Ease of Idle Millionaires is absolutely a Cosima centric episode. It seems to me that as we prepare for the finale showdown, Orphan Black is going to center on each clone individually and remind us of their strengths and what makes them who they are. Cosima may have landed in a rough place, but does anyone actually doubt that she'll be able to to make her escape?
Sarah
We actually only spend a little bit of time this week with Kira, Sarah and Mrs. S. As we always expected Kira, the unexpected second generation, is the key to this all. Unfortunately because Kira is only a little girl, there's much she cannot be told and much quite simply that she cannot understand. Like all children, Kira is highly inquisitive and resentful of adult conversations from which she has been excluded, even if it is for her own good. Having acknowledged that the connection Kira has with all clones is real, Sarah really needs to tap into this and understand how and why this works. The only way for Sarah to get Kira to willingly give up the information is to start her early introduction to Clone Club, a move that Mrs. S most certainly does not agree with. The introduction turns into mother and daughter bonding time, with Kira giving the clones code names. I'm not sure that elephant for Rachel works all that well though.
While Sarah is busy bonding and prying information out of Kira, Mrs. S heads to the lab and instructs them to look into men who may have died in the 1950's - the time that neolution underwent a revival. Finally, someone is thinking about the obvious. There's no damn way that Westmoreland is 170, they didn't have the science back then.
Rachel
Rachel doesn't have much of a role to play this week, though she does manage to assert her dominance over Susan, like the power hungry asshole that she is. Actually, at this point, I don't like either Susan or Rachel, so it's hard to root for either one of them to end up ahead. The reunion between mother and daughter isn't at all pleasant, so I suppose it's a good thing that Ira hid the knives first. Susan knows all to well that as much as Rachel would like to be rid of her, her input is vital. Rachel, who isn't one to be cowed, jabs Susan in her still healing wound and makes it clear that corporate, which she controls, will be in charge of the science. Really Rachel? How is that possible when you know so little about science?
As a reward for her good behaviour, Westmoreland gives Rachel the treatment that Cosima came up with to help deal with the genetic flaws in the Leda clones.
Cosima
The real action happens on the island this week. The writers spent a lot of time on the science and at times it's to the detriment of the plot. Not being a science geek myself, despite many years watching science fiction, hearing “Lin28A” repeatedly didn't actually do lot for me, nor did hearing about the manipulation of Aiesha's tumor actually cause me to invest more in the plot. I'm also just a little bit confused by all the work to seemingly humanise Cosima this week, which is something that I don't think that was really needed, given that they've spent five years fleshing out who she is as a character and what she will and will not stand for. My only real frustration is the ongoing relationship with Delphine. Okay fine, do all the booing and hissing that you want. I will acknowledge that Delphine is working behind the scenes to keep her promise to Cosima to find answers but that doesn't make her any less manipulative. I'm not one who is in denial about the fact that this relationship, no matter how much fans seem to love it, is based on lies.
Just as she promised, Cosima is following the science. To that end, Cosima decides to get DNA from the tooth of Westmoreland's badly treated science experiment. Cosima however is interrupted by the people of Revival because it's been discovered that a resident has been killed. At this point, none of the residents of Revival are buying for a minute that the predator in the woods is a bear and they are determined to kill it, despite Mud's protests. Mud explains to Cosima that at one point, Wesmoreland's failed experiment had his own room at the house and wasn't always this vicious. Apparently, this is what happens to a person when a few experiments go wrong. While chatting with Mud, Cosima sees Delphine arrive. Rather than heading to speak with Cosima, Delphine rushes to the big house.
When Delphine and Cosima finally reunite they don't have long alone together. As the two science geek out, Cosima tells Delphine that she's figured out that Westmoreland's experiments are manipulating“Lin28A”. This apparently is the same gene that he is been playing with in Aiesha and the monster gone wrong in the woods. This information is enough for Delphine to suggest that it's time for Cosima to pull back now because it's dangerous and the Neos know that she's up to something. Delphine is worried that Kira is in danger. A messenger from Westmoreland arrives to call Delphine to dinner and when Cosima asks to come along, she's told that she hasn't been invited. Cosima, not being one to take no for answer, reveals that she knows that “Lin28A” is Westmoreland's fountain of youth.
