S05.E02: Clutch of Greed

[dampfire]

My first reaction to the whole miserable MK fiasco was simply -- why the hell didn't she just slip out the backdoor with Sarah?  Ferdinand was laboriously occupied with that door for quite awhile.  MK's contention that changing outfits with Sarah was, "...the only way," made little to no sense to me.  Sorry, Mika.  No.  Get the fuck out the back.  BOTH of you!  Far better option.

I've seen criticism of Sarah for leading Ferdinand to MK.  Sarah gets blamed for a lot of things...a lot.  S (and not a few fans of the show) blamed her for Kendall's demise.  But Kendall wasn't forced into anything by Sarah (and/or Cosima).  Kendall consented to the bio harvest.  Don't get me wrong.  Totally get S's inclination, even need, to reflexively "blame" someone (beyond Evie Cho and Duko) for her mother's death.  But I certainly don't think it was Sarah's fault (especially "exclusively").  Nor was MK's death.

"I'm coming to get you. You're not giving up, MK," Sarah proclaims.  "This isn't the plan," MK protests.  Um, true enough, Mika. But, according to the plan, you were supposed to disappear down the rabbit hole at The Rabbit Hole.  Had you, Sarah never would have led Ferdinand to you.  (Then again, seeing as Ferdinand was tailing Sarah, she would have led him, instead, straight to the meet-up with S, Felix, and Kira.  A whole new can of worms THAT.)  Besides, a good part of this plan was yours, Mika.  After Felix tells S, "...MK thinks that she might be able to get Sarah and Kira away," you, Mika, inform Sarah, "If you can get Kira out from under their surveillance, then I can move you today."  The implication here is that you weren't coerced into this attempted extrication.  Asked for your help and your input, yes, maybe...probably.  But it sounds like you proposed, or at least suggested, most of the logistics.  Sounds like YOU formulated the better part of the plan.  Should have stuck to it, Mika!

I don't mean to sound harsh.  I love Mika.  Whatever our Core Clones (save Helena -- a special case if there ever was one) have been through over the last year or so (show time), Mika's dealt with much of the same and more (much more) for a significantly longer period of time -- since Helsinki and apparently well before.  "I've been running my whole life," she tells Sarah.  It's not at all surprising that she's "tired" of it all.  The onset and progression of her illness only serve to exacerbate this.  I want her to find hope in the cure on the horizon.  But apparently it's too late.  Apparently, Mika has no capacity for hope left.  It's thoroughly disheartening.  But, sadly, I understand.  What I don't quite understand is what the hell she was still doing at Felix's anyway.  If she was done, if she wanted out, why didn't she just bug out and vanish...yet again?  Was she just going to claim Scandinavian Squatter's Rights and stay at Felix's for(so to speak)ever?

You know, when I rewatched 502's loft related scenes, I thought all this might have more to do with Ferdinand's unexpected appearance than I at first suspected.  But after Sarah announces, "I'll take you to Scott," Mika counters, "No, you're not."  The exchange takes place before Ferdinand shows up.  Mika's made her decision already.  NOW -- were the plan all along for Sarah to pick Mika up at Felix's, it might have made sense for Mika (on Ferdinand's arrival) to bail on the plan in favor of a last ditch effort to exact vengeance for Nikki and the other Helsinki victims.  But the scenes don't bear this out.  

As depicted, Mika's attempt at revenge with the knife is pathetic and desperate and heartbreaking.  Her murder itself is nauseatingly brutal.  I can't readily recall having seen anything quite like it on TV or in film.  (Hearing this season's brutal beating of a certain female character on another show -- set in the upper midwest -- was bad enough.)  Even Chris's bloody-pulp beat down of Michael's mother's boyfriend in The Wire wasn't as bad as this.  Part of the reason may have been that, in that case, we were witnessing a victim of child/sexual abuse beating just such an abuser.  Here, in OB 502, we have a former special ops guy stomping (STOMPING!) full force a sick, frail, wisp of a woman to death.  We can hear Mika's sternum and ribs cracking for godssake!  Fucking Ferdinand!  You whiny bitch boy!  "You hurt me, Rachel!"  Boo Fucking Hoo, Ferdinand.  Talk to the Helsinki 38 about it why don't you!  You can't?  Precisely, you loathsome prick!

