A Few Thoughts on Rachel (Orphan Black)

On rewatch, various things about Orphan Black naturally jumped out at me that I didn’t catch the first time:  threads of themes, seeds of foreshadowing, and of course, all manner of subtle, awesome acting choices by one Tatiana Maslany (I love how you can always tell something’s off right before it’s revealed that one clone is posing as another.)  Today, I want to muse on an idea I had the second time around regarding Rachel (some Rachel-related spoilers, along with, as is inevitable with Orphan Black, basic premise spoilers.)

Rachel Duncan.  Pro-clone.  Ice queen.  High bitch in command.  Corporate nightmare.  She’s been the thorn in the sestras’ side ever since she was introduced on the show, and of the various baddies they’ve gone up against, she’s one of my favorites.  It’s always so much more twisted when it’s one of their own coming after them, and I like how Sarah and co.’s meddling can crack Rachel’s chilly exterior. 

Today, I want to think about Rachel and sex.  It’s revealed in season 2 that Rachel is into BDSM, and Sarah is quite unprepared for the eyeful she gets of Rachel straddling Paul (tied to a chair) with a belt-turned-whip in her hand.  Since then, we’ve gotten glimpses of the games Rachel and Ferdinand play, including dom/sub talk, bondage, and a cane.

Now, as far as TV trends go, this doesn’t seem entirely unlikely.  Villainness with a thing for rough sex, uptight bitch with a secret kinky side, domineering woman who needs to be the mistress of her bedroom – take your not-especially-inspiring pick.  However, I think Rachel’s sexual proclivities get interesting when you think about her position within Project Leda as a clone who was specifically raised to be self-aware.  (Note:  I’m not saying there needs to be a “deep, dark” origin for Rachel’s kink, and I’m not suggesting that kinks in general are rooted in damage.  In this particular circumstance, I just think the possible ties are intriguing.)

By and large, an adult clone’s monitor has been carefully introduced into her life as a potential lover.  What they actually know about clones vary from monitor to monitor, but they spy, they inform, and they take biological samples from their lover without her knowledge.  If a clone is between monitors, Dyad is likely to court several possible new ones to put into her life, giving the full-time gig to the one she enters a relationship with.  As we’ve seen with Alison/Donnie and Cosima/Delphine, real love can grow out of a clone/monitor relationship, but when the clone knows what’s up, there has to be a serious reframing of the relationship and new trust established before that can begin.

So where does that leave Rachel, who’s known she was a clone ever since she could understand the word and has always known the precise role of her monitors in adulthood?  A naïve clone with a lover as her monitor is a perfect fit for Dyad, since the relationship gives the monitor intimate access.  Since Rachel knows what the deal is, there’s no need for that sort of pretense, but I kind of love that Rachel decides she’ll jolly well have it anyway.  Other clones who’ve just figured out that their lovers are their monitors are horrified and incredibly wary about sleeping with them, but for Rachel, it suggests a kind of power to know exactly what’s going on and still pursue a sexual relationship with her monitor.

But at the same time, it’s a vulnerable position to be in.  While we’ve seen numerous instances of monitors’ ultimate loyalty being to their clone lovers, I don’t imagine the naturally-suspicious Rachel would see it that way.  I imagine that, in her mind, her monitor will always side with Dyad when it comes down to it.  So even though he spends most of the time doing whatever she tells him to, she can’t fully trust him.  Could her practice of bondage have begun as a way for her to feel safe enough with her monitor to enjoy having sex?  Was her use of a whip or a cane a way for her to assert control in a sexual encounter with a man working at the behest of the institute that created and now studies her?  I’m not saying, “Of course!  It’s so obvious!  That’s Rachel solved!”  Nothing like that – just pondering.  Makes interesting food for thought, I think.