Orphan Black: (Ep104) "Effects of External Conditions"

Well 'Oley Snap! This Helena, the Angry Angel is warped for sure!

Orphan Black explores the idea of external conditions being the only variable for each of the "Sarah's"

(sounds better to me than the "C" word). The new character Helena's personal profile being put together by the police is that of an abused women, with a religious background  and a very personal reason for the killings. Little do they know! Cosima had it all right. Of course she also had all the facts which the police didn't.

So, how can Sarah stay one step ahead of the police force she is on? That's the questions she needs to answer for herself. It seems she pulled away deciding not to go back but went back again anyway to investigate the discovery of another "Sarah".The pros to remaining Beth won out. It proved to be an advantage for a while. She was able to regain the money that Art took from her. She had a great little apartment and new clothes. Drove an amazing Jag. Was able to steer the police away from her, the real Sarah with the unfortunate loss of the fingerprint results from the body of Katja. Then she was able to discover Helena and one very vital piece of information about the death of Maggie Chan.

But the cons to her being Beth now out weigh the pros.  With DNA results looming, and facial reconstruction almost done, PLUS the infiltration of "her" work space by Helena she must be uncomfortable more than ever. The added danger she has to her personally and to her daughter is weighing on her. Sarahs original desire was to return, get some funds and split with Kira and Fe. All that's gone to Shite now if she remains Beth. She believes she's done what she can as Beth and needs to go back to being herself now.

Now for the fun stuff!  The character Fe is amazing! He brings just the right amount of hilarity and lightness into the show, which has a darkness to it by nature (and nurture) anyway. Totally loved the surprise ending to his phone convo with Sarah! You have to watch to know what I'm talking about! I won't spoil it for you here.

Alison steps up to the plate in this episode. Her feisty attitude was bested by Felix's wise words. So, with the help of Alison, Sarah manages to pull off her visit to Kira and impresses Mrs. C. A second visit the following day was even secured without complaint. Way to go girls!!

I was wondering when the whole Kira thing would come out. I'm glad it did, but it seemed less impacting then I thought it should be. The clones not being able to get pregnant yet Sarah has her very own biological daughter reeks of "original, non-clone" to me. Hopefully it will come up again later.

The death of Maggie Chan still lingers in this episode, for good reason. Most "cop" shows would have
swept the whole thing under the carpet and moved on to bigger cases by now.  NOT being a cop show,  but a "Clone" show gives reason to keep the suspense going. Maggie it turns out was not an accident but a secret that Beth kept, even from the other "Sarah's". No one else knew why she killed Maggie Chan except that Helena and Sarah now know the truth.

And what of Helena? The police are partially right. She is on a personal killing spree to rid the world of all the clones. So the drawing they found in her squatters hole must be a picture of her hunt for the original?  Her dark sunken eyes and own self mutilation is creepy but being impaled with re-bar by Beth/Sarah may have been her demise....maybe. The end has that surprising twist that keeps the story moving on. This time into the headlights with more questions then answers.




Until next week.....