Neolution’s true intentions are revealed in this week’s episode of ORPHAN BLACK, “Ease for Idle Millionaires.” With a deranged man terrorizing the forest and basecamp and Cosima on the case to discover who he is and why, P.T. Westmoreland’s secret ambitions for Neolution don’t stay secret for long.
This week’s episode leads with Cosima, who seeks out the truth despite camp rules trying to keep her in the dark, and pieces together the scandalous truth behind the P.T. Westmoreland puzzle. Meanwhile, Sarah tries to earn back Kira’s trust by letting her in on some of her (Sarah’s) and Mrs. S’s plans, and Delphine tows a line between rebellion and betrayal, preventing suspicion with Westmoreland while also attempting to stay loyal to Cosima by helping Felix and his sister find research Neolution’s beginnings in Geneva.
The episode starts with a long introduction that involves just Cosima, so naturally, my first impression was that we were going to watch an entire episode dedicated solely to her – as we did with Sarah and Allison already this year. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case. And I just want to note that it seems we never spend much as much time with Cosima as we do Allison and Sarah. Which is sad, because, though Cosima has a rather tame personality, she is one of the most interesting and enjoyable clones to watch. But instead of an entirely Cosima episode, what we got was a large A-line involving Cosima flying too close to the sun, and B/C lines involving Delphine’s secrets and Sarah mending her relationship with Kira.
Not to say this episode was bad – this episode still gave us more insight into Cosima than we’ve ever had before. We learn about who her parents are, finally, and what sort of relationship she must have with them in order to never see or talk to them. The show has finally settled back into the pace and patterns that run typical for the series, making it easier to sit and enjoy the storylines without dwelling too much on setup. Still, this episode was light on the action. Instead, this week’s episode focused on valuable exposition the show needs to propel the season arcs. It’s a necessary evil, giving us lots of clues to cling to as we try to answer the Neolution mystery, but sacrificing some of that intensity that we normally get from jam-packed action episodes.
The episode starts with Cosima sequencing the genetic material in the tooth Mud found. While that’s processing in the clinic computer, the strange zombie man terrorizing the woods outside the camp injures one of the camp members, sending the camp into panic about the problem. Everyone in the camp is ordered into lockdown, but just as Cosima is making her way back to her hut, she spots Delphine headed into P.T. Westmoreland’s mansion.
Inside the mansion, Delphine has to effectively ward off suspicion for herself and find a way to get to Geneva as quickly as possible to help Felix. Before she leaves for Geneva, Westmoreland requests that she find out what Cosima has discovered about Neolution, as he knows Cosima has been snooping around into things she shouldn’t. In order to convince P.T. of her loyalty, she betrays that Cosima has been to the basement where Westmoreland kept the deranged man before he escaped into the forest.
Though she forgives Delphine once Delphine explains why she needs to get to Geneva, Cosima throws caution to the wind and decides to confront Westmoreland anyways. She crashes a strange party that requires that she and Delphine dress up in vintage dress. There, she overshares about her parents in a weird moment that doesn’t quite land the way it’s intended to, but gives us a chance to learn about Cosima’s past, and then pieces together the true intentions behind cloning, Kira, and Neolution from the conversation at the dinner table.
Though she makes it out of the dinner in one piece, the deranged man has entered the camp and is headed for the house. When Cosima realizes that P.T. intends to kill the poor soul, her humanity gets the best of her, and despite Mud warning her not to interfere because P.T. Westmoreland is “not well,” Cosima does anyways.
Things quickly escalate as Cosima tries to talk Westmoreland out of shooting the man. Unfortunately for her, in her anger towards Westmoreland and Neolution, she reveals too much of what she knows – that Neolution is planning to harvest Kira’s eggs for the genetic code inside them that could allow a person to heal quickly and live forever, that Westmoreland is after this code because he’s not actually as old as he’d like everyone to think, but he would like to be immortal – and Westmoreland, after shooting the deranged man in the head, locks Cosima up in the basement so that she can’t pry any further, or warn anyone of Westmoreland’s fraudulent secret.
And that’s where we’re left. How long will Cosima be locked up, and will she make it out alive and in time to warn Sarah before Kira becomes an unconsenting mother to 1,300 children? The stakes just got a whole lot higher, and next week’s episode promises to be filled with action and a few answers because of it.
Season 5, Episode 5 (S05E05)
Orphan Black airs Saturdays at 10PM on BBC America
Read all of our reviews of Orphan Black here.
Read our reviews of more of your favorite shows here.
Tasha is a freelance writer currently based in Los Angeles. Originally from Kansas, when she’s not writing about or watching TV, Tasha is searching for the best BBQ place in LA to fill the KC BBQ hole in her stomach.
Keep up with all of Tasha’s reviews here.
Tasha Cerny | Contributor
