S05.E09: One Fettered Slave

[ElectricBoogaloo]

PENULTIMATE EPISODE!

Quote

A devastating blow must be dealt; Sarah gets carried away with Helena; The Clone Club tries to find Helena before her children are born.

Promo:

 

Edited July 30, 2017 by ElectricBoogaloo

[shapeshifter]

On July 30, 2017 at 5:23 AM, ElectricBoogaloo said:

Sarah gets carried away with Helena

Is this an episode description or a crossword puzzle clue? Is Sarah mentally or physically "carried away" with Helena? Don't answer that! It's a purely rhetorical question! La la la la Laa *hands over eyes and ears* I can't hear/read you! (No spoilers for this chicken.)

[Wouldofshouldof]

Shouldn't YoungHelena look like Charlotte?  Or did I miss some exposition explaining why she doesn't?

[Enigma X]

Just now, Wouldofshouldof said:

Shouldn't YoungHelena look like Charlotte?  Or did I miss some exposition explaining why she doesn't?

I was coming here to say this. This sort of bugged me.

[ottoDbusdriver]

If someone had told me that the penultimate episode of Orphan Black would include a scene of a masturbating nun, I would have probably have wagered that that's not going to happen. But then along comes Helena's backstory -- that was brutal, having the bleach poured over her head, and then being imprisoned for who knows how long.

Mark is dead, murdered by Coady.

Coady is probably dead, murdered by Helena.

Frontenac is dead, courtesy of Art.

Helena tries to commit suicide, but Sarah saves her with a blood transfusion.

The body count is seriously mounting up as we head into next week's series finale.

I'm just waiting for P.T. to get his comeuppance.

Edited August 6, 2017 by ottoDbusdriver

[Valny]

That funeral scene got me teary eyed when Felix started reading the letter. And I was expecting sometime in the ep that Sarah would lose it because Félix mentioned she hadn't even cried yet.

I really didn't think Helena would go out that way. Why did hell did the nun punished in that manner, I mean the hair coloring part.

Bye Mark, not gonna miss ya.

I'll be honest, I was not really feeling this season, but this ep was a pretty good one, felt more like previous seasons when I really was into this show. 

Still not digging Allison's new hair. It's just not her.

[ottoDbusdriver]

Just now, Valny said:

Still not digging Allison's new hair. It's just not her.

Agreed.  The decision to change Allison just seems more and more like a bad idea from someone in the writer's room.

[WatchrTina]

Wow. This show.  It's a thrill-ride.

I really thought we were losing Helena tonight -- that she was going to go out like a BAMF, taking her "bebes" with her to save them from what the whackos of Neolution would do to them -- Neolution or whoever the bad guys are at this point (the plot has gotten REALLY convoluted.)

I love this show, I loved this episode, I can't wait to see the finale.  But I did have an interesting moment tonight.  Back in Season 1, I nearly stopped watching the show because I thought it was just too implausible that Sarah would be able to successfully masquerade as Beth.  I chose to willfully suspended disbelief over that and I'm so glad I did.  Watching the various clones impersonate one another -- and more to the point, watching Tatiana portray one clone impersonating another in a manner that allowed us, the audience, to know who was who -- well that was just a freaking tour de force of acting.  She totally deserves all the nominations and awards she has gotten.

But am I right that tonight was the first time a clone has gotten caught impersonating another clone? If so, it's like the writers finally addressed my original reservation about that particular plot device.

Another note -- tonight was the first night that I didn't think Helena looked like Helena.  I think it's because we've never seen her look so vulnerable before.  Because of that -- and even thought I KNEW it was Helena -- I couldn't help but feel like I was watching Sarah impersonate Helena.

This show . . . it is mind-trippy.

ETA:  I'm just gonna whistle past the idea that a nun pouring household beach on a child's head would result in her being a "bleached blond" for the rest of her life -- not to mention giving her eyes a swollen, pink-rimmed effect for the rest of her life.  I guess the writers felt they had to explain why Helena maintained that look throughout the series when in "real" life you just know that Allison would have given her a make-over (with or without assistance from Krystal.)

