#obspec7

Casting for Episode 7, "Soley for the Sake of the Ideal Harvest".

Demian Bichir as Topside's PROFESSOR EDUARDO ALVES

Nelly Karim as Topside's NAZIRA RAZEK

Constance Wu as Topside's MING TAO

Charlotte Rampling as Topside's ELEONORE COSSADE

Hiroyuki Sanada as Topside's KOHEI KANEKO

William Morgan Sheppard as IVAN KASSOV

Casting for Episode 8, "As if She Were Full of Special Designs".

Sally Field and BERNADETTE HENDRIX

Hello friends!!! It is time to discuss a most sciencey episode, OBspec7! With so much wonderful stuff, let's get right into it!

First things first: the mice! Why in the world does Cosima need a bunch of mice? Well in OBspec6 she learned that Casey's sequence has gene therapy potential. So the next step is to figure out if the sequence will have any affect on her and the clone sickness! And of course, in the world of science, nothing is used on humans before it is tested on a model system, so Cosima now turns to the mice.

Mice are commonly used to study human diseases, so they are a natural choice for Cosima and her autoimmune disease. How will she go about testing this? Well the first step now that they have the sequence is to create a way for that sequence to get into cells and be incorporated into the genome. This is most often done using a viral vector. The sequence is spliced into an inactivated viral genome, which can be easily taken up by cells. The viral mechanism will cause the sequence to be taken up by the cells that are 'infected' with the vector, causing the cell to express the target sequence.

Once the vectors are ready, it's on to the mice. First, all the mice will be induced with the clone disease, by injecting Cosima's sequence into their genome. If all goes as plans, the mice should start to show similar symptoms: polyps in the uterus, and lungs, respiratory issues, etc. Then come the tests; Cosima split the mice into three groups: Castor vector, Leda vector, and control. The control group will get injected with just the vector and no sequence, to test the effects of the vector, make sure there are no side effects associated with the gene therapy, and work as a baseline. The Leda vector group would get a version of the Leda sequence (most likely Sarah's because they already have it) to test effects of incorporating a sequence using the vector, and work as a separate control. The Castor vector group will get injected with Casey's sequence, and will work as the drug group, testing the effects of the therapy on the mice, and hopefully showing improvements.

And if that wasn't enough science for you, we also dropped the vaccine bomb! The ID tags, fast healing, and infertility aren't the only synthetic sequences in the Leda genomes. They also have built in vaccines! All the vaccines mentioned are basic vaccines that hospitals administer to babies at birth, or throughout the first few years of life. What is the point of having them built in to the genome? Well, no need to worry about boosters throughout their life, and lower chance of side effects (which can occasionally occur because many vaccines are just inactivated versions of the virus).

But low and behold, we have seen these built in vaccines do in fact have side effects. Enter Charlotte, the only survivor of 400 attempts at a second generation, sporting a knee brace. What was one of the vaccines the clones have in their genome? Polio. And how does polio manifest itself? Asymmetrical paralysis of the limbs. 

Well, well, well. It appears the synthetic polio vaccine, instead of being incorporated normally and helping build immunity in the second generation, instead caused the fetuses to develop polio, leading to fetal death in all but Charlotte, who still is faced with living with the effects of the virus.

Hey Clone Club! happyjacq here! Let's get right to it. It's author's note time! 

Little Shop of Horrors: After last episode’s Extreme Weather EventTM, it shouldn’t really come as a surprise that the Hendrix Garage of Horrors is now home to a rather impressive, smelly crack. It was a shallow grave, after all! All that rainwater! The leak! A perfect storm! Everything’s back under control now, but the smell of rotting corpse does tend to...linger. And Alison’s solution? Flowers. Flowers everywhere. I mean, did you expect anything less? Things are starting to look more and more like Mushnik and Son at the Hendrix Household. Especially with Audrey hovering around. And that ever ominous… “disposal in the sink.” 

Felison vs. Ramon der Tann: Ah, everyone’s favorite teen angel. Emily’s been up to no good, caught red-handed smoking with an older boy in the Economart parking lot. What would mother say? We couldn’t wait for Ramon to make a reappearance, and sticking him in cahoots with suburbia’s newest troublemaker felt just right. The dynamics of this scene in the parking lot are extremely complicated. Who is in charge here? The suburban housewife? The fifteen year old? The goofy drug dealer? The sassy gay man? No one can be sure. But, at the end of the day, Alison walks away with the joint. She’s won this round. But, the war’s not over yet. 

