Orphan Black 2.07 “Knowledge of Causes, and Secret Motion of Things”

NOTE: There will be spoilers.

This is where the Clone Galaxy stands after Ethan Duncan revealed the Leekie Imperative:

1. Alison is being watched by Angie, for reasons not yet clear.
2. Helena’s desire for motherhood is being exploited by the Proletheans.
3. Cosima is being treated with a stem cells from an unknown family member, and is being kept in the dark about that fact.
4. Leekie is misleading Rachel and making moves to promote his own agenda.
5. Somehow, children, their creation or lack thereof, are a key component in the plans of DYAD, the Neolutionists and the Proletheans.

“I say we divide and conquer.”

Children remain a core component but “Knowledge of Causes, and Secret Motion of Things”adds a layer in the form of various reunions. Siobhán and Sarah started that ball rolling with their unexpected reunion in the last episode. In this episode Alison is reunited with her family (even Donnie), Sarah is reunited with Kira and Cal and Rachel is reunited with her very NOT dead father, Ethan Duncan. Ironically, these family reunions, specifically Sarah’s and Rachel’s, will form the sharp end of the wedge that will split DYAD.

“If you’ve done your homework, I shouldn’t have to introduce myself.”

The first strike is cast my Siobhán, who is a force all her own. Her ability to walk into a secure facility unchecked is nothing short of amazing, particularly if you recall the lengths that Sarah, Cosima and Delphine have all had to go to in order to gain access. As if her appearance at DYAD didn’t display enough boldness, she basically forces Leekie’s hand with regards to Rachel. She also makes clear that she is willing to leverage both Duncan’s research and Duncan himself in exchange for Kira’s safety. She might just be “the mom,” but she is perhaps the most dangerous mom who has ever lived, at least as far as DYAD is concerned.

We’ve seen a tug-of-war between Rachel and Aldous with regards to who has the controlling interest of DYAD. Rachel has always seemed to represent the “corporate” side while Leekie has presented himself as being purely interested in the science, and perhaps as an ambassador of the Neolutionist Movement in the company. Recently, based on Ethan Duncan’s testimony, it seems that Team Leekie might have firm control of the reigns. However, with the arrival of Marian, we learn that even Leekie has someone to whom he must answer.

“My father sends his regards.”

Ethan Duncan tipped the chessboard in many ways, not the least of which being that he was alive. The Duncan’s managed to drive the initial research far into the future while ultimately making a choice that Leekie contends significantly set it all back. They were wild cards, and Ethan’s survival makes him an unforeseen problem, a free radical of sorts. Accordingly, following Siobhán and Sarah’s plan to divide and conquer, Rachel’s meeting with Ethan throws off the balance of power inside of DYAD. Rachel becomes the blunt edge that drives Leekie out of the organization, possibly severing one of the heads of the beast that is DYAD.

It’s interesting to note that Rachel works in accord with Marian, who claims that Leekie had “lost his way with Sarah Manning.” However, without Sarah’s intervention Rachel wouldn’t be aware of Ethan. Obviously there are higher powers inside of DYAD than the Neolutionists, but one can’t help but wonder what kind of impact meeting Duncan had on Rachel, and what that might mean in regards to her feelings toward Sarah.

Even if Rachel isn’t explicitly aware of the machinations that led to the decision, she played her part with the Clone Club, and they have claimed their first victim with Aldous.

“We stand among you today, pill poppers and booze hounds…”

At the risk of being redundant, I simply cannot give enough credit and praise to Tatiana Maslany. Sarah, pretending to be Rachel, who has to role-play with Donnie AS Donnie was just, surreal. This was one of those times where I find myself forgetting that a single actress plays multiple characters. Tatiana has now played Sarah pretending to be Alison, Cosima and Rachel (via phone) and always makes it seem like Sarah is a very convincing impersonator.

At a micro level the scenes with Alison, Felix, Sarah and Victor provided a bit of levity (with much of the credit going to Michael Mando and his stuntman for the physical humor). However, when we zoom out, Vic and Sarah’s reunion not only created a setback for Angela, but laid the groundwork for Leekie’s demise. Vic’s clandestine deal with Angela, while seemingly on another planet from DYAD, ultimately set in motion a series of events that put Donnie on a warpath that lead directly to DYAD’s front door.

Like Rachel, Donnie will soon become complicit in furthering the goals of Clone Club.

“This kind of cluelessness can’t be faked.”

Alas poor Donnie, he is a turnip. The saga of the monitors continues to get more interesting as we learn that Donnie legitimately knows nothing. All this time he was under the impression that he was involved with a “long term social metrics” study. He is completely unaware of the probes and physical experiments. While Tatiana Maslany, deservedly, gets a lot of credit on this show, I’d be remiss if I didn’t note just how well Kristian Bruun does during this scene. Donnie is not a particularly “deep” character, but the look on his face when he learns about Sarah and Clone Club is amazing, his confusion, regret and pain are palpable. When you consider that his mind was figuratively blown, it’s morbidly poetic that he literally blows Leekie’s mind…all over the passenger window.*

“Will this help??”

The ascendency of Clone Club is not without its share of problems. And, unfortunately, the solution to those problems might be Kira.

I predicted last week that Kira’s life is going to get a LOT more difficult. This week that prediction came true. Cosima discovers that the stem cells she’s been implanted with are from a tooth that Kira lost during her recovery after the car accident. This discovery places Cosima at odds with Delphine as well creating an impossible situation for Sarah and Kira. Kira, in an act of sacrifice and empathy that seems beyond her years, pulls her own tooth to help her “Aunt Cosima.” Also, it’s important to note that no sooner are Kira and Sarah reunited than Kira and Cal are separated. There’s a very real chance that Kira may have sacrificed more than a loose tooth.

It’s hard to know where to position Cal. Much like Siobhán, he appears to have Kira’s best interests in mind. He also seems to have an extraordinary amount of knowledge with regards to going off the grid, and, seemingly, the means and contacts to do so at a moment’s notice.

Sarah and Kira still seem to be the center of this particular universe, but it is difficult to discern who is orbiting to promote their interests, who is truly safe, and who might just end up being burned for being too close. Siobhán and Cal might comprise the extent of the “safety/protection” group, while Art and, certainly and sadly, Felix make up the latter. It does seem like Clone Club is getting tighter, and it is likely that Cosima’s illness and Leekie’s death might coincide to become the catalyst that brings about an impending confrontation.

The only real outlier here is, appropriately, Helena. What impact will it have if she’s able to successfully carry a child to term. Will her children have the same “gifted” qualities that Kira has demonstrated? Would their stem cells be equally as valuable? Could they be valuable BEFORE they’re even conceived, and if so, would that give the Proletheans some sort of leverage over DYAD?

With three episodes left, here’s the current state of the Clone Galaxy:

1. Donnie has learned the truth and, as a result, managed to go all Pulp Fiction on Leekie.
2. If there’s only one thing to be certain of from this episode, it is that Leekie is dead. I have to admit to laughing out loud when it happened. I’m apparently morbid.
3. Rachel knows the truth about her Mother, or, she at least knows what Ethan claims is the truth.
4. Marian, who represents some higher level power in DYAD, has apparently anointed Rachel to some degree.
5. Cosima needs stem cells from Kira to cure her.
6. Kira will do anything to help her “aunts.”
7. The Clones truly are stronger as a group, just ask Rachel, Vic and Aldous (well, not Aldous, he’s dead).
8. As the Clones bring their orbits closer together it seems like they will either encompass those closest to them or expel them into infinite darkness. Either way, there’s a shakeup of galactic proportions on the horizon.

* I couldn’t resist the temptation.