S05.E10: To Right the Wrongs of Many

[ElectricBoogaloo]

SERIES FINALE! (cue my crying and wailing)

Quote

Helena takes shelter behind enemy lines, and Sarah and Art struggle to protect her and end the siege. Who will make it to the end?

Promo:

Edited August 6, 2017 by ElectricBoogaloo

[AfterwardsTV]

Ba ba ba ba bah ba ba ba ba! *Helena grunting*

[Mumbles]

A lovely end to an overall great show (although it did get a little kooky the last season and a half).  I got farklempt when I saw Orange and Purple's "real men's" names. The se sestras all talking together was also lovely and just when it got a little sentimental, Helena was there to talk about the babies eating sand. Lol.

[Frisson]

I thought it was kind of boring. The big bads are dead, and now it's all roses and sand in babies' mouths. How did they explain all the dead bodies? 

[Enigma X]

I enjoyed it because, unlike most on these forums, I like happy endings.

[thuganomics85]

And so it ends.

Enjoyed the finale, even though I was somewhat surprised how it played out.  Basically all the baddies get taken out before the halfway point and the majority of the episode was bringing it back to the sisters and the aftermath, especially Sarah clearly still not over what happened to Mrs. S.  Also surprised that there wasn't any major deaths, and not only did all of the major clones live, but everyone else (Art, Felix, Donnie, Scott, etc.) were left standing.  Maybe not the most dramatic ending, but I'm glad since Mrs. S. was already a big blow and they didn't need anymore, honestly.

Glad we got a final Rachel moment and while she'll never be part of Clone Club, she got a nice moment by giving Felix the list to the rest of the clones, and now they will all be cured.

Helena naming her twins Arthur and Donnie is totally cheesy, but I love it.  Plus, it does make sense since they really were the most important men in her life that have been good to her (Felix and Scott were too, but I don't think the extent Art and Donnie where.)

Should have known though that they would find some way to get Donnie half-naked again.  Well, at least he and Alison seem to still be in love despite the changes!

Fare thee well, Orphan Black.  You weren't a perfect show, but you'll always have a place in my TV viewing heart for bringing some of my favorite television characters ever (Alison for life!), and especially introducing me (and the world pretty much) to Tatiana Maslany, who I truly think (hope) goes on to be one of the biggest stars on the planet.  One of the greatest casting decisions of all time.

Edited August 13, 2017 by thuganomics85

[Starchild]

My god the technical work on this show (related to multiple clones on screen) has been its own art form!

[Cranberry]

I liked it. Yeah, I would have enjoyed a little more action, but I was so worried that another good guy would die that I was relieved when they just switched to the epilogue stuff. Loved the babies' names, and Rachel handing over the list of Ledas before finally going off to be free, and Cosima and Delphine traveling the world together, and the sisters bonding in Alison's backyard, and Helena and Sarah taking out Coady and Westmoreland, and even the one last Donnie in his underwear scene. I would have liked one last Krystal appearance, to see justice done to Enger, and for Cal to reappear, but overall, I thought it was a good ending.

[ForeverAlone]

I'm glad I'm not the only one hoping for a Cal reappearance. I was also hoping for a Jesse reappearance, just because I loved Helena and him together. But you can't have everything. At least all the main clones survived, which is something I feared going into this episode. I tend to like happy endings at this point in my life, so I'm good with the softer, warmer ending rather than some nihilistic ending. 

[chocolatine]

The ending was a little too pat for my liking, but after everything the sestras and Art, Donnie, and Felix had been through, I'm glad that they get to live normal-ish lives now.

I'm usually not into birth scenes, but Helena giving birth to her twins interspersed with flashbacks of Sarah giving birth to Kira was beautifully done.

It was bittersweet having Rachel deliver the list of Leda clones but not be able to come in an join the sestras. Even though she was instrumental in bringing down Neolution, she doesn't get full redemption from being the "pro clone".

What's going to happen to Charlotte now? I hope she can live with Cosima and Delphine after they finish inoculating the 200+ newfound clones. Cosima may not be good with babies, by I loved her dynamic with Charlotte when they were on the island. 

[Loandbehold]

Yeah, with Coady and Ersatz!PT being taken out in the first half hour, it was a little anticlimactic. For the first 5 minutes after Helena gave birth, I was thinking we were seeing Helena's dream like at the beginning of season 3? 4? And I thought Enger was going to kill one of the sestras as Neolution's last gasp. 

I would have liked to see Krystal, Cal, and Jesse Towing one more time. I was glad that we got a few more Mrs. S. scenes.

Still, as many have said, I'll always be glad this show introduced me to Tatiana Maslany. I will miss seeing her Master Acting Class each week. 

[Willowy]

Went through an entire box of kleenex, most of it during the birth scene. I loved the flashbacks, and how then ended it with S's living room and Sarah's smile. Helena is my hero, I love her so much. I hated the weirdness and bad wiggyness of Alison's hair my god! Why did they DO that? And like, two episodes before the show ended? Awful. 

