Orphan Black 4×8: The Redesign of Natural Objects

Before I get into the actual review of “The Redesign of Natural Objects”, can we talk about how much I want a spinoff of Alison and Sarah Stubbs doing musicals at the community theater? I mean, clones and musicals together would be ratings gold!

But seriously, one of the things that I love about Orphan Black is how it is not afraid to show off ALL of Tatiana Maslany’s talents, including singing. Having her play the part of Judas in Jesus Christ Superstar may have been a little on-the-nose for the events in the episode, but it was an absolute pleasure (again) to see Maslany show off even more of her incredible skills. This woman can do it all, and I love when Sarah Stubbs shows up and takes Alison’s mind off of the Clone Club.

Of course the reason that Alison playing Judas was a little heavy-handed is the fact that Alison was put in the incredibly precarious position of ratting out Donnie and saving her sisters or ratting out her sisters and saving Donnie. It was not an easy position for Alison to be (particularly since most find her to be the most fickle of the clones), but with some Clone Club ingenuity, they were able to work it out and pull off saving both Donnie and the sisters. I do need to add that Kristian Bruun did an amazing job this week of pulling off being absolutely terrified after finding out that a Neolution plant was in jail with him. Although I was hoping for the best, I really wasn’t sure that Donnie was going to make it out alive. Bruun is one castmember that has impressed me tenfold when it comes to his performance; this guy is good. And who else was pleasantly surprised at Adele this week? I still don’t trust her, but I enjoyed getting to see her in a different capacity besides hanging out with Felix. For some reason, she just seemed at ease in the attorney role, and I am glad that she actually gave smart advice to Donnie.

After last week’s episode where most of our clones were grieving, we actually got some good forward movement in “The Redesign of Natural Objects”. As I hoped, Sarah snapped out of her drunken funk and worked well with Cosima and MK to track down Susan Duncan. It seems that Cosima and Scott (whom I continue to ADORE as a team) were able to do some “mad science” together and figure out a possible way to find the cure for both Leda and Castor. By the end of the episode, Duncan, Rachel and the rest of the clones had come to a truce and agreed to work together to find the cure. Cosima in a helicopter heading to Duncan’s island seems incredibly risky to me, but high risk equals high reward, right? Right?!? I just hope that Duncan (or Rachel, for that matter) is not scamming poor Cosima; I want this to be the break for her and Charlotte and MK and all the others that they can possibly get better.

Speaking of Rachel, it seems as though what I predicted during last week’s review may actually be happening: the visions of the swan seem to be imbedded in her bionic eye, not something that is neurological. We saw some glimpses of someone in this episode, as well as various shots of the swan alive and then butchered. I am afraid that we will need to see more to learn exactly what is taking place, but I do fear that the dead swan is a bit of foreshadowing of what is to follow for the Leda clones. (Sad face.)

We can’t not talk about Duko and Siobhan, though. Finally, this is the Mrs. S of season two that we all know and love and MISS! There is no way that S is just a civilian based on her ruthlessness and ability to torture and assassinate with such precision. I know that her emotions were heavy during the scene with Duko, but I really didn’t expect her to kill him so suddenly. I also don’t buy that he had a niece that was being threatened; Duko is a master manipulator and he was likely trying to play the sympathy card with S. Luckily, S doesn’t give a damn and ends up taking her grief over Kendall out on him. RIP, Duko, even though you were a psychopath.

I really enjoyed this episode more than I did the last one, and although it wasn’t my favorite of the season, it was a good one. But goodness, we only have two episodes left of the season! I just hope that Cosima and Duncan find a cure of sorts, Felix and Adele figure out their relationship, Rachel saves Charlotte, and we find out what happened to Delphine!

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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