***Contains Spoilers***

Today, Serial Box released an all-new episode of Orphan Black: The Next Chapter, titled “Best Learn to Cope,” written by Lindsay Smith. After so much happened in the last episode, I was excited to know what would come next, probably the most about what would happen to Kira and Em. While there weren't as many revelations in this episode as some of the previous ones, there was a fair bit of action, and a good chunk of it was with the two girls. Kira really stepped up and made her own decisions about what she was willing to risk, which I appreciate. I also enjoyed getting to see someone new be brought into Clone Club in the way she told Em. She definitely had a different reaction than most people do. Their friendship and trust is becoming more important as the story goes on. I’m also interested in seeing if Sauveteer survives the trip to the hospital.

The other big section of the episode was Vivi trying to retrieve Cosima. I’m not sure she was doing it just to save her, as she had things to gain, but her impromptu mission with Jay was fun to see go down, and of course Vivi kicking ass is always entertaining. Her interactions with Jay on the earbud were also amusing.

Probably the main revelation we did get in the episode, however, is that the swarms of bugs, which seem to be the delivery system of the viruses, aren’t actually insects at all, but rather drones. However, I didn’t find that to be much of a surprise. It’s also obviously confirmed that Sauveteer and the clones in Boston were both attacked by the same people. There’s also the idea that Dana, or whichever clone first contracted the sickness, was originally bitten, since they both have a similar rash.

When it comes to Sturgis’s virus, right now I’m most interested in knowing how exactly Bai is involved. It seems like perhaps they only went after Sauveteer because they believed he was a terrorist, but there could be more to it, and I feel that Bai is somehow connected in helping Kurtzmann and the Ministry of Defense.

I’m also curious exactly how everything went down. I almost wondered if Sauveteer only agreed to give his village’s DNA strictly to destroy Bai’s data. Could he have known about the weapon? I could be reaching.

This week we also hear from Rachel, which I’ve been waiting for. As always, it’s great to hear Tatiana Maslany lending her voice to another clone. I am completely surprised, however, that Rachel is embracing the fact that their secret is out, but it makes sense that it’s a way that she can get on top of it. She’s not one to stand back; she’s one to pull strings until she gets what she wants, and now she doesn’t have to hide.

Out of the episode, the least interesting or important part of the story this week was Davis. He really didn’t add anything to the story, although it might be foreshadowing a meeting with Rachel in the future.

As always, the writing was fantastic, and Maslany adds an air of authenticity to the story, making it still feel connected to the television series. I’m eager to finally see Vivi talk to the other clones about Clone Club and to hear Maslany’s vocal performance, as there will likely be a conversation with multiple clones at once. The story definitely is gearing up to something big, and I can’t wait.


RECAP:
Rachel Duncan is at work at the Wellspring Analytics Outreach Center during her break. She’s not managing a pharmaceutical corporation, but she’d pruned her life back. It was the safest course that kept her away from all the “sestras.” That’s how she feels she survives.

Rachel looks at a news site online and sees multiple clone faces. She leaves, saying she quits, and calls the headline news tip line.

Meanwhile, having come from the village, Kira is erratically driving Em away from what happened. She admits she never got her license, and Em tells her to pull over, as there is no one following them.

The two talk about what happened with Sauveterre and Bai, trying to see what they know. They think that Dr. Bai gave the data to someone dangerous before it was wiped out, which they think was caused by Sauveterre. They don’t understand why he would give someone access when the point of GeneKeep is protecting and saving data or what it has to do with Suaveterre. What ever is going on, it can’t be good.

Em says that Kira sounds like she’s had person experience with something like this. Kira admits that her mother is one of the clones. She tells Em that she wanted to work for GeneKeep, because she cares about protecting genomes, and she wants to understand her own genes.

Em is surprised but more in awe than anything. She tells Kira that it wasn’t her or the other clones fault that they were born the way they were.

Wanting to do something, the two decide to call emergency services to help Sauveterre. Kira calls, but the dispatcher says that they don’t service Nasgwine’g at the village council’s request.

Although dangerous, the two decide to go back to help him themselves.

Meanwhile, Vivi, having followed the only lead she had left, Greg Kurzmann, Sturgis’s contact at the Ministry of Defense, is staking out the Toronto offices of the Ministry of Defense when she sees Sergeant Priyantha arrive.

Vivi goes up to Jay with her gun, asking how she found the place and what she wants with Kurzmann. She tells Vivi that she knows she is a clone, and that he took her suspect, Cosima. Jay says that she had arrested her for murder, and Vivi says that she didn’t do it. Jay adds that she also thought she was a cover identity for the CIA operative named Vivi Valdez. After the GRIT bombing, the CIA contacted her superiors to tell them they had a rogue spy in the country. Vivi knows now for sure that she’s been burned.

Jay tells her that maybe they can help each other. She needs to get Cosima out and figure out what’s going on, which sounds like could be useful to Vivi. Also, she could use Vivi’s help.

Vivi agrees, but says she’s better suited for infiltration and extraction and gives her an earpiece and then takes off.

Meanwhile, Davis is at the airport when he sees a news report about Rachael coming forward. She says that she is grateful to finally be able to share her story. She was surprised when she found out her “sisters had gone public,” because the ones she’s worked with before were very concerned with privacy, but she found it a relief no longer having to hide what she is: the next stage in evolution. She says that no one can understand what they are but another clone, and no one understands the science as well as she does.

Davis thinks she’s after a job somewhere, questioning that it could be at the Scientific Vanguard Department’s Program. He thinks that she seems like the kind of person who can be a great ally or a dangerous enemy.

Back in the car, Kira asks Em if she is angry about all the lying, but she’s just awestruck. She tells Kira though that she doesn’t know what her play is.