Rachel's bit was fitting, although I would have loved for her to have just gone in, all the sestras stare at her for a beat, then they go back to talking and Rachel takes a chair against the wall, in the shadows but still there. I know that's way more forgiving than she deserves at this juncture, but maybe we'll see what's up with her when the movie happens. And Fe, always the go-between. What would they have done without him? Love him so much.

Loved the new clone, how spunky and cute was she? Helena's bebe names were perfect, and I love how enchanted she seemed with them, and how much of a natural mother she was "Is he poop? He always poop when I eat." Rocks for toys notwithstanding.

I too wanted to see Cal and Jessie, but this one was for the women, the sestras... and brother sestra. Art and Donnie were the two XYs and they fit so perfectly in the fabric of the clones' lives that it would've been super weird not to have them. 

Still feeling uber-emotional about this being the end. I love that this show made me care so much about it. Thanks, John and Graeme. Clone Club forever. xo

[jaigurudeva]

That was...abrupt. Like mentioned above, how did Sarah, Helena, and Art get out of the still Neolution-controlled building? What about the rest of the Neolutionists that still wholeheartedly believed in the cause? That kind of devotion to an ideology doesn't just vanish, especially when their leaders are martyred.

7 minutes ago, Loandbehold said:

For the first 5 minutes after Helena gave birth, I was thinking we were seeing Helena's dream like at the beginning of season 3? 4? And I thought Enger was going to kill one of the sestras as Neolution's last gasp.

Same! I was too on the edge of my seat waiting for a bullet to suddenly go through someone's head to really get into the emotional birthing.  And when that didn't happen, I spent the entire rest of the episode expecting Enger to pop out of the bushes and start shooting everyone. As much as I love all the Sestras, it would have been nice to also wrap up everything else. I feel like it should have been two hours, with the first hour being a rip-roaring climax to the five seasons of corporate/biomedical thriller this show has been, and then an hour of epilogue with the Sestras.

[gibasi]

I like happy endings too and i liked that they wrapped everything up even if it was not explained how they did it. But i can be nit picky- didn't Allison have 2 kids? A boy and a girl?  Only Gemma was mentioned and briefly shown. And weren't the babies supposed to be premature?  That should have been much more dangerous for them.   My favorite has always been Allison and i liked seeing her again.  I will ignore all that other stuff I did not like-the Castors, the island and just remember the stuff i did. If I were ever to rewatch the series (something I never do) i would only waych up until the Castor story came into the picture. Then I would stop. 

[Amethyst]

As someone who fell off this show a while back (just got too crazy in s3 for me to keep up) I thought this was a nice ending.  In retrospect, I'm not surprised about the anti-climactic ending for Coady and the action stuff.  Ultimately, they wanted to bring the focus back to Sarah and her sestras.  

I got really choked up during Helena's birthing scene, which I feared would end up tragic, like one of the babies not surviving.  It was incredibly moving, and Art and Sarah were an amazing team.  I'm glad Helena's sons were alright.  I knew one of the babies would be named after Art! 

Pretty open and shut.  No more bad guys and no more being chased.  And now that they have the list to cure the Leda's, it really does seem like happy ever after.  But for the most part, I'm ok with that.  Considering what these women went through, they deserve a nice ending.  

[madam magpie]

1 hour ago, Enigma X said:

I enjoyed it because, unlike most on these forums, I like happy endings.

Me too! I only wish we knew who was taking care of Charlotte. I'd hoped she go to live with Cosima and Delphine...

Edited August 13, 2017 by madam magpie

[Enigma X]

1 minute ago, madam magpie said:

Me too! I only wish we knew who was taking care of Charlotte. I'd hopef she go to live with Cosima and Delphine...

Actually, I sort of wish Charlotte was counted as one of the sestras in the end. Maybe not sitting in that inner circle, but a nod or something.

[colorbars]

I enjoyed the finale. And I'm personally VERY glad they wrapped up the action-y stuff with Coady and PT by the half way mark. The strength of the show has always been the characters, and it was only right to spend the last half hour of the show on that. I always like to get a glimpse of the aftermath of a big battle like this. I feel like too many shows waste too much of their series finales on wrapping up plotty stuff, and not enough on the emotional payoff a lot of people are looking for.

Yeah, there are still some die hard Neolutionists out there, but they are exposed and without any of their leaders. Also, without a lot of their money and connections, as the entire board was killed. They're no doubt going to be tied up for a long time in investigations and all that fun stuff. If they eventually do rise up again, it will not likely be in the sestras lifetime. Nor have anything to do with them. Their victory is being free from the looming threat of DYAD and Neolution, not being monitored or tested, and having a cure for what was killing them. And they achieved all that.

I was glad there weren't more deaths, they didn't need any more. Siobhan's sacrifice was more than enough, the only other reason to kill of any of the other characters in this episode would have been to just add to the body count.