It is interesting to speculate (as natyxg points out above) about what would have happened if Sarah (ostensibly as Rachel) had been waiting for Ferdinand in the loft.  After he handily thwarts Mika's knife attack and manhandles her to the floor, Ferdinand quickly and easily identifies his foe as none other than Veera Suominen.  "This is like two revenge fantasies in one! I even get to finish Helsinki."  Are we to believe that this duality is what pushes Ferdinand over the edge?  Perhaps so.  But only perhaps.  For the rage fueling Ferdinand's savage, and eventually lethal, assault is much more pointedly directed at Rachel.  After spitting in Ferdinand's face, Mika defiantly declares: "You can't hurt me anymore."  Ferdinand's response?  "Oh yes, I can. You hurt me, Rachel."  Mika is little more than an afterthought by then.

Even IF things had progressed in much the same way (which I doubt) with Sarah plugged into the scenario, it's fairly safe to assume that she would have put up a better fight than Mika could manage.  Sarah would have r-e-a-c-h-e-d out and grabbed a stray bong (hey, a rock on the island of Doctor Moreau is the rough equivalent of a bong in Felix's loft) to smash over Ferdinand's head.  Sarah (at least until very near the end of the series) has plot armor.  

Mika, sad to say, was used, to far too great a degree, as a plot device.  A clone had to die to demonstrate the danger the sestrahood is facing.  Mika drew the short straw.  She deserved better.  She died in the ultimate clone swap.  Her death (while she was serving in the end as a surrogate for Rachel) wasn't even completely her own.  That aside, it wasn't Mika's death itself (its occurrence or manner) that was the primary problem.  It was that her death wasn't given proper context.  What ultimately made this schemer, this fighter, this survivor, this glorious ghost in the machine give up that ghost ("...there's no data, there's not enough data, we need more data.")?  It was something we barely witnessed.  It was, essentially, left to our collective surmise.

 

On 6/18/2017 at 4:21 AM, Investment Banker said:

Additionally, what information does Delphine have to deliver that can't be disclosed to the Leda clones? 

 

On 6/18/2017 at 10:04 AM, ElectricBoogaloo said:

I can't wait to hear what Delphine thinks Sarah can't hear (but Mrs. S can).

Just hope it's better, or at least less cryptic, than Tony's message about Paul.  And I really hope she doesn't follow Helena's lead and whisper it in S's ear.

On 6/18/2017 at 5:16 AM, AftermathTV said:

Kira has empathy for Rachel because Rachel's emotions are a part of her. Rachel's entire story up to this point shows Rachel is the one with the identity crisis.

Kira is the best judge of the character in the series. Think back to Helena. Her power is what tells us Rachel is redemptive.

I don't trust Rachel.  I'll never trust Rachel.  But depending on how much credence one gives to Kira's prescience about and connection with the sestrahood, her assessment about Rachel that, "...it's different now," could give a somewhat more trusting one than me (AftermathTV for instance)...due cause for pause.

Edited June 20, 2017 by dampfire

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Clip - Sarah & MK

[Haleth]

I can't stand Kira either. I wish Sarah had told her how much Rachel had hurt all the sestras and was probsbly going to perform painful experiments on her (Kira) too.  They can't trust Rachel.

i want to see more Alison. 

[holly4755]

for some reason I believe that Kira has more powers than we know about right now.  I think she is not afraid of anyone so she can stick around while others run. 

[BaskingsharkGTX]

Loved seeing Siobhan make sure to get her gun before answering the door - and Helena back in action giving Dr. Pushy the needle! I hope she or Siobhan get to deal with Ferdinand and soon, but this episode felt like just more treading water. The premiere was all Sarah trying to escape the island - only to have her not escape. This one was all Sarah trying to get away with Kira (to what end I'm not sure) - only to have her not get away with Kira. Poor MK, I really liked her and her weird sheep mask.

