The episode opens as we see Sarah’s assailant from ‘Variation Under Nature’, who we later learn is called Helena, performing surgery on herself in the bathroom of a house that’s not her own. From there, the whole narrative gets focussed on learning more about her and why she’s motivated to kill off the other clones.

On one side of things we have the police working to hunt her down and on the other we’ve got Sarah feeding Cosima vital information that’ll help them understand this latest clone. Orphan Black isn’t a show that tends to unveil much of its mythology all at once, but here we get a fairly significant amount of information and the conspiracy is beginning to make more sense.

It’s fascinating to discover more about Beth. While we still don’t know what drove her to suicide, we’re starting to find out more about her before that happened. The revelation that Maggie Chen (the apparent civilian that Beth shot) is more deeply involved in the cloning business isn’t exactly surprising but it does lay the foundations for an intriguing look into Beth’s past.

Helena’s bizarre mannerisms and religious fervour make her possibly Tatiana Maslany’s most mesmerising character so far. She’s certainly unusual, a criminal mastermind plagued by demons but with enough clarity to stay two steps ahead of the cops. Helena is the type of character that you just want to know more about, and the idea that she’s suffering from a disease (almost certainly the same ailment Katja spoke of) suggests that we may have another way into seeing the origins of the clones and the reason why they were created.

Meanwhile, Mrs S has given Sarah an ultimatum when it comes to meeting up with Kira. Having missed their last arranged time, she understandably doesn’t want to get the young girl’s hopes up only to have her mother not appear. Unfortunately, Sarah-as-Beth is consumed by police work and receiving threats from Helena, who quite astutely tells Sarah that if she tries to solve the case she’ll risk the others working out that she’s not Beth. Helena and Sarah set up a meeting, so Sarah has to ask Alison to pretend to be her for the meeting with Kira.

It may begin as a relatively entertaining subplot but Alison’s acting display gets interesting after she convinces Mrs S that she’s Sarah. Surprisingly, Kira knows that she’s not her mother instantly. It’s a cool twist beyond just the consideration that they haven’t seen each other in a very long time.

It’s also worth noting how shocked Alison’s is at the notion that Kira is Sarah’s biological child. It may be the case that the clones aren’t usually able to have children (Alison’s kids are adopted) and that could mean that both Sarah and Kira are special.

The side of the story focussed on the police in this episode is the most engaging, as we watch the cops chase after Helena and get relatively close. After a conversation with the deranged killer, Sarah decides to quit the force in the hopes that she’ll be able to get herself out of what is becoming an increasingly difficult situation. It’s doubtful that anything will get any easier for her, though, and she’ll definitely be back impersonating people soon enough.

Aired at 9pm on Friday 4 October 2013 on BBC Three.

> Order Season 1 on DVD on Amazon.

Watch the trailer…

What did you think of the episode? Let us know below…