Orphan Black season 5 recap: “Manacled Slim Wrists”

Krystal returns, Susan takes a side, and Cosima gets off the island in an episode that presents the best of what Orphan Black has to offer.

I didn’t get my Alison-Krystal face-off, but “Manacled Slim Wrists” was an otherwise perfect episode of Orphan Black. It showcases the series’ strengths—humor, the Ledas, and engaging plot development—and is light on the dense mythology and scientific jargon. As P.T. Westmorland might say, it reached perfect equilibrium.

The latest installment also set the stage for Orphan Black‘s final conflict. Westmorland’s empire is crumbling; Kira is resisting Rachel and Dyad; Cosima and Charlotte get off the Island of Dr. Moreau; Krystal officially joins Clone Club; and I can’t wait to see what happens next.

Let’s discuss “Manacled Slim Wrists'” major developments.

Krystal is a Big Cosmetics truther

The ep’s cold open catches us up with Krystal, aka the Clueless Clone (yes, that is a reference to the movie). Krystal and her roomie Brie have just reached 50,000 viewers on their YouTube channel—which exposes “inconvenient truths” about Big Cosmetics—and are celebrating the achievement with a no-product hair styling tutorial. So far, so hilarious. Then Brie’s hair begins falling out. Krystal comes to the natural conclusion that Big Cos is sending them a warning by poisoning her friend. “What about that is confusing?” she asks Art and Scott.

Once again Krystal’s instincts are spot on even if her reasoning is off. The real culprit behind Brie’s hair loss is a face cream she swiped from Len Siv, another Big Cos truther whom Krystal has been hooking up with. But the face cream turns out to be some sort of prototype that contains Lin28a, the regeneration gene. Len’s company was bought by Dyad, who is using the $700 billion cosmetics industry as a cover to develop a new gene delivery system. Brie’s allergic reaction wasn’t premeditated; it was a random accident. Hopefully she’ll remember it the next time her kleptomaniac urges act up.

Clones are intellectual property and corporations are people

Krystal and Brie’s adventures lead to the major arc of “Manacled Slim Wrists”: Dyad is acquiring a bunch of smaller corporations (like Len’s company) in order to strengthen and extend its influence. As Dyad becomes bigger and more powerful, its ethical transgressions become less dangerous. Even if the public finds out about Dyad/Neolution’s experiments on children and the clone programs, it’s doubtful there will be severe ramifications. The bigger the corporation, the wider its reach in the private and public sectors.

For the record, I like that Orphan Black is exploring the corporate angle of science this season. The series has always done a good job delving into feminist themes like reproductive rights, medical paternalism, and motherhood, but capitalism is a less-discussed boon to the patriarchy. I’m impressed that the final season is engaging with this idea.

P.T. Westmorland loses his flock

“Manacled Slim Wrists” sees the Revivalists turn against Westmorland. In the wake of Yannis’ death, the islanders begin to question whether Neolution’s figurehead is really all he is cracked up to be. “We came for the fountain and only found death,” one Revivalist says at Yannis’ funeral.

Their doubt and anger deepens when Aisha, the little girl whose cancer was genetically manipulated by Westmorland’s experiments, dies. And the powder keg finally explodes when Cosima, freed by Ira and trying to get off the island, exposes Westmorland as a charlatan. She shows the crowd a picture of him with Susan Duncan in the 1970s—proving that he is not 170 and cannot deliver them to the Fountain of Youth. Cosima also tells them that the Man Behind the Curtain has been using their children’s blood for parabiosis, sometimes even sacrificing their lives for his. Once they find out the truth, the Revivalists riot. The last time we see them, they are burning the village down and storming the castle as Susan recites Wordsworth’s “Early Spring” for Westmorland.

Susan Duncan’s last stand

In my last Orphan Black recap, I discussed Susan Duncan’s history of selling out her ideals and screwing over other women for her own benefit. So I’m pleased to report that she finally ends the self-pity party and does something this episode. When Virginia Coady returns to Westmorland’s side, Susan decides she will no longer be complicit in “highly suspect science” that requires genocide. If she wants to stop the madness, Susan tells Ira, she’ll have to take drastic action. When Ira reminds Susan that she’s not a killer, she replies: “No, I’m everything but. And that may have to change.”

Make no mistake, Susan Duncan is responsible for a lot of the horrors Orphan Black has presented over the years. She may not have gotten her hands dirty or come up with the ideas, but she didn’t stop them, either. Still, I have to give it up for Susan this episode: she goes down fighting.

After Cosima fills her in on P.T.’s parabiosis habit, Mud has a crisis of conscience. She is angry about Yannis and the other experiments but feels indebted to Westmorland because he took her in when she hit bottom as an addict. Susan eventually enlists Mud’s help to poison Westmorland’s dialysis treatment. Just when you think Westmorland is going down once and for all, Coady busts in with a guy—Mud had tipped her off to Susan’s plan at the last minute.

Later, Ira, who is deteriorating, finds Susan in the creepy greenhouse. She is dead with the poisoned IV still in her arm. With a bad nosebleed, he sits down next to her and gives up on escaping the island. RIP Susan. You weren’t a good person, but at least you took a stand.

Misc.

That’s Tom Cullen, Tatiana Maslany’s real-life boyfriend, as Len. If you liked their scenes together, try checking out The Other Half. The movie sort of falls apart at the end but Maslany and Cullen are great as a couple in a passionate, doomed relationship.
Art, trying to keep Krystal on task as she spies on Len: “For the love of God, keep it in your pants!”
“Stop it! You’re making me wet and I’m super mad at you.” Krystal is the funniest part of the ep but she’s still shows depth. She’s an image-obsessed woman who likes that men find her attractive, but she’s still hurt when she finds out Len is only interested in her looks.
Krystal exacts revenge on Len by rubbing the hair-removing Dyad prototype all over his beard. “Truthtelling time!” she yells at him.
I hope Scott and Brie make a go of it. He deserves to have something in his life other than Clone Club’s research.
Mud is forced to wear a cowbell around her neck as punishment for letting Yannis out and allowing Cosima into the basement. It’s a fitting image for a show that presents the dangers of treating women’s bodies as chattel.
Looks like Ira isn’t the only Castor left, after all. Coady is seen treating a young boy around Charlotte’s age and suggests he is Ira’s brother.
I wonder if the next couple episodes will see all the Ledas unite once and for all. Krystal is working with Art and Sarah, Cosima and Charlotte have escaped the island, it looks like Alison and Helena will be back next episode, and Mrs. S finally seems to reach the Pro-Clone. “There will come a day when you need us,” S tells Rachel as she picks up Kira.

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