It's Hard To Trust This Miraculous 'Orphan Black' Recovery

Most of the characters on Orphan Black are played by star Tatiana Maslany, but in the show's mythology there are plenty of other, non-Leda characters that are just as important to the series. One of the most memorable is hard-to-trust scientist Delphine, who disappeared after being shot in the Season 3 finale, yet popped up again in the Season 4 finale. So wait — how is Delphine alive on Orphan Black? The Season 5 premiere should resolve this mystery. And an answer can't come soon enough, because fans have been waiting for almost a year for a followup to the reveal.

First, a brief refresher on what happened to her: At the end of Season 3, Delphine was shot, and began to bleed to death alone in the Dyad parking lot. This was the tragic end to a season where the clones could barely trust her after she deliberately kept information from them time and time again.

That shocking moment — as well as comments from the villainous Evie — heavily implied that Delphine was dead. It appeared as though she'd be leaving the series, and that Cosima (the nerdiest and possibly sweetest of the clones) would be mourning her. But of course, this is Orphan Black, so there's no need to stop at one twist, when there could be way more.

The show dropped hints throughout suggesting that Delphine might actually be alive. Her body was never found. And towards the end of the season, Krystal revealed to Felix that she saw a still-living Delphine driven away by Dr. Van Lier in an unmarked van after she was shot by Detective Duko.

Fans started to realize that perhaps there was hope for Delphine to ultimately still be alive. And at the end of Season 4, their suspicions turned out to be true. She appeared at a Neolutionist camp, looking after a hypothermic Cosima as if no time had passed at all. Delphine appeared to be totally (even miraculously) recovered from the serious gunshot wound. And yet, this romantic reunion, and the fact that Delphine smuggled Cosima the cure without the Neolutionists knowing, still feels off. The speed with which Van Lier and the Neolutionists arrived to save Delphine was suspiciously fast, as well as Evie claiming that Delphine was dead, knowing that she wasn't.

But why would the Neolutionists want to save Delphine, and how did they manage it? Season 5 should explain what the group, led by the mysterious Dr. Westmoreland, are doing with her, now that Cosima and Charlotte have joined her in their isolated campground. Because aside from saving Delphine from bleeding to death, it's unclear what exactly the Neolutionists separatists have done to her. She's clearly still in love with Cosima, and doesn't quite trust them or their camp. But given that she's walking freely among them, it's possible that Delphine has been turned into a villain or perhaps has been biding her time waiting to rise up against Dr. Westmoreland and make up for her shady behavior in Season 3.

Either way, Delphine is definitely alive again, and that will make Orphan Black's final season all the more exciting.