14 hours ago, Wouldofshouldof said:

Shouldn't YoungHelena look like Charlotte?

Yes she should and I do not understand the decision not to have the same young actress portray young Helena.

Edited August 6, 2017 by WatchrTina

[gibasi]

I don't understand why Helena felt so kindly to Sr. Irina.  Sr. Irina didn't rescue Helena from the locked room or Tomas. You would have thought Helena would have killed her at some point  

[thuganomics85]

Man, can't tell if she's actually dead or not, but Coady got all kinds of fucked up right there!  That was satisfying to watch.  Mark though, looks like he's totally a goner unless that was an elaborate fake-out by Coady for some reason.  Kind of a whimpering end for him, but it really feels like they only brought him and Gracie back so Westmoreland could find Helena, and then dispose of both of them.

Helena's flashbacks didn't really hold any surprises, but it was still interesting seeing her as a child, how Tomas (talk about a blast from the past) got his claws on her, and how she became who she was.  And it all started with a masterbating nun, of course!  But Helena's reaction to killing the first clone was brutal.  It doesn't change what she has done, but she really had everything working against her as a child.

Hey, Art got to shoot at least one bad guy!  But I'm really hoping the finale is going to end with him crossing paths with Enger, and he's finally going to dish out some revenge after being under her smug thumb all this time.

The funeral for Mrs. S was brief, but nice.  But sadly they really don't have too much time to mourn right now.  I do hope Sarah gets the chance, because I do think she is bottling a lot of it up.

So, Westmoreland's hair was actually fake this entire time, and he's pretty much just a British and even creepier version of Walter White!

Out of all the clones, I'm still curious to see Rachel's fate the most.

So, it's all going to end next week.  Have to imagine there will be more bodies, but I'm really curious to see if any of the main clones die, if all of them do, or do they all manage to make through to the end.  Can't wait! 

[jch323]

Quote

Yes she should and I do not understand the decision not to have the same young actress portray young Helena.

The only thing I could think of is that young Helena's supposed to be older than Charlotte is now. The time line on the show is so ridiculous. While the actress playing Charlotte has obviously aged over the years, it's only been about three-to-six months in show time since we've met her.

[chocolatine]

I was also taken aback that young Helena didn't look like Charlotte/young Rachel. However, I thought this girl looked a lot more like the adult clones than Charlotte does, so there's that. As for Helena still having bleached hair as an adult, I can fanwank that she kept periodically pouring bleach on her own head as part of the sick "penance" routine that Tomas got her into.

As a Russian, I had a problem with the clone who was Helena's first victim wearing a babushka. In Eastern Europe babushkas aren't worn by anyone under the age of 60 (the word literally means "grandma" in Russian). The show just used it to create a dramatic reveal.

Those gripes aside, it was still a good episode. I'm so happy that the Clone Club came through for Helena and that Coady finally got her comeuppance. I shed a little tear for Mark as he talked about his and Gracie's career goals, but I'm glad that he went peacefully without knowing that Gracie was murdered. And Siobhan got a beautiful and heartfelt funeral (and BTW, there's nothing wrong with Sarah for not crying yet; everyone grieves differently).

[natyxg]

29 minutes ago, chocolatine said:

(and BTW, there's nothing wrong with Sarah for not crying yet; everyone grieves differently).

I'm sure that next episode will be her episode, I bet she will cry then.

I too was bothered by the change of actress for little Helena, but at least the girl was really good, I thought.

[madam magpie]

Unless there's some sci-fi clone explanation in the finale, there is absolutely no reason for young Helena not to be played by Cynthia Galant. This show has spent years establishing Charlotte as the clones as a child. To introduce a brand new kid in the penultimate episode is absurd. 

