The one question no one thought to really focus on in Season 1 of ORPHAN BLACK was: who’s Kira’s (Skyler Wexler) father? In last week’s episode “Mingling Its Own Nature With It,” that question was answer in a rather surprising fashion. Sarah (Tatiana Maslany), Kira and Felix (Jordan Gavaris) were on their way out of town and decided to spend the night at an empty farmhouse, when the owner unexpectedly returned. With Kira’s innocent question: “Are you my daddy?” the ORPHAN BLACK world exploded.
Not only did Kira finally get to meet her father, fans and viewers did too. Apparently Cal (Michael Huisman) was one of Sarah’s marks from her good ole days of grifting. But after just one month together, Sarah high-tailed it with $10,000 of his money and he has not seen her since. So imagine his surprise when she shows up 8 years later with a daughter in tow, which she claims is likely his.
Somehow the question of Kira’s paternity seemed irrelevant last season with Kira was safely tucked away with Mrs. S (Maria Doyle Kennedy) while the events of “clone club” and the Prolethians and the Neolutionists unfolded. But after it was discovered that Kira’s life was on the line, a close call with a near abduction by the Prolethians, and with Mrs. S no longer to be trusted as Kira’s guardian, Sarah turned to her one last resort – Kira’s father.
Even Felix seemed thrown for a loop. He of everyone thought he knew all of Sarah’s secrets and to have one so vital to everything tossed right in his face was more than he could take. Felix was supposed to be the one Sarah and Kira turned to when they needed saving, and to find out that Sarah had rushed them off to find Kira’s father was a shocking slap in the face. Who could blame Felix for getting the hell out of dodge and back to civilization where he was truly needed – by Alison, no less.
That was actually a good plan. It gave Sarah time to reconnect with Cal, time for Cal to get to know Kira, and it meant Felix was there exactly at the right moment when Alison spectacularly melted down and fell off the stage. Felix’s impeccable instincts were correct; he was needed elsewhere. With Alison completely unhinged, the secrets of “clone club” are about to be blown wide open with Angela sniffing around, her cop instincts telling her that Alison may be the key to the whole mystery with Beth, Sarah, and the now missing Helena.
Speaking of Helena, her mirrored organs may have saved her life from the gunshot wound, but who is to save her now that she is practically being held captive by a religious cult? Barely able to keep her eyes open and be aware of her surroundings, completely unable to stand and assert herself, Helena was married in last week’s episode. But imagine the surprise those Prolethian extremists are in for once Helena recovers. She was raised to be an assassin, after all. I cannot imagine she will tolerate her current living situation and arranged marriage for one second longer than she wants. She will just one day wake up, kill everyone in sight and then calmly walk down the road to see if she can find her sister again.
Poor Sarah. For a grifter, she is way in over her head. She does not have the resources to battle the evil clutches of the Neolutionists or to evade the Prolethean zealots for very long; which was terrifying demonstrated at the close of last week’s episode when Daniel Rosen (Matthew Ray Bennett) forcibly abducted Sarah, killing a local police officer in the process. Then in the final seconds of the episode, their vehicle was promptly run off the road by an unknown assailant.
Did someone put a tracker on Sarah when no one was looking? That girl has no luck when it comes to running and hiding. She is practically a neon-light shining as a beacon to everyone searching for her.
If Cal is as upstanding and resourceful guy that Sarah seems to think he is, then he will get the hell out of dodge, taking Kira with him – telling no one where to find them. That would help keep Kira safe. But something makes us suspect that he may have a bit of a hero streak and that does not bode well for anyone. With a target on her back and the entire world seeming to be looking for her, Sarah is trouble with a capital “T.” Even Felix is keeping a safe distance at the moment – and that speaks volumes.
So with “clone club” fragmented and pursuing their own personal goals, things are actually pretty dire for all of them. Cosima is staring death straight in the face with the clock ticking down on her life expectancy; Alison is becoming more and more mentally unstable and unhinged – a threat to herself and anyone in close proximity; and Sarah is a combustible bomb that is about to go off and she will take no prisoners to protect herself and those she loves.
God help them all – or maybe Art and any resources he can swing right now. Look things to get a whole lot worse before they get better in this week’s new episode “Governed If It Were By Chance” of ORPHAN BLACK, airing Saturday, May 10th at 9:00 p.m. on BBC America.
Tiffany Vogt is the Senior West Coast Editor, contributing as a columnist and entertainment reporter to TheTVaddict.com. She has a great love for television and firmly believes that entertainment is a world of wondrous adventures that deserves to be shared and explored – she invites you to join her. Please feel free to contact Tiffany at Tiffany_Vogt_2000@yahoo.com or follow her at on Twitter (@TVWatchtower).