#ob analysis

Hers is the story of someone who is caught up in something she feels she has no control over, that threatens to (and sometimes does!) destabilise her entire world, her struggle to keep on top of all of it with a semblance of normalcy (as she’s been taught by her white upper-middle-class upbringing), and her coming to terms with the fact that she can’t just put on a brave face and cope with it all (with drugs, with the trappings of affluent suburban life, etc.) and that she needs to break out of that and ask for help from those who love her.

A complete @orphanblack family tree updated to include both the final season and the Helsinki comics. I’m sorry it took me so long, I was collecting stool samples in Sardinia (actually malaria data in Rwanda, but same idea) and now I’m finally caught up. Please let me know if you see any major errors.

There is a full sized version available over here.

A huge thank you to @adherantnerdhi, @afrenchclone, and @spotlesssky for fact checking and their input!

It’s been 2 weeks since the ending of Orphan Black.

It still feels odd that it’s over.

This is more like a farewell to the show rather than a review.

I wanted to use a picture of the 4 sisters for my headline but sometimes inanimate objects leave a stronger, wistful taste in your mouth.

Siobhan’s house full of life and bright colors. Felix’s presence on the walls along with Kira’s drawings. Unfinished breakfasts.Sarah’s restless nights in her mother’s armchair.Life goes on.

Everything being said in one final frame.

Orphan Black’s final episode wasn’t a typical series finale. It passed by plotholes and unanswered questions. It didn’t try to patch storylines or to remain faithfull to its genre. The last chapter  was heartfelt and real, emphasizing its anthropocentric nature rather than becoming plot focused.

Well defined storylines ought to have have both;character development and plot answers. But if i had to choose between those 2 i would always put characters above any plot device.

The show ended and we never got to learn about Kira’s special abilities, or Helena’s & Sarah’s extraordinary connection. We never got to learn the reason behind their fertility.Why them?And what about PT’s truly motives?Did he make all of this for selfish reasons only?Way too many things were left unsaid.

But.

This was never the core of the show anyway.It was always about  the deep, polyprismatic meaning and multifaceted definition of what a family is. Women helping women.Women giving birth, supporting each other, raising children alone.Women deciding  their future, taking responsibility, cherishing life. Women depressed, deeply misunderstood. Weak women, fierce women, different roles and situations with no judging status of what is wrong and what is right. Second chances. God i was so proud of Sarah. Her going to school again, struggling for a proper education, shallowing her shame, was so inspiring and overpowering that it tops any plothole/sloppy writing.

People tend to repeat the same mistakes over and over again and family’s part in this is  to make the pain more tolerable.That’s why the 4-sisters scene was so important, cause eveyone fucks up and everyone needs to hear that it’s ok to make mistakes. It’s ok to be scared, it’s ok to be different, it’s ok to feel lost and unguided. Sarah will heal eventually, she just needs time.

Siobhan’s presence was so palpable throughout the whole episode that everything came full circle. There wasn’t any unnecessairy death, only the ghosts of each leda’s mistakes. And mistakes are good.Mistakes are a big part of the human nature. Everything started in a train station -on a cold starless night- when Sarah met herself. Alison, Rachel,Cosima,Helena each and everyone of them found a new piece of themselves as well.

John Fawcett and Graeme Manson managed to create a sci fi world with deeply humane and flawed protagonists, strong enough that shifted the whole course of the show; from biology,mutations and experiments to the constant battle between nature vs nurture and family’s participation in it. At the end of the day, Clones became Sisters.

It’s been a ride.

Thank you John ,Graeme and every contributor that helped building this beautiful show.

De las relaciones que existen en Orphan Black, cophine es probablemente la más compleja e intensa de todas, por el grado de amor y devoción que Delphine profesa hacia Cosima. ¿Hay un desbalance de fuerzas?, por supuesto, desde el momento en que la Dra. Cormier entra a la vida de Cosima como su monitora, y por eso en un principio no creía mucho en Delphine, pero sus acciones me convencieron de que era sincera, no solo porque ama a Cosima, sino porque busca proteger a todo el clone club, aunque casi le cueste la vida.

1x10 fue un capítulo importante para mí desde el punto de vista fan porque me hizo reconocer que estaba frente a un ship totalmente distinto a lo que había visto antes: Delphine y Cosima quizá son opuestas, pero intelectualmente (y emocionalmente) están hechas la una para la otra. Lo mejor de todo esto es que funciona a favor de la historia y no algo que se agrega para cumplir una cuota de fanservice. Como todo el mundo, estaba muy emocionada por ver 5x05 con ese flashback que llenaría la pequeña laguna entre las escenas cophine de 1x10 y 2x01, pero tratándose de OB, intenté no tener tantas expectativas al respecto (los efectos del desastre de S3), pero quedé gratamente sorprendida por el planteamiento de todo el capítulo.

