidoscopes take drugs?) Sarah desperately searches for answers regarding the maggot bot she’s dealing with, at the expense of her relationships with those closest to her. While her relationships are becoming more strained, Felix makes progress in finding out about his birth family, and Alison, Donnie, and Helena prove what a Dynamic Trio they are while deflecting the po-po. All as Cosima is trying to not die from her illness. This is “The Stigmata of Progress.”
**THIS IS A RECAP—SPOILERS ARE PART OF THE TERRITORY.**
The Recap
The episode starts with Rachel, who has been in a mysterious location that looks like the set of Michael Jackson’s Remember the Time video. Now, however, we see that she’s not alone. She’s with Charlotte, her clone daughter, and Ira, presumably the first Castor clone who is now serving as Rachel’s doctor. Oh, and RACHEL’S MOM is there, but totally not tapping into her maternal instincts at all, because, you know, science. Talk about passing the Bechdel-Wallace Test. There’s barely any talk of emotions between these two, let alone men.
Anyway, as Rachel continues to be held against her will by her mom and making slight progress with walking again, she begins to bond with Charlotte, who is taking online courses. Rachel, who isn’t allowed internet access asks Charlotte to send messages for her, which she does willingly. If only the rest of Rachel’s familial relationships could go as well. She can’t stand the way Ira is so content to be there, and she can’t stand her mother who, after an entire childhood of putting Rachel under a microscope, has now locked her away “for the betterment of humanity.”
Sarah is following any and all leads to find out how to remove the maggot bot from her cheek safely. She’s so consumed by this that she doesn’t notice that her own daughter is feeling horrible about their entire situation (and possibly predicting the future?), or that Felix is insulted by Sarah continually asking him to drop what he’s doing to help the Clone Club. In any case, Sarah tracks down the person in the video she was shown last week who was getting the maggot bot out of his face, and her lead takes her to a dental implant specialist who happened to be doing these bot removals on the side.
When she meets someone there, she thinks that this “dental hygienist” who used to help Beth wants to help her remove the bot, thinking Sarah is Beth. However, this woman is a Neolution fanatic, and contacts “her superiors” to let them know that “Beth” is there with a bot. But before they arrive, Someone shows up and kills the woman. Ferdinand of Topside, who was tipped off by Mrs. S. as to Sarah’s whereabouts. When Ferdinand sets Sarah free, he tells her about something very important. Susan Duncan is still alive! (I guess now we know who Charlotte’s secret messages were going to.)
Over in suburbia, Cosima warns Alison about the maggot bot in Sarah, and has Donnie check her out for one. She doesn’t have one. Cosima still has no idea what they do, but she reveals to Alison that Neolutionists get the bots voluntarily. Then Alison has a brilliant idea. Remember that whole thing where Donnie killed Leakey and then he and Alison buried him under their garage? The couple end up digging Leakey up to get the bot out of his cheek, but not before the police who are investigating Leakey’s murder show up to ask Alison questions only to have Helena play Alison in a bathrobe while Alison is in the middle of digging up Leakey’s body in her garage. She does really well, actually.
And lastly, but most certainly not least, Felix tracks down his birth sister and learns that he’s the product of an affair between an American guy and a British dancer. Meanwhile, his half-sister makes a great drinking (and drugging) buddy.
The Awesome
- We’re only three episodes into Season 4, but this one is the best so far. It’s definitely the most tightly-written. Everything in the episode was connected to Sarah’s quest to get that bot out of her face. Even Rachel, off in a mysterious remote location, managed to connect via her secret messages to Ferdinand. They successfully gave all the members of Clone Club something to do.
- I loved the focus on the Project Leda clones’ relationships to each other, and I love that there are characters like Kira and Felix though which we can examine the effect of Sarah’s lifestyle.
- Pregnant Helena living with Alison and Donnie is one of the best things on television. I love how Alison and Donnie represent exactly the kind of life Helena wants for herself and her babies, but that when you put them all together, you can see how more Helena has to go to be able to be that. Also, she and Donnie make a great team.
- When they were doing the pigment injection in Rachel’s eye, I couldn’t help but think that the pattern in her eye recalled parts of the show’s opening credits. That was pretty cool.
The Not-So-Awesome
- Despite this episode giving all of Clone Club something to do, Cosima always seems to end up doing the least, either because she’s sick, or because she’s a scientist who rarely leaves the lab. I wish she could be as well integrated as the others.
- I was a bit disappointed that Felix found his birth family so quickly. What seemed like it could be a season-long story arc for him is now fairly resolved.
That’s it for this week! Orphan Black airs Thursdays at 10PM EST on BBC America. You’ll always be able to FIND MY OB RECAPS HERE. And yes, the Orphan Black Science Recaps ARE BACK!)
See you next week, Clone Club!
(images via BBC America)
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