REVIEW: Orphan Black, S5 Ep1 – The Few Who Dare

Welcome back to the trip one last time, as Orphan Black kicks off its fifth and final season. We’ve been left with many questions after the last four years, and now it’s time to see how many answers we’ll finally be given.

On the island, Sarah is badly injured from her fight with Rachel, and struggling to survive and find Cosima. She has to burn a picture of Kira in order to start a fire, and my immediate thought was that I hope that doesn’t turn out to be symbolic of something to happen later in the season. Though speaking of Kira, the recap at the top of the episode mentioned the strange powers she has, so fingers crossed more light will soon be shed on those. Were Sarah’s visions of Kira this episode somehow tied to those powers – Kira knowing her mom was in trouble, and trying to help her? Or was it all in Sarah’s head, tied to her current worry of Kira’s whereabouts?

Cosima is relatively safe for the time being, in the village we quickly learn is called Revival. She gets a tour from a girl named Mud, who explains that they’ve been self-sufficient since 1908, and everyone there had been chosen to help genetically improve the human race. I really enjoyed Mud from what we saw of her this week, and I hope she eventually turns out to be an ally for Cosima.

Delphine has been working in a clinic at the village, and we see her meet with a little girl from Afghanistan who came to get better – “we came for the fountain.” A fountain was also mentioned by Rachel when she addressed the people of Revival, on behalf of P.T. Westmoreland: “The fruits of nearly 200 years of Neolution science are now within our grasp, and we here shall drink from the fountain first.” Given that Delphine clarified to Cosima that the island is a prolongevity study, the first thing to come to mind is some sort of fountain of youth. If such a fountain does exist, no doubt that Orphan Black will be putting their own spin on it.

Also – have the villagers that live at revival ever actually seen Westmoreland? In response to the music, Mud explains that “PT has something to tell us,” yet no one seemed surprised to see Rachel. Does he always send someone else to speak for him?

Surprisingly, in the end Rachel helped Cosima with the cure that Delphine had hidden away before she left, so Cosima didn’t have to stick herself in the uterus with a gigantic needle. In more typical Rachel fashion, she also stops Sarah from escaping the island via boat, though a single dart to the neck is at least less violent than their last meeting. In any case, Rachel seems to be holding all of the cards right now.

Off in another set of woods, Alison isn’t willing to just hide out while her sisters are in danger, and decides that they need to cut their camping trip short. Unfortunately, Neolution is already hot on their trail. Alison ends up kidnapped (and taken to meet Art and his new partner, a no nonsense Neo named Maddie), and Donnie is nearly abducted as well, until Helena comes to his rescue. But while Donnie and Helena are free from the Neos for now, Helena’s struggle left her with a stick in her stomach, and that can’t be good for her babies. (Also, just a note on Donnie and Helena – the two of them using the loon call to communicate in the woods was totally adorable. Loved it). And honestly it’s hard to keep track of how much time actually passes each season, but given that Helena’s pregnancy has been ongoing since season 2, she’s got to actually give birth soon, right?

In all, I was left slightly underwhelmed by season premiere. Helena being impaled by the stick was the only thing that really shocked me, and everything just seems to be getting things in place for the season. Which isn’t necessarily a bad thing – and I’m definitely looking forward to learning more about Revival, and what their plans are with the clones. What did you guys think of the episode?