Orphan Black – S3E4 – Newer Elements of Our Defense

Posted on May 10, 2015 by Jasmin George in Orphan Black - S3 // 1 Comment

Previously on Orphan Black, ‘Formalized, Complex, and Costly’

Sarah

Picking up right where things left off in the last episode, Sarah is hiding from Bonnie Johanssen in Willard Finch’s shed. She manages to escape through the cornfield and along the way she finds Mark, still alive, but badly wounded. Perhaps feeling some sort of familial bond, she decides to help and rushes him off to an abandoned house. Mark got lucky; one of the bullets went directly through him without damaging anything vital, the other bullet however is going to have to come out. Sarah offers her assistance, if he’ll give her some answers.

Sarah wants to know where Helena is being kept, but Mark has been away from his army brothers for too long to have any idea where they’re keeping her. He does give Sarah information about his mission with the Proletheans, though. Turns out, before Project Leda was shut down, Henrik Johanssen stole samples from the labs. Sarah keeps her word and pulls the bullet out of his leg. It was grisly, but also kind of awesome. As Sarah stitches the wound we learn the male clones were all raised together in a very sheltered manner with no outside attachments. When Mark met Gracie, he was determined to find the stolen samples and use it as leverage for his freedom. Just before he passes out Mark hints at the fact he may have found something in Finch’s shed.

After calling an ambulance for Mark, Sarah takes the hotel key she found in his pocket and sets out to find whatever he may have discovered. When she locates the box she comes across a document revealing Henrik was a lab assistant to Ethan Duncan on Project Leda. She snaps a few photos to send Cosima, who immediately figures out Henrik was using the stolen samples to make more clones. Sarah realizes she shouldn’t be looking for test tubes, but the Johanssen’s son.

“To escape the first box, you must know what the next box holds” – Helena

Mark ambushes Sarah at the hotel room, but before things get lethal, she tells him about the information she found in the box. Mark seems to know about a possible Johanssen son and directs her to an old farmhouse in the woods. Henrik and Bonnie had a child after they were married, but it didn’t survive. The DNA they need is in the bones of a buried baby, so Sarah gets to digging. Mark is slowly fading into unconsciousness just as Sarah finds the casket and scar-face boy clone approaches from the woods.

With no other option, Sarah hands over the Castor DNA. As scar-face bends over to open the casket she whacks him across the head with a shovel and runs into the nearby barn. He finds her in no time, but again, before things get lethal, Mark intervenes telling his brother to stand down. Sarah’s fate hangs in the balance however, because Castor boys don’t leave loose ends.

Helena

As Helena chomps away at some sort of meat, she notices a rather large bone and gets an idea. Using the string from her pants, she ties her arm off to stop the circulation. She then proceeds to go nuts in her cell, throwing her head up against the bars to get the attention of the guards. The Castor clones’ mama orders Helena be taken to the infirmary, but sedates her first. Well played, Helena.

Once the doctor has finished examining her, he calls in for army boy clone to take her back to the cell. There’s no rush though, she should be out for an hour. Helena’s scorpion buddy instructs her to scope out the base, find an escape route, and get back to the infirmary before anyone finds her. During her recon, Helena finds a room where one of the male clones is being operated/experimented on. Unfortunately, this distracts her for too long and the drugs kick in. Through a foggy haze she manages to make her way back to the infirmary without being caught.

Later that night, Helena is gnawing at the bone trying to fashion a key. When the coast is clear she uses it to unlock her cell door and makes her getaway. Ever the curious one, Helena stops at the room where she saw the male clone earlier. She removes a cap from his head to find he has some plugs hooked directly into his brain. He can barely speak, but he manages to force out a plea for Helena to kill him. Scorpion buddy thinks she shouldn’t waste her time, but Helena feels a connection to him; their families abandoned them both. In an even more grisly, but awesome shot, Helena stabs the clone’s brain. In putting the clone out of his misery she sacrificed her shot at freedom because the guards find her and take her down.

Alison

Donny arrives home in a panic. Someone was following him while he was dealing drugs campaigning for the school board election. Alison quickly assumes it was Marci Coates, but Donny is pretty sure it was the police. Just in case, they decide to move all the incriminating evidence out of the house. Donny suggests getting a storage locker, like in Breaking Bad. Oh, Donny.

While moving their ridiculously clearly marked pills, Alison and Donny find a man waiting for them in their backyard. It’s the guy who was following Donny and he’s there on behalf of his boss, who isn’t Marci Coates. Turns out, Ramon was on consignment and never actually paid for the pills he sold to Alison and Donny. The boss knows who they are, knows their kids names, and wants to meet with them immediately.

When they convene later that night, the boss is only interested in talking to Alison. As she steps into the car, she tries to play tough only to find the boss is Jason, a guy she dated and dumped back in high school. After the two reminisce – they get a little too cozy, am I right? – Alison convinces Jason she knows the neighborhood very well and she could easily double what Ramon was selling. Jason is impressed and decides to keep her on the payroll.

Other Important Happenings

Cosima is healing well thanks to Kira’s stem cells, but her and Scott aren’t making any progress with Duncan’s secret key.
Gracie loses her baby and Bonnie callously banishes her from the family.