[rur]

2 hours ago, gibasi said:

I don't understand why Helena felt so kindly to Sr. Irina.  Sr. Irina didn't rescue Helena from the locked room or Tomas. You would have thought Helena would have killed her at some point  

Didn't someone (Gracie?) say in the episode last week that Sr. Irina had brought Helena food? Maybe that happened when the evil nun had her locked in a closet. 

[possibilities]

Why was Donnie at S's funeral if it was "only for S's people" and Allison and Cosima weren't welcome? Why wouldn't they be welcome? It makes no sense, much like the subbing of a different actress for young Helena.

I'm finding these last episodes very painful. I really don't want a tragic ending, and we've already had a few.

[HollyG]

5 hours ago, ottoDbusdriver said:

If someone had told me that the penultimate episode of Orphan Black would include a scene of a masturbating nun, I would have probably have wagered that that's not going to happen. But then along comes Helena's backstory -- that was brutal, having the bleach poured over her head, and then being imprisoned for who knows how long.

I'm just waiting for P.T. to get his comeuppance.

When "little Helena" was playing with the dolls in the doll house and said "filthy dirty copulators, do you touch yourself too", I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. It was horrible but also a bit funny. She really did have a brutal life. The young actress did a fantastic job.

I really want Helena to have the honor of killing P.T.  Not sure if Coady is dead (yet) or not, but she soon will be. And someone has to deal with Det. Enger.... maybe Art, that would be satisfying.  

Edited August 6, 2017 by HollyG

[HollyG]

1 hour ago, possibilities said:

Why was Donnie at S's funeral if it was "only for S's people" and Allison and Cosima weren't welcome? Why wouldn't they be welcome? It makes no sense, much like the subbing of a different actress for young Helena.

They probably weren't at the funeral because not everyone there knows about the clones yet and they aren't ready to reveal themselves to the world. Plus Siobhan's funeral would not be the best setting for that huge of a reveal.

Edited August 6, 2017 by HollyG

[Gulftastic]

For a moment I thought we were going to lose Helena, Thank Science for Sarah's blood. We soon saw the Helena we know and love, smashing Coady's face in and telling her 'You are shit mother.'

Poor Mark. At least he went peacefully and thinking that he and Gracie were going to live happily ever after.

 

Can't wait for next week, but don't want it to come. No more Orphan Black. 

[AmyVS]

I don't think it was that they weren't welcome, it's just that there would be people who didn't know about the clones. "There is a guy at this funeral I don't know" is a lot less suspicious than "suddenly the daughter of the deceased is triplets".

[shapeshifter]

For me, the best line was the oh so very casually uttered "alternative facts."

And I really appreciated the way Art was effected by killing someone as opposed to how casually fictional cops on TV often just shrug it off.

 

6 HOURS AGO, WATCHRTINA SAID:

just gonna whistle past the idea that a nun pouring household beach on a child's head would result in her being a "bleached blond" for the rest of her life -- not to mention giving her eyes a swollen, pink-rimmed effect for the rest of her life. I guess the writers felt they had to explain why Helena maintained that look throughout the series when in "real" life you just know…

I fanwanked that Helena continued to bleach her own hair in that manner as a sort of penance for whenever she murdered someone or stole chocolate or committed some other sin. And it actually could explain the pink skin around her eyes, so maybe this was always in the writers' minds. ETA: What @chocolatine said. (Must be my Russian grandma channeling, heh.)

 

6 hours ago, WatchrTina said:

7 hours ago, Wouldofshouldof said:

Shouldn't YoungHelena look like Charlotte?  Or did I miss some exposition explaining why she doesn't?

Yes she should and I do not understand the decision not to have the same young actress portray young Helena.

And I decided that they had finally found the child actor who had the looks and chops, and they just really wanted to use her.

 

25 minutes ago, AmyVS said:

I don't think it was that they weren't welcome, it's just that there would be people who didn't know about the clones. "There is a guy at this funeral I don't know" is a lot less suspicious than "suddenly the daughter of the deceased is triplets".

