ORPHAN BLACK 4.04 Recap – “From Indistinct To Rational Control”

Orphan Black confirmed a major fan theory and hilariously dug into a Neolution stronghold in its latest episode, “From Indistinct To Rational Control”!

We’re starting back out with mysterious new clone MK, who’s making a list and checking it twice. But it’s not exciting or Christmas-y– it’s a list of the DYAD employees who have died. She’s confirmed the identity and death of Marion Bowles, but she’s still looking for Marion’s cleaner, Ferdinand.

But MK’s reasons for all she’s doing and also revealed. Her friend and fellow clone Niki was clearly killed by DYAD/Topside and MK is out for her revenge!

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But Ferdinand– the guy she’s after– is also Sarah’s newest ally. He gives her a flash drive with Rachel’s message in hopes of finding out her location and saving her from Susan Duncan. Poor Ferdy has a soft spot for Rachel after all!

Sarah then gives the flash drive to MK, who cracks into it and quickly realizes who Sarah’s mystery contact is. She cuts Sarah off without giving her any answers. Desperate, Sarah turns to the only source she has and in doing so, fills him in on the clone conspiracy. That’s one way to get a guy on your side!

Elsewhere in town, Alison and her friend Sarah Stubbs are just busting out into Jesus Christ Superstar songs in a coffee shop, as you do…

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…When Alison is confronted by Trina, the Neolutionist girl from Beth’s story, who thinks Alison is Beth. She’s furious that Beth went to the Lifespring Fertility clinic after their talk and as she runs away, Alison does the only thing one can do in the digital age.

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The next step is to infiltrate the clinic– which Alison can’t do, because Beth has already been in there and clearly stirred up some trouble. So she enlists some help!

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Things inside the clinic are a little rocky but utterly hilarious. Mainly because Donnie doesn’t know how to act around anyone, anywhere. First, Felix has to school him on avoiding gay male stereotypes.

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Then, after he suggests he wants to be their (fake) baby’s father and he needs to provide a *cough* sample, Donnie has to call up Alison for a little extra something to get him through. Saaaaay a fantasy involving an Italian airline stewardess. YUP!

The mission leads them to information on Lifespring’s BrightBorn program, which promises better, healthier babies to everyone involved. Obviously a Neolution front!

The idea certainly matches up with what Cosima finds when she and Scott dissect the bot in Dr. Leekie’s corpse head.

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During the process, Scott realizes that the tissue surrounding the bot glows because it’s made up of a different genetic material. From there, the two scientists hypothesize that the bot is some sort of gene therapy that may alter the DNA of Sarah and the others who have it.

Besides Sarah and Cosima, someone else might benefit from this research: Rachel’s young clone charge, Charlotte. She is indeed dying and requires treatment.

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Rachel’s mother, Susan, gives her a choice: Attempt to save Charlotte using a method that may only work in children or let Charlotte die and use the invaluable data from her body to develop a cure for all the older Leda and Castor clones.

Rachel tells her mother that she’ll take the Neolution route and let Charlotte die in hopes of saving the others… but she’s just saying that, right? Even Rachel isn’t THAT cold, right?!

While this is all happening, Helena is having a much different struggle. After Donnie cautions her that Alison might be jealous of her pregnancy, Helena makes a decision. She buries her “tube babies”, aka the eggs from the Neolution cult that she took but never gave nitrogen, meaning they’re no longer viable.

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From there, she takes all her things and leaves the Hendrix family behind.

That night, Sarah and Dizzy finally track down MK. Aaaaaand almost get killed by the bomb she leaves under her front door mat!

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MK isn’t there, but all the facts about Niki and the other murdered clones are unveiled. When Sarah calls Siobhan to speak with Ferdinand, he’s not there. He went out to meet Sarah at Beth’s. But of course, Sarah is not there.

Though it wasn’t the show’s best kept secret, it still unfolds quickly and dramatically: MK is truly Veera Souminen, the lone survivor of Topside’s scourge of Project Leda in Helsinki. While he sits on a chair with a trigger bomb engaged underneath, she makes him relive the brutality and for the first time, we see Ferdinand genuinely scared.

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Now it’s Sarah’s turn to save Ferdinand. Though he’s covered in gasoline and still sitting on a bomb, Veera is so unwilling to face Sarah that she leaves, assuming the bomb will be set off eventually. What she doesn’t realize is that Mrs. S is as good at dismantling bombs as she is at making them!

And so the uneasy alliance continues and nobody is quite dead yet, but we doubt MK is just going to give up there!

By Molly

Molly is a proud Canadian who is currently attending university in Scotland. She loves to read, write, watch films, and talk about Sarah J. Maas books. If not snuggled up with a book, Molly can usually be found tapping at the dance studio, or writing yet another essay.