Welp, Clone Club: another season of Orphan Black has come and gone and — hoo boy — that was one heck of a finale, wasn’t it? Between the — and here’s where the spoilers come in if you’re afraid, folks — reveal that Susan Duncan is alive, the Neolutionists are out to get our sestrahood, the devastating death of Delphine, all of which was capped off by a snowy reunion between Kira and Sarah?
We got hit right in the feels, folks, and because of that, we went straight to the source — co-creator John Fawcett — to debrief about the events and what it means for all of us next season.
The Nerdist: I have to admit, John, going into this finale I was a little bit mad at you guys because I was at max capacity for questions for the show and so it was nice to have so many answers and reveals.
John Fawcett: Well, it was important because for the first three seasons we were planning, the show had to get more complicated before we could actually solve a bunch of our problems. It’s nice being here at the end having so much laid out — so much feeling of resolution, and having a lot of our questions finally answered. Season Three kind of climaxed; the finale just has this bigger feeling of resolve to it than we’ve had to it before. And an emotional climax as well! It’s something that sets us up for where the show is going next in Season Four.
Nerdist: I have to say, I’m so pumped you guys are doing stuff with the Neolutionists. I’ve been wondering for the past two seasons, “When are they coming back?†and then all of a sudden it was just, like, crazy Neolutionists everywhere!
JF: Yeah, mayhem. It’s MAYHEM. That is what’s exciting about where the show is going next with Neolution; that they can be everywhere, that they are everywhere. And that gives us this real feeling — as we sink deeper into the rabbit hole with Sarah again — that we’re almost back at the beginning, like, not knowing who’s the real [or] who’s she’s supposed to be fighting. Now that we’ve solved a certain aspect of the mystery of season three, it’s like, ‘This goes much deeper.’ So for Sarah, I really wanted a little bit of a feeling of returning to season one and the unease that goes along with that. We knew that that was the plan all along — the return to Neolution in Season Four.
Nerdist: And it brings in much more of, a sci-fi element, too — obviously cloning is sci-fi in and of itself, but the self-directed evolution is such an interesting concept to dissect. Because a lot of it you can really sort of get behind — in theory, maybe less so in practice — so it’s an interesting sort of foe. They’re almost like Dadaists, but on a biological level.
JF: Yeah. In the long run, it will be interesting to see how deep and how broad the conspiracy goes.
Nerdist: Switching gears slightly, but: people are going to be very upset because of what’s happened to Delphine. How do you guys come to that decision?
JF: Well, it was a hard decision to make. We kinda knew that it was gonna happen; that it was on the table and it was the plan as we were figuring out season three. Obviously, we know that the fans love Delphine and love that relationship, but it’s a tragic love story and it’s a very, very important part of the continuing journey of Cosima and, hopefully, the sisters.
Nerdist: And at the same time too, for as sad as that was, it was great that you still had moments like with Jesse and Helena. That reunion? I was actually screaming in my apartment when I saw that.
JF: Good, good: I love those two. I love seeing them together and any time we can see that different side of Helena. You know, a part of the back half of the season was Helena in prison and thematically, Graeme [Manson, the series’ co-creator] and I had this idea that we really wanted to do this Pygmalion-like transformation. I mean, Helena’s going to be a mom: we should actually care about the fact that we don’t want her to be a killer. We want her to be normal — we don’t want her to have some weird mental illness, you know, so let’s teach her some etiquette and put her in some proper clothes and try and make her into not a ruthless killer. So what’s the best way to do that? The best way to do that is to dump her in the suburbs with Allison and Donnie.
Nerdist: I loved her relationship with Donnie at the end of this season — that whole bit with the two baby oxen and their whole shtick in the penultimate was just so fun.
JF: And, you know, it’s nice to see her have these dreams of being a mother with her boyfriend who drives a tow truck and, you know, they’re gonna raise her baby: this is her little weird fantasy.
Nerdist: Yeah, and it’s been such an interesting evolution, just from a character standpoint. It’s great to see Helena finally have a couple wins after the horrifying life that she’s had.
JF: I couldn’t agree more.
Nerdist: So where does Castor stand now? I know that we know Mark is alive. Is the whole ‘mayfly’ aspect of him and trying to cure him as well going to continue into next season or are they kind of just done?
JF: Oh, it’s certainly a continuation. We would never just drop that storyline, but certainly this is a win for Sarah and it’s a win for Leda. It’s some answers and resolutions — it’s a feeling that we’ve kind of triumphed, to some degree. Mark is still hanging in the wind; he is kind of the emotional core of Castor. We still have plans, obviously, for Castor and for Ari [Millen, the Castor clone actor], and that’s not closed out, but it was important that this feels like a win. I mean, considering this season Castor was kind of a foe that we were fighting and, to some degree, that we wanted to have answers about, I feel like we got that from that middle part. That leading up to the climax, which was this sense of truth now.
Nerdist: Yeah, for sure. And I’m really glad to hear that — I would be so sad to lose Ari, he’s such a fantastic actor and I’ve really liked what he’s done with the male clones this season in terms of forwarding the storyline as a whole for both Leda and Castor.
JF: Yeah and I love the character Mark ‘cuz he is more of an emotional character; he’s a little more naive, he’s in love. He’s just a character that, I think — well, he’s bonded and connected with Sarah now, and he’s a character we just didn’t really want to get rid of in Season Three.
Nerdist: So, are there things that you feel like — ‘cuz I’m sure Clone Clubbers are going to go back and re-watch the old seasons now that we know that Neolution is really sort of like the main foe — they should look out for? Are there little hints along the way that you guys planted that would sort of be fun things for people to go back and look at? is there anything you’re excited about in that regard?
JF: Well, I think it’s an interesting thing to go back and look at season one because Graeme and I are big fans of ‘what goes around, comes around’ and the concept of ending where you began. And there is kind of a feeling of needing to go back into the past, the feeling of kind of re-setting and and re-attacking the elements of Neolution that we opened in season one. It really was to set the ground rules for season four. I’m hoping that we’ve kind of done that. You know, cuz it’s been challenging getting to this big mystery, but I think we’ve done a pretty good job of paving the way for where things are about to go. Whatever you are expecting in season four, I do believe it’s not going to go where we’re expecting.
Nerdist: Well I, for one, am so fuckin’ excited, John.
JF: I’m glad you enjoyed the finale and the season — it was definitely a different season for us. It was interesting writing it, ‘cuz it was complicated, but I’m happy we got through it and I feel that we got all the right answers and I’m really excited about where the show is going in season four.
What did you think of the finale, folks? Let’s hear it in the comments.
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Alicia Lutes is the Associate Editor of The Nerdist that’s spending the rest of her day rewatching old Neolutionist episodes. Find her on the Tweet Machine @alicialutes.