Plus it was easier to shoot the scene that way, and I don't think the clones will ever want the world to know about their existence.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Usually I am totally behind the decisions that the show makes, but I have a major nitpick about the origin of Helena's hair. Bleaching someone's hair doesn't mean that the hair will grow back blonde. If that were the case, women wouldn't have to keep going back to the salon to have it lightened.

Poor Helena - that bitch nun punished her for catching her sinning and then gave her to Tomas who brainwashed her into thinking that the other clones perverted her very existence. But I have to hand it to her - being tortured by the nuns and Tomas turned her into the kind of badass who was still fighting back even while she was in labor.

I noticed that they got a new actress for young Helena and I honestly think the reason they cast someone else (using the excuse that young Helena n the flashback was older than Charlotte's current age) is that they saw how terribly the Charlotte actress mangled doing Rachel's accent a few episodes ago. There was no way she would have been able to do Helena's accent or speak in another language convincingly.

In case he hadn't already made it abundantly clear, PT is the worst. He already had Gracie killed and then he had the sole remaining Castor murdered because he was a "loose end." Coady, weak fool that she is, followed PT's orders. I don't know who's worse: a fanatic like PT who sees nothing wrong in what he's doing or someone like Coady who knows that what she's doing is wrong but does it anyway.

I agree that Cosima and Alison not at the funeral was to avoid awkward questions from Siobhan's friends. I'm sure that most of them knew about Sarah (and that she was adopted), but having her long lost identical triplet sisters there would draw unnecessary attention. Even though Siobhan's network knows how to keep secrets, it would still be a risk to have the other clones at her service. The less people who know about the existence of the clones, the better.

[veryborednow]

1 hour ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

I noticed that they got a new actress for young Helena and I honestly think the reason they cast someone else (using the excuse that young Helena n the flashback was older than Charlotte's current age) is that they saw how terribly the Charlotte actress mangled doing Rachel's accent a few episodes ago. There was no way she would have been able to do Helena's accent or speak in another language convincingly.

That's got to be the reason, and really, it makes a lot of sense - a fair approximation of Ukrainian's gotta be hard. 

Helena's my favourite clone by far, and while I understand that they've got to whip through a lot of plot to finish the story in the episodes that are remaining, series-wise I wanted more backstory than that and for her not to have been so spectacularly sidelined this season, but oh well, I'm still enjoying it, I love the whole series and I'm still looking forward to the last episode.

@WatchrTina - for me, there's been quite a few times this season where I'm seeing either TM or Sarah in the other clones. I think I can fanwank that they've been the moments when Allison, Rachel and Helena have looked so beat down and tired, or like you said vulnerable, because I haven't felt like that previous seasons... but not sure.

[meira.hand]

Quote

WatchrTina (I am not sure how to do the reply option)

Another note -- tonight was the first night that I didn't think Helena looked like Helena.  I think it's because we've never seen her look so vulnerable before.  Because of that -- and even thought I KNEW it was Helena -- I couldn't help but feel like I was watching Sarah impersonate Helena.

I actually thought this was very realistic as she is in labor with hormones all over the place, so feeling emotional and vulnerable makes a lot of sense.

[Enigma X]

I agree that the child actress who played Helena was good and looks more like Maslany, but I still found her addition jarring. Maybe I am nitpicking, but just last week we have Kira telling Charlotte you looked like my mom at her age. As far (Charlotte) as her not being able to get the accent: I think she is a fair actress and could have fanwanked the accent. I do it with Felix (like him but just saying).

Of the clones, Helena has been my least favorite. I am still glad she did not die. I am also glad she killed Coady (hopefully). Art was very good in this episodeand hope he kills Engler.

Siobhan's funeral was very sad and beautiful.

P.T. is just too over the top for me. 

[Jodithgrace]

Quote

Another note -- tonight was the first night that I didn't think Helena looked like Helena.  I think it's because we've never seen her look so vulnerable before.  Because of that -- and even thought I KNEW it was Helena -- I couldn't help but feel like I was watching Sarah impersonate Helena.

