'Orphan Black: Echoes' Episode 1 Takeaway: Lucy's frequent flashbacks hint at a grim past
Contains spoilers for 'Orphan Black: Echoes'
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Created by Anna Fishko, the latest science fiction series 'Orphan Black: Echoes' is set in the near future, with our protagonist Lucy (Krysten Ritter) on a quest to learn about her past.
Based on the Canadian TV show 'Orphan Black' by John Fawcett and Graeme Manson, the show follows Lucy, who wakes up in a mysterious facility and learns that she is a product of the Additive Foundation's advanced scientific studies employing 4-D printing technology.
To protect herself, she escapes the facility and begins a life in the countryside, where she develops a deep bond with a deaf girl named Charlie (Zariella Langford-Haughton) and begins a relationship with her father, Jack (Avan Jogia).
However, things quickly turn bleak when the Additive Foundation discovers her location, prompting her to finally decide to uncover the truth about her true identity.
Lucy frequently gets flashbacks in 'Orphan Black: Echoes' Episode 1
Throughout the episode, parts of Lucy's past emerge via memories triggered by apparently harmless items, which play an important role in deciphering her previous secrets.
At the beginning, it was revealed that the pink liquid is used to print human, which adds to Lucy's anxiety when later in the episode she discovers a pink-like fluid while repairing a car, landing her in the hospital.
An image of a newborn is another powerful trigger for Lucy's memories as whenever she sees this picture, it elicits a powerful emotional reaction, implying a close personal connection.
She even speculates that the kid is hers and attempts to confirm it when she visits the hospital and asks the doctor whether it is possible to determine if she was a mother in the past. Although she didn't obtain any answers to her questions, it's clear that this photograph is more than simply a random recollection.
Furthermore, her nightmares of her younger self clutching a knife with blood splattered all over the ground serve as a devastating reminder that her past was anything but sunny.
What could be the link between Lucy's flashbacks with her past?
So, to decode further, Lucy's flashbacks do carry a key to her past, which might provide significant information about her background.
The baby's picture elicits a powerful reaction in Lucy, implying a close relationship which makes it probable that she was a mother, and her child was separated from her.
Furthermore, the pink substance's existence which was explained in the pilot episode implies that it was used to print her. Lucy's response to the pink liquid demonstrates that her body and memory are inextricably tied to these scientific processes.
Her bloated dreams also serve as a poignant reminder that may shed light on her past.
So, this is a bold speculation, but it is plausible that Lucy was living her life as a single mother and was in desperate need of money and a solid future for her child.
To do this, she agreed to be a test subject for the Additive Foundation's tests, which resulted in her losing her memories and explains her frequent flashbacks.
In the end, it is reasonable to assume that Lucy's flashbacks are more than simply memories; they are essential to her path of self-discovery.
As the series unfolds, these flashbacks will definitely play an important part in uncovering the riddles of Lucy's past and her quest for truth and identity.
'Orphan Black: Echoes' trailer