Relationship Spotlight: Felix Dawkins & Alison Hendrix (Orphan Black)

I love that Felix takes so well to the idea that his foster sister is actually a clone.  He develops a separate familial dynamic with each of Sarah’s more prominent “sisters,” and, surprisingly, none is stronger than his bond with uptight soccer mom Alison.  This is a relationship that snuck up on me, but I’ve come to realize that any episode with Alison-Felix interaction is just that little bit better.

The proceedings get off to an inauspicious start when Felix, serving as Sarah’s back-up during an early clone encounter, is almost shot by Alison after she catches him outside her house.  She’s high-strung and justifiably paranoid, and he’s completely freaked out by his first actual clone sighting; so far, his only knowledge of Sarah’s apparent doubles has been secondhand, but now, he sees the indisputable evidence standing in front of him with a handgun. 

Even without threats of bodily harm, Alison is the clone that, on the surface, seems the most unlike Felix.  There’s his history and habit of mutual law-breaking with Sarah, and I defy anyone to dislike the brilliant, wonderfully vibrant Cosima, but Alison’s life couldn’t be further from his.  She’s a prissy suburban housewife who needs everything “just so,” and he’s a hard-partying artist who’s the biggest believer in his own fabulousness.  One of my favorite laughs from season 1 comes when Sarah pulls Felix in to babysit Alison’s kids, freeing Alison up for Clone Club-related goings-on, and Felix immediately wants to dress both of the tots in drag; Alison’s reaction is one for the ages.  All in all, not exactly a surrogate sibling match made in heaven.

Somewhere along the line, though, Alison and Felix grow incredibly close.  As things unravel, she gets much worse at pretending nothing’s wrong, and while her ensuing meltdown damages her relationships with her husband and friends, as well as her standing in the community, I think Felix sort of admires the mess that she really is.  He likes seeing the perfect, anal-retentive veneer fall away and finding the frantic, impulsive woman underneath, and she in turn realizes that Felix is enormously loyal to those who’ve won his affections.  I’m not gonna lie, their shared fondness for booze and pills is a real ice-breaker, but it quickly goes a lot further than that. 

Soon, strangely, almost paradoxically, they become one of the most unexpected pairs on the show.  Alison’s world is imploding, and she leans increasingly on Felix for help (he jumps in as bartender when a neighborhood potluck descends on her house while she’s tied up with particularly-insane clone business,) company (they share anti-anxiety meds after she locks herself in the bathroom at her intervention,) and comfort (she tells him massive secrets without fear of judgment.)  They still have their culture-clash (really, more like class-clash) moments – when Alison stays at Felix’s place, he’s fantastically horrified to discover she’s scoured it from top to bottom – but generally, he’s 100% in her corner, and she rates him miles above all her two-faced suburban friends.  There’s a moment in season 2 when Sarah is in colossal, life-and-death trouble, and Felix is obviously there for her, but despite all the craziness going down, he still worries about Alison’s well-being.  With Sarah, it involves conspiracies and assassins, but with Alison, it’s community theatre, and he still feels bad about leaving her without his support.  It’s so inconsequential, but it’s important to her, and Felix knows that and wants to be there for her.  That’s love, people.