The Paradox Of Joyce – The episode opens with Kira Manning (Keeley Hawes) being taken hostage by Emily (Tattiawna Jones) at Scotty’s diner. In the car, Emily tries to force her to call Lucy (Krysten Ritter) and arrange a meeting at the Twin Elms Reservoir. After Kira refuses to make the call, she learns that Paul Darros (James Hiroyuki Liao) is offering rehab for Emily’s paralyzed brother in exchange for her help. Kira soon finds an opening and goes for the gun and as a shot rings out, the scene pans out from the vehicle, not revealing who was shot.
Jules (Amanda Fix) is enjoying the adrenaline high from their successful escapade at the docks when Lucy points out that Tom (Diamond Reed) is likely still alive. She then gives them burner phones and suggests reaching out to their contacts to let them know they are fine. She tells Eleanor Miller (Rya Kihlstedt) that she’s already contacted Kira but encourages her to follow up if she feels the need. Arriving at the Settlement House, Lucy receives a call from Jack (Avan Jogia) who informs her that Charlie (Zariella Langford) is doing fine and he’s on his way to pick up the fake passports that Tina (Eva Everett Irving) secured for them. Nearby, Jules shares seeing the printer and meeting the younger Darros, Xander (Vinson Tran) with Eleanor. She also mentions the unidentified device she lifted from his office.
At the church, Lucas Manning and Rhona (Alice Hamid) discuss how he feels about learning one of his moms cloned the other. Rhona attempts to get him to see the upsides but he only focuses on the negative, claiming that creation is only intended for God.
Lucy, Jules, and Eleanor debate what the stolen device could be. Eleanor says she’s never seen anything like it, but she’s not a tech nerd. Lucy claims there is another resident at the halfway house who might be able to help them. When Lucy and Eleanor learn the resident is Lucy’s ex, they insist on tagging along against her wishes. She ultimately convinces them to stay behind.
With Emily’s gun on the passenger seat, Kira leaves Lucas a message suggesting they leave town for a while. She’s soon interrupted by a text from (Jordan Gavaris), demanding to know why she’s missing his opening night. He also mentions that Lucas is already on his way.
In Craig’s (Jonathan Whittaker) office, Lucy appears mystified that her ex isn’t answering her phone, especially when “Jeopardy” is on. Craig says she never answers when she’s on a bender and mentions he hasn’t seen her since she got fired several days ago. Becoming more anxious, Lucy claims they have to go look for her. Craig asks if they haven’t already done enough tonight before suggesting she spend some time with her boyfriend. Lucy tells him about the passports and Jack’s desire to start over somewhere new. He asks what she’s going to do about the current mess. Before asking him to join her search again, she claims the key to wrapping things up is figuring out the purpose of Darros’s mysterious device.
In Lucy’s room, Eleanor asks Jules about her bad dreams before revealing they are related to their father’s (Rob Torr) suicide. Although she’s upset by the news, she doesn’t appear to be taken entirely by surprise. Elanor mentions that she at least has Lucas and a happy marriage with Kira to look forward to. Jules mentions reading Eleanor’s file at the compound and accuses her of not doing enough to stop the disease. When Eleanor claims that the biggest part of being a scientist is accepting realities, Jules asks when she last saw her mother before suggesting a visit.
Jack and Tina arrive at an Urgent Care Facility to pick up the fake passports. After the forger confirms payment, Jack is surprised to learn that they will need to return for facial scans to add to the biometrics of the IDs. Jack calls Lucy to inform her that she will need to be present for the biometric scan and stresses they won’t have another shot. She promises to be there and asks him to text the time and location. When the conversation is over, it’s revealed that she and Craig are now at a thrift store in search of PJ.
Felix expresses his displeasure with Kira once she joins him at the art show. Her immediate response is to ask about Lucas, who appears almost instantly. A huge argument ensues, with Lucas claiming that Eleanor isn’t his mother and Kira has made his entire life a lie. Felix is also shocked to learn that Kira printed Eleanor. Lucas calls Kira a sad, lonely lady afraid of loss before storming off. Her attempts to convey the danger he’s in fail.
Craig and Lucy have managed to track down PJ who’s staying at a tent in the thrift store, but she isn’t happy with Lucy. Lucy attempts to ask her about the device, but PJ is only interested in learning why Lucy abandoned her. After some convincing, Craig gets PJ to reveal the device as a security token for banking information, although she can’t say what the flashing pictures on the face represent. When PJ says she might be able to find out, Lucy receives a text with the meeting details from Jack.
