Back for one last ride.  Let’s jump back into Orphan Black with the Season Five premiere: “The Few Who Dare.”

The season begins with a still wounded Sarah struggling to make it across the island. With her phone about to die on her, she calls Felix and tells him that Ferdinand kidnapped Kira and Mrs. S, plus Rachel has taken over from Susan.  More than that, Rachel took the cure before Cosima could get to it.

When she’s put on speaker, she asks Ira about the boat Susan mentioned, and on the west side of the island, there is indeed a boat house down stream from a village.

While Rachel makes her way up what looks like a temple, Sarah lights a fire- using a photo of Kira- to keep herself warm while she begins patching up her wound.  After briefly passing out from the extreme pain, she awakens and is soon ambushed by some rabid being, but she manages to fight off her attacker with a rock.  She soon fashions a walking stick and heads on her way.

Elsewhere on the island, Cosima awakens and finds herself locked in the room.  She goes through her bag and finds most of her items missing, save for a note.  A young woman named Mud, played by Jenessa Grant, enters and welcomes Cosima to Revival.  Cosima tells Mud that she needs to speak with Delphine, who is probably working at the clinic now.  Mud will fill Cosima in once she puts on her willies.

Indeed, Mud takes Cosima outside and shows her around the self-sufficient village. Cosima won’t be allowed to talk to her sisters for the time, and it doesn’t help that her research has been stolen, so this is hardly a great first visit.  She asks Mud if she’s familiar with Rachel Duncan, and the group does now, as Rachel is in seclusion with the founder- P.T. Westmoreland, who is 170 years old.

Charlotte reunites with Cosima and asks about the treatment, but Cosima will worry about that for now.  As for Susan, Mud is certain that she’ll pull through.

Felix arrives at the safe house and hides in waiting when he hears someone else enter. Before he can attack them, he sees that it turns out to be Art.  Felix is unable to contact S’s network, and there’s a vice on Art due to the Duko situation, so he doesn’t know who to trust.  So Art needs Felix to make sure the Hendrixes stay put.

He calls and updates Alison and Donnie on the situation.  More than that, they need to make sure Helena is kept safe as well.  Naturally, Alison doesn’t want to stay tight, so the two start packing.

At the police station, Lieutenant Hardcastle introduces Art to his new partner, Maddie Enger, played by Elyse Levesque, who previously met Art in Vice.  They’re advised to take this slow.  Just like that.

Back on the island, Sarah arrives at a clearing and spots someone exiting a house.  She hides when someone not too far behind her radios in that there’s no sign of her yet.  As the two continue searching, Sarah goes back to her trek.

Over at Revival, Delphine cares for a young Afghan girl who tells Delphine that she and her mother came for the fountain.  When the mother and daughter leave, Delphine packs up some medical supplies and hides the file on the girl when the leader arrives to tell Delphine that it’s time- she’s been summoned by him.

Felix heads to the comic shop, where Scott pulls up a satellite map of the island.  All Ira knows is that the area is called Revival and that Susan hasn’t been there in years since she’s avoided the subject, but Felix doesn’t believe that.  He tells Ira to pick a side since Rachel has forsaken him, but he doesn’t.  With no clear way to get there, Hell Wizard realizes their best best is M.K., who did once contact Kira through Minecraft.

On the road, Maddie shows Art a file on some of Clone Club and company.  Art claims that he hasn’t seen Helena as of recent, and Maddie reveals that she’s willing to go to any means to bring in the clones.

Speaking of Helena, Donnie loon calls out to her, and she’s not too far.  She sends out an emergency call just as two men get the drop on and abduct Alison while Donnie flees.

Felix returns to the safe house and once again has a surprise encounter- a new face this time.  The man introduces himself as Mr. Frontenac, played by Andrew Moodie, and tells Felix that there is only one faction.  More than that, Rachel has taken an interest in Felix’s family.

Back on the road, Art sees another familiar face when Alison is brought to his location. He tells her that Neolution wants a truce with the clones.  And while Maddie was given orders not to hurt any of the clones, that doesn’t apply to Art, as she punches him and puts a gun to his head.

She then questions Alison on Helena’s back-up plan and asks where she would go when she runs, but Alison has no idea.  Maddie decides to take Alison’s word and that it’s time to take her home.

Still in the woods, Sarah stumbles across a small tower-with wild game hanging from it- clearing before continuing on her way.

Charlotte and Cosima read through a Revival book and they both accept that, yeah, this place is weird.  Cosima then explains that a myth is an old story where some of it may not be true, but it’s told to us to teach us something.  Okay, shouldn’t Charlotte know what a myth is?

Whatever.  In enters Delphine, but before the two can talk for long, the leader enters and Cosima learns that Delphine is going to Sardinia for a research trip.  Though Cosima finds this hard to believe, Delphine is adamant that the science is real.  After checking for Delphine’s scars, Cosima tells Delphine that she needs something to hold onto.  No kidding.

In addition to believing in the science, Delphine tells Cosima that this entire island is a decades-long study and everyone here is participating.  If you want to genetically improve the human race, this is where you go: the heart of Neolution.  She shows Cosima the file on the young girl who has cancer- other kids like her have been brought for experimental treatment.

