The final final trip.
Full spoilers for Orphan Black's series finale, "To Right the Wrongs of Many," continue below.
Even in its final episode, Orphan Black managed to cram two murders, a complicated four-clone scene, the birth of twins, an explanation of the show's title and even an abortion debate into just 42-plus minutes.
Orphan Black is a show that, throughout its five-season run, occasionally bit off more than it could chew as the complicated biological mysteries introduced in the premiere grew more and more convoluted with each additional layer (see: all of Season Three).
From the Proletheans to the Neolutionists, Susan Duncan to Virginia Coady, Dr. Leekie to P.T. Westmoreland, each piece of the puzzle added more clutter to what ultimately was a story of four different women connected by a unique bond (and their 274 sestras) who learned not only how to survive in a world where they weren't supposed to exist, but to become a family.
The final reveal, that the mysterious creator of Neolution wasn't a 170-year-old scientist who discovered the key to manipulating evolutionary biology but actually a meth-shooting old British man obsessed with the idea of extending his life as long as possible, was almost a let down considering how elaborate the story of the clone sestras grew to become. But his takedown, followed by the quiet normalcy of each woman trying to figure out what life will be like now that the Dyad Institute is no longer controlling their lives, was ultimately a satisfying (if slightly anticlimactic) ending.
Then again, Orphan Black's strength has always come from the many, many skilled performances of star Tatiana Maslany, and the reason plenty of fans even stuck with the series through the unfortunate Castor clone season was because of the way her talent highlighted the personal struggles of Sarah, Alison, Cosima, Helena, Beth, and the many other clones she has played throughout the show's run.
One of the central unsolved mysteries: the title of the show, which turned out to be the name of Helena's journal. It's not exactly an explanation for the name, but it is more context than the show has ever provided before. The sestras themselves even wonder how Helena thought of the name, but we'll never get the full backstory.
A frustratingly complicated mystery simply would not have been compelling without Maslany highlighting the moral and ethical consequences of creating human clones, or the biggest source of the women's power: their smarts and their sisterhood.
"We survived you, me and my sisters together. This is evolution," Sarah said before bashing in Westmoreland's head (Helena and Art, played by Kevin Hanchard, simultaneously killed Coady, Westmoreland's deputy). It was Sarah's first kill in a series that saw many violent deaths—a scene made all the more harrowing when cut with flashbacks to Sarah's discussion with her late foster mother, Mrs. S (Maria Doyle Kennedy), about whether or not to keep the baby who would become Kira.
Those murders were followed by a suspenseful birth sequence, where Art and Sarah helped Helena deliver her twin boys while Sarah flashed back to Mrs. S helping her deliver Kira, but things slowed down immediately as the second half of the episode focused on the utter normality of what life will be like now that the Dyad Institute is out of their lives for good.
Rachel attempted to atone for her complicity in the conspiracy by providing Felix (Jordan Gavaris) with a complete list of the Leda clones; Alison seemed to return to a normal, happy suburban life with Donnie (Kristian Brun); Helena settled down with Alison and Donnie and her new twin boys (whom she named Arthur and Donnie, after the best male role models in her life, a cheesy but still sweet touch); a blissfully happy Cosima and Delphine (Evelyne Brochu) hunted their Leda sestras around the globe to vaccinate them; and Sarah, Felix, and Kira tried to move on from Mrs. S's death and build a normal life together.
The Verdict
Was it slightly disappointing that a mystery laden with philosophical and biological messages, infused with clues from classic literature and religion, and supported by a worldwide network of people ended up just being the result of a Wizard of Oz-type man afraid of his own mortality? Sure.
But the Orphan Black finale provided just enough closure to each of the characters we've grown to know and love while showcasing both the tense action sequences and the quiet, human moments it did equally well throughout its run makes it a perfectly satisfying finale for fans who have stuck around for five years.
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