Jules and Eleanor arrive at an ice cream parlor to find Melissa arguing with one of her caretakers, Peter (Yusuf Zine) about receiving the wrong order. She becomes more upset as Peter attempts to explain that he is her aide and not a server. Jules watches from a nearby table as Eleanor makes the disturbance even worse when she intervenes as Melissa’s daughter. Melissa refuses to believe Eleanor is her daughter and then out of the blue recognizes her. She urges Eleanor to ask her what she came to ask. Eleanor asks what the disease is like. Melissa says it’s a blessing to be able to forget things you don’t want to remember, but the worst thing is not knowing who you are.
Kira has apparently revealed everything to Felix, who much to her surprise doesn’t think she’s a monster. He tells her that she should have known better but claims because of living through Colin’s illness, he can understand why she did what she did. He ends the conversation by pointing out the dangers of the printing technology in the wrong hands and encouraging her to destroy it.
Outside the ice cream shop, Eleanor attempts to explain to Jules what her childhood was like after her father’s suicide. She says that Melissa always needed everything to be perfect and that’s why they never discussed it. Jules asks what she would have done differently if given the chance. Eleanor claims what she needed most was for her mother to tell her that her father’s suicide wasn’t her fault.
PJ links several of the thrift store’s computers while boasting about a program she built for a divorce attorney that sniffs out hidden money. Her boasting is brought to an abrupt halt when alarm bells start ringing out and a countdown appears on the monitors. She explains that her breach into the device has set off a security alert. PJ says whatever the device was designed to protect must be extremely important. PJ refuses Lucy’s offer to join her as they are encouraged by the thrift store clerk (Wayne Sujo) to leave.
At a meeting with Darros’s Tom not only learns that Emily was incinerated in a vehicle explosion but he’s being blamed for the oversight. While being led out of the office and encouraged to a week off, he’s also told that Myung (Georgia Leva) will now be taking over the search for Lucy and Jules.
Eleanor reaches out to Kira to offer her help with the Alzheimer’s treatments. Kira tells her about spiking her tea but the treatment only delays the symptoms with the potential of deadly, adverse side effects. In addition, the treatment requires antibodies from a mitochondrial genetic match, meaning Lucas. Eleanor shares meeting Jules and visiting her mother, who has become shallow and hateful. She also says she’ll work with Kira to future the treatment but it has nothing to do with their relationship. Leaving the office/home in the elevator, Kira receives an upsetting call from her head of security alerting her that the FDA has arrived to shut them down with false claims. Kira wants to intervene but Eleanor suggests staying away as it could be a clever ruse by Darros trying to get her arrested.
While fleeing from the thrift store, Lucy receives an update about the lab from Eleanor and an inquest about Jules. Lucy becomes troubled because she thought Jules was with Eleanor. Lucy ends the conversation by claiming to be close to the Settlement House and offering to check on her. As she stops the vehicle in the middle of the road, Craig says he once dated two women with the Joyce name and ended up losing them both because he couldn’t decide on one. He refers to it as, “The Paradox Of Joyce.”
While the nurse adds Charlie’s biometrics to the passport, Jack receives a call from Lucy with the announcement that she’s going to be late. That’s followed by an abrupt dial tone. Fleeing from the lab, Kira tells Eleanor she suspects Darros raided the lab because he thinks she crossed him by killing Emily. The opening scene is then replayed from the inside of the vehicle and the explosion and planted mandible are revealed to be a clever ruse. Arriving at the Settlement House, Jules and Craig as shocked to find Jules arguing with Xander. Jules introduces him as Darros’s beta. Xander claims he’s there on his own accord and needs the nasal spray compound that Jules used on him earlier. He contributes the compound to the memory with Darros’s sister and claims to want to more about it. After Jules refuses to help, Lucy reveals and asks about the device from Darros’s office. He immediately becomes distraught and pulls a pistol. The episode ends with Craig getting caught in the crossfire.
Orphan Black Echoes Review
I hope Craig doesn’t die because he’s more than a supporting character. He’s by no means a phenomenal acting talent, but his witty banter and quick quips were a huge comical relief. I don’t know if it was him or the script, but his simplistic comic relief was much more appealing than others. I’d give the episode a 5 out of 10 based on story development alone. I enjoyed the quick scene with Eleanor’s mother and felt it did a decent job of conveying the cruelty of Alzheimer’s.
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