Another thing I was personally glad to see: no Jesse or Cal. I'm sure there were people hoping for appearances or references, but I was never really into any of the romances on the show, and while Donnie/Alison and Cosima/Delphine are obviously huge parts of the show, Jesse/Helena and Cal/Sarah were much smaller parts, and I preferred seeing their happy endings not be about getting with their long forgotten guys.

I thought Rachel's ending was especially nice. I went into the episode having a pretty good idea of what a "happy ending" would be for all the other clones, but I couldn't imagine where  Rachel was going to end up, but I thought it was nice. She got to continue her redemption tour, but ultimately, she'll never be part of Clone Club, and that's okay, because that's not what she wants anyways.

It was so nice to see Siobhan again, especially the emphasis on her relationship with Sarah. But my single complaint with the finale was wishing I could've seen Sarah mourn her more. I feel like the past two episodes really built up Sarah being strong in the face of this loss, and not fully coming to terms with it, and then after avoiding Delphine's attempts to talk to her about Siobhan and her blow up with Alison, I thought finally! We're gonna get to see her cry over the loss of her mum, and really talk about it and what that loss means. But then ultimately, it just led to her crying about feeling like she's a shit mum herself. And I know that the absence of Siobhan is obviously a huge part in why she's feeling that way, but I don't know. It just felt like they were building up to a moment that never came, and it was a moment I really wanted to see, so I was disappointed. So glad she kept S's house, though. A very fitting final shot, too.

Was also surprised by the complete lack of Beth mention or shout out. I think the only reference was Helena's saying the story started with Sarah stepping off the train and meeting herself.

Art taking in Charlotte was very sweet to see. I figured she'd end up in the care of someone in Clone Club, and while some people speculated Cosima, due to their bonding this season, I think Art makes a lot of sense. And knowing Charlotte, Kira, Maya and Jemma are all friends finally is very nice.

Edited August 13, 2017 by colorbars

[madam magpie]

16 minutes ago, colorbars said:

Art taking in Charlotte was very sweet to see. I figured she'd end up in the care of someone in Clone Club, and while some people speculated Cosima, due to their bonding this season, I think Art makes a lot of sense. And knowing Charlotte, Kira, Maya and Jemma are all friends finally is very nice.

Charlotte went to live with Art?? I totally missed that. Will have to watch it again...

[colorbars]

20 minutes ago, madam magpie said:

Charlotte went to live with Art?? I totally missed that. Will have to watch it again...

She arrives at Alison's party with Art and his daughter, so I think that's what we're supposed to assume :)

[Dream Boy]

I thought it was a fitting end. With this show being this show, I kept expecting some last minute kidnapping or murder lol But I'm glad none of that happened. The characters have been through Hell and they deserved this. 

I totally awed when Helena named the babies. And that scene in the back with all of the sestras was awesome. I'm gonna miss this crazy little show. 

Edited August 14, 2017 by Dream Boy

[DropTheSoap]

I was still tense during the epilogue. I was expecting some big-bad to jump out and attack at any point.

Otherwise, I was sort fo disappointed that Cosima wasn't in Ukranian peasant dress at the shower, serving up babka cake. That would have been sort of a "is this a dream" aspect of the scene.

Yeah, it was a little pat at the end, but still sweet.

And Alison and Donnie have two kids. Gemma and Oscar, if memory serves.

[ruby24]

I liked the ending with everyone interacting, although I do wish there was one more wrap-up scene between Cosima and Scott. For those seasons where Delphine wasn't around as much, Scott was the one taking the place of Cosima's primary non-clone screen partner, and I think that friendship was also important to the show. I feel like he got a bit shortchanged this time.

I loved Helena naming the babies Arthur and Donnie!

Edited August 13, 2017 by ruby24

[shapeshifter]

4 hours ago, ruby24 said:

I loved Helena naming the babies Arthur and Donnie

Me too.

 

I loved that Helena's birthing utterances were the same as mine and not some ridiculous shrieking. But my one criticism was that the birthing went on too long. Even though it was all worth seeing, some of it should have been left for DVD deleted scenes.

 

I felt not having Cal or Jesse show up was a realistic choice, even though it was likely just done because the actors weren't available and/or because it would have taken too much time to reintroduce them to the audience.

 

 

7 hours ago, Starchild said:

My god the technical work on this show (related to multiple clones on screen) has been its own art form!

Seriously!

Edited August 13, 2017 by shapeshifter
Line spacing for clarity

[ruby24]

I didn't mind Cal or Jesse not being there- like I said, I think Scott was more important than them for sure, and I would have liked to see him and Cosima get one final scene together. But that may have been a deleted scene.

[colorbars]

When we saw Felix acting shady and he told Collin he was waiting for someone, I was really convinced he had called Cal and he was gonna be a surprise for Sarah and an attempt to get her out of her funk. I was actually dreading that, and was so glad when it turned out to be Rachel.

1 hour ago, DropTheSoap said:

And Alison and Donnie have two kids. Gemma and Oscar, if memory serves.

They do, but during my rewatch, I noticed that Oscar kind of disappeared after S2. I'm guessing the actor wasn't available or maybe aged too noticeably? Though actually, I think I remember seeing him in the background of a scene when Helena was living with the Hendrixes in S4, but because it was the background, it could've been a different child actor.

