A madman tries to play God by using cutting-edge technology in Orphan Black: Echoes. The year is 2052, but the Orphan Black spin-off show appears to be surprisingly grounded. And unlike the mother show, there’s no business of visually identical clones here. This one focuses on human printing (not particularly different from cloning though) by using full body scans. The show’s main characters – Eleanor, Lucy, and Jules are all the same person, but of different ages. They’re all printouts though, of the original Eleanor, who’s married to scientist Kira Manning (yes, Sarah Manning’s daughter from the original). Doctor Manning is the one who’s the inventor of the printing technology (and the machine) but she’s not the person who’s doing the questionable things. That would be this rich businessman, Darros, and his minions. In this article we’re gonna look into the ending of Orphan Black: Echoes and the possibilities of a new season. For more detail about this season, you can always read our recap.
Spoilers Ahead
What Is Darros’ Plan?
Orphan Black: Echoes makes it pretty clear that the soft-spoken businessman is no good news. Even though his initial appearance is non-threatening, the moment you see Uncle Tom (the usual idiotic straight white male) reporting to him, you know Darros is up to no good. So the obvious question that arises is what exactly is the guy trying to do? He has already taken control of Doctor Manning’s printing machine – with the help of which he has printed out Jules aka the teenage version of Eleanor, and Xander aka the teenage version of Darros himself. But what is the big picture here? The moment Kira finds out that Darros has printed twelve more people, she realizes that he has something huge in store. At the seminar in the finale of Orphan Black: Echoes, Darros announces that he has a new foundation – dedicated to exceptionally talented orphan kids he somehow has managed to locate. He plans to place these kids with wealthy families, who are looking to adopt. Sounds like a novel idea? Yes, but here’s the catch – these kids are all printouts of the most brilliant minds from the previous generation (technically ours, if we go by the show’s timeline). Darros’ intentions are not exactly bad per se. His reason for doing this happens to be the betterment of the world. He’s hoping these kids are gonna do wonderful things in the future, that can be as groundbreaking as finding a cure for cancer (yeah, the future doesn’t look that bright in this show). It’s undeniable that there’s good in Darros’ plan but it’s still unethical and cloning is legally prohibited in this universe – especially after what happened in Orphan Black.
Does Darros Kill Jules?
Jules has been a part of Darros’ plan given the human Eleanor used to be a brilliant person. But the moment Jules meets Lucy, Darros’ plan goes for a toss. Jules was told she had lost her memory in an accident where her parents died. However, thanks to a chain of events starting with Charlie killing a Darros minion (for whom Uncle Tom cared a bit too much) who came for Lucy; Jules eventually finds out the truth. It’s only natural for her to rebel against Darros after that. Jules (also Lucy and Eleanor) is a genuinely good person so she doesn’t think twice about handing herself over to Tom in order to save Charlie. But thanks to Xander and Lucy breaking into Darros’ compound right when he’s busy with the seminar elsewhere (not to mention, Doctor Manning trying to keep him busy), Jules is saved. However, thanks to her grabbing all the photos Darros is using as “fake evidence,” she gets late and the madman comes back. While Lucy (and I guess the audience as well) thought Darros wouldn’t harm Jules, he shockingly takes out a gun and shoots her. Lucy is understandably shocked and heartbroken, but more shocking things like in wait for her. Within a minute of killing Jules in cold blood, Darros introduces her to a new printout kid – who’s none other than Jules. Well, obviously not the one we know, but with blonde hair and less sass. Also this one is gonna be loyal towards Darros, which is not a good thing.
What To Expect From Season 2?
We don’t know for sure if there will be a second season of Orphan Black: Echoes but from the cliffhanger ending of the first season, it’s very clear that the makers definitely didn’t plan this as a miniseries. Like its predecessor, this show is also looking to run for years. The first season might not be as explosive as Orphan Black, but it’s still a good setup. The show earning a renewal depends on the ratings and other factors, but assuming there’s another season in the pipeline; let us look into the thing that might happen in season 2.
The big shift from season 1 has to be blonde Jules (the one we see in the end) who’s most definitely gonna be Team Darros. We don’t get to know if Xander has managed to disable the printing machine but even if he has, I believe Darros has more cards up his sleeves. Not to mention, he fully intends to print Doctor Manning as well – which we get to know thanks to Eleanor’s investigation. The character of Emily left midway after faking her death to escape from Darros, but she can very well make a comeback if needed. Also, will Lucy have her happy ending with Jack and Charlie? Lastly, the OG Orphan Black character Felix did make an appearance in the first season, and thanks to him, we know Sarah and Cosima are very much around. Tatiana Maslany is too big of a star now, but with her Superhero career not taking a flying start, can we expect a cameo in the universe where she’s the absolute boss? Seems too good to be true, but I’m sure every single Orphan Black fan is gonna go mental if that really happens.
