Orphan Black: The Next Chapter - Episode 3 Review & Recap

***Contains Spoilers***

Orphan Black: The Next ChapterToday Serial Box releases episode three of Orphan Black: The Next Chapter, “Bread and Pottages,” by E.C. Meyers.

The episode is another strong one, and readers finally get a bunch of clones talking together at the same time (although via video chat). Unfortunately, I did not receive audio this time with the episode, so I haven’t heard the scene yet, but I am really eager to hear Tatiana Maslany’s recording of it. It adds so much.

In the third episode, the stakes are getting higher as more is discovered about the explosion at GRIT, and the clones could all be in a lot of danger. I really enjoyed Art’s conversation with Jay in the episode, trying to steer her away from any useful information. It just really brings me back to the television series.

I’m also so glad that Vivi is getting more information about her sisters and realizing she isn’t crazy. At some point, the next step will be for her to confront the other clones, and I’m really excited for that. I do wish, however, that the episode had showed Vivi’s reaction to the what she found out.

Interwoven is another scene with Kira, but I have to say, unfortunately, at least to me, this part moves a little slow. I know that it will become more integral to the story as it goes on, but at the moment, it seems like a side story, and is definitely my least favorite part.

The best part of the story in this episode, however, is Charlotte meeting the new clone, Dana. What she found was definitely not what I expected, but it likely is connected to what was being created at GRIT, and the stories may converge soon. Also, so many things could go wrong with where the episode leaves Charlotte. I really can’t wait for what’s next.


RECAP

Alison and Charlotte cross into the United States by car. They go through Border Services, and thankfully, there is no DNA screening.

Art is asked to go to RCMP headquarters, where he talks to Jaysara Priyantha again. She takes him to the TCU (Technological Crime Unit), where he meets digital forensic investigator, Natasha Fortin.

They show him video that they have been able to piece together from the security footage they pulled from the wreckage at GRIT.

Jay tells him that there were no ashes or residue in the file cabinets, therefore someone emptied them before destroying the lab. There’s also a glitch in the tape - someone hacked the feed and looped the video. She believes it’s too sophisticated for Giles Sauveterre to have pulled off. His group of separatists may be “anti-genic anything,” but so far, they’ve only made noise and not done anything so complex. They can tell that the explosives were planted in a way to destroy the computer systems. The group is also always quick to claim credit for their acts of protest, and no one has.

Jay says that the bomber would have had to have been familiar with the lab and its security and been there before, likely recently. She tells him that they scrubbed back the tape through the last month and found footage of Cosima.

She can tell from Art’s reaction, even though he tries to hide it, that he recognizes her. She questions that if she has her name right, he can at least confirm it without violating protocol. The person who she thinks it is, however, is Vivi Valdez. The CIA had reached out to them about an agent they were looking for, and she thinks maybe Vivi has gone rogue. She also thinks she has an alias or two - like Katja Obinger and Cosima Niehaus. She got the latter from a visitor’s log from the lab.

Thinking quick, Art says that it seems like they have a few names for one face. He says he doesn’t know her, and he covers his reactions by saying that she looks like his old partner, Beth Childs, but she’s dead. Jay thinks it was probably Vivi who kills off her identities when she’s done with them. He also tells them that she was more than his partner, hoping it will make her feel she can trust him more.

Art gets a call from Charlotte. Jay thanks him for coming in. She tells him that at least she has a lead, and when the government expands the new screening protocols to include facial recognition, they can search for the suspect across a much larger database if the Valdez/Niehaus thing doesn’t pan out. Art knows he has to warn the sisters.

Meanwhile, Vivi arrives at the Hendrix’s house. She waits until Donnie and the kids leave before she goes in, but she’s stopped by a neighbor. Vivi is able to trick her, and she realizes this proves she isn’t losing her mind.

She goes inside and searches. The only thing she finds is a photo of Alison and Helena. She knows that whoever the look-alikes are, they are clearly in each other’s lives.

Vivi turns on Alison’s computer and finds a file labeled “Orphan Black Manuscript Draft 6_Helena” that starts to tell Sarah’s story, like we heard on the television series. She decides to copy it to read it later when she has time.

Vivi then finds Alison’s calendar and sees time reserved for “Clone Call.” She thinks clones are impossible - aren’t they? She opens a link and ends up connecting to a video conference already underway between Cosima and Delphine, Sarah, and Alison and Charlotte. She turns off the webcam on her end and mutes herself. The real Alison assumes it’s Donnie who is “technologically challenged.”

They discuss some of what’s been happening, including a bit about Jay and Art and a bit about Alison and Charlotte running into Vivi at the airport.

Delphine says she talked to Eloise Thibault off the record about them expanding the screening program to the land borders. It will take some time to implement though, so Alison and Charlotte should be able to make it back in time if they hurry.

The sisters talk about all their blood being a match and that people might notice identical DNA. It isn’t just their blood that would be flagged; however, now they can place Cosima at the scene before the explosion. She tells them that the good news is they think she is the spy, Vivi, with an alias. She says though that all she can do is prove she’s not an international spy by revealing she’s a clone. Charlotte talks again about wanting to reveal what they are, but the others shoot it down.

Cosima also tells them Sturgis is alive and that he might be hiding something important back at his apartment that he wants her to find.

Sarah asks how Kira is doing, and Cosima covers.

Meanwhile, Kira stays overnight in the storage closet at GeneKeep without their knowledge. She uses the time to sequence her genome in their lab. At one point she texts with Charlotte, who implies that she likes Emmaline.

Some of Kira’s backstory from the series about her regeneration abilities is recapped. She hopes to use her stem cells to cure diseases in the future, as well as find someone else like her.

While trying to use the slow network, she finds someone using a VPN from Saskatchewan downloading a large chunk of the servers files - the Canadian rare genome sets - to a remote site. She wants to kill the process and report them, because it could be a serious data breach, but she can’t, because she would have to reveal what she was doing. Instead she just transfers her data directly to her laptop.

Charlotte enters Folger Hospital to meet the clone, Dana Emmett, who they previously discovered. She intends to give her the injection to cure her. She is told, however, that there is no patient there by that name.

Alison agrees to let her snoop around. Charlotte steals a volunteer jacket and badge to use.

She eventually comes across a wing of the hospital that is closed. She fakes getting hurt to get the guard to leave and then sneaks in a room down the hall that has a sign on the door saying the patient is in isolation, because she is contagious with something airborne. She does at least suit up before entering the room.

She approaches Dana to inject her but drops her arm. She finds an oozing rash with veins that stretch down her arm. She realizes it is not the disease the other clones had and texts Alison as such and to stay away from the hospital. She realizes she touched Dana’s bare skin, as her gloves are on the ground.

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