Funny, I had exactly the same thought. Well, not exactly. I didn't feel like it was Sarah impersonating Helena, but I saw Tatiana playing her. 

I agree with the people who suggest that Helene keeps her hair blonde and frizzy as a kind of penance or whatever. Obviously the original dye job would have grown out years ago. The nun pouring bleach on her wasn't intending to dye her hair, but to "purify" her, which is ironic, since it was the nun who was the one who was "sinning." (according to her lights) Poor Helena. With a start like that, it's a wonder that she has come as far as she has. 

The other clones really couldn't have shown up at S' funeral without causing a major stir, which they really don't need right now. Eventually, after all of this is over, perhaps they can come out to the world as clones. It would be easy enough to pass themselves off as triplets, but harder if they have Helena and Rachel or any of others who still survive.  In the investigations into Dyad and Neolution, won't the Leda project come to light anyway?

That Virginia Cody is one piece of work. At least she shed a tear over her remaining son, after she murders him. Then goes right back to work, trying to steal Helena's babies. 

Can't believe there is only one more episode. 

[MissLucas]

I did some hand-waving about the young Helena actress assuming the show had had good reasons for the swap. But damn, that was intense. And I'm glad Helena's backstory was brought up again because there were a couple of missing links that had always bugged me.

I may have laughed at 'You are shit mother' while cringing a bit like Sarah. As usual Helena makes everything better.

ETA: Props to the props department. Helena's dingy from trash created dollhouse was only briefly on-screen, yet what we got to see was equally creepy, pathetic and heartbreaking.

Edited August 6, 2017 by MissLucas

[Macbeth]

Well at least we got the origin story of Helena's Hair.  

And Orphan Black is clever - so I do think it was an intentional satire of superheroes/villains origin stories.  Because in the OB universe - Helena is their superhero/villain. Especially since P.T. has shown to be Lex Luthor.

Edited August 6, 2017 by Macbeth

[mirrorrim]

Huh, for some reason I was under the impression the show explained Helena's hair a long time ago with a throwaway line about malnutrition. Although I did wonder why it never became healthy once she was living with Allison. I fanwanked permanent damage from years of poor health. Regular bleaching just doesn't work for me.

[shapeshifter]

24 minutes ago, mirrorrim said:

Regular bleaching just doesn't work for me.

I see it as similar to the cutting she was shown to do in season one and then again briefly in this episode. Applying laundry bleach to one's head is not the same as luxuriating at a spa.

Edited August 6, 2017 by shapeshifter
wrong homonym

[kieyra]

Weird. I guess I'd been fanwanking for years that she had some sort of albinism.

[whiporee]

13 hours ago, madam magpie said:

Unless there's some sci-fi clone explanation in the finale, there is absolutely no reason for young Helena not to be played by Cynthia Galant. This show has spent years establishing Charlotte as the clones as a child. To introduce a brand new kid in the penultimate episode is absurd. 

I think they were going for the idea that young Helena was younger than Charlotte, and then they switched straight to TM playing Helena as older teen. 

Again, had a lot of actress forgetting tonight. I feel bad for Tatiana because she'll never have a role like this again.

I would have been okay with Helena dying that way, saving her bebees from being experiments and making some sort of atonement for the life she lived. She was abused and tortured, but she also was a real villain on the show early on. As fun as she can be, she's killed a lot of women who really didn't have it coming.  

Edited August 6, 2017 by whiporee

[ottoDbusdriver]

Did anyone else notice that it appeared that Helena was singing along with the song over the end credits ?

[natyxg]

15 hours ago, madam magpie said:

Unless there's some sci-fi clone explanation in the finale, there is absolutely no reason for young Helena not to be played by Cynthia Galant. This show has spent years establishing Charlotte as the clones as a child. To introduce a brand new kid in the penultimate episode is absurd. 