[Gulftastic]

I loved the ending. Offing the bad guys early was good. The best parts of the show for me has always been when the Sestras are together (aside from Helena killing bad guys). I loved them rallying round for Sarah. And I love that they all got nice endings. 

Really, really gonna miss this show!

Thank you to all who made it happen, but especially the amazing Tatiana Maslany. It's been a true pleasure watching her astonishing performance(s).

[bostonbarney]

3 hours ago, ruby24 said:

I didn't mind Cal or Jesse not being there- like I said, I think Scott was more important than them for sure, and I would have liked to see him and Cosima get one final scene together. But that may have been a deleted scene.

I didn't mind that either, but I sure did think Krystal had a place at the table.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

One thing I love about Helena and Sarah is that they never stop fighting, even when things look hopeless. Seeing Helena planning to stab Coady while she was in labor was giving me life. I also loved seeing Sarah finally rid us of PT. He was a horrible loathsome cruel asshole, and in a series finale we need closure on the villains.

As admirable and honorable as I find Art, I wish he had just shot Enger instead of just knocking her out and handcuffing her. I know he is a policeman and wouldn't want to kill anyone unnecessarily but after seeing Enger shoot Gracie in the head in cold blood, I'd be okay with the OB universe being Engerless.

Even though it may seem cliche to mirror current and past scenes, I'm glad that they found a way to have Siobhan in the finale with the birthing flashback.

I wanted to tell Sarah not to feel bad that Kira had to buy lunch at school. Lots of kids buy lunch at school. That doesn't mean their parents suck.

I was convinced that everything after Helena gave birth was a dream sequence because of the lighting. The baby shower looked too familiar to the dream sequence with the party in Alison's yard a few seasons ago so I just assumed it would end abruptly, but it kept going.

Ha, I love that Helena had Donnie getting her a burger with jam. And I loved Helena renaming Purple and Orange to Arthur and Donnie.

I understand Sarah not wanting to live in the house where Siobhan was killed but at the same time, she has no job and no source of income so why not stay in a house that's already paid for, even if just for a little bit? Yes, it's painful but it's a roof over your head (and more importantly, your child's head) until you get your shit together enough to get a steady job so you can afford rent. I'm glad she ended up keeping the house.

When she was talking to Felix about selling the house, I thought it was inconsiderate of her to make that decision without discussing it with Felix and Kira. Either of them might have found comfort in being in the house where S lived and where they grew up. I can't remember how old Sarah and Felix were when Siobhan brought them to Canada so maybe they didn't spend their childhoods there, but Kira did so I can imagine she would want to stay there for now.

I love Felix, but I rolled my eyes when he made that dig about Rachel being part of the 99% because she took an Uber to Alison's house. First of all, I'm pretty sure we all knew that Rachel had a shitload of money while she was working for Dyad so it's not like she recently became rich and Felix was just made aware of it. If anything, she's got less money now because she no longer has a job or a salary. She told Ferdinand that she had some money socked away which is what she's living off of now. But secondly, taking Uber or Lyft isn't really a sign of being part of the 99%. I know lots of people who are nowhere near rich but have taken car services for one reason or another.

I loved the sestra summit at the end. Part of me wishes that it had been for a happy reason instead of Sarah confessing that she skipped her GED test. But on the other hand, it was nice to see them bonding over their fear of not being good mothers. For so long, their conversations have revolved around how to deal with Dyad and Neolution, which made it even nicer to see them having a normal sisterly conversation that had nothing to do with clones or someone trying to kill them.

I liked that Rachel gave them a list of all the other clones so that Cosima and Delphine can cure everyone. Based on the conversation that Delphine had with Camilla, they are not telling the other Ledas that they are clones. I'm not sure how I feel about that. As weird as it might be to find out, maybe some of them would want to get to know their other sestras too and they're not being given that opportunity because they don't know about them (or the truth about themselves).

It felt right that Felix was the one in contact with Rachel to get the list but that they still aren't buddies. The fact that Rachel gave them the list without expecting anything in return shows that she isn't totally selfish which is a good step forward.

I'm glad that all of the action stuff (evading the Neos in the building, Helena giving birth, etc) was done by the halfway mark. If they had tried to squeeze the epilogue into a five minute montage, I would have felt cheated. All I wanted for the series finale was destroying the bad guys so that clone club et al could live happily ever after and I got both, so I'm good with the finale. I'm glad that they gave the happily ever after enough time to breathe so that it didn't feel rushed.

