Orphan Black is a complex show with complex characters living complex lives. Nothing is simple about the lives of any of the characters, and that certainly doesn’t exempt their love lives. Perhaps the most complex relationship on the whole show is the one between Cosima and Delphine. The audience has witnessed their journey from first meeting to their recent poignant reunion. Through betrayals, heartbreak, and loss these two have continually found a way back to each other, defying even death because they couldn’t leave the other. No matter what Dyad and Neolution have thrown at them their bond is unbreakable. Even when they have occasionally seemingly stood on opposite sides of the fight they’ve always been undeniably drawn to one another. The knowledge that she might have lost Delphine forever just about destroyed Cosima. The moment they were reunited there was this sense of thankful disbelief from Cosima and an odd mixture somewhere between relief and fear seemed to flood through Delphine when Cosima collapsed into her arms. This is the theme of their story, always finding each other against insurmountable odds. Their story is a beautifully complicated one that at its core is all about unfaltering love. Because of all these reasons, as the series winds down it is incredibly important to bring this story to a satisfactory conclusion. The characters and audience have invested so much into this relationship and it seems like the show is determined to give them the ending they deserve.
Fortunately for Evelyne Brochu and unfortunately for
Orphan Black, she’s an incredibly in-demand actress. Thankfully, she has made it very clear that it was important for her to see this love story be properly concluded. The show didn’t have full access to her during filming, but the way they’ve chosen to handle her absences has fit in perfectly for the character. Delphine is in the throes of trying to facilitate an endgame that brings everything to a conclusion that favors the clones. At any given time her loyalty has been questioned. The truth is that she is just an incredible actress and pseudo-spy who has everything to lose in Cosima and since losing her isn’t an option, Delphine is quite literally journeying across the planet and to its very ends to keep the promises she’s made over the years. She can’t just save Cosima, which has been clear since the first season. A successful end for Delphine is all the sisters healthy and free. It’s unclear if she’ll succeed, but it’s evident that she’s not going down without a fight.
From the moment Cosima finally opened up to Delphine at the end of the Season One finale they’ve been an incredible team. Even when they’ve fought and hurt each other they were always a duo no one wanted to go up against. However, it always felt like something was missing between the hug that ended that season finale and where they picked up the following season. There had to be some moment that brought them back together as a couple more than Cosima’s confession of being sick. Thankfully the show recognized the need to show that moment which immediately followed that hug. Facing long odds and a potentially terminal illness, Cosima was simply tired and over it all. That’s where Delphine showed her true colors. She was a steadfast source of strength when Cosima needed it the most. With a confident voice and love radiating, Delphine forced Cosima to listen to her and she made her see the reasons she had to keep fighting. In the process, she closed the gap that was caused when her true identity was revealed. She was no longer a monitor, but a woman fighting for the life of the woman she loved regardless of the sacrifices she’d have to make along the way.
What neither of them could have predicted as they came together in that moment was the long hard road ahead of them. They would face many heartbreaks and reunions not to mention many moments of what would feel like betrayal. Their futures held so many ups and downs that they couldn’t have foreseen. But despite everything they’ve been through this episode beautifully displayed how much they love each other, but also showed that to reach the endgame Delphine will keep making the tough choices even if the reasoning isn’t always obvious to everyone else. One very important moment was when Cosima confronted Delphine after the dinner revelation that left her feeling betrayed. Delphine held Cosima’s hand to her heart and in a stunningly beautiful, cinematographically and editorially, moment the past and the present merged to show this couple at a full circle moment. The last time they stood like this, Delphine was fighting to get Cosima back. This time, while she’s still fighting for the woman she loves, she was prepared to let her go. It was quite evident that no matter the response, she was going to keep fighting the good fight, but she also so desperately wanted the answer she ultimately ended up with.
This moment wasn’t just full circle for how it brought them back together as a couple, but also because of the role Delphine took in it all. Once a long time ago they stood nervously staring into each other’s eyes. Delphine was staring down at this woman that she was falling for and threw caution to the wind and began their relationship with one passion filled kiss. At that time everything was in her hands, Cosima had already made a move and it ended poorly, so it was all up to Delphine to kick start things. This time, however, their roles were reversed and Cosima had to decide what she wanted. She had an out, a final end to all the heartache and secrecy, but staring back at her were the eyes of the woman she can’t deny loving. Her hand was being held tight to Delphine’s chest where Cosima could feel the beating heart that she once thought she’d never feel again. She lost Delphine once and all of this seemed to cross Cosima’s mind as she had to quickly process the shocking choices she was offered. The acting by both Evelyne Brochu and Tatiana Maslany was exceptional throughout, but this scene couldn’t have been done more perfectly. When Cosima moved in, her brain appearing to still be processing everything, she ultimately dismissed all of her fears and made her desires known. She wasn’t going to lose the woman she loves yet again. The kiss they shared was full of passion and wasn’t your typical film kiss. The actresses have talked about wanting to make this story feel authentic and they did not disappoint. They have a terrific chemistry and thankfully their real life respect for each other seeps into their performances to produce these true masterpiece moments. The look of relief after the kiss ended and Delphine realized Cosima had chosen to accept their relationship as is was so beautifully done by Brochu. There was a visible exhale and relaxing of her shoulders that said everything. No matter what else happens, as long as she has the woman she loves, she’s content. That scene will be one that fans will watch a considerable number of times, because it is so pivotal to this couple and how far they’ve come.
