When interviewing “Orphan Black” creators John Fawcett and Graeme Manson, journalists routinely paw for information about new clones.
By new clones, however, they are referring to characters constructed from the same genotype as those like Rachel, Sarah and Cosima. They are referring to new acting challenges for critically acclaimed star Tatiana Maslany, who plays all such characters.
Following the season two finale, they will learn to better phrase their question.
In the closing moments of Saturday’s season finale, “Orphan Black” revealed that a division of the military–for which Paul (Dylan Bruce) has been working undercover–has been developing male clones in a project codenamed “Castor.”
And viewers had already met one of them: Prolethean Mark who, prior to the events at the end of the season, was a loyal follower of Henrik.
Played by Ari Millen, Mark represents the realization of the male clone effort. Other confirmed Project Castor clones include a member of the military and one under the surveillance of Marian (Michelle Forbes), who recently aligned with Sarah.
Frustrated by Henrik’s narcissistic (and perverted) execution of his worldview, Mark, meanwhile, ditched the Prolethean camp with Gracie in hand. The two were married in the episode’s final sequence; the new bride is carrying the genetic offspring of Helena and Henrik.
Other developments:
— Realizing he was being manipulated by Rachel–and her supporters within the Dyad Institute–Duncan commits suicide to avoid giving up the code the Project Leda clones need to cure the illness currently plaguing Cosima.
Cosima might, however, still have a chance. When doing some reading with Kira late in the episode, Cosima stumbles upon the clues Duncan left in the “The Island of Dr. Moreau” book.
— In addition to shedding light on Project Casstor, Marian also reveals that she has been raising a much-younger Project Leda clone. Charlotte, that girl, is the only survivor of Dyad’s effort to recreate Duncan’s experiment.
— Not in a sisterhood with the other clones, Rachel ships Delphine off to Frankfurt. She does not even give the scientist an opportunity to say goodbye to Cosima.
She later meets a cruel destiny when Sarah, as part of an escape plan hatched by Cosima, uses a fire extinguisher to shoot a pencil into Rachel’s eye.
— As part of a deal with Mrs. S, Paul’s military crew kidnaps Helena. Prior to that, she, after retaliating against Henrik and burning down his convent, reunited with her clone-“seestras” for a sleepover.
