Paul Dierden

"*You're some kind of hustler. You understand leverage, right? The difference is, you chose to infiltrate Beth's life, to screw her boyfriend, right on this counter.*"
—Paul Dierden to Sarah Manning[src]

**Paul Dierden** was a character on *Orphan Black*. He débuts in the first episode of the first season. He is portrayed by starring cast member Dylan Bruce.

## History

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### Monitor

As Sarah is packing up, Paul unexpectedly comes back early from his "trip", surprising Sarah. Seeing the packed bag, Paul asks her if she's going somewhere, but she tells him it's just gym stuff. When Sarah asks him why he came back early, Paul claims that he wanted to be there for Beth's hearing to support her and asks her how the hearing went. Sarah awkwardly tries to converse with him, telling him what happend at the hearing, but Paul notices small and uncharacteristic changes in "Beth". Suspicious, Paul starts asking her questions. Not knowing what to say and panicking, Sarah kisses him. Things get heated and they end up sleeping together. The following morning, Sarah gets up to leave for the bank but Paul gets up and tries to get her to talk to him. Sarah is dodgy and hurries out, leaving Paul suspicious.

Sarah returns to Beth's apartment and is greeted by a suspicious Paul. Paul wants to know why "Beth" didn't tell him she was going to be out all night, and Sarah makes up an excuse that she was at the station catching up on a case. Paul says that he is worried about her, but when Sarah keeps pushing him away, Paul tells her that he is leaving to stay at Cody's for a while. Sarah almost fails to contain her relief.

Paul returns home briefly to get a few more clothes. Felix, Sarah's brother, quickly hides. Paul gathers some of his clothes to take back to Cody's, while Sarah distracts him to prevent him from spotting Felix. Frustrated at her "hot and cold" behavior, Paul asks if she would like it were him to behave the same way, which Sarah challenges him to do so. Paul then proceeds to intensely make out with Sarah, to Felix's pleasant surprise, and abruptly leaves, leaving both Sarah and Felix hanging.

After a phone conversation with Helena pretending to be Beth asking him to pick her up form the precinct, Paul leaves to get her. Once there, Paul insists on taking "Beth" with him, even lashing out at Art when he interferes. Sarah takes Paul outside and explains things to him, to get him to leave, but Paul tells her that he wants to figure things out between them.

Paul unexpectedly comes home to Beth while Sarah is in the shower. Initially hiding, thinking it was someone else, Sarah later comes out and invites Paul in with her, and the two again end up sleeping together. Paul then asks "Beth" to run away with him, since he hates his job and she has now quit the force. Sarah tells him that they will discuss it in the morning. When they wake up and she is getting dressed he tells her that he is ready to make a commitment to her, but after a hard night sleep she once more hurries away from him, leaving him confused and frustrated again. At his work, Paul is in a meeting when Sarah arrives and waits in his office. When he arrives though, he tries to seduce "Beth", with Felix listening enthusiastically through a bug Sarah had just planted, only to stop when he notices that Sarah does not have Beth's scar at the back of her neck. Sarah insists that it merely disappeared over time with her new lotion, and soon leaves. Paul then watches a video recording he has of Beth and sees Beth's scar, confirming his suspicions that he has been dealing with a different person this past few weeks. He tells his assistant to clear his afternoon because "something came up". Later, he is visited by Olivier Duval, who is asking about Beth's progress. Paul does not tell him about what he had just found out and covers up for Sarah, with the whole exchange recorded on Felix's computer. Paul later follows Sarah and finds her walking her daughter home. Paul sits across the street in his car and takes photos of them both. Paul calls "Beth" and asks her to come home. When Sarah refuses, Paul sends her a photo of her with Kira, and Sarah finds out that he had followed her. Sarah finally confronts Paul at his and Beth's appartment. At first, Sarah continues to lie to him, insisting that she is Beth and that he was just paranoid. Paul isn't having any of it though; he enumerates reasons that he thinks she is not Beth, citing Kira as one, because apparently, he was with Beth when she found out that she was sterile. Asking her a question about Beth's past Sarah could not answer, Paul finally asks her where Beth is. Held at gunpoint, Sarah finally comes clean. She tells him her name, and that she took Beth's identity after she saw her commit suicide, explaining that she had no intention of getting tangled up with him. She tells him that she is Beth's twin, and Paul asks if the whole thing was a test, confusing Sarah even more. Suspicious of her, Sarah tells him that he caused her suicide, particularly because Beth found out about him being her monitor, hurting her deeply enough into ending her own life. Paul, shocked, insists that she is lying and he was being tested. When Sarah asks Paul how he could do that to someone who loved him so much, Paul finally puts his gun down, telling her that he didn't have a choice and he does not even know why he's there to monitor her.

The next morning, Paul and Sarah are discussing his position as Beth's monitor. Sarah leads Paul to believe that she is the twin sister of Beth, Paul tells her a bit about his past, particularly his military past. He then tells her that during his stint as a private contractor, he did something that an organization discovered and used as leverage against him. They blackmailed him into monitoring Beth, and he has been doing so for at least two years, no questions asked, to which Sarah makes her disbelif apparent. He does tell her that her medical results go to Olivier, and that he was serious about running away to Rio with her. Both are still distrustful of each other. Pretending to go shower, Sarah slips away but Paul manages to track her down. He calls her as he prepares for their "talk" by drugging a bottle of scotch at "their" place. Later, Paul meets with Olivier to tell him that "Beth" has been acting strange, and that she seems to be back in her dark place. Olivier merely tells him not to interfere as it is a crisis that he simply needs to support her in. When Paul asks for security in case anything happens to their subject, Olivier says that as long as Beth makes her own choices, "there are no wrong decisions." Later, Paul sits in his car, watching Alison's house from afar until he decides to sneak inside.

