Exhilarating from start to finish.
- I was really surprised by where Sarah was when she woke up. Surprised and delighted. It was a shock, and it deftly moves the story arc forwards by quite a big jump. I had been wondering previous to this episode how on earth she was going to get to Helena. Now I know. Nifty.
- The reunion between the sisters was powerful to watch. Great dialogue for Helena. Often very funny dialogue. Pretty amazing performance from Tatiana Maslany, as Sarah talked about a past mistake, born of selfishness. Jeez, but she really knows how to project pain and suffering and regret.
- Putting Gracie under the care of Mrs. S. is another exciting storytelling move for the show. And, for the first time this season, it Felix had something important to do: bitch about her, then care about her. And, as with all the characters on the show, we do care about Gracie. A lot.
- The Cosima scenes were as far removed from the action as you can imagine and yet they, too, were engrossing and rewarding to watch. Why? Same reason. We really care about her and we wonder if she has actually found someone to love, someone good for her, or if it is just a cruel illusion… Time will tell…
- Didn’t expect to see Natalie Krill back on the show. Delighted, of course. Obviously there is a story here, too.
- Helena’s escape was magnificent. Thrilling and brutal. Her decision to abandon her sister was shocking. But it was so the right thing for her character to do. In fairness… ANYTHING Helena would have done right then would have been the “right” thing to do. Fact is, she is a complex character and her path is a complex one, a journey of many twists and turns. She is a learning machine. And all her decisions are going to add up someday and make her someone better. Because she will hopefully learn from them So this decision (which had already begun to haunt her before the closing credits) was definitely the right one. For now.