Has anyone else on here seen the original 1967 version of The Prisoner? The way they film PT Westmoreland's little colony and the round entry chamber into his house remind me immensely of it.

Whatever happened to Mark and Gracie?

[Canada]

Well, this show has just gone to crap this season.  It was obvious from the start that they wouldn't escape.  Where would the rest of the season be if they did?  And Kira has turned into such a little shit.

Is 'Rachel' still wearing the original wig from season 1?  It was never a very good wig, but it's looking decidedly ratty now.  You'd think the show could afford more than one wig for Rachel.

[Loandbehold]

Quote

Has anyone else on here seen the original 1967 version of The Prisoner?

It didn't occur to me that Westmoreland's enclave could be looked at like the village. Mud could definitely pass as a villager. Does that make PT No.2 and Cosima No. 6? That would also make the mystery animal Rover!

[BaskingsharkGTX]

1 hour ago, Loandbehold said:

It didn't occur to me that Westmoreland's enclave could be looked at like the village. Mud could definitely pass as a villager. Does that make PT No.2 and Cosima No. 6? That would also make the mystery animal Rover!

PT is definitely No.2! Mud is The Butler!

In the scene last week where everyone gathered round as Rachel descended the steps to address them all, that high-angle pan-around instantly made me think of The Prisoner and how they'd do the same thing whenever we saw The Village Square. Then this week, when Cosima entered Westmoreland's house, the circular entry chamber just inside the door was also reminiscent of the entry chamber in The Dome. 

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Helena vs the doctor:

[carrps]

On 6/19/2017 at 4:32 AM, Ailianna said:

On a different note, every time (EVERY time) I watch the credits, I see Tatiana Maslany, Jordan Gavaris, Kevin Hanchard (The Sarah crew), then Kristian Bruin comes up, and for a second I wonder why Alison won't be in the episode(!), then Ari Millen and Josh Vokey come up and I wonder why Rachel and Cosima--and then I remember they were all the first credit I read.  Five years in, and part of me STILL forgets it's all one actress!

Oh, gawd. I'm SO glad I'm not the only one!

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Q&A with Tatiana:

[AudienceofOne]

On 19/06/2017 at 9:32 PM, Ailianna said:

As upsetting as MK's death was, I think it 00% fit in with several of the themes of this show, whcih has been so much about not only diversity and acceptance, but about the struggle of women to own their own lives and their own bodies.  If she were at full strength, she probably could have fought him longer, but his strength and size would probably have beaten her down--and possibly with a lot more nastiness and violence.  This was a scene that didn't have to be in a show about clones or genetic testing--it could be a scene in any show that depicts an abusive relationship (even when they were happy, Rachel and Ferdinand weren't too healthy).  This is the kind of violence that Vic might have used (remember season 1?), and that many real women face.  The producers and writers ave always said that this show is about women struggling to control their own destinies and their bodies, but in this case, MK wasn't able to maintain that control, and she lost.  In some ways, it ups the stakes, because it wasn't some strange genetic disease that killed her, and it wasn't the shadowy conspiracy that killed her--it was one man's anger and desire to prove he was stronger than the women he felt had wronged him.  And that's part of the female experience too.  Not a good part, but I'm glad the show didn't shy away from it or gloss it over as something less horrible than it was.  And I think that was the point.

Helena's objection to forced medical treatment "for her own good" (I'm still undecided if the doctor was Neolution or just thought she knew better than her patient) was part of the same theme.

 

I don't have much to add to this, I just think it's a very powerful discussion of the show's themes in a way that cuts through the crazy mess of the plotline itself. I mostly have little idea what's happening on screen in this show anymore but I'm still watching to the end for the performances and for these nuances. As convoluted and repetitive as the show has gotten over the years, it will still go down in televisual history as one of the better shows out there. I'm just hoping it gets a decent ending. After Continuum managed to put a great ending on its mess, I have some hope it's possible.

[Blue Plastic]

I thought the doctor was Neolution.  When she came in to basically insist that Helena have the amniocentesis, some kind of security guard-looking man came to the door to escort Donnie away.  That doesn't seem normal.