[SomeTameGazelle]

14 minutes ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

I rolled my eyes when he made that dig about Rachel being part of the 99% because she took an Uber to Alison's house. First of all, I'm pretty sure we all knew that Rachel had a shitload of money while she was working for Dyad so it's not like she recently became rich and Felix was just made aware of it. If anything, she's got less money now because she no longer has a job or a salary. She told Ferdinand that she had some money socked away which is what she's living off of now. But secondly, taking Uber or Lyft isn't really a sign of being part of the 99%. I know lots of people who are nowhere near rich but have taken car services for one reason or another

The 99% includes the vast majority of people, rich and poor. Felix's point was that Rachel had dropped from the ranks of the super rich 1% into the 99% because when she was super rich she would have employed a full time driver instead. He was mocking her for being almost poor by her standards.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

1 minute ago, SomeTameGazelle said:

The 99% includes the vast majority of people, rich and poor. Felix's point was that Rachel had dropped from the ranks of the super rich 1% into the 99% because when she was super rich she would have employed a full time driver instead. He was mocking her for being almost poor by her standards.

Hee, I obviously totally misinterpreted what he said because I was so crazed/emotional about the show ending! To be honest, I'm still in a daze about it. I'm really going to miss this show and the characters so much.

[Paloma]

40 minutes ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

I'm glad that all of the action stuff (evading the Neos in the building, Helena giving birth, etc) was done by the halfway mark. If they had tried to squeeze the epilogue into a five minute montage, I would have felt cheated. All I wanted for the series finale was destroying the bad guys so that clone club et al could live happily ever after and I got both, so I'm good with the finale.

I also wanted the bad guys destroyed so the clone club could be free, and at the end of the episode last night it seemed that's what we got. But thinking about it this morning, there were too many loose ends that should have interfered with their being able to relax and live happily ever after. 

 

6 hours ago, colorbars said:

Yeah, there are still some die hard Neolutionists out there, but they are exposed and without any of their leaders. Also, without a lot of their money and connections, as the entire board was killed. They're no doubt going to be tied up for a long time in investigations and all that fun stuff. If they eventually do rise up again, it will not likely be in the sestras lifetime. Nor have anything to do with them. Their victory is being free from the looming threat of DYAD and Neolution, not being monitored or tested, and having a cure for what was killing them. And they achieved all that.

The die-hard Neolutionists may not be a big threat, but Enger is presumably still alive and may seek revenge on her own. Also, what about the police or other authorities investigating the trail of bodies and blood in the Dyad building? Wouldn't there be fingerprints and DNA leading to the clones and/or Art? Or are we supposed to assume that Neolution/Dyad people cleaned up the scene and there will be no investigation by legitimate authorities?

[shapeshifter]

1 hour ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

...Based on the conversation that Delphine had with Camilla, they are not telling the other Ledas that they are clones. I'm not sure how I feel about that....

Did the "cure" do anything about the infertility of the other clones? Because if it did, I wonder what the odds would be of a male child and a female child of two of the sestras meeting and having a baby together which I'm pretty sure would be not a healthy outcome for the sestras' grandchild — unless maybe since the clones were created by scientists trying to create a super race of sorts, perhaps recessive genes for hereditary diseases were removed?

 

16 minutes ago, Paloma said:

...what about the police or other authorities investigating the trail of bodies and blood in the Dyad building? Wouldn't there be fingerprints and DNA leading to the clones and/or Art? Or are we supposed to assume that Neolution/Dyad people cleaned up the scene and there will be no investigation by legitimate authorities?...

Yes, I (and probably all of us who watch procedural crime shows of the CSI sort) gave a few minutes thought to that potential plothole. Now I'm imagining all of the 250+ clones showing up in court in a glorious display of sisterhood (sestrahood?) to claim:
I did it.
No, I did it.
No, it was me. I did it!
And so on, until the judge had to throw the case out due to some sort of mistrial, heh.

Edited August 13, 2017 by shapeshifter
ellipses

[Blackie]

7 hours ago, jaigurudeva said:

I was too on the edge of my seat waiting for a bullet to suddenly go through someone's head to really get into the emotional birthing

This isn't General hospital ;)

 

7 hours ago, jaigurudeva said:

I feel like it should have been two hours, with the first hour being a rip-roaring climax to the five seasons of corporate/biomedical thriller this show has been, and then an hour of epilogue with the Sestras.

I thought the same thing. The first few episodes weren't that great, I guess they needed to advance the story, but the last few episodes were the best since season 1 so it is too bad that it had to end quite so soon.

 

47 minutes ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

Based on the conversation that Delphine had with Camilla, they are not telling the other Ledas that they are clones. I'm not sure how I feel about that.

I was wondering what they are telling them  "oh hi, I found out you have a genetic condition, let me give you this injection so you can live"? Oh well, there were a few things (like the pile of dead bodies) that were just easier not to try to explain, when I think most of the audience just wants to see the sestras together.

BTW when the series first started I thought the actor who played Art was terrible.(actually I thought everyone was terrible compared to TM except for maybe MDK)  In this last season I think everyone really upped their level and fit in well with TM and MDK (except maybe the actress who played Enger).

[madam magpie]

8 hours ago, colorbars said:

She arrives at Alison's party with Art and his daughter, so I think that's what we're supposed to assume :)

Ah, gotcha. Well, then, I think I'll believe she's just staying with Art until Delphine/Cosima can get settled...

