REVIEW: Orphan Black S5 Ep6 – Manacled Slim Wrists

We’re now past the halfway point of the final season of Orphan Black, and things are really heating up. Literally.

Krystal is back! The beauty vlog she runs with her roommate was an unexpected and fun way to start off the episode – and I would totally watch more from her on YouTube. Still on a crusade against big cosmetics, Krystal comes to Art and Scott for help when she believes her roommate’s hair loss was because she was poisoned. Although Krystal still has no idea what she’s in the middle of, she ends up providing an important piece of the puzzle through her contact at BluZone cosmetics, a company that was recently sold to a Dyad subsidiary.

Her roommate’s hair loss was due to an experimental face cream that she’d stolen from the CEO, Leonard Sipp. I really enjoyed the scenes where Krystal tried to interrogate Sipp, especially with Sarah and Art’s interjections and attempts to help over the coms. Ultimately she gets him to spill the beans: The cream is a dermal delivery system, requested by Dyad, and is “the next big thing in regenerative therapy.” Of course, that leads to another question – what is Dyad planning on using it for?

Quick shoutout to my favorite line of the episode: “I’m peeing, and then I’m gonna kick him in the balls.” And while Tatiana does an amazing job every week with the multiple roles she plays, for some reason seeing her as Krystal  makes me appreciate her talent even more.

Over on the island, tensions rise when Coady rejoins PT and Susan. Upon discovering that PT is using parabiosis to attempt to prolong his life (taking blood from healthy children, and using the plasma to give himself blood transfusions), Susan decides that it’s finally time to take down Neolution. With help from a reluctant Mud – who had still been refusing to let Cosima out of the basement – Susan injects PT’s bag of plasma with drugs. But it’s clear Mud is conflicted; earlier in the episode we learned more about her background, and how PT saved her life. Now as she’s betraying him, he fondly tells her what a comfort she’s been. Before the drugs can kill PT, Coady enters and unhooks him from the machine, and all signs point to Mud being the one who told her.

If all had gone well, the next step was for Susan and Ira to leave and meet Cosima and Charlotte at the boathouse. But Ira, whose glitches have been getting worse, finds a very dead-looking Susan hooked up to the bag of plasma. Now that he’s left seemingly alone, was Coady telling the truth earlier when she said she was close to a cure for him? Or are his days numbered?

Tension is growing outside of the house too, among the villagers. Between the men Yanis killed, and the sudden death of Aisha, the villagers are angry, and questioning their leader. Cosima stirs the fire before she leaves, telling the villagers how PT has been lying to them, and showing a picture of him as a young man with Susan as proof – and the village goes up in actual flames as people start rioting. Mud is among the many who see the picture, and hopefully this was the final push she needed to accept the truth about PT.

With Cosima and Charlotte now off of the island (assuming they don’t get caught, and Cosima is as good with boats as she says she is), Susan presumably dead, and Ira struggling to function, Mud looks the be the one person left on the island who knows what PT is really up to, and can potentially stop him. But given her role in Susan’s attempted murder, it’s likely PT won’t trust her anymore, despite the fact that she came clean in the end.

Lastly, heeding Delphine’s warning, Kira pretends to be sick to avoid going back to Dyad for more testing. But when Rachel shows up herself to get Kira, there’s nothing S can do except let Kira go with her. S doesn’t let Rachel go without a threat, stating, “There will come a day when you need us,” and it feels like heavy foreshadowing for something to come in these last four episodes.

And with only four episodes left, I need to see more of Helena and Alison, please. Thankfully the trailer points to seeing them both next week, and they had better stick around from then through the end. Felix has also been gone for two episodes, so hopefully he comes back soon as well.

What was your favorite part of the episode? Which off-screen character are you missing the most? Any idea how S’s threat may become a reality? Leave us a comment below!