Even though this couple was the central focus of the episode so much more was going on. Elsewhere on the island, the residents of Revival were getting suspicious of the so-called bear in the woods. In fact, the general consensus was that there was no bear at all, but some sort of monster. They weren’t that far from the truth, but he wasn’t a monster of his own free will. This being was nothing more than another poor soul caught up in the evil sinister plans of P.T. and his gang of rogue immoral scientists. Janos was just another being that meant nothing to P.T. as he long ago stopped seeing his subjects as human. In fact, the only person he cares about is himself and trying to cure whatever it is that is slowly ending his life. There is not a single good kind bone in that sick psycho’s body. That was made very evident at the end when Cosima confronted him. She wanted to help Janos, after all a part of him is in her through the gene that Susan synthesized from him for the Leda line. Initially, she thought she could put him out of his misery, but that’s just not in her nature. She helps people and in the end, Delphine’s words came back to her and not even P.T. could strip Cosima of her humanity. So, instead, the true monster of this story, P.T., murdered Janos in cold blood and showed that in the end, it will have to be him or them. As long as he is around the clones will never ever be safe.
The biggest concern now is what will happen to Cosima as she ended the episode locked away in the cage. Mud has a soft spot for Cosima, so will she come back to help save her new friend? Will Delphine realize something is wrong and make an impromptu trip back to try to save her? Will the other sisters get word and come for her? Will Ira or Susan act against P.T. and help her? So many possibilities and no matter who comes to help Cosima it will put them in a dangerous position to stand against P.T., especially since he obviously cares about no lives other than his own. Given the proximity, the odds are in favor of Mud being the one to come to Cosima’s aid. Surely by now, she must know how off the rails P.T. is and that she has to help Cosima. Perhaps if she is the one to free Cosima, we’ll finally get some answers about her. Who is Mud? She has so much freedom when compared to others. That is one question that needs to get answered sooner than later.
While that question is still lingering, the show did finally address Cosima’s parents. That’s sort of been an interesting thing in that their existence has always been known, but it’s always been curious that they’ve never checked in on their daughter. It’s no wonder that Cosima latched onto her clone family given that it seems like she doesn’t have much of a connection with her parents. However, she was clearly concerned when they were mentioned. Was her story about them the truth or was she trying to cover so that P.T. would leave them out of everything? No matter how strained their relationship is, she is still their daughter and knowing Cosima there is no doubt that she’ll protect them if it comes down to it. Also, it was interesting that they were suddenly brought up. Could they make an appearance at some point? That whole dinner scene was incredibly intense, but that particular moment stood out the most.
As all this chaos went on at the island, Sarah was dealing with other issues. She finally started to get through to Kira and appeared to be on the path to getting her daughter to back away from Rachel a bit. The problem is, did Sarah make this move too late? Is she training Kira to double cross Rachel or is she training her own daughter how to double cross her? Hopefully, young Kira won’t turn against her own family, but Rachel can be quite convincing when she wants to be. Kira is a smart and resilient little girl and surely by now, she has got to see how much her mom does love her. If she ends up siding with Rachel and turning on her mom that will break Sarah like nothing else. That would be the ultimate win for Rachel. It’s hard to know on this show if Kira was being sincere, but little glances and longing looks into the distance are concerning. Her mind is elsewhere and one can only imagine what she’s contemplating.
For now, the confirmed double cross going on surrounds Delphine who made yet another stealthy visit to Mrs. S. Either the Neolution guards are extremely inept at their jobs or Delphine is paying them off. That is the only way that she could just wander off all the way back to Mrs. S. to have a late night debriefing and planning session. The answer as to who led them to Coady was finally answered and surprisingly it wasn’t Delphine. There is another mystery person in play and one that even Mrs. S. doesn’t seem to confident in. With so many moving pieces these two need to be extra cautious with each move they make. They both have everything to lose if they fail at their covert mission.
This was a highly intense episode. There were tense and tender moments between Cosima and Delphine as well as Sarah and Kira. The unrest and distrust of the citizens of Revival was dealt with. This episode also confronted P.T.’s health issues as well as dealt a bit more with the “monster” in the woods. This was a fantastic episode all around and really set into motion everything that is to come in the last half of this season. The endgame is on its way and whatever happens in these coming episodes is sure to be epic and unexpected.
Don’t miss the next episode when it airs next
Saturday, July 15th at 10/9c on BBC America.
Hit the comments with your thoughts about this episode. What did you think about Delphine and Cosima’s time together? Can Kira be trusted? Who will rescue Cosima?
