As I think most of us can attest, Orphan Black has weirded the viewers out on more than one occasion. Donnie and Alison doing the dirty deed on top of a freezer with a corpse in it. The bombshell reveal that Kendall is the original for both the Leda and Castor clones. And, of course, the robo maggot in Sarah’s cheek perhaps being the strangest of them all. All of these scenes are definitely high on the creep-o-meter, but I can’t really call any of them “disturbing.” Well, in tonight’s episode, we definitely get “disturbing” and by a factor of 10, with the final scene still giving me the willies almost a day after I screened it.

A CRASH COURSE ON BRIGHTBORN … AND A FEW DETAILS I REALLY DIDN’T NEED TO KNOW

With Brightborn somehow connected to Neolution, it is imperative that Sarah (Tatiana Maslany) and Co. find a way to infiltrate the organization and uncover that relationship.  A plan was put in motion last week with Donnie (Kristian Bruun) and Felix (Jordan Gavaris)   posing as a gay couple looking to have a child using a surrogate. The 2nd step in that plan takes off tonight with Donnie returning to the clinic but with Alison in tow as the potential surrogate. However, Alison is swamped with meetings and Sarah had promised Kira a Mommie/Daughter day alone, and she wasn’t going to back out on that. So, Cosima ends up volunteering for the day-trip with Donnie, which actually sounds smarter considering she has the scientific background to understand what they may be up to.

However, as it turns out, another Leda clone has also been sniffing around Brightborn, but her cover story is that she’s trying to have a baby and so, is interested in IVF. Yes, everyone, the Leda clone who makes a day out of playing private investigator is our bubbly Krystal! So, so happy to see this girl again! M.K. is interesting, but Krystal has that innocence about her that just makes the show much more fun and interesting. Anyways, in the time since her run-in with Felix and Delphine at the salon last season, she has gone from a weak, naive girl to a borderline bad-ass. Boxing and self-defense lessons in the episode’s opening scene tells us she likely can handle herself regardless of what Neolution thug is thrown her way. Good for her.

With Donnie, Cosima, and Krystal all under the same roof with neither knowing about the other, we really don’t have a full boat yet because before you know it, in walks Susan Duncan (Rosemary Dunsmore) and with the “good son,” Ira (Ari Millen),  in tow. On many levels, this becomes the perfect storm because had it not being for Susan showing up on the very day that Donnie and Cosima decide to visit the clinic for an orientation, their little plan might have worked. But, of course, with Evie Choi being the one who does the orientation, she immediately recognizes Cosima (but whom she think is Sarah instead) as one of the Leda clones and immediately reports it to Susan.

Susan then takes the opportunity to pose as a doctor and chats up Cosima. But, given that she initially thinks it’s Sarah, she’s not really prepared for Cosima’s questions and what she has to say. Cosima wants to know about what is done with any embryos that are left over, with Susan responding that they’re “donated” for research. And, also what about the “enhancements to embryos” that she had heard about in the orientation? Cosima has to push Susan, but ultimately she learns that “enhancements”=modifying DNA, a process that Cosima knows, as a scientist, can have serious side effects.  By this time, Susan has figured out that she’s actually talking to Cosima and not Sarah, but not before Cosima manages to swipe her badge. She has to get into their lab and at all costs. Stay tuned for more on that while we check in with Krystal.

Krystal is, well, just being Krystal — making her way into the massage room and stealing any beauty products she can get her hands on. However, Donnie had already run into her at the orientation by accident and so, he conveniently shows up as her “masseuse” to find out what she knows and why she’s at Brightborn. Well, the naive girl in Krystal definitely comes out because she confides in Donnie way too quickly. She says she’s there on a “professional investigation” (laughing my ass off here!) and also asks if he’s familiar with the Dyad Institute. But, then, when she mentions the “French doctor,” Delphine, that causes Donnie to blow his cover which only lands him with a knee to the groin and a fist to the face. Ouch.

Here comes the holy sh*t WTF moments I mentioned at the beginning of the review. Get ready and brace yourselves! Let’s start with the one involving Cosima. The badge she stole from Susan Duncan does pay off, and she finds herself in a lab area with several other women who appear to be pregnant and participating in some kind of study. Then, in comes another pregnant woman in distress and quite possibly going into labor. Cosima is pulled in to assist, but what happens next I really don’t think she was prepared for. The baby is born, but what we see is like something out of a freak show. Among other things, there are severe facial deformities, including the lack of a nose and a malformed mouth, and there might be more but I had to look away because it was so disturbing. By this time, Susan Duncan walks in, and Cosima is visibly upset. Susan says this is the only way to find a possible cure for certain diseases — including what is plaguing the Leda and Castor clones — but Cosima sharply disagrees. Of course, another solution would be to hand over Kendall, which Cosima also adamantly refuses. This all seems like a big Catch-22, doesn’t it? Damned if Cosima does, damned if she doesn’t. We’ll see what happens next week, but my guess is it’s time to throw in the white flag and give Susan what she wants.

Now, for THAT final scene. While Krystal is being escorted out of the building, she happens to pass Ira in the hall, and you can probably guess what happens. 2 Castor clones had killed Hector, and so, when she sees Ira, I can imagine the number of conspiracies in that brain of hers goes through the roof. But, even still, that’s not the scene I’m talking about here. Now, cut to Ira in the swimming pool at Brightborn — then, enters Susan. At first, I didn’t think much of it, but then, when she touches him and OMG kisses him (and YES, on the mouth!), I thought I was going to hurl. WTH?! What. The. Hell! How can I possibly unsee that! Let’s summarize here. We know that Susan effectively rejected Rachel as her daughter by sending her away, and every indication says that Susan had raised Ira as her son, but now it’s revealed she’s carrying on an incestuous relationship with him?!  Of course, it’s disgusting as hell, but the big question is WHY? Is it pure unadulterated lust and her entire motivation is to save the life of her young lover — or is there some other reason? God, please, I hope for the latter!

THAT 50-FOOT WALL NOW BETWEEN SARAH AND FELIX

Even though it’s supposed to be Sarah and Kira’s day, they are ultimately pulled into a get-together with Mrs. S, Felix, and Adele. You can imagine how thrilled Sarah is. Sarah sees only the mission and thinks that everything else should be sacrificed — including the time Felix is spending with his supposed biological sister. So, the relationship between the 2 foster siblings is already strained, but man, it’s about to get much, much worse.

We have always known that Sarah had doubts about Adele since day 1. What’s more, it doesn’t help that she discovers the agency that Felix used to find his sister, “Gene Connection,” is owned by Brightborn. Coincidence? Sarah thinks not. So, she sneaks around, gets DNA samples from both Felix and Adele without their knowing, and then, have poor Scott (Josh Vokey) do her dirty work and run an expedited DNA test. And, how do you think that test turns out? To Sarah’s dismay and shock, it only proves that Felix and Adele are biologically brother and sister, and Sarah is left there with a look of “Oh my God, what have I done?” on her face. This totally sucks, but it’s pretty clear the relationship between these 2 is broken, at least for now. Only time will tell if the bridges can be rebuilt and the trust restored.

Orphan Black  airs on Thursdays at 10/9c on BBC America.

Critic Grade — A-

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