‘Orphan Black’ Season 5 Spoilers: Alison-Centered Episode Features Return Of Aynsley, Chad

“Orphan Black” Season 5, episode 3 was focused mostly on Alison Hendrix (Tatiana Maslany), one of the Leda clones.

In “Beneath Her Heart,” a series of flashbacks also featured the return of Alison and Donnie’s (Kristian Bruun) nosy neighbors, Aynsley ( Natalie Lisinska) and Chad (Eric Johnson). Following the episode, executive producers Graeme Manson and John Fawcett explained their decision to release an Alison-centered installment and bring back the estranged couple.

Read: Why did M.K. die in “Orphan Black” Season 5?

“This episode is obviously very much more of a personal, character-based episode for Alison, and it’s kind of the first of a number of more character-based episodes to come. And it was just fun for us to go back into the past, to open with Aynsley alive at the dining room table having dinner with husband, Alison and Donnie, and reveal we’re back in time at the beginning – right around the time that Alison was discovering she’s a clone and has not met Cosima yet,” Fawcett told Entertainment Weekly.

In Season 5, episode 3, Alison’s first time meeting Cosima (Maslany) was also shown. Manson said that they felt it was important to reveal how the two characters first met each other since this was a storyline that has never been explored in the series. Additionally, the flashbacks from the events that took place in Season 1 were necessary because they served as a jumping point for who Alison was and who she came to be.

In addition, Fawcett’s favorite clone is also Alison so he wanted an episode that focused on her before “Orphan Black” wraps up. “This episode really kind of digs into Alison’s self-worth, her worth as a person to herself and her worthiness in this group of sisters that she has created. She feels kind of like a fifth wheel. She doesn’t feel particularly useful. She’s very down on herself,” Fawcett said.

But this isn’t really the case with Alison. Despite her worries that she’s not dependable enough, when she’s asked to deliver something, she does so with ease. In one of the episodes, she brought Dr. Leekie’s (Matt Frewer) head to one of her sisters, Rachel (Maslany).

“Orphan Black” Season 5 airs Saturdays at 10 p.m. EDT on BBC America.