Spoilers Orphan Black Season 4 Discussion

[Christopher]

Krystal is awesome. She's been conducting her own surprisingly effective investigation of the Vast Conspiracy and learning to fight, and she thinks it's about... stem cells in cosmetics. So capable and yet so clueless. And I think this is the most naked Maslany has gotten since her first sex scene with Paul back in season 1.

And I called it -- Felix's bio-sister is just his sister. Not everything is a conspiracy. Normal life still happens.

But why were they talking about Republicans? Do they have Republicans in Canada, or was this an example of the show trying to pretend it might be set in America despite the Canadian money and so forth? I guess Toronto's close enough to the border that its residents might pay close attention to US politics.

And the cops are looking into the Hendrixes for the drug dealers' murder. That won't go well.

Oh, no, Kira's empathically bonded to the sestras. Please let there be some kind of tech in them rather than psychic hoodoo.

 

[tomalak301]

Oh, no, Kira's empathically bonded to the sestras. Please let there be some kind of tech in them rather than psychic hoodoo.

Doesn't that kind of make sense considering Kira's reaction to Helena or knowing that Alison wasn't her mother in the first season? Maybe there was something about why Sarah is Fertile that is allowing Kira to be this way.

I'm not sure what to think about that episode. The stuff with Cosima was great, as well as the final scene between Her and Susan. I wasn't a fan of the Sarah being a jerk scenes though, even though she did have a right to be suspicious. While I like Felix going on their own, I miss that dynamic of the group working together. I get they were trying to instill some conflict between them this season but for some reason it's making me really uncomfortable.

Looking at the trailer for next week, man I hope it's a big episode. Can't believe the season is half over already. They really are dragging out what happened to Delphine. Maybe the rumors of we not finding out till the end of the season might be coming true.

 

[Christopher]

Doesn't that kind of make sense considering Kira's reaction to Helena or knowing that Alison wasn't her mother in the first season? Maybe there was something about why Sarah is Fertile that is allowing Kira to be this way.

Psychic powers never make sense. People assume that just because other people can perceive things they can't, that there must be something mystical about it. Usually it's just a matter of being really perceptive and observant. Fraudulent psychics read people the same way Sherlock Holmes did, by observation of clues and behavioral responses that most people aren't trained to recognize. Kira's perceptions could easily have been explained the same way. It's the same with the way animals have perceptions that some people misread as "psychic." It's nothing of the kind -- it's just that animals are more attuned to body language, scent, tone of voice, and the like, things that we tend to overlook because we focus more on the spoken word.

And it's not really that hard to believe that a child could distinguish her own mother from an identical twin. After all, she sees her mother every day, knows her behavior and personality. She could probably have distinguished Alison's scent from Sarah's as well, since they probably use different bath and hygiene products. Someone else might confuse the two based on their identical appearance, but I suspect any child could've distinguished her own mother from a lookalike who'd never met her before. Children are still learning, still observing the world carefully and open to new things, whereas adults get complacent in their assumptions and are more easily fooled.

So until this season, nothing about Kira's perceptions required her to be anything more than a highly intelligent and observant person, or perhaps someone with unusually acute senses. What she knew could've been discerned from direct observation of people. Knowing what they're feeling from a distance, though, is much harder to justify.

I wasn't a fan of the Sarah being a jerk scenes though, even though she did have a right to be suspicious. While I like Felix going on their own, I miss that dynamic of the group working together. I get they were trying to instill some conflict between them this season but for some reason it's making me really uncomfortable.

It's not pleasant to see, but it's understandable. Going through all this ordeal would undoubtedly be hard on Sarah. She's been running scared for six months now, having her whole worldview overturned, trying to deal with this Vast Conspiracy and protect her daughter, being surrounded by death. Most TV characters can go through an endless string of traumas and still be okay, but realistically, it would take a terrible toll on a person, and I think we're seeing that in Sarah. She's always been a grifter and a scavenger, so trust doesn't come easily to her, and she has good reason to be paranoid now. So maybe she took it a little too far.

And on Felix's side, he's reacting to the discovery that Mrs. S is Sarah's biological kin, which has thrown his own status as an orphan and foster son into relief. He's grown up believing he and Sarah were bonded by their mutual lack of biological family, and now Sarah's related to at least half the people in their life while Felix is still alone. It's understandable that he'd resent that on some level, that he'd feel cast adrift and want to find some new connection. If not for that, he probably would've been more understanding of Sarah's efforts to look out for him, but with the tension he feels now, it felt like an affront, like Sarah was trying to take away the one biological connection he'd managed to find.

Come to think of it, that seems to be a recurring theme this season -- the yearning for a biological connection. Alison and Donnie envy Helena for being pregnant. Brightborn attracts and exploits infertile clients who yearn to conceive their own children.

 

[Forbin]

Tatiana is certainly fit!

 

[YellowSubmarine]

Oh my goodness, Krystal was amazing. I've been looking forward to her return. We've not seen any other unaware clones aside from Sarah and Tony, and Tony was basically done with in one episode. I was almost annoyed as he was basically used to put the words “male clone” and “different batch” up in the air before Ari Millen's reveal. Krystal has been given time to slowly peak into Pandora's box, and I am loving it. I was a bit worried that with her background she may end up being written disappointingly, but no – she rocks.

Is she appearing again? I hope she is. Fingers crossed the actress is available, and not busy with other roles or something.