Inside the big house, Delphine and Cosima are informed that they are expected to dress for dinner. Cosima of course is not pleased with the clothing from the 1800's on offer. Also, "Frock that", is the more perfect response ever. When Cosima and Delphine do appear, Delphine is wearing a frilly number and Cosima is looking absolutely sexy in a tuxedo. We all have a story to tell about a family dinner that was absolute torture but this little dinner party rises to a completely new level. At the table, Cosima drops that bomb that she's figured out that Kira's ability to heal, is related to “Lin28A” (yes, the dreaded gene again) and that they've isolated the mutation in Kira. Just to keep Cosima on her toes, Westmoreland asks about her parents and Cosima is forced to admit that she's keeping them in the dark. It's a quick reminder that all of the clones had lives before clone club and that everyone connected to them is at risk. Westmoreland also lets Cosima know that he is aware of her snooping in the basement. Delphine hasn't even back for 24 hours and she's already snitching on our girl. With that out of the way Delphine is cleared by Westmoreland to head to Geneva.
Cosima heads upstairs to say goodbye to Delphine. Delphine claims that they wouldn't have let her go to Geneva, where she is working with Adele and Felix if she didn't snitch about Cosima being in the basement. Delphine then claims that she cannot tell Cosima anything about what's going on in Geneva. Making me hate Delphine even more, she reminds Cosima that she promised to protect her and in return Cosima promised to always defy them. Fuck that. When is Cosima gonna get tired of Delphine's games and be all:
I think of no justification for Delphine to continue to keep Cosima in the dark unless she's playing both sides. With Delphine off, Cosima heads downstairs where it seems that Susan and Westmoreland have more info to dump. The monster in the woods is actually a poor Latvian orphan, who is the first of Westmoreland's experiments. Susan admits that she added “Lin28A” to Leda genome but it only seemed to work in the second generation (read: Kira and Helena's babies)
The info dumping is paused when Westmoreland is informed that the wood monster has attacked and killed someone else. Thankfully, Mud has been spared. Susan, Ira and Cosima are left to hide together. In yet more info dumping, we learn that Dyad plans to harvest Kira's eggs and place them in 1300 surrogates. Cosima is rightfully disgusted and points out that they are talking about Kira's kids and Sarah's grandchildren but Susan is nonplussed, believing that it's easier to keep Westmoreland happy than go up against him. Cosima decides that she's not hiding anymore and heads to confront Westmoreland and Yannis (read: the wood monster)
By the time that Cosima catches up with Westmoreland, Yannis has been chained in the basement again. An angry Cosima goes into a righteous rage about Yannis being a normal little boy before Westmoreland messed him up. Cosima also calls bullshit on Westmoreland being 170 years old. Westmoreland turns the tables and puts a gun in Cosima's hands, telling her to do the ethical thing and kill a very frightened Yannis. Cosima's hands shake and with tears streaming down her face, she refuses to shoot Yannis. Cosima tells Westmoreland, “You gave me life; I know you can take that away, but you can’t take away my humanity.” If you didn't cheer at this particular moment, hide your head in shame. Cosima rushes to try and comfort Yannis and introduce herself. Westmoreland promptly shoots Yannis, leaving Cosima in the same cell.
Delphine shows up in Siobahn's kitchen where they begin to make plans for Geneva.
Did anyone really believe that Westmoreland is actually 170 years old? Yeah, they worked hard on the whole Island of Doctor Moreau thing but not so much that I believe Westmoreland's professed age. It is however news that he's dying and that's why he is so desperate. I love that Cosima calls out PT on hurting so many people just so that he can extend his life.
Cosima ending up being locked in the cage is a bit of a pickle but at this point, I believe that Westmoreland's hold on Revival is not nearly as strong as he believes it is. The fact that Mug let Yannis out in the first place indicates this and furthermore, there's not way that the villagers of Revival are happy to have lost so many people to Yannis. The Revivalist know that some freaking science is going on which they hope to benefit from but it's clear that they are only willing to sacrifice so much.
I think I've made clear my dislike of Delphine but I will say that one good thing came out of her appearance this week. Delphine's observation that Westmoreland keeps women are part was absolutely on point. The clones were all raised separately with no awareness of each other and even know because of his dirty little games, clone club is seperated. Westmoreland knows that for his plans to work, he has to keep the women fighting against each other rather than working with each others. Westmoreland's policy of separation clearly worked well on Susan and Virginia.
So Kira is being introduced to Clone Club. I kind of agree with Siobahn that this is too much for a child. For Sarah it's clearly about reducing the strain on her relationship with Kira. I absolutely agree that Kira has a right to be curious about where she comes from but there are times when parents need to just parent and Sarah seems to have forgotten that in an effort to end the animosity and find out more about the link.
Ira is glitching and all know what happens to Castors when they go on the Fritz. Ira is absolutely devoted to Susan but I love that he calls our out on testing him in order to make sure that he isn't glitching. Susan may have raised Ira but she's as self concerned as the rest of the neos. What I wonder is how Ira's glitch is going to affect Cosima's escape?
