Orphan Black Recap: “Clutch of Greed”

After an eventful premiere, Orphan Black continues to heighten the stakes with, “Clutch of Greed”.

While the show is still setting the table for this final run, Orphan Black sees its first casualty of the season.  It’s a shame to see any of the clones bow out, but especially MK who was a recent but great addition to the Clone Club. However, considering how everyone has essentially been captured or boxed into a corner, it comes as no surprise that one of the sestras may finally just want to give up.

Sarah once again finds herself at odds with Rachel after the latter tranquilized and kidnapped her. Unfortunately, Sarah can’t outsmart a way out of this situation, especially when it’s revealed that Mrs. S and Kira have been taken as well. Forced to “behave” she ends up agreeing to a truce that allows her family to return home to Felix as long as Kira reports for mandatory testing after school. It’s fairly obvious that there isn’t a slight chance that Sarah would allow anyone to get even close to Kira, so it comes as no surprise when she begins developing a plan at the first opportunity to save her daughter.

Unfortunately, this plan involves MK, who is still donning her sheep mask and expert skills. With the final season progressing, it comes as no surprise that we see one of the “newer” clones as early as “Clutch of Greed” but what’s so shocking that Orphan Black decides to off her in such a violent way. Often touted as a feminist show, Orphan Black has constantly had the female clones square off against men who view them as property.

Photo Credit: BBC America

Thus far, their struggles have always been immense but never insurmountable. However, “Clutch of Greed,” changes everything by having MK so violently murdered by Ferdinand after buying Sarah a couple of minutes to escape. The brutality of the killing is tough to watch, especially for a clone like MK, who has clearly just given up the fight right after being integrated into Clone Club.

The crushing blow of losing MK isn’t the only big setback that Sarah faces. While she spends the majority of the episode (and the series) attempting to sneak Kira away for safety, she never stops to imagine that her daughter has no interest in running. After four seasons of hinting that Kira possesses some sort of supernatural power, it seems like the girl is tired of not understanding her full potential. Desperate for some answers, Kira opts to stick with Rachel rather than Sarah thus breaking her mother’s heart even more.

While Kira is just beginning to embrace her peculiar side, Helena is also discovering some new things about her babies. Allison, Art, and his new evil partner are stuck on house arrest while trying to track down Donnie, they never think to look at a hospital. Yes, after getting impaled with a branch in the premiere, Donnie actually does the responsible thing to take his pregnant sister-in-law (?) to the doctor.

Photo Credit: BBC America

Helena claims she can sense something is wrong with one the babies, which the doctor confirms, but after a few minutes, the injury disappears as if it was nothing. It’s a nice call-back to when Kira got hit by a car in the earlier season only to survive the incident nearly unscathed. Of course, Helena believes that the nurses will attempt to steal her children so she naturally attacks on with a syringe in another pretty violent scene.

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Meanwhile, Rachel is loving her rediscovered sense of power. For so long she has been on shaky ground with Sarah becoming a bigger thorn in her side every season. Now that she’s fully committed herself to Neolution, Rachel finally feels like her usual self. In “Clutch of Greed,” she’s clearly aware that she holds all of the cards over her clone sisters and no longer needs to resort to drastic measures, like sleeping with Ferdinand, to get the power she wants.

She isn’t the only one rediscovering herself, with Cosima still hanging out on the Neolution island with Charlotte. While her treatment is going underway, she gets the privilege of meeting P.T. Westmoreland, or the leader of the entire Neolution movement. What exactly he wants is a bit murky still but at the very least Cosima is moving a few steps forward in her search. Although it’s a bit disheartening how he clearly lays out the Cosima, and the clones by extension, are just simple experiments for him that mean nothing in the long run.

Cosima is definitely in for some heartbreak this season with the way “Clutch of Greed” ends. Delphine may have been “going away” in the premiere episode, she’s definitely back in town now! Showing up on Mrs. S’s doorstep was a bit of a shock for the gun-toting mom, especially considering she thought the former was dead, but Delphine revealed she has some important information that the clones can’t know.

Next: Orphan Black Season 5 DVD Release Date Announced For Fall

Of course Orphan Black leaves us on a cliff-hanger as to what that information can be but it will undoubtedly change the scope of the season. Sound off in the comments with your ideas as to what Delphine could be up to!