There you go:
 

Quote

 

Cynthia Galant played young Rachel in Episode 507. Why was Habree Larratt cast as young Helena for this episode?

Cynthia was cast to portray young Rachel, and we love her in that role. She’s composed and obedient and restrained. She’s a wonderful young actor with great chops. But in portraying young Helena, we wanted to be sure we had an actor who could explode emotionally, who is wild and untameable. And Habree really blew us away during the auditioning process. Her portrayal gave us the confidence to expand the scenes with Young Helena.

 

http://www.tv-eh.com/2017/08/05/orphan-black-509-alex-levine-breaks-down-the-series-penultimate-episode/

[Cyranetta]

There was one tiny  moment that I found a wonderful subtlety - Felix' reaction to Art killing Frontenac, sort of "I wasn't prepared for THIS!".

For some reason I was disappointed that Mark didn't find out about Gracie or just how repellent his "mother" was.

I wasn't particularly bothered by the actress switch for a junior clone, but I did think that Kira should have  been alert to Helena's danger a lot earlier than she appeared to be. If you set up an ability like "sense-the-sestras", you need to be consistent, or at least provide a reason for an inconsistency.

[LittleIggy]

Why that was some bleach! It changed Helena's hair color permanently on a genetic level. ::eye roll::

So glad that bitch Virginia is dead. Next up, PT. I want Art to whoop Anger's ass.

[holly4755]

if Helena kept bleaching her hair red eyes would be there as part of renal failure.  I remember a movie star of the 30's Jean Harlow died of that from bleaching her hair, she wanted to go back to her natural blonde but the studio would not let her. . 

 

I thought here is a child being raised out of the Dyad circle, and she did not have pig tales and was a different age, so looked more like the adult than the child. No problem with that. 

[MissLucas]

47 minutes ago, Cyranetta said:

I wasn't particularly bothered by the actress switch for a junior clone, but I did think that Kira should have  been alert to Helena's danger a lot earlier than she appeared to be. If you set up an ability like "sense-the-sestras", you need to be consistent, or at least provide a reason for an inconsistency.

I think 'Grandma/surrogate mother killed in living room' pretty much covers that. We saw Kira lose it during the funeral so I'm okay with her seestras-radar glitching for a while.

[Captanne]

5 hours ago, ottoDbusdriver said:

Did anyone else notice that it appeared that Helena was singing along with the song over the end credits ?

The subtitles confirm that!

[Captanne]

I am very deaf (war wound, heh) so I have the subtitles up for everything I watch.  So, so helpful.  

The subtitles confirm it's Helena singing.  One thing I've noticed about Canadian shows -- the cast and crew really love what they do and they are not afraid to show it in groovy ways.  This is one example.

As for the episode--I really enjoyed it.  The Castor crap in my rear view mirror is welcome and Mark had a gentle way out.  If cruel and abysmal.  Helena rocks my world and always has.  She's my favourite clone of all and that's been consistent for me throughout the series.  My other favourite is Cosima and she was her wonderful self, also.  For a bit of a cameo, Felix' reading at the funeral was perfect; that actor is wonderful.  I don't understand why someone as mediocre as Cumberbatch is a "darling" and this young man is hiding in relative obscurity.  Baffling to me.

[Kaboom 2.0]

Excellent penultimate episode and finally, some Helena backstory. I did not like her when she was a clone killing machine at the beginning of OB but she has won me and so many others over with the journey she has taken since then. When we saw young Helena's homemade doll house, how DIY it was, the trash and materials it was made of, etc, I felt a pang for this poor (fictional) child.

And only Helena would still be able to kill someone while she was in labor. Of course! :-)

Ya'll have already commented on what I was going to say or ask/answer but I will say that I really hope Art takes out Enger (spelling?). I know shooting and killing Frontenac has affected him but that smug evil bitch needs to GO. Preferably painfully. 

[holly4755]

actually I have known plenty of women who wanted to kill someone while in labor, usually the husband, so that did not seem unusual to me.  