[Macbeth]

4 hours ago, bostonbarney said:

I didn't mind that either, but I sure did think Krystal had a place at the table.

While I agree - Unfortunately Krystal could never believe that there was a table.  So her being there was never a chance at this point.  Maybe later.  I am sure they would embrace her.  But they respect her boundaries.

[ratSenoL]

A very satisfying ending to a show that I will very much miss.  I've really come to love these characters and all their flaws.

One thing that did really bug me, though, is Sarah walking away from taking her test (and presumably improving her lot in life with a GED).  While it was consistent with the Sarah we met at the beginning of Season 1, it is not consistent with the Sarah that she grew into over the course of the show.  She learned to fight for what she loved and for what she knew was right, so why would she not finish school (in the form of a GED) so that she could get a better job and improve her lot for herself and her daughter.  

I think Rachel redeemed herself in the end and deserved her freedom, but I'm not sure she earned a place with the sestras.  I thought her end was fitting.

I love the babies' names.  I really loved the last scenes with the sestras just hanging out being sisters with no worries other than normal mundane stuff. Now they can heal.

Man, I'm gonna miss this show!

[beedub]

I'm okay with how this wrapped up, as we got decent closure on all the really big themes and plot points:

- The clones being made / owned / monitored by a shadowy organization, and their quest for liberty from it.

- The need to find a cure to the disease shared by the clones.

- The progress of Helena's pregnancy with twins and the question of their safe delivery.
There was a shitload more than this, but these were the essentials, unless I've forgotten something!

I know that exception has been taken to Alison's character changes (that wig!), but I felt it was a way of showing some growth for someone who had previously been very uptight and a little one-note. Her whole Soccer Mom persona served a very clear purpose early on, supporting the nurture / nature argument (in favour of the former) and providing sharp contrast to the personalities and types of the other sestras, not to mention giving Tatiana yet another acting challenge. The comic relief didn't hurt either!

The business with the high-school equivalency test was useful to show that Sarah still wasn't quite past her old ways and her grief. But I had the distinct impression that without S around any more to take up the slack with Kira, Sarah will be forced to become more responsible in time, and that's a good thing.

We didn't get Krystal in the finale, but at least she (and Tony!) put in an appearance on the evidence board. But they did manage to squeeze in one last new Colombian sestra, and Tatiana killed it with the Spanish.

I think all of us have some specific threads we would have liked to have seen tied up, but having worked on a bunch of shows and seen first hand the challenges / limitations of the process, I don't fault OB for not getting into more of these. Practically speaking, scripts are constantly being revised and scenes changed or omitted so that, for instance, the writers can focus on some emotional beats, or streamline the story when it seems to be getting too busy. With a finite running time, it just isn't possible to include every little thing.

Speaking of which, it might have been nice to see a momentary shot of a photo of Paul somewhere in Sarah's house, as he was such a big part of the early seasons.

From a personal standpoint, it was satisfying to see one of my longtime pet peeves addressed over the course of the last few episodes, when it was confirmed that the story is based in Canada, and specifically (but less overtly stated) in Toronto – at one point Art mentioned that a Neolution board member's body was found in the Humber, which is one of Toronto's major waterways.

Also enjoyed the callback at the very end to Shite Beach from Season 1. (Not its real name, but I know what Sarah and Felix are referring to.) Going to buy some Shitefish for dinner now...

Edited August 13, 2017 by beedub

[misstwpherecool]

I found the last season to be a bit disappointing. After they explained Beth's backstory I think it ran out of gas or didn't know where to go.

And how did they explain all those dead bodies. Not only was I disappointed at Sarah not getting her GED but killing the head guy like that. She could've let him die or kept him alive to help finishing exposing the organization?

What happened to Art's ex partner Detective Angie?

Was the medical assistant a clone of the guy with the tail that managed the clone club?

Sarah was right though having to move out of the place where S was killed.

Edited August 13, 2017 by misstwpherecool

[Pallas]

59 minutes ago, madam magpie said:

I think I'll believe she's just staying with Art until Delphine/Cosima can get settled...

Like mother like daughter. Perhaps Cosima doesn't want to mother herself, especially through adolescence. Perhaps Charlotte -- until now, a prized orchid, raised by its breeder in a series of stately hothouses  -- would gain a lot from a parent who is not her and not even a geneticist, especially as she begins to enter the world of other people. Siobhan and Sarah were both the proof and the exception to the rule that for their next of kin, at any age, the clones do best with fresh blood.

[MissL]

3 hours ago, Blackie said:

This isn't General hospital ;)

 

Oh hahahaha! I get it. :) but this wouldn't have been a bullet of love.

I don't know how I feel about the ending. I'm incredibly glad we got a sestra and brother-sestra moment though. I felt like clone interaction was lacking this season really.  I didn't know if they were trying to save money this season? It was especially obvious during the art show when Felix would sneak one out and the other one would come in. They couldn't even have a sec to say hi in the hallway?  I've just started a re-watch so I'm looking forward to the clone goodness from early seasons. 

