“The boy clones are our brothers.”

Thematically, Orphan Black is oftentimes on point, posing questions about family and love and care in the face of danger. At its best, the series’s exploration of the sestras can deliver some of the most poignant, entertaining, and endearing moments you’ll ever see, and it’s when we return to this shared bond between them that the show becomes truly great. However, the writers do also have a penchant for attempting to juggle too many plot points at once, and there’s certainly a very scattered feel to the beginning of this season. Although I have confidence that it’ll all come together, not quite everything is clicking right now.

Case in point: the reintroduction of the Proletheans, who are far from the most interesting characters in the show. It’s clear that the writers want to tackle a religion vs. science debate here–e.g. the word “abomination” popping up at several points throughout the hour and Mrs. Johanssen’s expanded role–but at the same time, it seems to be intruding upon the main thrust of the season. In fact, Mrs. Johanssen even fires a bullet into Mark at the end of the episode, and although we haven’t seen the body yet, his death would mark a premature exit from the story. Because Ari Millen is not the actor that Tatiana Maslany is and because the male clones are not as well written as the female ones are, it’s paramount that we spend enough time with the males in order to become invested in them; yet, they’re dropping like flies.

Still, though, the main arc of the season is beginning to shape up, considering the revelation that the male clones are the females’ brothers. It remains to be seen how the show will handle this storyline, but there are some intriguing avenues to explore here: parent-child dynamics with Coady and the clones, for one. It’s going to be more difficult to explore these ideas if you have half the male clone characters left, but the idea of bringing everyone together certainly fits under this show’s umbrella of thematic ideas. It’s family, after all, and there’s an obligation to protect and care for family that we see throughout the episode; for instance, we even see it with Gracie’s. “Your family cares for you, Gracie,” her mother tells her, “even as you refuse to care for yourself.”

Hopefully, this marks a gelling point for the season, and it’d especially be nice to see Alison and Donnie enter the main arc at some point. Their storyline is extremely entertaining and endlessly watchable, but once again, the show fires on all cylinders when its characters are working in tandem. Maybe after Alison’s done taking care of Marci Coates, she and Donnie can ride in and wipe out the Proletheans.

GRADE: B

OTHER THOUGHTS:

– “You are the ugliest Mark yet.” I could watch a whole season consisting of Helena insulting every Mark clone that she sees.

-I’m not sure I like the fact that Art was in love with Beth. Is that really an important addition to their dynamic?

-In case you didn’t know already, the actress who plays Alexis is Kathryn Alexandre, Tatiana Maslany’s double and an integral part of the show.

-The most fun scene in this episode? Probably Cosima extracting a brain. I’m really, really enjoying her interactions with Scott and Felix, although I do hope Felix gets a bigger role as the season progresses.

-I have my problems with the Gracie character, but kudos to Zoé de Grand’Maison for her work in this episode.

Photo credit: BBC America, Orphan Black