TOPSIDE: Speaking of power dynamics, let’s talk Topside. This scene was probably the most difficult one to write in the entire episode. It required a lot of prep work, including figuring out what the makeup of Topside might look like, deciding what Topside’s goals are, fleshing out the backgrounds of each of these characters, and then giving them a voice and personality to match. The end result: an international lightning round of power politics and callous, take-no-shit attitudes. These people are powerful, important, and they don’t take orders from Rachel Duncan, especially when Rachel’s lying through her hypocritical teeth trying to undermine Marion’s influence. Once again, Rachel’s left with nothing. 

Built on Vaccines: So, what is the deal with Charlotte? A baby clone with a mysterious leg brace who seemed to emerge out of thin air? Something’s up here. There was a lot of back and forth with Casey over this one, and we cycled through a lot of options (including the ideas that Cosima lists off as possibilities--spina bifida? chromosomal abnormalities?) before landing on polio. Polio’s symptoms often include asymmetrical paralysis, and, if you remember, polio’s no stranger to the Orphan Black world. The DYAD was built on vaccines! Polio, Spanish influenza… Hm. Well, isn’t that convenient.

The Sleeper Syph: It turns out syphilis wasn’t such a one-off, dead-end, just-for-fun plot after all. A sleeper agent plot, returning in the back end of OBspec to rear its ugly head. In Cosima’s mind, Alison’s scrape with not-syphilis could mean immunity, but Delphine knows better. If Alison’s fighting off diseases that don’t have any known vaccine, that can’t be good for her clone cancer chances. Let the nail biting begin.

The Ferryman: Kassov is actually a canon Orphan Black character! Well, not our Kassov. But, Kassov in general. In Season 2 Episode 4, when Mrs. S meets Carlton, Carlton says "the ferryman's all I have," to which Mrs. S responds, "at least, take me as far as Kassov." And from that one tiny mention, Ivan Kassov and his many layers of mythology was born. In Greek mythology, Charon the ferryman ushered souls across the River Styx. How would you pay the ferryman? With an obol, of course (the namesake of our country store!). But, Kassov had to be connected to the overarching story somehow. Milena and I spent a whole summer night brainstorming exactly how he would fit. And then, suddenly, it all became clear. Cold River! Of course Kassov the ferryman was connected to Cold RIVER. So obvious! From there, he had to be connected to Duncan (and I mean, hello, look at the guy on the right of this picture). And, on top of all that, he had to have some other secret knowledge. What kind of secret knowledge is Kassov sitting on? If you pay really close attention, maybe you'll figure it out. 

Kassov's Voice: Ivan Kassov has a very particular way of talking, and it's not just about the circles and metaphors. He's got a flair for alliteration, and he calls absolutely everybody "dear." When writing first drafts, I've always found it easiest to go big first and then work backwards later. It's so much easier to scale something back than it is to scale it up! So, Kassov's voice started out hugely weird. And then...it didn't change at all. 

Mother/Daughter Time: Writing Sarah's interactions with Kira in this episode took a lot out of me. Emotionally. Sarah's trying so hard to keep Kira safe. But, Kira's a smart girl. She knows something's up. And the honesty Sarah bares to Kira in this episode is not something that's often seen from her. Sarah and Kira share these special pieces that put them square in the middle of this conspiracy. But, as Cosima's mom reminded Sarah back in Episode 2, "you don't always get to choose the pieces you give." And in that scene on top of the houseboat, Sarah's taking a page out of Leslie's book. Sarah and Kira share something special. But, more than any other combination of characters, these two are the ones who know that special isn't really all it's cracked up to be. 

The Cloneswap: Womp womp. Castor Cloneswap! Miller the Wolf shows up in sheep’s clothing this episode, doing Rachel’s dirty work to bring Gracie into DYAD to fulfill the military’s part of some mysterious deal. Setting Gracie and “Mark” up at a football field was an idea that didn’t come about until this episode was already half written, but between Mark and Gracie’s penchant for playful imaginings; the direct contrast it provides to Emily, who’s hanging out in the parking lot when she really should be at school; and the themes of masculinity and femininity all tied up in high school athletics, the setting serves to remind you that Mark and Gracie are really just kids.

Mmmmmmmmmm. 

Don't stop there, Anon. Don't stop there. 

Keep going. 

Because Rachel in the Bible was unable to conceive, right? 

Rachel got jealous that her sister could have a baby, so what did she do? She offered up her handmaiden to Jacob and then claimed the child as her own. 

I mean, come on. I didn't choose the word "consummation" just for fun, you know what I mean?