Orphan Black: The Few Who Dare
June 11, 2017 1:47 AM - Season 5, Episode 1 - Subscribe

Desperate to get off the Neolutionist island and reunite with her family, a wounded Sarah journeys into the island's interior.
posted by Pendragon (17 comments total) 1 user marked this as a favorite
 
Well, that started the season on a rather hopeless note.
posted by Thorzdad at 6:04 AM on June 11, 2017


Yeah, and I'm worried not all clones are going to survive the season because it's the last season and the stakes are high.
posted by Pendragon at 7:47 AM on June 11, 2017


My worry is that the writers are going to take the lazy way out and make the last season nothing more than a brutal, bloody, violence-fest. This opening episode does nothing to qualm my fear. Yeah, I know OB has always had its share of blood, but I hope they actually have a creative end to the story in place. It's just that so many shows today seem to simply go with heavy violence and bloodshed to end their stories. It's just effin' lazy storytelling. I hope the OB crew proves my fears to be uncalled for.
posted by Thorzdad at 8:14 AM on June 11, 2017 [2 favorites]


This crew built up a lot of trust with me over the seasons. Plus, they're still introducing new characters! New clued-in clone-hunting partner for Art? Yes please. And the creepy village Revival, off the grid on an island? like pointing at LOST and daring themselves to say Here is how you finish an episodic series based on mysteries? Yes, please! I'm expecting them to go for broke, here. Cosima explicitly called out myths and the functions of myths. I think the writers know they can successfully make a myth if they pull off what they're trying. Their ambition is on display. I'm excited!
posted by cgc373 at 11:41 AM on June 11, 2017 [1 favorite]


I did think it was interesting that they introduced so many new characters in just one episode--I hope that doesn't mean that there's a mass killing off in the works. :(

well, I hope not of clones, but the first and only thing I thought about Revival is that the show writers must have just read the same big book about Jonestown I did.
posted by queenofbithynia at 4:26 PM on June 11, 2017 [1 favorite]


What of the injury to Helena and her baby? That obviously will have repercussions. It seems to me, if the baby dies, Helena goes utterly postal on Neolution. Then again, it doesn't take much for Helena to go postal as it is.

But what if it survives and is revealed to be some sort of super baby in the same manner as Kira has been shown to have special powers?

They surely cannot have had the character carry a baby for so long only to have it die with no consequences.
posted by Thorzdad at 7:00 PM on June 11, 2017


Right after I finished it, I didn't think it was a particularly violent episode, and then I started counting through all the incidents and yeah, there are quite a few. I'm a little bit worried about seeing more of the humanoid that attacked Sarah in the woods, not because it was scary, but because it was absolutely not.

I was surprised that none of the people that I noticed in Revival seemed to have any modifications. I guess that side of Neolution doesn't get invited to the island.

Have we seen any signs, pictures, or paintings of P. T. Westmoreland yet? Perhaps it's a Wizard of Oz situation, with Rachel being used as the current mouthpiece (and Susan before her).

Charlotte seems a lot less creepy next to Mud and the Revival school materials.

I would like more scenes between Art and Felix. Also: Donnie running with his stupid suitcase through the woods.

If either of Helena's babies are hurt, the world is going to burn.
posted by minsies at 6:16 AM on June 12, 2017


Helena's currently carrying twins, so maybe just one baby is hurt?

Would you kill a baby to cure cancer?
posted by grumpybear69 at 6:29 AM on June 12, 2017 [1 favorite]


I might be a little kinder toward the heroic rescue then "wait, maybe it is better to have someone close to the bad guys to see what they are up to and if there is any upside to any of it," if we hadn't seen this infiltration, unlikely bedfellows with uncertain motivations, betrayal cycle so many times before. Hopefully this is just setting the stage for the final climax. There's still a lot in this show to enjoy even during its worst wheel-spinning, but I see some good signs of moving forward as well as some signs we could meander through the same conflicts one more time then BANG! big ending out of nowhere. I think the best sign is Rachel giving Cosima the cure, and bringing MK in as a regular character could catalyze some evolution in the dynamics in the group. (They could do this with Crystal, but they didn't quite get there last season and there was no mention of her so far.) Some less promising signs are Cosima and Delphine reunited than instantly separated, Art's new partner, Cosima sending Sarah two steps back instead of forward (although she doesn't escape, so this is ambiguous), and the continued threat toward Helena's chance to have her babies. Some of the conflicts are basic to the underlying themes of the show, so they are not going to go away, but it would be nice to see some progress toward thematic resolution, rather than just seeing the conflicts "resolved" from a plot perspective. If there is some kernel of value in the neolutionist science and philosophy, can the clones devise an empowering way to harness it? I can't see "now everyone can live forever!" nor "playing god is not our place" as satisfying resolutions. Putting neolution all on an island does make the "burn it all down" solution seem predestined though. Maybe only Kira survives, being more or less immortal already.
posted by nequalsone at 9:55 AM on June 12, 2017


Have we seen any signs, pictures, or paintings of P. T. Westmoreland yet? Perhaps it's a Wizard of Oz situation, with Rachel being used as the current mouthpiece (and Susan before her).

I think we saw a drawing of him in the Big Book of Neolution last season.
posted by scalefree at 10:44 AM on June 12, 2017 [1 favorite]


Before I dive back into this, does anyone know of a good catch-up article or video, to refresh my memory of all the storylines as of the end of Season 4? I can remember lots of fragments of story, but can't work out which gaps are my bad memory and which are things we haven't been told yet.
posted by metaBugs at 8:09 AM on June 15, 2017


Wow, that was stressful.

Ah, a catch-up article! Yes. Maybe some recaps on the AV Club, I have forgotten ALL OF THE THINGS. A quick search of YouTube found this overly brief redux.
posted by Coaticass at 5:12 PM on June 17, 2017 [1 favorite]


These might be more helpful. Possibly spoilers? I don't know:

Everything to know and ask-Orphan Black's Season 5 Premiere.

Orphan Black says goodbye- 7 things to expect
posted by Coaticass at 5:18 PM on June 17, 2017


What did Mud say about the "feral" when she was rambling on about ol PT? Or was it in Charlotte's book?

Also if Cosima and Delphine don't get a happily ever after then I am burying the show next to Torchwood, never to return for a rewatch. I'm so fucking tired of the Bury Your Gays trope.

And if baby dies? Helena will make you die.
posted by elsietheeel at 10:17 PM on June 17, 2017


Yes, happily ever after for Cosima and Delphine, please.
posted by rmd1023 at 12:21 PM on July 9, 2017


What an overstuffed episode. They strained to include every single character and story thread to the point where I had trouble getting into any of it.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 4:16 PM on July 12, 2017


Have we seen any signs, pictures, or paintings of P. T. Westmoreland yet? Perhaps it's a Wizard of Oz situation, with Rachel being used as the current mouthpiece (and Susan before her).

I'm hoping he is mummified like the mother in Psycho.
posted by TWinbrook8 at 6:44 PM on June 17, 2018 [1 favorite]


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