The third Series of Orphan Black has been airing in the UK for a couple weeks now although you'd be forgiven for not knowing it, seeing as BBC Three have stuck it on in a ridiculous slot in the early hours of the morning. This poor treatment is nothing new. Back when Series One started airing the show was barely publicized and the episodes were largely rushed through in double bills. On a more positive note, all of the episodes of series three can be viewed on the iplayer. I suppose that this is to get people ready for BBC Three's switch to being an online only channel but it still doesn't justify the tv timeslot. If the Channel can't be bothered to spread the word properly then I guess I'll have to do it through my mediocre reviews.
When we last left the show we'd discovered the existence of the male Project Castor clones as well as Topside's role with the Dyad Institute. Paul Dierdan's links to the military were revealed, and Mrs. S sold Helena out to the military to save Sarah and Kira. There were plenty of questions that needed answering. What would happen to Helena? Who are these Castor Clones? What happened to Rachel and will Cosima recover?
Helena predicament hasn't changed much since last series. The opening of the episode features a happy Helena surrounded by her sisters. Predictably she wakes up in a small box in the military base. It's a fairly cliche beginning which I suppose it was the only way the writers could think to remind viewers of Helena's feelings towards her 'sestras'. Her only company in this box is an imaginary scorpion friend called 'Pupok'. One of the highlights of the show is its ability to mix dark situations with crazy humour and this is a good example. Helena spends the rest of the episode in the box, only to be released at the end by the soldier Castor Clone. She's proved adept at surviving in the past, so it'll be interesting to see how she'll cope in her new situations and whether her captors can really contain her.
The Castor Clones remain mostly shrouded in mystery. Mark is off the radar so far and the Soldier one only appears briefly at the end of the episode. We do at least get to see more of the imprisoned one with the scar who made his debut in last year's cliffhanger. So far he seems to be a generic psychopath type who does manage to give Sarah a clue about the missing Helena. This episode introduces another one with a mustache who beats up Siobhan for information about Professor Ethan Duncan's research. These two clones claim to be operating independently from Paul. The mustached clone frees the psychotic looking one at the end of the episode so it remains to be seen what trouble these two will cause, and where their allegiances ultimately lie.
The most important plot developments took place within the Dyad Institute. Since the end of the last series Marion has gone to Europe. Rachel is recovering from her eye injury and Delphine has taken Rachel's place in Dyad. These circumstance force Delphine and Sarah to make a deal. Sarah must pretend to be Rachel in order to fool Ferdinand, an investigator from Topside while Delphine will look into finding Helena. Alison also helps out by pretending to be a captured Sarah. These scenes are full of tension, and Ferdinand follows in the example of the creepy intimate male agents of the higher powers seeking to control the clones. Ultimately Sarah's charade fools Ferdinand into revealling a plot between him and Rachel to try to kill the Dyad clones. Fortunately, with Delphine's help, the plan is thwarted at the last minute.
Sarah Manning spends much of the episode determined to protect her sisters at any cost, even shutting out Siobhan or attempting to kill Ferdinand in the process. She's as cunning at impersonating her sisters as ever and Tatiana Maslany is as reliable as ever at making Sarah's impersonations convincing while at the same time showing the deeper awkwardness. It was particularly interesting to watch Sarah's violent reaction to the news that her sisters were about to be assassinated. Her attempts to throttle Ferdinand when she thought hope was lost demonstrates how far she can go when pushed. Delphine's intervention ultimately prevents Ferdinand's death, but it will be interesting to see if Sarah
Delphine features prominently in this episode. It appears that she genuinely want to help Sarah for now but she is beginning to distance herself from Cosima because of her responsibilities to Dyad. The moment when she hurts the injured Rachel for information reveals a harsher, more ambitious side. Whether Delphine's new position mean she stays allied with the clones or is forced to become their enemy is something to look out for.
Alison Hendrix continues to be a highlight for the show. This series she intends to run for election as School trustee against a neighbor, Marcie. Campaigning for a public position will no doubt bring some of her background to the surface which will probably create a lot of drama later on. The scene of her disguised as Sarah was a hoot but also filled with tension when Ferdinand started to grope her. With that and the assassin that came to kill her, this is the episode where she has been in the most physical danger. Donnie has got himself fired so it will be interesting to see whether this puts any strain on the family.
Cosima, still suffering from her sickness, spends the episode in Felix' flat. Her relationship with Delphine is shown to be faltering and she shows Scott the book left by Professor Duncan, trusting him to help her over Delphine.
Felix remains the grounded individual helping Sarah out, though both he and Kira contributed very little to the episode. Maria Doyle Kennedy is as a good as ever as Mrs. S, getting to be brave against the Castor Clone but also humble as she pleads Sarah to trust her. Whether she and Sarah will be able to trust each other again remains to be seen. Art and Carl were completely absent from the episode but hopefully they turn up later on. We also get introduced briefly to another clone, Crystal, responsible for the capture of the psychotic looking Castor clone. She's only briefly seen on security footage so there's little personality to judge her on yet but she may prove more important later on.
As is often the case with first episodes, The Weight of this Combination is concerned with reintroducing the core plot threads while setting up small hints of things to come. It keeps you curious about what happens next but a lot of what is in this episode has been seen before. Hopefully the other episodes will take the show in a new direction.
6/10
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