It helped to understand how she fell out of favor with the nuns. that sweet tooth will be the death of her yet. 

[tennisgurl]

I am so obsessed with the Helena Kills People music, its just so cool and sets the scene so well. We got it when she was about to kill her first clone sister (who was dressed like a grandma despite being a young women?), and then when she took out Cody. I'm so glad she's going to be around for the finale. The flashbacks didn't tell us much we didn't know or could have inferred about Helena, but it was still cool to see more of her past, complete with masturbating nuns and Tomas the asshole from season one. They really are just bringing everyone back, arnt they? I would laugh my head off if it turned out they the final boss is the tail guy from the Neolotion club in the first season who got his tail hacked off by Helena. I've always loved Helena, even when she was a terrifying clone killer, so I was happy to see more of her.

I figured that they hired a new little girl to play Helena because the usual one cant speak or understand Ukrainian, and they wanted an actress who could. But I guess not.

The funeral for Mrs. S was really nice, and I got a little teary when Felix read his letter, and they sang that super pretty song. I'm guessing that Sarah will have a break down when all of this is over, and she is finally at peace. Sarah has so much going on, she is probably pushing her sadness down until she can deal with it. Or Sarah just isn't a person who mourns that way, I would buy that too.

I felt bad for Mark, killed by his awful "mother" when he became inconvenient, after they were done with him. I wish he had gotten to know who his mom really was before he died, but maybe it was kinder to let him die thinking his mother didn't help to kill his girlfriend, and then kill him. A shit mother indeed. I guess the Castor clones didn't really have much to do with anything towards the shows end goal.

I cant believe the show is almost over!

[sinkwriter]

Quote

I feel bad for Tatiana because she'll never have a role like this again.

On the other hand, she's kind of lucky. She's gotten to show all the different types of characters she's fully capable of playing. She won't be pigeon-holed into one type of role, because she's played such a variety of characters here. Most actresses would be seen as one or two types of characters, and would never get the chance to even go out for a role outside of that scope. Tatiana has shown through one TV program that she can do all sorts of things, and that there's no need to put her in a box labeled "hot girlfriend" or "nerdy girl next door" or "romantic lead." She can play everything. She could become the next Meryl Streep, where she just becomes whatever role she takes. I hope this show opens all sorts of doors for Tatiana to do whatever she wants.

Quote

Hey, Art got to shoot at least one bad guy!  But I'm really hoping the finale is going to end with him crossing paths with Enger, and he's finally going to dish out some revenge after being under her smug thumb all this time.

I hope so! She's so damn smug. Her winking at him in the station just as he's finding out she told all sorts of lies about him that will put him in the crosshairs of internal affairs made me want to punch her right in the face. He better get to take her down. If it goes the other way, I'm going to be really, really mad.

This whole episode made me nervous. I was afraid Helena was going to die (along with her babies), I was afraid for Art and Felix, I was afraid for Rachel (!) and then Sarah, and in those last scenes I was afraid something was going to happen to dear sweet Scott. I just keep thinking, not everyone may survive the final episode, but at this point I really want them to. (Except for the true villains - Virginia, P.T., the smug annoying Neolution cop, and anyone still working for Neolution. Those bastards can go.)

Can't wait for next week!

Best line (in Helena's voice): "You are shit mother." I laughed SO hard. Never thought I'd want Helena to survive this show (I loathed her in season 1), but I really hope she does make it out alive and with her babies healthy and safe. Heaven help the Neolutionist who hurts or even tries to take one of her babies. 

[mochamajesty]

During Helena's punishment, I feared for her eyes.  I surely thought she should have been blinded.

I hope Helena makes it. She didn't survive all of that hell to die now.

If any clone has to die, I hope it's Rachel. Speaking of, surely Sara knew she would be caught impersonating Rachel.  She sucked at that impersonation. Her carriage was off, and "Father" was a HUGE mistake.

