Orphan Black is a show that flies by. Its seasons are short, 10 episodes each, and it’s a great length because it’s long enough to tell a complete story but short enough that nothing about it feels excessive (OK, with the exception of last week’s “Variable and Full of Perturbation” that felt a little rough, like a standalone filler episode of sorts). But it also sometimes feels too short. I don’t want Orphan Black to end its second season next week, especially after watching something as great as “Things Which Have Never Yet Been Done,” and I’m so worried about how things are going to turn out.
“Things Which Have Never Yet Been Done” is a return to the great, intense, and narrative-driven episodes that Orphan Black succeeds at. First, there is the Alison and Donnie plot. They have become a low-key, suburban version of Bonnie and Clyde, each with a murder under their belt, and now trying to figure out what to do with Leekie’s body currently sitting in their freezer. The “official” Dyad story is that Leekie died on a private jet. There has been no confirmation and no body found but Dyad doesn’t seem too into solving the mystery.
After dumping the body in the freezer — there is a nice character moment when Donnie and Alison both furiously sanitize their hands — they debate what to do. Donnie suggests dumping the body in the water but Alison shoots that down because they don’t own a boat. More importantly, Alison asks, “Have you ever seen Dexter?” Bodies turn up and series finales are terrible. Burying the body in the backyard isn’t a good idea either but they soon decide to jackhammer the floor of the garage and bury it underneath there.
There is one slight hitch in their plans when a very curious Victor shows up at the door and then starts spying. But Donnie’s different now; he’s become something of a fierce protector over Alison and their family and puts a gun to Victor’s head. They interrogate him — “I hate this garage,” he bemoans as a reference to last season’s nail gun incident — and he eventually reveals that Angela the cop is outside in a van. Donnie pays her a visit and gets her to back off. It’s a new side of Donnie that Alison likes. Once Leekie’s body is buried underneath the garage, Alison is disturbingly turned on by the crime and the two have sex on the freezer.
The other big plot of the night involves Helena. Henrik implants the embryos in Helena (and gives her a brief lesson on what the cervix is) and she’s briefly happy about the idea of being a mother. But she’s still Helena; at the Prolethean daycare center, when someone scolds and threatens a child, Helena snaps into action and threatens to gut her like a fish. Later, her excitement subsides as Gracie is also impregnated and explains that it’s with her father’s child and Helena’s genes. Helena plans to run away and this time Gracie wants to join. But Henrik appears and whips Helena with his gun and shoves Gracie into a cage. Helena is down but not out — she’s never out — and she soon pops up and begins attacking him like a feral animal while Mark frees Gracie and the two run away. Helena’s angry, maybe angrier than we’ve ever seen her, and she turns the table on Henrik in a really disturbing scene.
Finally, there’s the Cosima and Sarah plots. At the end of last week’s episode, Cosima was convulsing on the floor. She’s a little better now but the growths have now spread all over her body, drastically threatening her health. Delphine, who is now interim director, becomes a pawn in Rachel’s scheme. Rachel, it seems, has gone off the deep end a bit with her child obsession. She drinks slowly and watches home movies while desperately trying to control her emotions — that is, she tries to remain completely devoid of emotion.
Meanwhile, Sarah reluctantly allows them to take Kira’s bone marrow (Kira knows it’s to help Cosima stay alive). While Kira’s recovering in the hospital with Felix and Mrs. S at watch, Sarah shows up with a warning that they have to get her out of there. But as she’s talking, Felix receives a call from Sarah — it’s Rachel in disguise who steals Kira, putting us back to the end of Season 1. But there’s still an episode left to get Kira back and this episode certainly did work in getting us nail-bitingly excited for the Season 2 finale.