Orphan Black: Echoes Season 1 Episode 4 Review: It’s All Coming Back

If the original Orphan Black taught us anything, the more the merrier when it comes to clones. So it only makes sense that Jules and Lucy teaming up makes for a better show on Orphan Black: Echoes Season 1 Episode 4, “It’s All Coming Back.” 

Watching them trauma bond after taking Jules’ DIY memory drug is a lot more rewarding than watching them argue or chase each other. Sure the suspense of the conspiracy is important, but so are moments like this where they just get to be people.

The question throughout the season has been who are Lucy and Jules? Unlike their clone predecessors, they were born fully formed (or mostly formed in Jules’s case) so they feel even less like their own person.

Maybe that’s one of the reasons it was initially easier to root for Jules because she had more of a sense of self than Lucy who knew from the start she was copied. As the two talk though, you realize despite all their similarities they are still different people who are motivated by different things.

Even if it’s something as silly as Jules being disgusted by Lucy’s monogamous relationship, it shows they are allowed to want different things. (The banter also lightens up the show some. At some point it realized it was allowed to be funny too.)

By piecing their memories together, they literally can see the full picture of the flashback they have and the monument outside the window turns out to be a big clue. Is it a little too convenient Tina happens to know what neighborhood they drew? Sure, but I’m willing to go with it. 

It was only a matter of time until we found out who they were printed from, and a trip to their old house (now a pink-drenched sorority house with a penchant for hazing and rose), leads them to a nursing home. There they meet their mother: Melissa. 

Of course by their mother, I mean the mother of Eleanor, the woman they were copied from. 

This dovetails with Kira’s plot of the episode, where she is at the Darros compound to give a presentation and instead gets to explore Lucy’s trailer they’ve taken from the farm. Kira’s role in this show has felt clunky throughout the season as she deals with her moral ambiguity and the consequences of her actions. 

Seeing Kira have emotions about Lucy, and not just herself, changes how we feel about the character though. She feels authentic, a different mother of sorts to the clones, instead of just a self-absorbed scientist.

If you were missing the stressful elements of previous episodes, don’t worry. It still ends with Jules and Lucy having to try to run from the assisted living facility after Darros’ security intercepts a voicemail to Kira letting her know Melissa has visitors and that she’s calling them Eleanor.

I’m still not sure we need three different Darros employees on the show, but at least Tom and Myung’s duet of “It’s All Coming Back to Me Now” by Celine Dion adds some on-point humor. 

The good news is it turns out Jules’ adoptive mom is on her side and she pepper sprays Tom before he can grab Jules. The even better news is Kira rescues Lucy and promises to tell her everything she wants to know if she gets in the car, including who that little boy is that Lucy drew in her book (it HAS to be Lucas right?). 

Finally, we’re getting some answers! Well, at least we will on the next episode. 

Orphan Black: Echoes may not have ascended to must-watch TV, but it has finally found its rhythm to be watchable TV. This spin-off might yet pay off.

What did you think of this episode of Orphan Black: Echoes? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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Orphan Black: Echoes airs Sundays at 10/9c on AMC and BBC America.

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