When “Orphan Black” first premiered back in March 2013, it was quickly greeted as one of the most promising shows of the season. Resting on the capable shoulders of breakout star Tatiana Maslany (who stunned audiences and critics alike with her tour de force performance as a group of clones), the little Canadian sci-fi show that could had a lot of hype to live up to heading into its second season.

While Maslany’s performance has yet to disappoint, “Orphan Black” certainly lost some of its charm and momentum during the past two seasons. Where season one was fast-paced, focused and compelling, seasons two and three struggled under the weight of their own ambition and were weighed down by too many plot lines, poor pacing and time wasted introducing one-off characters. With a line of male clones, DYAD, Neolution, the military and more in the mix, “Orphan Black” was headed nowhere and everywhere at once.

Now two episodes into its fourth season, the show finally got its groove back. “Orphan Black” is moving forward in an unexpected way – by returning to the very beginning.

The show’s fourth season has, so far, been rooted in flashbacks detailing what happened before the show’s premiere – before Sarah Manning saw her own clone, Beth Childs, jump in front of a train. Following Beth in her final months, the flashbacks introduce us to the mysterious clone MK, give us a deeper insight to Beth’s character (and her relationships with Art, Cosima and Alison) and build upon the existing Neolution conspiracy.

It’s surprising that it took “Orphan Black” this long to return to Beth Childs. While season one was propelled largely by Sarah’s trip down the rabbit hole of the clone conspiracy, it all came back to Beth: Beth, the clone who set out to find the truth. Beth, the clone who knew too much. Beth, the clone who killed herself because the truth was too much to bear.

In a show so dominated by unanswered questions, its first question still remains the most compelling of all: what led Beth Childs to that train platform that fateful night?

Four seasons later, we’re finally getting that answer, and the show is much better because of it.

It is, of course, far too soon to judge whether or not the show’s current storyline will have a long-term impact on the quality of the entire season. “Orphan Black” still has numerous problems to address – namely, too many dropped plotlines and a general lack of focus – but as it stands, “Orphan Black” has managed to solve some of its short-term pacing and plotting issues with the start of this new season. This journey into Beth’s past propels the story forward and gives it a newfound sense of direction as Sarah unravels the mystery of Beth, MK and the mysterious Neolution cheek implants.

The Beth Childs flashbacks still pose more questions than they answer (What happened to Beth right before she committed suicide? What’s the deal with those parasite worms? How is this all connected to the Castor clones?) but they give our hero Sarah a new mystery to unravel.

Time will tell if the show’s current hot streak will last long enough to justify future seasons, but for now, the future is looking a little bit brighter for “Orphan Black.”