Orphan Black 4x8 'The Redesign of Natural Objects': The Holy Dragon

Orphan Black 4x8 regains some focus as it puts its characters into making hard, dark choices in a solidly tense episode.

Reviewed while listening to a Bonobo original for Star Wars.

The use of torture for a dramatic narrative, especially to deliver exposition, is a very thin line. Not just for the obvious ethical reasons, but also for plausibility, and for character development. There must be sufficient reason for everything that’s happening in the sequence. The method of torture, the questions asked, the motivations of participant characters, right down to the very minute details, the lines that are seemingly throwaways but in truth solidify the context of the torture. Growing up watching 24 obsessively, I became very familiar with the politics and dramatic elements of torture scenes. Even if there’s narrative purpose, too much of it becomes salacious, almost a parody. And at times it’s not believable if you avoid having a Ramsay Snow-like character (I refuse to call him Bolton) torture anyone at all. It’s what he does. Watch Starbuck's torture of Leoben in Battlestar Galactica’s ‘Flesh and Bone’ to see a torture scene done right: thrilling, stressful, gray, but above all, advancing the plot in a sufficient manner. Such moments come few and far between, with most torture scenes used like sexposition, only for shock value’s sake.

I honestly don’t where to put the torture scene from this week’s episode in that spectrum.

On the one hand, Siobhan did not go overboard, and the scene itself wasn’t overly long. There also is the plausible notion that, while most people would not tell the truth under pain of torture, Duko would merely because deep down he's a coward. Torture could possibly work on him because he’s a mercenary. He has no cause to lie for. Telling the truth to spare himself pain is only him looking after what he cares about: himself. Maybe also his niece, though that’s speculative at best. It also in a way serves narrative function to address the darker sides of Siobhan. We’ve seen these sides before, and each time it’s a question of how far she is willing to go for what she cares about, her own causes. The fact that Siobhan would torture Duko is another fact to consider when thinking of who she is, what she is capable of, and what she might do as the story starts winding down. Character context.

But on the other hand, was it really necessary? Could this exposition and character development have been delivered in a more interesting, less trod way? Using torture to reveal a protagonist’s darker side has been done countless times, some more effective than others. And in truth, it wasn’t horribly gripping or nerve-racking until Siobhan grabbed the rifle. It was a bit underwhelming a resolution to the threat of Count Duko (see what I did there?). And it’s comparatively anti-climactic when considering the strength of the rest of ‘Natural Objects.’ Honestly, unless it’s magnificently done, a torture scene simply doesn’t carry enough weight anymore. Besides the ethical baggage, knowing how and why shows usually do them reduces the tension.

Tension otherwise is something ‘Natural Objects’ has a lot of. Primarily driven by the uncertainty of choices by these characters. Evie Cho’s scorched-earth betrayal still has them reeling. Last week was about pulling Sarah and Cosima back from the abyss, convincing them to still act, do something. Now they have to decide what to do. Sometimes Orphan Black takes this to mean shoving a lot of exposition and quick-cut editing and a ton of plots to follow, leading to incoherence and lack of sustained interest. Season four post-episode two has struggled with this in particular. But sometimes, like those first two episodes, the show focuses that narrative question of what action shall be taken into a solid build-up. ‘Natural Objects’ is ultimately focused on Siobhan and Alison. Choices of two people who are motivated by the visceral desire to either protect or avenge love. It was clear as a Los Angeles day- which means eerily too clear, like no clouds at all- to guess what Siobhan was planning. She was going DUK-O hunting (Like, you know, duck hunting, or… whatever).

But having her discover Alison meeting with Duko definitely raised the tension. Because once again Evie seems to be succeeding at tearing the family apart. She may be doing it because she naively perceives Sarah as the sole threat a la the cray cray myopically ignorant scientist baddie. But she’s still pulling it off. Even we are left to question Alison’s loyalties, and by proxy our own loyalties to her. We knew Duko would lose, he wouldn’t get Sarah. But what we didn’t know was whether Alison was in on the plan from the beginning, or whether she had actually, and sympathetically, betrayed Sarah. After all, she shares the audience’s stress in fearing for Donnie’s life when he’s taken by a Neolution mole in prison. Up until Felix gives her the ‘a-okay’ signal during a surprisingly gripping, if somewhat thematically on the nose, rendition of Jesus Christ Superstar, it wasn’t certain if Alison had truly splintered from Leda. Which makes the reveal of her loyalty all the more fulfilling. She out-thought Duko. And here he was standing at the altar of a chapel, with the sunlight bearing down on him like some twisted Lucifer basking in his father’s light, thinking he had won. By the way, that shot of Duko on the altar was truly beautiful and almost chilling with Alison down in the foreground, approaching a vengeful broken angel. The dirty cop who holds her incarcerated husband’s fate in his hands. The absurdity of what Duko represents was perfectly captured here, in his restored menace. Another reminder of the breathtaking aesthetics Orphan Black is capable of.

