Orphan Black #CloneClub Recap: “The Redesign of Natural Objects”

This week’s Orphan Black kicks everything into high gear as the Clone Club moves against Evie Cho. MK proves her worth and loyalty as she helps Sarah and Co. get in touch with Susan Duncan. Cosima comes up with a plan to move forward on finding a cure for herself and her sisters. Alison and Donnie are pressured by Detective Duko on Neolution’s behalf, and Mrs. S gets some well-deserved revenge. Oh, and there’s a really bad production of Jesus Christ Superstar. Welcome to Episode 8 of the season, “The Redesign of Natural Objects.”

**THIS IS A RECAP—SPOILERS ARE PART OF THE TERRITORY.**

The Recap

• Donnie’s first day in jail. Everything seems to be going well, and he’s putting on a tough guy act like a boss. That is, until an even tougher guy with a Neolution tattoo shows up to say that he’s there to “keep an eye on” Donnie. Suddenly…Donnie’s not so tough. As it turns out, his being locked up was orchestrated by Duko, who is putting pressure on Alison for Evie in order to get Alison to give up Sarah. If she doesn’t, Donnie might not last too long in jail as Mr. Neolution might accidentally shank him with a sharpened toothbrush. Throughout the episode, Alison is conflicted about what to do as Adele takes on Donnie’s case smelling like booze, Alison seeks spiritual guidance at her church, and she rehearses for a really shitty-looking production of Jesus Christ Superstar. When Duko confronts her with Donnie’s impending demise at the church, Alison seemingly gives Sarah up by telling Duko about the Clone Club hideout at the comic shop! *gasp* But PSYCHE, DUKO! As Admiral Ackbar said in Return of the Jedi, “It’s a trap!“
• While all this is going on, Rachel is on the Island of Doctor Duncan pissed off that Susan has seemingly given up on finding a cure. Rachel approaches Ira about working together and tells him that she’s come to see him as family. She then prods Susan to keep her eye on the prize, a cure…all while she continues to see that swan in her eye. In fact, the swan sightings get more elaborate. In one, as she’s attempting to walk without crutches in her room, she sees her dad, Ethan Duncan, all beardy-looking, alongside the swan. What the hell is going on??
• Sarah is trying to figure out what Evie Cho’s next move might be, so she agrees to talk to M.K. even though she’s pissed that M.K. made contact through Kira. Cosima is with her, and M.K. shows both of them the phone call between Evie and Susan in which Evie tells her that she’s coming after the self-aware Leda clones. Meanwhile, Kira sees Mrs. S go out with her rifle and tells Sarah, who then contacts Art to go after her.
• Turns out, Mrs. S not as “OK” as she claims, and has gone off to stalk Duko and exact revenge. However, before she can shoot, she sees Alison get in the car with him, which is how she and the rest of Clone Club have been made aware that Neolution would try and get to them through Alison and Donnie. She lets Duko live…for now.

• M.K. helps Sarah and Cosima connect to Susan and Rachel. They are trying to work together to figure out the best approach for a cure, but when Scott walks in and sees that Rachel is a part of all this, he’s all “Nope! Don’t trust Rachel, she cheats at games (along with more legitimate reasons not to trust her),” and Cosima agrees, saying she’ll work only with Susan. Sarah and Mrs. S wonder why M.K. has all of a sudden tried to come back to the fold, and they don’t know. However, we see that M.K. has started to get sick. She’s hoping for a cure, too.
• As they continue to work, Cosima explains to Susan that Kira’s genetic material is no good to work from, because her father’s DNA interferes with the Leda material. She then realizes that if she gets fertilizable Leda eggs from Sarah and Castor sperm from Ira, they can harvest embryonic stem cells, which would work the same way as having Kendall’s genetic material. Sarah’s not thrilled about giving up eggs, but Cosima convinces her, and she relents. Cosima then heads off to the Island of Doctor Duncan with Sarah’s eggs, which freaks Scott out.
• That’s, of course, all after Mrs. S gets her sweet, sweet revenge. Remember that trap I mentioned above? Well, Alison seemingly gives up Sarah, but Sarah has alerted Art, and so when Duko tracks Sarah to the Rabbit Hole, Art, Sarah, and Mrs. S are waiting for him. They get him to call off Donnie’s shanking in jail, then Art and Sarah leave Mrs. S to torture Duko for information about Evie’s plans. He tells her that Evie thinks Sarah’s a threat to her work, and that she plans to implant the maggot bots into people’s faces as “gene therapy,” but he has no idea what the real plan is because it’s “not his end of things.” Once Mrs. S sees that he’s useless beyond that, she sits in front of him with her rifle. He tries to convince her that he was doing it to save his family, but she knows a thing or two about wanting to save family…and he killed her mom. So she shoots him, splattering his innards all over the wall of the comic shop. Scott, loyal soldier that he is, has to clean it up the next day, poor guy.
• And lastly, Rachel tells Susan that she wants to work with Sarah and the others to reinstate Susan as the head of Neolution and dethrone Evie. And in the next vision of the swan she sees, the swan has been decapitated. Cutting off the head? WAY TO BE LITERAL, SWAN VISION! YOUR SYMBOLISM IS TOTALLY SUBTLE.