Kira responds that she’s not playing anything and just wants to help people. She decides to explain to Em about her “super-fast healing gene,” Lin28A, and that she feels it’s selfish to keep it to herself. Perhaps she can study it and unlock some way to help others.

Em thinks she is amazing and tells her never to doubt herself. She’s incredible, not just her genes, but herself as a person.

Arriving back at Nasgwine’g, the village looks exactly the same as when they left. They go to Sauveteer’s cabin. There’s no sign of the black van or the shadowy figure.

Sauveteer answers the door holding a can of bug spray and a gun. Kira tells him that they saw something outside his house when they left earlier. Her eyes having adjusted, she notices his bug bites have gotten way worse. He’s covered in a rash. She remembers Charlotte said something about itching and a rash.

Sauveteer accuses them at first of working for Bai and trying to ruin the villagers’ way of life. However, he seems to get sicker and drops to his knees.

As there is no service to the village, the girls decide they’ll have to drive him to the hospital and eventually get him into the car. His rash is only getting worse. Kira says that whatever is wrong with him, she thinks it has a genetic component. They need to keep him away from the other villagers; the hospital should be far enough away.

Sauveteer suddenly grabs Kira and tells her that they have to protect the villagers. He put the virus in his DNA, trying to take out their data, but it wasn’t enough to stop Dr. Bai or the rest. He passes out before he can tell them more.

Back at the Ministry of Defense, Vivi uses a rock to take out a security camera and knocks out and zip ties the guards that come to check on it, stealing a uniform and their golf cart. She takes it to the garage bay.

Vivi finds a monitoring station with dozens of CCTVs and takes out the guard inside, putting the unconscious man into a storage locker.

Meanwhile, Alison stops at a gas station on the way back to Toronto with Charlotte and Dana. There’s a newscast on the television inside about the clones. Watching through the car window, Dana tells Charlotte that she knows she didn’t ask to be someone’s science experiment anymore than they did. She, however, couldn’t imagine having a better family, but she understands why people are upset. They’re confused; it challenges what people think.

Charlotte tells her that she knows that having everything out in the open is a lot to take in. Dana is upset; she hadn’t really thought of them as lab rats before. She says that when Vivi first disappeared everyone told her she only existed in her head, but when she was older she wondered if maybe they had been experimenting with her and she could be next. Over time, no one else disappeared and everyone was so nice to them. She assumed Vivi’s family didn’t want to stay in the program.  They had a good life and never felt abnormal. It was stranger actually to see how the rest of the clones lived.

Charlotte reminds her that Vivi lived. They are survivors.

Back at the offices, Vivi finds some data that she will look through later. She searches the security feeds and finally finds Kurzmann. He’s on the phone telling whoever is on the other end that there have been some setbacks. He thinks Cosima knows more but won’t talk. At the end of the conversation he agrees to get rid of her and move on to Plan B.

Vivi sees on the computer that Kurzmann has put in a request, which must be Plan B. There are shipments of cryogenic laboratory equipment and aerial dispersion devices headed for Nasgwine’g.

Jay says through the ear piece that they suspected them in the GRIT bombing but had ruled them out. She wants to know if Sauveteer and his people are involved, but first they need to find Cosima and Sturgis’s weapon.

Vivi heads to the lab after upgrading the security guard’s access badge. She sees Cosima, and Kurzmann is interrogating her.

Meanwhile, Sarah is at Felix’s apartment worrying about Kira. She thinks he knows something. He tells her not to worry, that she’s better behaved than she ever was. Her daughter is also resourceful, and that’s because of her. She can handle anything. She's not so much worried about Kira as she is the rest of the world.

Sarah receives a call from Alison; they have a lead on Kira, and they need to go meet them.

Back at Delphine’s, she, Art, and Donnie are in the lab looking at and sequencing Sturgis’s platinum hairs. It turns out what he embedded in his DNA are GPS coordinates and a locker combination for a sex club. They’ll check it out that afternoon.

Cosima wakes up with Kurzmann interrogating her. She refuses to tell him what Sturgis told her. He tells her that when they saw her face all over the news, they realized that Sturgis had her genome on file. He tells her about Sturgis’s test with the clones, and she realizes he is talking about Sturgis’s weapon. She admits to him that Sturgis did tell her about the weapon.

He says that what happened in Boston was not lethal; the lethal version still needs to be tested. Cosima says that Sturgis created it for good. Kurzmann tells her that it will do good in the village of terrorist separatists in two days. He thinks it’s okay to commit genocide, because they are terrorists.

He asks Cosima where the copy of Sturgis’s TAG program is, but lying, she says she doesn’t know. Kurzmann tells her she is of no use to them then, other than to be the test subject.

After he leaves, Cosima hears buzzing from the vents and sees what appears to be a swarm of bugs. She realizes as they move closer, however, that they are actually miniature drones with syringes in place of their proboscis.

In the lab, Vivi realizes what is happening and tries to override the test. However, only Kurzmann is authorized.

Thankfully, it’s at that moment that he finds her in the lab. He has some kind of cattle prod with him and intends to add her to the experiment. They fight, and eventually Vivi gets the upper hand and takes the prod from him, zapping him.

After he passes out, she takes the USB drive from him that the had been holding, saving it for later.

Vivi uses his badge to override the test, and the room Cosima is in is ventilated and unlocked. The drones, however, are still a threat. Vivi unties Cosima and uses the cattle prod to try to shock them, pressing the button on the side. Electricity arches out of it and zaps an insect. The light jumps from drone to drone, zapping them all. They drop from the air one by one. She didn’t know it would do that, but it’s good to know.

She questions if Cosima has been stung, but she hasn’t.

Vivi knows that Cosima has at least some of the answers she needs. She’s her best chance at finding out the truth about herself.

Suddenly an alarm goes off.