Orphan Black Review: Nurture vs Nature

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What a mess!

No, literally, what a mess.

On Orphan Black Season 2 Episode 7, we had several of them. Ethan Duncan was searching through an old, cluttered house for "absolutely everything," Allison and Felix wound up with a fairy-dusted Vic as Felix tried to clean up the poo poo Allison got into with Vic and Donnie, well, he was covered in mess.

And that's just bits of the many messes that were created. A funny thing can happen from messes. Out of them can come love. Rachel was reunited with her father, Allison discovered Donnie had no malicious intent in his role as a monitor and Sarah and Cosima found themselves surrounded by loving individuals wanting to help.

Cal turned out to be a wonderful man. Considering how Sarah entered his life and the shit storm she thrust upon him years later, he's a really great guy. His love for Kira is undeniable and his faith in Sarah is admirable. He's also not stupid.

Do you think knows, but decided not to let on to Sarah, that he understands her situation? Clearly Kira's talk of aunties who all look the same, the vast amount of trouble they're in, his comment to Sarah about being a Pisces and Sarah's need for the gentic material from Kira's tooth indicated that he gets it. He's a scientist, after all. In his world, the impossible is possible.

His love for Kira didn't stop him from allowing Sarah to take her back into the mire. Of course, mighty little Kira had her own say. The girl yanked her tooth for her aunty Cosima. Perhaps Cal just needs to talk himself out of everything that makes sense to him in order to let Sarah fix the situation she's in.

Cosima hated making the call to Sarah about her need for Kira's genetic material, but I don't believe for one second it was more painful than discovering the source of it. Considering Dyad's penchant for swooping in during the night to probe and poke, it was good to learn the cells came from Kira's tooth after the accident.

Cosima temporarily sent Delphine from her side, but with so few people to trust at Dyad, I can't see that being a lasting maneuver.

Let's talk about Allison and the spectacle at rehab. Woah Betty did she get herself in a pickle by sharing with Vic! Felix, expressing his clone love for his 'adopted' sister Allison came to her rescue, and when he wasn't enough, he enlisted Sarah. Sarah was Allison and it was such a beautiful mess.

At one time, Sarah had no problem acting as Allison (at her house party), but with all the stress they've been under and the distance between the clones, it's getting more difficult to play that game. My hope is with Cosima's distress call, they come together again. They've said it may times -- they're stronger together than they are apart.

If we've wondered when we might see Rachel's emotional side, we've seen it now. The power struggle between Rachel and Leekie was only from his end. Siobhan decided to go to Leekie with news about Ethan Duncan being alive. Leekie took that to a new player named Marian, who he thought was on his side. Not so fast Leekie!

Marian and Rachel planned to get rid of Leekie and after Rachel met with her father in an emotional reunion and learned Leekie killed her mother, the stage was set for Leekie's overthrow. In a surprising move of love (if Rachel is capable of it) for Leekie, she allowed him to live. After all, he raised her -- nurture previals, she said. She had lost one father, the idea of killing another must have been distasteful even after she was reunited with her first.

Interestingly, for the rest of the clones, nature is clearly prevailing because other than Rachel, they have all come together to share in one another's lives for no other reason than because they share the same DNA. Maybe this lesson in nurture vs nature will help Rachel come around to her sestras. Yeah, probably not.

At least we know that Donnie and Allison were truly in love and he was an unwitting pawn in Dr. Leekie's scheme. It was a social experiment in itself that Donnie went along with the "long-term social metrics" study. When Allison finally opened up to him about how it infringed upon their lives, he was done.

In the lovely crescendo of love that Donnie was feeling, he sought out Leekie and, at gunpoint, tearfully told Leekie what it meant to learn of the lies and what he had done all those years. As he blurted out "I quit," he smashed his gun on the steering wheel mistakenly splattering Leekie's brains all over the inside of the car. Whoops!

Thoughts round up:

  • So Siobhan is really in this all for Kira? Her loyalties are always so confusing.
  • There was only the quickest mention of Mark taking Helena. After last week's intensity and her returning to the Proletheans, that was surprising.
  • Before he fell out of her good graces, how cut were the gloves Allison knitted for Vic, sans pinky?
  • Vic should be half brain dead by the time he wakes up. A face plant to the table at full speed (to be covered in fairy bits) and then a conk against the wall had to do some damage.
  • Kira's decision to help her auntie by ripping out her tooth shows that she has all of the best from every clone in her genetic makeup. It's worrisome what might happen to her, however, when she runs out of baby teeth.
  • How in the hell did Donnie find Leekie? Are we supposed to think he went to Rachel who told him she gave him a running start on staying alive, so he was hoofing it on the streets?
  • I'm really enjoying the quirky throwback songs that enhance the episodes lately. This week it was "Love is All Around" by The Troggs from 1967, not to be confused by the re-recording by Wet Wet Wet in the '80s. Late '60s music is winning out two weeks in a row following "Sugar Sugar" by the Archies last week.

Leekie's death should throw things into a bit of a tailspin next week. Donnie would have to ditch an entire car to get rid of his evidence. Rachel is sure to be upset considering she gave Leekie a chance at life, and any secrets he had that were left to be uncovered are gone.

If you need to catch up, you can watch Orphan Black online via TV Fanatic and be sure to check out the Orphan Black quotes this week, because they were poppin'!

What was this week's most surprising development?

Knowledge of Causes, and Secret Motion of Things Review

Editor Rating: 4.8 / 5.0
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User Rating:

Rating: 4.8 / 5.0 (26 Votes)

Carissa Pavlica is the managing editor and a staff writer and critic for TV Fanatic. She's a member of the Critic's Choice Association, enjoys mentoring writers, conversing with cats, and passionately discussing the nuances of television and film with anyone who will listen. Follow her on X and email her here at TV Fanatic.

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Orphan Black Season 2 Episode 7 Quotes

I could have saved her, but I didn't. She clawed at the counter top, begging for her life. I stood there until it was over. Ahhh. It feels so good to say that out loud!

Allison

Hey, you can trust me. The stuff that I've done? No judgment.

Vic