Orphan Black 3×8 Review: Ruthless in Purpose, and Insidious in Method

As the title of the episode referenced, ruthless is the best way to describe this week’s Orphan Black. Not only did the characters sacrifice for each other in very secretive fashion, but the show itself gave viewers so many twists and turns that I feel completely jerked around by them. I officially have no idea what is going on with the story at this point or whom I can trust.

Before I dive too far into the complete crazy of the episode, I would like to point out the parts that absolutely worked for me. First of all, we got a lot of clone action from just about everyone this week. Although Cosima, Sarah, and Rachel were at the forefront, we spent plenty of time with Alison and Helena as well. In fact, Helena is now crashing with the Hendrix’s and working at Bubbles. This part is clearly comedy gold. The Hendrix kids have to be just super confused at this point, especially after they spend some quality time with Auntie Helena. Also, Donnie can do a mean Helena impression, so of course, a Donnie/Helena spinoff of them working together at Bubbles is now at the top of my wishlist. (Especially since Helena freaking cracks up at Donnie. This was probably one of my top five scenes of Orphan Black.)

Unfortunately, we did not get to see any clone playing clone action, but we did meet a new clone! That’s right, our Krystal is blond bombshell manicurist, and the same one that was kidnapped by the Castor clones. I am always a little wary when the writers try to push more Leda clones on us, but Krystal was actually very sweet and ended up serving a huge purpose to the plot. The whole storyline with Krystal really surrounds Rachel and her desire to leave Dyad. In the end, it was Rachel’s double-cross double-cross of Sarah and the clone club that leaves Krystal in a medically-induced coma (with the help of Dr. Nealon), and herself on an operating table getting a prosthetic eye. Everyone is none the wiser as to Rachel’s secret plan, but it made me wonder who in the hell I can actually trust on this show. My money is pretty much on no one. This plot twist was incredible, but also super frustrating.

Another scene that I started out super excited about was that we got to see Scott outside of the Dyad lab! Finally, I was looking forward to see our favorite nerd in his habitat–I mean, he has a cat named Denise. My squeeing was dashed, however, when the camera panned to a visitor in his apartment among his Funko collection: it’s Rudy. He has apparently survived Paul’s grenade blast (I love you, Paul, but that was kind of a shoddy job!), and blackmails Scott for the coded book. He gives it up, and later apologizes for coming clean to Delphine about the book’s existence, but Cosima forgives him; Rudy was holding Denise hostage! I am glad that Cosima understands cat people. Also, importantly, someone ratted on Leda and told Castor about the book.

One of the smaller scenes of the episode turned out to have some of the biggest relevance in the overall Project Leda/Castor arch in the series. Dr. Coady also survived the grenade blast at the camp, and she is still in Mexico and meeting up with strangers in bars. The big revelation: there are more sectors in the cloning projects than just Leda and Castor. This scene was so small that I am sure most casual viewers probably overlooked it. This obviously has huge implications: are there more clones out there that we don’t know about? Could the third sector of clones be the “ideal” clones like Sarah and Helena who do not have defective genomes? And more importantly, who is in control over these additional sectors if it isn’t Dyad or the military?

I cannot finish discussing this episode without acknowledging the Cosima ships. Near the end of the episode, Cosima turned in her resignation to Dyad, which will probably have some pretty big consequences as the season continues to play out. During a very emotionally intense scene, Delphine kisses Cosima. It was very passionate, and I could practically hear all of the Cophine shippers screaming over the interwebs. Cosima seemed to play along for a hot minute, but thought better of it for the sake of her sisters. In retaliation, Delphine handed over a file that Dyad had on Shay. This is probably not going to end well for Shaysima shippers. At this point, I don’t even have a Cosima ship anymore; I just want her to be happy and healthy and have a really strong support system.

Did you end the episode as confused as me? I really want to know what Rachel’s story is, because she was definitely the most important in this episode. And what is it that she and Nealon are trying to achieve? Oh, and who was the lady at the end of episode observing Rachel’s operation? So many questions arose in the episode, and the best bet is to just keep watching and cross our fingers for some answers.

Author: Erin

Erin has reviewed many shows over the years including Orphan Black, iZombie, Penny Dreadful, and Killing Eve. She has a keen eye for on-screen chemistry, and loves to tackle the subject of casting. She is also our horror aficionado. She live tweets shows, and loves to share her feelings. Erin has a BA in History, and likes to analyze the lore behind historical fiction. She attends San Diego Comic Con every year and has also attended C2E2 and WonderCon.

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