Orphan Black: Scarred by Many Past Frustrations

Unsurprisingly, Mark did not kill Sarah at the end of the previous episode. Instead her taken her back with him to the army base while the dead baby body is given to Dr Virginia Cody who plans to use it to understand the Castor condition.

It’s good to see Sarah and Helena reunited at long last. The scenes of these two clones together, talking between the cells are the best moments of the episode, as we see them initially antagonistic but slowly learning to trust each other. Sarah is usually shown to be more thoughtful than Helena, but here int he jail, Helena's survival instincts are better while Sarah seems lost. Helena escapes without Sarah but feels guilty about it. Whether this guilt is enough to make her turn back is not clear yet.

With Sarah being held captive, Felix and Mrs.S are unable to support her. Nevertheless they prove useful in another way when Art brings Gracie, Heinrich’s daughter, to their house for help. It’s interesting seeing Gracie trying to acclimatize to life outside of her family. We also find out that more about Mrs S backstory. Gracie partying with Felix and Siobhan is another fun moment. Unfortunately she is suffering as it seems that intimate contact spreads the defect from the clones to people.

Cosima's subplot moves on a little further as goes on a date with Shay, who seems to be a likeable character, if a little dull and uninteresting. New partners often turn out to be monitors and spies, so if
if Shay turns out to be a spy it will be one of the most obvious plot twists ever. I'm hoping that either the writers go in a different direction or they  make this betrayal a little different, otherwise it's just the show treading the same old ground.

Although all the plots are fairly strong, a weakness in Series 3 is highlighted through Alison's absence from this episode. What's bad is that this absence is barely noticeable is a sign of how little her election/drug dealing subplot has contributed to the overall story arc. This still needs to change. 

Overall this is a pretty satisfying episode. With Helena finally out of prison and Cosima given a new direction in the series, things can start to move forward.

9/10