She's been conducting her own surprisingly effective investigation of the Vast Conspiracy and learning to fight, and she thinks it's about... stem cells in cosmetics. So capable and yet so clueless

I think that makes all the sense in the world, and is actually pretty pleasing to see. The pile of intertwined conspiracies she's currently sitting on that has been revealed to us in the first three seasons is crazy. It's impossible for her to make any sense of it from where she's now, and any conclusions she makes are bound to sound silly. She doesn't even know that there are clones involved.

Until she puts more things together, she's grasping at straws, and cosmetic stem cells sound like something inevitable. So inevitable they actually exists – though I am not sure if they are limited to rats at present. Long live face transplants with your own face on them. Not so much for Krystal, though, she would probably want one with someone else's face when she bumps into one of her sestras.

If she had been closer to the truth with what she knows, it will make her look crazy.

 

[tomalak301]

I'm loving Krystal so far. I love that she's not yet part of Clone Club, but is on the right track in this whole investigation. It's so fun to see her put everything together in her own unique way. I have a feeling she will be back.

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

And I called it -- Felix's bio-sister is just his sister. Not everything is a conspiracy. Normal life still happens.

If she's really his sister (If Sarah didn't lie, if her DNA wasn't altered to match Fee's, if Scotty isn't part of the conspiracy, etc.) it doesn't preclude her being a part of a conspiracy.

 

[Christopher]

If she's really his sister (If Sarah didn't lie, if her DNA wasn't altered to match Fee's, if Scotty isn't part of the conspiracy, etc.) it doesn't preclude her being a part of a conspiracy.

But I'd rather she weren't. This is the problem with conspiracy stories -- they keep dragging more and more people into it, thereby making it more and more improbable and absurd. The larger a conspiracy is, the more impossible it is to keep it hidden. There's actually math proving that.

Besides, if absolutely everything in a show is part of a conspiracy, then it gets boring, predictable, and repetitive. Given that this is a show where the conspiracy is real, it's a nice twist to have Sarah's reflexive paranoia turn out to be wrong for a change. It keeps us -- and her -- guessing. And it reminds us that even this sizeable conspiracy exists in a larger world where most people aren't in on it or affected by it. What's the value in a show about a secret conspiracy if there's nobody for the conspirators to keep it secret from?

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

^ You're probably right, but the show has certainly got my paranoia going. I won't discount anything right now.

 

[Spider]

If she's really his sister (If Sarah didn't lie, if her DNA wasn't altered to match Fee's, if Scotty isn't part of the conspiracy, etc.) it doesn't preclude her being a part of a conspiracy.

Something is up with the whole Felix and sister thing. In order to do a public DNA search AND get a hit, there has to be something there to "hit" on. Felix's supposed sister's DNA out there, because she was searching, but how did Felix's DNA get into public DBs for them to find? Was he searching? Or am I missing something here?

For some reason I'm just not sold yet that is Felix's genetic sister.

 

[tomalak301]

Something is up with the whole Felix and sister thing. In order to do a public DNA search AND get a hit, there has to be something there to "hit" on. Felix's supposed sister's DNA out there, because she was searching, but how did Felix's DNA get into public DBs for them to find? Was he searching? Or am I missing something here?

For some reason I'm just not sold yet that is Felix's genetic sister.

Isn't that something that is public for criminal offenses? We did see Felix in the police office in the season four premiere and I thought stuff like that was public record.

 

[Spider]

Isn't that something that is public for criminal offenses? We did see Felix in the police office in the season four premiere and I thought stuff like that was public record.

You know, speaking of that scene, I have to go back and rewatch it. Beth walked right in front of Felix in the police station and at that time, he should have freaked if he saw Beth, he wasn't aware of the clones at that time.

 

[Mr. Adventure]

For some reason I'm just not sold yet that is Felix's genetic sister.

There was something a bit odd about Sarah's reaction and then Kira immediately taking her away. It didn't read as completely solid to me but then the whole show is a conspiracy so it's easy to go down that path of thinking. I imagine there must be something to her though, it seems an odd element to introduce if it goes no further than what we've seen.

And I finally got caught up to the current season, phew!

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

She could be Felix's bio-sister and still be a part of something, since the company is part of topside.

 

[Christopher]

Something is up with the whole Felix and sister thing. In order to do a public DNA search AND get a hit, there has to be something there to "hit" on. Felix's supposed sister's DNA out there, because she was searching, but how did Felix's DNA get into public DBs for them to find? Was he searching? Or am I missing something here?

Felix was actively seeking out his birth family. He envied Sarah for discovering her biological parentage, so he wanted to track down any biological relatives he had. He sent a sample of his DNA to the relative-finder company, and as it turned out, so did his sister.

 

[Mr. Adventure]

I tried to make a creamy frittata today for breakfast but I don't think Ferdinand would approve of the results. Tasty though.

 

[tomalak301]

I tried to make a creamy frittata today for breakfast but I don't think Ferdinand would approve of the results. Tasty though.

I didn't know until that moment how much I loved Ferdinand. What a great character he is.

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

Ferdinand is somewhat stranger than the character James Frain played in Intruders, but just as deadly.

 

[tomalak301]

That was a massive massive episode tonight. Holy crap there was so much that went on and that ending was just so so sad. I loved how the Beth flashback scenes and the Sarah scenes were kind of mirroring each other leading up to that ending with Kendells offing. There's just so much to think about with this one, but I wanted to post something tonight. What an episode, and yes, that was a game changer.

 

[Forbin]

Tat needs to be given as many Emmies as they can cast up.