Orphan Black season 4 just premiered and it took us down a path none of us really expected, and because of it I think it was one of the best episodes of the entire season.
One thing that fans have been constantly clamoring for since season 1 was seeing Beth Childs’ backstory — they wanted to find out more about the clone that started it all and the cop that left us way too soon. Orphan Black season 4, episode 1, “The Collapse of Nature,” was the episode that brought us exactly that, and I think it’s safe to say we were all absolutely thrilled.
I have to admit, when BBC America released the first four minutes of this episode last week I was thoroughly upset because the shock factor was then completely gone for the episode after that. The biggest surprise of the episode was the fact that it was actually a flashback to the shooting that caused Beth Childs to be sent off duty, and the killing of Maggie Chen that started us on this entire journey.
Granted, you still had no idea what was happening after the first four minutes but the moment you find out that Beth Childs is even in this episode, the shock is gone. Having watched this episode for the first time a few days prior to the sneak peek being released, I was totally and completely in shock and I think that’s what made this episode so great — the shock factor.
Luckily there were also several moments throughout the episode that just kept shocking me. But tell me, for those of your who witnessed the first four minutes before tonight: Were you still shocked about the episode when you watched it? Because I feel like once you know, you’re already prepping yourself for an amazing episode with Beth in it.
Regardless of if you were surprised or not, I really want to talk about the fantastic job that creators Graeme Manson and John Fawcett did with crafting this premiere. They told us throughout the past year that we were going back to square one and revisiting season 1, but we had no idea they meant it literally! Seeing so many amazing characters return for this premiere really made me giddy; I lost it when I saw Raj again, and then I lost it again when I saw Ramon. Oh, beautiful Ramon. I really wish he was part of the series more often because I can’t not enjoy the episode when he’s in it.
And then we get Dr. Leekie and Olivier Duval and are re-introduced to all of the Neolution stuff that a lot of us probably forgot about, and it was just a fantastic run through memory lane.
I guess when you get all these characters back it’s hard not to enjoy the episode, but in addition to that this episode was filled with epic content in general. In my opinion, the content, plot, and arc of the episode was just as enjoyable as watching our favorite characters return. Seeing Beth break down and understanding why she was in such a bad mental state is such a huge thing for the fandom, and for the show. We’re finally understanding what made her tick and what may have caused her to end her life prematurely, and for that I’m extremely grateful.
I’m grateful to see how this all started, and witness Cosima and Alison interacting with Beth, because when we met them Beth was dead. We knew that Beth was integral to their sisterhood and figuring out what was going on but actually seeing it was a completely different story.
It opened our eyes to how difficult the days before her death were, and it added so much more complexity to the character that the showrunners really didn’t even need to add. They didn’t have to go backwards, they didn’t need to expand Beth’s character, and if they were lazy story tellers they wouldn’t have — and I’m so grateful that this show is written by a team of people who not only understand the importance of character development, but also the importance of fandom.
And on top of all of the amazing characters and exploration of Beth’s character, we learned more about the story that’s happening now. The worm that we saw Dr. Nealon try to spit into Delphine’s mouth is a Neolution invention, something that they’ve been inserting into people’s cheeks as small grains that end up growing. The purpose? Still no idea, but it’s good to see that the random creepiness with Delphine and Nealon wasn’t as random as initially thought.
The new clone, MK, brings us a whole new level of awesome and complicates things in ways I can’t even imagine. Somehow she knows about everything — she knows about Kendall Malone, she knows about Neolution. She’s been hunted by Neolution for years but apparently Neolution thinks she’s dead, and she’s been working with Beth to figure out what exactly is going on. I want to know how she knows all this and exactly how she comes into all of this information.
If she knows about Kendall Malone, does that mean she knows she is the original source the whole time, or does she have her own spy in this entire circle? And of course the biggest question on my mind is: With a new clone that’s so integral to the operation and knowledgable about everything… does this mean that one of our main sisters is going to die this year? I can easily see them swapping out Cosima for MK — not that anyone could replace Cosima, but I feel like to raise the stakes properly someone’s gotta die soon.
Ultimately we learned a lot about the past and what’s been going on, and I look forward to what all of this information means for the future of the season.