Orphan Black: Echoes Season 1 Episode 5 Review: Do I Know You?

You know how Kira Manning’s story started and where she ended up but Orphan Black: Echoes Season 1 Episode 5, “Do I Know You?,” fills in the missing piece of what happened in between those times.

Throughout the season, Kira’s character has been a difficult puzzle to solve because the show has been treating her like we know her. The reality is we don’t know adult her, just the story of her childhood.

In order to make Lucy and Jules’ stories make sense, you have to understand Kira’s. That’s what this episode, focused on flashbacks of her life, does for viewers. 

The flashbacks start from her time as a post-doc student (played by August Winter in her younger years) up through her decision to betray everything she stood for and attempt human cloning. Equally important to her scientific breakthroughs is her blooming romance with Dr. Eleanor Miller (played by Krysten Ritter), whom she ends up marrying and having a son with. 

The pacing may be a little slow if you prefer the conspiracy thriller aspects of the series, but it’s a sweet reflective look at Kira and Eleanor’s love story and a sympathetic look at Kira. Yes, she’s a brilliant scientist, but she’s also a woman who’s had doubt and been driven by emotion. 

As she makes clear to Paul Darros after successfully starting the Additive Foundation, she does not initially believe in taking her research any further into full human cloning. This version of Kira aligns more with what you would expect given her traumatic childhood and helps bridge the gap between her experience in Orphan Black and this series.  

It’s a great performance from Keeley Hawes who otherwise has gotten thin material in the season. Her changing delivery of the phrase “Do I know you?,” to Eleanor and then eventually Lucy communicates so much emotion throughout the episode.

Eleanor’s tragic early-onset Alzheimer’s diagnosis and subsequent death changes everything for Kira. Your heart will break for her and you’ll understand why she decided to break her only rule and attempt to make a copy of Eleanor. 

​​Although this episode is fundamental to the audience’s understanding of Orphan Black: Echoes, it’s weighed down by a few missteps. The most glaring one comes from the casting.

Older Eleanor (Rya Kihlstedt) and young Kira don’t look like their counterparts. Compared to the uncanny casting of Krysten Ritter and Amanda Fix, it’s a bit jarring.

The chemistry between young Kira and Eleanor is also lacking, though that is resolved with the older versions. 

It’s also hard not to avoid the elephant in the rumor. We see 20 years of Kira’s life and don’t get a single cameo from her family.

There are references to her being the daughter of a clone, but Sarah’s name isn’t even mentioned. A whole Kira standalone episode with no Sarah or Sestras just feels wrong. 

The episode ends with both a stressful twist and a huge relief. The revelation that Kira wasn’t involved in the creation of Jules is a relief because it would be creepy to make a teenage copy of your dead wife.

Unfortunately, it also means Kira’s technology was used by someone else and her safeguards to prevent any additional cloning failed. What seemed like a small conspiracy is turning into something even more dangerous. 

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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