 

Also, Not sure when I got so bloodthirsty but I definitely fist pumped when Helena stabbed Coady and was yelling at Art to just kill her already when he had evil cop lady on the ground. I was sure she was going to show up again because all he did was knock her out. Really going to miss this show. I'm following Tatiana to whatever she does next. 

[notcreative enough]

This was one of the few series finale that I didn't walk away from hating it. It was wonderfully done. We got an end to the bad guys and we got to see all the sestras get a happy ending.

When Helena was in labor I thought what if she has boys. So my kinda bummed that PT and Coady didn't get to know that the twins wouldn't further their research. Or at least not for a good long while if they want to repopulate the clone world. 

I loved the baby names. And the "hello my name is" stickers. How cute was that. You know Allison is going to keep an eagle eye out on those kids to make sure they don't eat anymore sand. 

I do wish Allison had more to do then throw a party in her backyard. How long was it between the birth and the baby shower. The garage was turned into an apartment for Helena and the babies unless that was a Donnie project while Allison was finding herself.

Was the 274(?) Clones the total number of clones created or the number of surviving clones? Helena killed some, the sickness killed some, Ferdinand killed some. 

I wanted to shake Sarah and make her take the damn test and think about Kira for once. If Kira didn't want to leave when Dyad was after her why would she want to leave when there is no threat against her and she gets to have friends and family. 

Part of me wants a clone club the next generation. With Kira, Charlotte, the twins, Allison kids and Arts daughter. I won't really be a clone club but I kinda want to see how all these kids turn out. 

You left me with a sense of peace Orphan Black. I don't need to worry about the characters or feel like I wasted my time. You finished your story in a marvelous way. So thank you for that. 

[misstwpherecool]

One of things I really didn't like about this last season is that they altered a major character-Allison. In the final year you figure they would try to hold the characters much closer to the form that gave them popularity and familiarity. I missed soccer mom.

[colorbars]

7 hours ago, Paloma said:

The die-hard Neolutionists may not be a big threat, but Enger is presumably still alive and may seek revenge on her own. Also, what about the police or other authorities investigating the trail of bodies and blood in the Dyad building? Wouldn't there be fingerprints and DNA leading to the clones and/or Art? Or are we supposed to assume that Neolution/Dyad people cleaned up the scene and there will be no investigation by legitimate authorities?

I'm really not all that worried about Enger. She was just a believer doing their bidding like Duko, though she obviously took a bit more joy in it. But we already saw the police chief was pretty much firmly Not A Neolutionist, and he trusted Art wasn't either, since he told him to keep digging on the DL. I don't think it would be hard to tie Enger to the Neolutionists, and have her charged for a laundry list of things I'm sure she did while abusing her power as a police officer.

And I'm not worried about the bodies, either. Neolutionists are out in the open and PT/Coady kidnapped them and were killed in self defense. Not to mention PT is already supposed to be dead. And if anything, what's left of Topside will probably try to clean up as much of the mess as they can and cut their loses so they can remain as unscathed from the DYAD/Neolution blow up as possible.

Either way, it's been 3 months by the time of Helena's baby shower, and however much longer in the last bit, so I'm assuming however it was dealt with, it was already dealt with and there wasn't fall out on them.

I just think that if you're looking for a definitive end of the grand large conspiracy, it was never going to happen. There are just too many people involved, at different levels, for them to ever truly bring it down completely and end it. It just would not realistically be possible. But they dealt with their own immediate threats, and they're free now. And that was what we could hope for, really.

Edited August 13, 2017 by colorbars

[Impromptu]

I thought it was wonderful that we got a 30 minute coda to the story (although I need to watch it again without the worry that that someone with a gun was going to jump out of the woodwork at 9:40 pm) - I hate it when a story ends with the death of the bad guys and everyone smiles, then fade out. I always want to know how they lived after that, without a mission.  And here, we found out. It made sense that Allison would continue to be the nurturing mom, who wants everyone to just relax and enjoy being together, and Helena to settle into a home that she never realized she needed, and that Cosima would continue to make crazy science as she and Delphine go forth to find and cure the Ledas... like Sarah, she needs a mission. Even Rachel's ending made sense - it's probably not going to be a happy life for her, but it's the life she wants. I can imagine that Krystal may pop in, with another weird mystery for Art and "that Australian" to solve, and even Tony may visit his sestras, now that it's safer for him to do so.

With Sarah, we saw that when the mission- her fight- ended, and she had time to stop and breathe, she now was mourning S.  I thought that her walking out on the test was not that she hadn't changed, but that she hadn't accepted she had changed. She was used to S. picking up the slack for her, and without S., she thought she couldn't do it alone.  Her plan to pick up and run wasn't because that was still her character, but because she was afraid it was her still her character. She's been fighting the conspiracy for (2? years), and now that she's not, she hasn't yet figured out that her new battle is internal, not external.  Without S. as a rudder, she's scared, and a scared person first tries to behave in what worked before. But that scene with her other sestras helps her realize that not only will Cosima, Alison and Helena (and Felix, and Art, and even Delphine) be her rudder, but they give her the encouragement to trust her own rudder.

