‘Distempers of Learning’ answers a mystery that almost nobody would have considered central to Orphan Black – that of who Kira’s father is.

While it may be an interesting question (and it still may not have been truthfully answered), it’s not one the show has ever treated as all that important until now. Impressively, through the casting of Game of Thrones actor Michiel Huisman and the energy his character Cal adds to proceedings, this unexpected narrative development really feels worthwhile.

The episode doesn’t wait long before revealing Sarah’s plan to be a little more calculated than she presents it to be. She, Felix and Kira head to a more remote location and find themselves crashing in a house Sarah insists is empty. We soon learn that it’s the home of Cal, a former mark of Sarah’s and, apparently, the most likely candidate to be Kira’s dad.

One of the most admirable things Season 2 is confidently pulling off is the juggling of numerous storylines. Whereas the debut season was far more focused on the drive of Sarah’s story, the show has taken to challenging itself and Tatiana Maslany far more.

Impressively, it gives us substantial material for Helena, Alison and Cosima in this episode. The only way the show could make things more complex is by attempting to follow Rachel around too!

Remarkably, the pacing and tone still feel as compelling as ever. Cosima’s story here is emotionally devastating. She watches videos recorded by another clone, Jennifer Fitzsimmons, who recently died of the same ailment that she has. Alison is plagued by paranoia as she looks over her shoulder wherever she goes.

Obviously she now has the knowledge that Donnie is her monitor and she has a brand new reason to be worried when she realises she’s being followed by Angie (who is increasingly unlikely to take Art’s advice and stop investigating the clones). Art himself is beginning to look into the Proletheans in earnest, as they prepare to welcome Helena into their family.

Daniel continues to position himself as a real threat, even if there’s little clarity behind what exactly he does for Rachel and why. We know he wants to capture both Sarah and Kira, but it doesn’t fully make sense why he tries to do this alone. In any case, he manages to grab Sarah and forces her to drive from Cal’s place, only for them to both get hit in a car accident shortly afterwards. That’s further proof that nothing will ever be predictable on Orphan Black.

There are interesting developments for all of our main clones here, as it’ll be interesting to see if Felix can help Alison to clean herself up, or whether Cosima will have gleaned enough information from her investigation of Jennifer’s body. The probable introduction of Kira’s father is much more intriguing than you’d think for something so disconnected to the central plot, and it’ll certainly be interesting to see how he reacts when he learns a little more about what is going on.

Aired at 10pm on Wednesday 14 May 2014 on BBC Three.