The Awesome

• This season of Orphan Black is just so perfectly paced. Last week, we got a much-needed episode with the Leda clones dealing with the aftermath of Kendall’s death, and now we have them rebounding and going on the offensive against Evie Cho and Neolution/BrightBorn. I loved how every clone, including M.K. has a part to play in their overall machinations, and I love that in the midst of all of it, the episode still managed to give Mrs. S some attention and closure.
• And let’s talk about that Mrs. S revenge subplot, shall we? Normally, whenever a character is put in a position like this, you’ll usually find me on the side of hoping that the character is a better person, that they rise above the desire for revenge and don’t let the evildoers change them. I wasn’t feeling that here. Mrs. S has been put through so much over the course of her entire life, for a cause that she had zero interest in, and has been forced to live her life on the run and as a soldier, losing too many people she loves in the process. As much as she made individual choices (like taking in Sarah and Felix), she did not choose for her mother to be used in cloning and to get wrapped up in all of this in the first place. In the context of all of that, her shooting Duko felt really, really good. Even better was Art allowing it to happen, acknowledging that at one point he did some pretty heinous things for Beth, and so for him to stand in her way now just to protect a corrupt cop would be hypocritical. I have absolutely zero problem with how this played out.
• I love that M.K. is back in the fold. She’s a great character and her computer skills are essential. Also, I love how amused Cosima is by her mask. I feel like they should become friends.
• GRATUITOUS SHOT OF FELIX CHANGING. *drools*
• Tatiana Maslany’s performance as Alison was amazing this week. Watching her navigate her feelings about her husband and her sisters was mesmerizing and heartbreaking. I also love that she didn’t get to drink that little bottle of vodka she found in her makeup case. No relapsing for you, Alison!
• Sarah and Cosima’s relationship is developing in a really great way. It’s been subtle, but there’s such an increase in trust and love between them that is really great to watch.
• Oh, and CAN WE TALK ABOUT ORPHAN BLACK’S VISUAL EFFECTS PEOPLE A SECOND? There was a scene where Sarah and Cosima, who are PLAYED BY THE SAME DAMN PERSON, are in a scene together, FACE TO FACE, with Cosima’s HAND ON SARAH’S LEG, and it looks FLAWLESS. I actually stopped it and looked really hard for seams and signs of Maslany’s acting double, and I couldn’t see it! Check out the photo at the top of this post. IT’S PERFECT.

The Not-So-Awesome

• I feel like Adele was introduced and now they’re just trying to force her into the story. She serves no purpose except as some cheap comedy relief, which I guess you need on a show like this, but could also come from any of the other already-existing characters. *sigh* I just hope she becomes more relevant soon.
• I’m not buying the whole “Evie thinks the Leda Clones are a threat” thing. I mean, she just….thinks they’ll interfere. Like, what if Sarah just calls her up and says “I REALLY COULD NOT GIVE FEWER SHITS ABOUT YOU AND YOUR SCIENCE. HAVE A NICE LIFE, KTHXBYE!” Wouldn’t that be the end of all of this. Why isn’t Evie just going after Susan and Rachel, who are the only ones who actually pose a real threat and have a real motive other than, you know, “family.” I dunno. Something in there isn’t ringing true for me.
• THEY NEED TO START LISTENING TO KIRA AND INVOLVING HER IN SHIT. It’s like they have this precious resource that they keep letting go to waste. Yes, she’s a kid, and yes, they need to protect her, but she can SENSE THINGS, and knows what’s up, and has ALREADY been through more than any kid should and come through surprisingly normal! I’m tired of all the dumb grown-ups giving her the shaft. Likewise Charlotte, for that matter, although Charlotte is given a little more to do, being that she’s a self-aware clone who knows she’s gonna die and they’re letting her in on figuring out treatments. It would be great to see more value placed on the little girls on this show, feminism and empowerment being for everyone, and all that.

“The Redesign of Natural Objects” was a great follow-up to last week’s episode as this season continues to rock my socks. I’m thrilled with how the story is progressing (minus the few minor quibbles expressed above), and I’m SO EXCITED THAT HELENA IS BACK NEXT WEEK! I’ve missed you, Sestra!

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, we’ve got the Orphan Black Science Recaps, too!

(images via BBC America)

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