And Rachel is ramping up the group’s agenda and this has something to do with it.  She gives Cosima a key to the clinic across the camp and whispers that she hid her treatment. As she leaves, she tells her to follow the science.  And with that, the two part.

While Sarah continues, three men and their tracking dogs are in hot pursuit, though they come across the same tower and wonder who would be hanging game from it.  As Sarah picks up the pace, she trips and stumbles across a dead, half-eaten wolf, all while having another vision of Kira.  She hides as the three men arrive soon after and wonder what killed the wolf.  Since it will be dark soon, they decide to fall back for now.

Soon enough, they come back to Revival, where Mud gathers Cosima at the sound of music playing across the compound.  That can only mean P.T. has something to tell everyone.

Indeed, the villagers gather as Rachel tells the crowd that she was selected and knows Westmoreland’s hand has guided her entire life.  She knows that Susan Duncan once stood in this same spot, appointed to move the future forward, and she did so by creating Rachel.  The fruits of Neolution’s science are within their grasp and everyone here shall drink from the fountain first.  Also, Sarah’s here, too.

Back in the woods, before Donnie can get away in his vehicle, he’s held at gunpoint by a man who is ambushed by Helena.  They manage to knock him out, but Helena ends up with a twig in her belly.

As night falls, Cosima sneaks to the clinic and finds her treatment.  Sarah enters soon after- everyone’s surprising each other, apparently- and tells Cosima about the boathouse. Sarah wants to get Charlotte and escape, and she doesn’t care about the leader of Neolution being alive, but Cosima does. After all, it could be the answer.

Still, Sarah doesn’t give a shit since, hey, Rachel tried to kill her.  Cosima won’t leave because there are still questions that need to be answered.  Sarah then tells Cosima that something in the woods attacked her, but also warns her to be careful as she leaves. Cosima then injects herself.

At the same time, the leader, who has woken up Mud, finds Cosima in the clinic.  With him is Rachel, who knew some of the cell line was missing.  She tells Cosima to give her the needle and to lay down.  Telling her there’s no need to be afraid anymore, Rachel injects Cosima.

Sarah arrives at the boat house she spotted earlier and come across…well, a boat. Before she can board it, one of the men from before enters and shoots a dart into her neck. Rachel then enters and informs Sarah that it’s a new day as the episode comes to a close.

So here we are at the final season of Orphan Black and we jump right back into it, picking up right where we left off as the mystery of Neolution and the founding and science behind it unravel.  And since so many have come for this fountain or been brought in for experimenting, there’s as much at stake for them as there are for the clones.  It justifies Cosima sticking around for more answers.

Not that she’s got much of a choice.  Hell, Cosima’s getting the short stick in just about every situation.  Her reunion with Delphine is cut short, she has next to no contact with the others save for the brief run-in with Sarah, she gets saddled with an awkward greeter in Mud, and while Rachel may end up being of aid, Cosima ends up putting her life in her hands.  All in all, Cosima’s not having the best week.

Well, she’s doing better than Sarah.  And credit where it’s due, the lady is one hell of a fighter and survivor.  I honestly wouldn’t have minded if we spent the bulk of this episode with just her fighting to live and escape those pursuing her, but I doubt Orphan Black would spend that much time on one character without checking in on the other clones.

But given Sarah’s state, still injured from her fight with Rachel, unable to communicate with the others due her dying phone, knowing that Mrs. S and Kira are probably with Ferdinand, and now she’s been captured by Rachel.  Sarah normally can fight her way out of most jams, even on her own, but she also had help from the others.

Now she’s by herself on an island and the one other clone who may be willing to lend a hand isn’t about to do that because she’d prefer to stay at Revival.  Though given what Cosima knows about Rachel, there’s a risk she’s taking by staying at Revival. However, we as an audience will get to learn more about Neolution and this Westmoreland through Cosima’s eyes, so that could be a welcome treat when that reveal comes.

Aside from the clones, it’s back to business for everyone else.  Felix is back in his role of playing mediator and caretaker to just about everyone connected to Clone Club and I like how he actually thought telling Alison and Donnie to keep tight would actually result in them staying tight.  He ought to know these two better than that, more so now that Alison has been kidnapped.

Side-note, how did someone find Alison and Donnie?  They’re in the middle of nowhere and I doubt they’d be in contact with someone besides Clone Club because they don’t want to get detected.  So how the hell did somebody find them?  Maybe this Maddie person, being a cop, has a lot of connections, but outside of that, it was still a quick capture.  Look at the photo.  I don’t even think they know.

On that, by the way, was it just a running thing for characters to surprise one another or something?  Felix gets spooked by Art and Mr. Frontenac, Donnie gets surprised by a guy who gets surprised by Helena, Cosima gets surprised by Sarah, who also gets surprised by Rachel after getting that dart.  What happened to people greeting each other with ‘Hello’?  I kid, but it’s something I couldn’t help but notice.

With all that in mind, this was a pretty solid return for Orphan Black and left enough intrigue for the remainder of the season.  Rachel has a hand on both Cosima and Sarah, Kira and S are in the wind, that creature that attacked Sarah is still a big question mark, and the mystery of Neolution is still unraveling as we continue along with the final season.