I think that Rachel’s clothes show us where her loyalties lie or at least where we’re supposed to think they lie. So far, she has worn pure white in episode 2 in her full oB zen mode when all she wanted was to appear like she wanted to help.

Then in episode 3, while she was talking to Kira, she wore black and white. White because Kira trusted her and black because we were still supposed to think that her intentions were rather shady.

1. there’s a freaking mirror behind delphine auisjaks 

2. isn’t cosima too tall here? she’s almost delphine’s height and, i’m probably very wrong but i just pictured cosima standing on something and now i wanna find a way to hug this scene i swear 🙈

i mean i might be seeing things and delphine’s probably just wearing high heels here bUT

ps: cosima is not wearing her bowtie here anymore and not to be extra or anything but i really wanna see who takes it and her tuxedo jacket off kbyye

A special episode like this needs a special review.I’m gonna separate my thoughts into 2 parts.In the first part I’m going to share with you my thoughts about the plot and dig deeper into Cosima’s character development.

In the second part I’m going to (obviously) overanalyze Cosima x Delphine’s progress throughout the episode, my personal favorite moments and little easter eggs I noticed! Have fun kiddos!

PART A : MYTHOLOGY + COSIMA

1.The “Monster” + Kira

So..the whole purpose of the monster’s presence was to find a link into Kira’s regeneration ability.

From what I got PT and his team experimented onto this little kid and they altered his  gene.Then they messed with the leda clones and this mutation cured the twins Helena and Sarah…they weren’t infertile anymore.

This is ironic tho because papa Duncan made the leda clones infertile for a reason. What was the reason they changed their minds?Did they see that the leda clones was a successful experiment and suddenly wanted to cure them?Or did the cure happened by accident?

This still needs to be clarified cause we have a lot of questions unanswered.

2.Kira+ Sarah+Helena+ The Connection

The common link between these 3 is the protein lin28a. Maybe there lies the truth behind their connection and how they can feel each sister but the other sisters can’t feel them back (cause they aren’t cured).

3.Rachel and the Oedipus complex

It is crystal clear that Rachel has serious family issues .She is the shining contrast of all her sisters. Even tho all of them leda sisters are children of science and bad circumstances, -results of experimental mutations- it is important to emphasize that they have family.

And it doesn’t have to do with blood relation. Sarah, Alison,Cosima even Helena have people that love them, care about them and consider them as family. Sarah has Kira,Felix and Ms S, Cosima has her parents and Delphine, Alison has her children,Donnie and even her judgemental mother.Helena stopped her self harm after she found her own personal family-her beloved sisters.But even before that she had sister Irina that helped her escape the convent.

Rachel was a truly loveless child.Even tho she was raised in a wealthy and polished environment, she was always treated as an experiment with the exception of her father maybe (when it was way too late). Now she’s searching for her papa in every face. She has daddy issues and it shows in the way she worships everything PT says. I don’t even believe that she cares for the vision itself, she just needs acceptance and a way to feel that she matters. Episode 7 will be very interesting for her, especially how the writers are gonna handle her demise.

4.Ira + Glitching

Ira is probably gonna used as a plot tool.It is highly improbable for me that he’s gonna live, so his death is gonna make Susan furious and a lot of shit are going to happen.

5.PT+ Mortality

Of course PT is dying…I wonder if he was the first clone? That’s why they lost track of him back in the 1900s…and he reappeared saying that he’s ageless…guess we’ll find out soon

COSIMA

You gave me life, I know you can take that away.You can’t take away my humanity.

This line shows exactly who Cosima is and what she  stands for.This is the reason I love her so much. This is what makes her special. Cosima shares some common traits with her sisters- that’s DNA material. All ledas are passionate, stubborn, impulsive and love or hate unconditionally. High ideals and morality are the traits that make Cosima unique. Her strength is not in violence but rather in the prevention from it. Her mind is her biggest ally. Her emotions completely control her and guide her. She’s a truly honest and heartfelt character, totally  harmless cause she values human life and worships science knowing too well the limits that she would never personally overstep.

Cosima craves for love cause she grew up in a healthy environment watching her parents love and support eachother. It is not random that she’s so moral and ethical and loves with such great passion. Cos’ touchstone was and will always be Delphine. She was talking about her parents and was looking at her-only hoping that someday she will achieve sth so pure and fulfilling with her (notice the hopeful and proud way she says ‘they are in love’). 

This is very important cause her insecurity concerning Del’s trust was the only thing that made her weak and in need to re-evaluate things. When she -at the end of the episode- finally closed the gaps between her and Delphine and felt completed again then she was truly and utterly fearless.She had the means to fight for this , her heart was back where it was supposed to be, and she was fueled with a purpose and a reason to live for.

Cosima is a delicately beautiful and fragile clone that hides behind humor and her good nature while is totally incapable of controlling her feelings and is just doomed to always love fiercely.I wouldn’t change a thing about her tbh.