Goodbye Mrs. S.  You were such a badass and you will be missed.

[natyxg]

58 minutes ago, mochamajesty said:

During Helena's punishment, I feared for her eyes.  I surely thought she should have been blinded.

I hope Helena makes it. She didn't survive all of that hell to die now.

If any clone has to die, I hope it's Rachel. Speaking of, surely Sara knew she would be caught impersonating Rachel.  She sucked at that impersonation. Her carriage was off, and "Father" was a HUGE mistake.

Goodbye Mrs. S.  You were such a badass and you will be missed.

Sarah knew they would know, she was supposed to stall while the others came.

I fear for Art more than for Rachel, frankly. It's the finale and I think another one from the "good" team will die, for the shock of it. Rachel's journey starting from episode 7 doesn't scream "die" to me. But Art is important enough, but at the same time disposable enough, I think.  And I thought him telling Sarah that it was his personal fight too, as well as him killing that Neo were red flags for me.

[Captanne]

I noticed her "carriage" as well -- but she limped to imitate Rachel's limp.  Still, it caught my eye as an anomaly.  Weird.  It shouldn't have.  Other than that, I found her Rachel imitation for the short amount of time it occurred, to be fine.

If a clone will die, I would expect it to be Rachel.  She's lost the most she invested in and is so damaged already.  None of the others are that physically damaged although, to be fair, after the Island of Dr. Moreau Sarah should be in a full body cast.

For damaged clones -- I give Sarah the award for most emotionally damaged and Rachel for most physically.  For endurance, I give the award to Helena and for recovery I give it to Cosima.

[Lady Calypso]

I don't know why, but I've felt like Tatiana's acting has been a bit off with the clones. I'm trying to decide if it's intentional or not (or if it's just me). Which is sad because Tatiana is such an amazing actress that I don't want to feel this way about her. But starting with the return of Alison (though this episode had Alison feeling more like Alison, so maybe it is just the hair that bothers me), Sarah-as-Rachel and a little bit with Helena this episode, I'm noticing less of those characters and more of Tatiana, the actress. 

As much as I agree with the complaints about the new child actress to play Helena instead of the regular one, I found this child actress much, much better at the role. Also, I saw more similarities between her and Tatiana that I have with the actress who plays Charlotte (as well as Skyler Wexler, who is supposed to be looking like the daughter of Tatiana but I could never personally see it). It only took five seasons to get more background, or any background, on Helena. We don't typically have flashbacks for the clones, though. We haven't seen flashbacks to Sarah's childhood, nor Alison's or Cosima's. I just found it nice to get some on Helena before the end of the series.

Helena's still my least favourite clone, but she's certainly grown on me over the years and I think I would want a slightly better sacrifice death scene than what we could have gotten this episode. I'd rather she went out, guns blazing, than lying in a bed, bleeding out. I'm glad she took out Coady, though. It's been a long time coming. 

Mark's death hit me a little harder than I expected. He was the best of the Castors, the one we knew the longest, and even though he's been missing for quite a while, his death still hit. Him talking about Gracie and their future just made his death bittersweet. At least he'll get to be with her now. He was just doomed, though. 

Seeing as we've seen Sarah play Rachel more convincingly, I'd like to think that it was an acting choice to have Sarah do a piss poor job of it this time. Maybe her grief for Siobhan caused her to be off. 

I fear for a few characters. Scott, Art, and Rachel are the most expendable at the moment. 

[Loandbehold]

21 hours ago, tennisgurl said:

They really are just bringing everyone back, arnt they? I would laugh my head off if it turned out they the final boss is the tail guy from the Neolotion club in the first season who got his tail hacked off by Helena.

That would be quite the feat in present day. Leekie killed him at the hospital after the tail mutilation.

[tennisgurl]

@Loandbehold Behold the power of flashbacks!

I'm still so sad about Mrs. S. She had a badass death, but I still wish she could have made to until the end of the show, to get her happy ending.