And then Alison’s choice leads into Siobhan’s. Which is much more troublesome, and honestly compelling. The torture sequence itself remains iffy and did lack the tension required to make torture work in fiction. But the tension was rekindled the moment Siobhan grabbed that rifle. It was a neat tease for the show to have Siobhan reach the precipice earlier in the episode when she was ready to snipe Duko, only to hold off upon seeing Alison. It left the question in the air of whether she had moved past her capacity for murder. Whatever Duko is, whatever he’s done, it is still murder. So to bring the rifle back, except now with her in absolute control and no objective reason whatsoever to pull the trigger on a restrained and tortured man, is a solid decision on the writers to add this element. Because Sipbhan’s dark choice ultimately does reflect, at least in part, on the rest of our heroes. Sarah and Art chose to leave Siobhan alone with Duko, knowing she would torture him and had wanted to kill him. Siiobhan’s killing of Duko thus is a possible damnation on them all. If the chapel shot of Duko is meant to relay a religious theme of the less tangible consequences of Siobhan’s actions, then the result will reverberate for episodes to come. Even if just by questioning the motives of our heroes, questioning just how much we can support the decisions they make and their reasons. Sarah has had her fair share of selfish and lost moments this season before her apparent epiphany last week. The conspirators who seek control are pulling the sisters into the shadows with them. And Sioobhan has seemed to just dive right in. For that, it’s easier to swallow the torture scene.

It also helps that the show tried to soften the blow of Siobhan murdering Duko with two important contextual clues. One is more thematic, in having Duko make (awesome) D&D references and promptly implying himself as an ‘Adamantite Dragon.’ It only adds to his menace, and it makes his death easier to take when viewing it as Siobhan slaying the Dragon that killed her kin. The second context clue is much more pertinent to keeping Siobhan redeemable. Because Duko was a slimy shit, but he stated very early on that he had people depending on him. And here we learn that it was his little niece, who’s threatened by Neolution to coerce Duko. Again, this is probably only part of his motivation, the other part him just being a selfish and psychotic bad cop who wanted money. But Siobhan does ask the right questions in ensuring that Duko’s death will not directly hurt an innocent child. Duko’s money is going to his niece, so she will be cared for. Siobhan makes sure to get this information before she makes her choice.

‘Natural Objects’ thus deftly handles a dark moment that is not inherently surprisingly but certainly intriguing. Siobhan had done questionable things before. Shit, she impaled a woman’s hands on a dinner table with knives and left the woman for the Proletheans to do what they wanted, if she didn’t bleed out first (Hint: she did). But open murder. On a restrained man who claimed he was protecting a child… That’s a new threshold for her character. And it propels the show forward into this season’s final two episodes, where more choices will definitely have to be made. As we near the home stretch of Orphan Black, it’s a nice twist to have all their actions put into less clear-cut contexts. Siobhan’s killing of Duko may just be a hint of critical junctures in the future for everyone else, where they will have to decide just what type of person they are.

Not all dragons left to slay will be as slimy as Duko. Some may actually be more righteous. Like Susan. She’s done terrible things, but there is love there, care for Leda and an understandable goal. If Sarah or Cosima get put in a similar situation with her, it won’t be as easy to justify the act. Sarah and Co. will have to do some soul-searching, and decide what kind of people they want to be. Because, born of science as subjects or not, they are people. Flawed humans who have to fight their demons and make difficult choices. Orphan Black knows this, and hopefully can use it to their advantage for a jolt of dramatic tension in these last two episodes.

Grade: B (+): Because of the torture scene

After the Review (since every has post-show shows now)

-I have a friend, who's named Mary Kate... I'm gonna start calling her MK.

-Speaking of MK: 'I went spearfishing for Duko.' Hahahaha Oh, Swedish turn of phrase.

-Watching Cosima and Susan talk science together so cordially made me think of Glados.

-On Cosima and Susan Working together:

Susan: ‘Cosima, it’s good to see you again.’

Cosima: ‘Uhh, yeah. I’m a bit conflicted about it… Yo, Rachel.’

Rachel: ‘Yo.' *posh passive aggressive*

#TV #Review #OrphanBlack