It was a beautiful ending, and I loved it. I loved how it showed that for some people, the ending of the war doesn't mean they can immediately adjust to the new world, even if it's a world that they fought for.

I will really miss this show, but for me, it went out on a perfect note.

(Which is not to say that I won't be the first in line if there's ever an Orphan Black movie... there's certainly enough potential for great stories to be mined in this new world).

[SomeTameGazelle]

7 hours ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

I obviously totally misinterpreted what he said because I was so crazed/emotional about the show ending!

It took me a bit of time to think through the 99%/1% split, because my first reaction was to think that taxis are a form of shocking extravagance, but then I realized that Felix wasn't trying to say that Rachel was actually poor, just comparatively so.

 

2 hours ago, misstwpherecool said:

One of things I really didn't like about this last season is that they altered a major character-Allison. In the final year you figure they would try to hold the characters much closer to the form that gave them popularity and familiarity. I missed soccer mom.

Although it was a bit of a jolt when the new Alison showed up, by the finale I felt that Alison was still herself and the difference was due to being relaxed and happy. Maybe it was abrupt and implausible, but on the other hand the final scene with Donnie and the keyboard was cute enough that I just enjoyed it.

 

4 hours ago, misstwpherecool said:

Was the medical assistant a clone of the guy with the tail that managed the clone club?

 

I spent too much time vaguely thinking that it was Olivier but they were in fact played by different actors . . . Olivier was played by David Richmond-Peck and PT's doctor was played by Ted Dykstra.

[natyxg]

So, I was underwhelmed by the finale. I'm glad that everyone ended up happy, but I don't think the episode itself gave me the experience I would have preferred. But I'm not in the mood to go into all the details explaining why, so I'll just talk about random stuff.

I thought Rachel's ending was somewhat sad, but fitting. A part of me wanted her to be at least somewhat accepted into the group, but I get why she wasn't. I saw an interview once with a writer who said that the right ending for a character is the one he or she "earned", and I think the ending she got is what she earned thanks to her actions, both finally being free as well as not being accepted by the others. Though she said she didn't want to keep seeing her face everywhere, I think a part of her did care about "the family" because otherwise she wouldn't have asked about them and the babies. So she got a mixed ending in a way, sort of happy, but sort of sad at the same time, which is fitting for who she was... a victim who was used and whose life was shitty (so she gets her freedom), and a villain who tried to hurt the others (so she isn't accepted). I thought her storyline was the best this season. I wish they had done this when there was more time left so she could have gotten a longer arc like Helena, and she could have ended up working directly with the others and developing a relationship with them. It would have been emotionally messy, but that's what would have made it compelling to watch. Oh, well.

Camilla was hot, and she did feel different, like a whole new person. Tatiana is so good.

I don't understand why none of the Ledas took in Charlotte, that was random and kind of sad. Although maybe they didn't want to raise someone who was gonna look like them in the future, or something? Either way, it needed more explaining.

The idea of Delphine and Cosima going on a road trip to cure all of the clones looks fun. Maybe they can also work to do something with Kyra and the twin's mutation, I mean, they can help a lot of sick people, in general. 

Anyway, good bye, OB. Tatiana, you were the best thing about it.

[Cyranetta]

Quote

I thought it was wonderful that we got a 30 minute coda to the story (although I need to watch it again without the worry that that someone with a gun was going to jump out of the woodwork at 9:40 pm) - I hate it when a story ends with the death of the bad guys and everyone smiles, then fade out. I always want to know how they lived after that, without a mission. 

For a good 5 minutes after the birth of the babies I was tensed up waiting for yet another shoe to drop, but when it didn't, I realized that I really appreciated such an atypical ending. I was also glad that the coda was not all feel-good, since going on after such major goings-on in ones life isn't simply a case of a rubber-band snap back to find-and-dandy. 

There were numerous moments where Tatiana would give such subtle emotional transitions that I was amazed anew. 

I was ferociously gratified for Helena to be able to take down Coady (finally!), although I expected her to pop back up again. And it was only right that Sarah was the one to remove John/PT from the playing field (with a disgusted "Oh, shut up!" - hear, hear, Sarah!)

A whole sitcom could be developed from Helena's parenting in Allison/Donnie's household, and I find myself wanting to read her book (with illustrations).

[meep.meep]

3 hours ago, colorbars said:

 

And I'm not worried about the bodies, either. Neolutionists are out in the open and PT/Coady kidnapped them and were killed in self defense. Not to mention PT is already supposed to be dead. And if anything, what's left of Topside will probably try to clean up as much of the mess as they can and cut their loses so they can remain as unscathed from the DYAD/Neolution blow up as possible.

And Coady was an escaped patient from a mental institution.  Self-defense would not be hard to sell, especially with a police officer right there.

Donnie's new job was putting in concrete floors ?   Tee hee.

Edited August 13, 2017 by meep.meep

[call me ishmael]

Tatiana Maslani: ???????