Paul is being questioned by Olivier about Beth’s shooting. Paul reminds Olivier that they already covered this, but Olivier ignores him. Paul tells him that, Beth had begun to abuse prescription drugs before the shooting. Olivier reminds him that he previously said Beth’s pill abuse was due to her work stress. Paul states that her pill abuse led to the shooting and her decline got worse. Olivier is questioning Paul about the last time he and Beth slept together. Paul tells Olivier that he could answer the questions more accurately if he knows what’s going on. Olivier explains that all the tests and physical exams are not for Beth alone. He informs Paul that someone out there is killing their test subjects. Felix is on the dance floor when he spots Paul exiting. Felix follows him out the door but Paul’s grabs him, and demands to know why Felix is following him. Sarah intervenes and tells Paul that Felix is her foster brother. Sarah wants to know what went on, but Paul tells her to meet him at home. At the apartment, Sarah tells Paul that Beth figured out there were nine of them and claims that so far, she has only met Alison. Sarah assures him that Alison has been with her husband since high school and so he cannot be her monitor, but Paul is not convinced. Sarah asks him whether Olivier is on to them. Paul reveals to her what Olivier told him- someone is killing the test subjects. When he asks her if she knows anything about this, Sarah pretends that she doesn’t. Paul finds it strange that Sarah doesn’t look worried about the fact that someone might be trying to kill her and she admits that she is scared. Sarah tells him that needs to see her daughter. Paul instructs her to take his car, in case someone is tailing her, and hands her his car keys. At his apartment, Paul gets out of the shower to find Olivier waiting for him. Olivier asks him where “Beth” is. Paul claims she’s with “Christine”. Olivier is irritated since Paul was supposed to keep a close eye on Beth but Paul replies that he couldn’t force her. Olivier reveals to him that his subject, “Beth” is an imposter and has been killing the test but Paul acts clueless. In Olivier’s office, Paul gets the news that Beth is actually dead. Paul asks Olivier who Sarah is and all Olivier tells him is that Sarah is from Europe. Paul asks him whether this imposter killed Beth. Olivier tells him that they think she was the one who killed Beth and the other subjects. Olivier lays out pictures of Paul in combat uniform and promises to Paul that if he helps make things right, Afghanistan goes away. Paul agrees to help him but is definitely not happy to do so. Olivier hands Paul his phone and orders him to call Sarah. When Paul calls her Beth, Sarah catches on to what’s happening and goes along with it. Paul tells her that he needs her to do something for him. He shouts into the phone: “They know you’re not Beth, run!” Paul lunges at Olivier, but a woman present there stabs Paul with an injection, making him faint. As Sarah ignores his advice, Sarah goes to the place where Paul is being held captive. Paul is tied to a chair as Olivier demands to know whom Paul is working for, but Paul denies working for anyone. The woman accompanies Sarah to Olivier’s office and tells Olivier that “Beth” is there to see Olivier. Olivier leaves a message for Leekie to call him as soon as he can. Olivier is intrigued by Sarah and says that he’s never seen “one of them” in the flesh in all the years he’s worked for Neolution. Paul tells Sarah that Olivier thinks she is the clone killing the others. Sarah tells Olivier that the one killing the clones is blonde, Ukrainian, and a religious nut but Olivier ignores her. Olivier is about to show her his tail when his phone rings. Olivier says on the phone that he’s got The killer and is ordered to get her “ready to travel”. A hood is put over Sarah’s head and she is handcuffed and led down the corridor. On one of the security feed screens, Helena is seen entering the club but Paul and Olivier miss her as they are watching Sarah. Olivier thinks that Sarah is irresistible and says that he understands why Paul did this. Paul looks on as Helena knocks out the woman accompanying Sarah. Sarah orders Helena to untie her, but Helena wants the name of a clone. She chokes Sarah until Sarah agrees to give her a name. Olivier holds a knife against Paul’s throat but Paul does not seem too worried as he looks on at the security monitor. Olivier also looks at the screen too, to find the woman accompanying Sarah on the floor, unconscious and Sarah sitting alone, still tied up. Olivier hurries to the room where Sarah is. Paul watches this on the security feed and sees Sarah running back, wearing Helena’s jacket. Sarah runs up to him and starts to untie him. Sarah and the others go outside and bangs on the car window with Paul by her side and Felix hangs up. Back at Felix’s, Sarah, Fee and Paul discuss the events of the evening. Sarah reveals that she gave Helena her own name since she didn’t have a choice. As Paul takes Sarah’s hand, Felix, taking the hint, decides to go get drunk. Paul warns her that they can’t go back to the townhouse since “they” will be looking for her. But Sarah, tired of all the running, gives Paul a kiss.

## Appearances

 **Appears**
 "Variations Under Domestication":
 **Appears**

 **Appears**
 "To Hound Nature in Her Wanderings":
 **Appears**

 *Absent*
 "Certain Agony of the Battlefield":
 **Appears**

 **Appears**
 "The Scandal of Altruism":
 *Absent*

## References

1. ↑ "Certain Agony of the Battlefield"
2. ↑ "Natural Selection"
3. ↑ "Instinct"
4. ↑ "Variation Under Nature"
5. ↑ "Effects of External Conditions"
6. ↑ "Conditions of Existence"
7. ↑ "Variations Under Domestication"
8. ↑ "Parts Developed in an Unusual Manner"