Orphan Black: Echoes – Season 1 Episode 8 Recap & Review

The Paradox of Joyce

Episode 8 of Orphan Black: Echoes begins with Kira asking why Emily switched sides as the agent pulls her gun out and tells her to call Jules. Turns out, Emily had been sincere about helping Lucy but Darros figures it out and is now holding her injured brother hostage. Kira tries to disarm her and the gun goes off.

As for the trio printouts, they are on a high having taken down Tom. They sing together as they head to Craig’s. We get some bonding moments as Lucy is hesitant about asking her ex, PJ about the chip which has the other two printouts teasing her. At that moment, Jack calls Lucy that he is getting them fake passports so they can leave. She enlists Craig’s help in finding PJ so she can shut down Darros and leave with Jack.

Meanwhile, Jules and Eleanor bond over their memories and the former tells the older printout not to give up on them; if Eleanor is to accept her reality, she should go see her mom. Eleanor begrudgingly gives in.

Elsewhere, Jack and Tina get the fake passports. But for biometrics, they need to be back in an hour. Jack calls Lucy and she promises to be there but she is busy chasing down PJ.

Then we have Lucas who confides in Rhona of the whole printout fiasco. He doesn’t see God in Printout Eleanor so she cannot be his mother. Rhona comforts him and he says he only trusts her. It cuts to a drained-out Kira trying to get in touch with him as they need to leave town.

Felix is having his exhibition and he alerts her that Lucas has arrived. She shows up and a huge confrontation takes place as Lucas shares that she stole his chance to say bye to his real mother. Felix is shocked by the revelation once he is caught up. He understands her but tells her to take responsibility.

Lucy finds PJ but Craig has to cajole her into helping. She declares that the chip is a security token to access top-secret stuff. But in trying to hack it, all the computers of the store are hacked and the token is made with indestructible material so they can’t physically destroy it.

Meanwhile, Eleanor meets with her mom, Melissa to ask who took her medical reports at age 16 to print out Jules. In a moment of lucidity, Melissa reveals what it is like to forget things and both look scared. Motivated, Eleanor agrees to work with Kira on a cure. In a bid for honesty, Kira confesses that in order to activate the printed neurons, she has been using Lucas’ blood (hence the blood drive and stealing of his blood).

But Eleanor agrees to collaborate for Jules and Lucy’s sake. At that moment, they learn that Kira’s office is being raided. Turns out Darros has benched Tom for losing Jules. And as retribution for killing Emily, he reports Kira to the FDA with fake evidence. However, Kira confesses to Eleanor that she didn’t kill Emily.

In a flashback, we see the gun go off but neither Kira nor Emily are hurt. Kira convinces her to fake her death and does it by printing her teeth and burning her car. At present, Kira and Eleanor worry that Darros must have gotten to Jules as she cannot be reached and they enlist Lucy’s help. 

But as luck would have it, Jack alerts Lucy that the biometrics office is shutting down and she has to make a choice. She believes she can make it but first, she needs to check on Jules. Lucy and Craig arrive at the settlement home to see Jules and Xander. He needs her drug to see all of Darros’ memories and become the perfect him as that is his purpose. Lucy uses it to ask him about the security token but he gets scared. As she advances, he pulls out a gun and shoots. It misses Lucy and hits Craig at the end of Orphan Black: Echoes Episode 8.

The Episode Review

Well, thanks to Orphan Black: Echoes Episode 8, there goes our big team up with the printouts and Xander to take down Darros. But it makes sense that just 2 conversations with Jules wouldn’t be enough to sway him since the day he has been printed, he’s been brainwashed that his only purpose in life is to replace Darros. And like we got that pretty cool dialogue that Homelander’s need for approval and love is what makes him human in The Boys, it’s the same thing for Xander. 

BTW, does anyone else feel like something is up with Rhona, especially with the ominous atmosphere when Lucas says she is the only one he can trust? How much do you want to bet that she is planted by Darros for leverage in case they need to bring Kira in line? A really bad move telling her everything Lucas, you don’t just trust random people with such things!