April7739

This was getting too long, so I'm doing the Octavia/Blakes thoughts later. Just copying and pasting what I just posted on The 100 board for now.



Another great episode! This season has really just been consistently great. The episodes are fast-paced, but somehow we’re finding time for these very important and poignant character moments, too, which, let’s face it, are the heart and soul of the show. I think if I had to rank the episodes so far, I’d rank them as follows:

5x03
5x04
5x05
5x01
5x02

The only thing I could have done without in this episode is the whole worm thing. Unless it serves a bigger purpose down the line, it felt not super necessary to me. This type of drama is less compelling to me than the drama between the characters and the opposing groups.

And I just wanted to point out that this episode was written by someone who was new to the writing team this year, so hopefully that can make some fans feel a little less uneasy about having so many new writers next year. See, new writers can write in a way that fits in well with what comes before it.

Okay, so let’s dive in to the characters! I am going to post my Octavia thoughts separately, as I have a lot of thoughts about her, particularly a lot about her and Bellamy’s dynamic. And allow me to state right here and right now that I am NOT enjoying Octavia right now, and my thoughts and reactions will reflect that.


Clarke: Episode MVP, girl! I’m actually really glad that Abby was taken by Eligius, because then we get to see Clarke being in medical mode. Not only that, but we got to see her be an absolute boss at the beginning when she was like, “I know the terrain. I’ve made the trip dozens of times. You need me.” I found it absolutely shocking that they would even consider taking off without consulting her first. But this is how Wonkru is, I suppose. Clarke is not their leader. And I don’t really want her to be, but goodness, there’s nothing wrong with listening to the advice of the one person who’s actually been living above ground for the past 6 years.

Season 5 Clarke is shaping up to be my favorite version of Clarke. I’m really loving her energy, and I feel like I’m having an easy time seeing a lot of the scenes from her point of view (which hasn’t always been the case). It was interesting that she would note the more impressive aspects of Wonkru, and she’s not wrong. I think Clarke can allow herself to be impressed by them more easily than Bellamy can because she doesn’t have a little sister in charge to be horrified by.

I think Clarke has been a lot smarter with her approach to Wonkru than she was with her approach to Eligius. She seems to be doing a lot of observing with them, a lot of listening, just getting a feel for that group.

Oh, I also loved her reunion with Madi. That was super sweet. Eliza’s smile there was just perfection.


Bellamy: I’m going to save some of the more Octavia-related stuff with him for the separate post. But Bellamy . . . oh, my Bellamy. What did he do to deserve this treatment from the person he’s devoted his entire life to? I don’t understand.

I think I posted this in the Bellamy thread or somewhere on Bob’s board, but I have to say, this new, more mature, more rational version of Bellamy is really working for me so far. That can’t be an easy evolution to portray, but I think Bob has done it really well. This still feels like Bellamy, because we can still see that he loves people with all his heart. But rather than being so impulsive (much like Octavia was when she decided to march into that sandstorm), he’s thinking things through more. Bellamy’s always been smart but has never really gotten the credit for his intelligence that he deserves, I feel, and it’s nice to see him be able to use that. He’s relying more on both logic and common sense, but at the same time, we see in the scene where Octavia has the worm in her arm, for instance, that he’s still an incredibly passionate person who cares about his loved ones with all his heart.

I’ll just get this Becho kiss out of the way while I’m here . . . Don’t read this if you’re into Becho, because it’s not super flattering to them. Oh my goodness, they didn’t even really show the kiss. It was blurred out, and half the frame was given to Clarke to show her reaction! That was exactly what I wanted, to be honest. I don’t want Bellamy to be a bad boyfriend, so I’m fine with him going to her like that, even though I’m still not really feeling any huge sense of chemistry or passion here. Anyway, it’s pretty clear to me that that moment isn’t even about them. It was about showing Clarke and Octavia’s reactions to them. Which is why that kiss wasn’t even in focus.


Echo: Let me just mention her briefly while I’m thinking about her, too. I’m still NOT an Echo fan at all, but the fact that I’m actually disliking Octavia so far this season more than I’m disliking Echo really says something. Echo’s in deep ****, though. For all my issues with Octavia, I will not be able to fault her for hating Echo. She has every reason to.

I did like that Echo gave credit to Clarke for saving their lives. That was good. I don’t get the sense that she and Bellamy have talked about Clarke a lot (I don’t get the sense that Bellamy talked about Clarke much with anyone), but I think that, deep down, Echo probably knows how much Clarke means to Bellamy. Because EVERYBODY KNOWS. Anyway, Echo really hasn’t done much this season, so she’s kind of just been there. If the writers think that attaching her to a fan favorite character is going to be enough to get people to like her, though, they’re wrong. They’re gonna have to give her a storyline of her own and attempt to redeem her outside of this relationship with Bellamy. I don’t know if she’ll ever get off my least favorites list, but . . . I don’t know. The best she can probably ever hope to get in my eyes is Finndifferent.


BELLARKE: Ah, my favorite thing to talk about. Okay, so after two huge, epic scenes in the prior episodes, I wasn’t really expecting anything at all in this episode. Yet, we ended up with these really subtle but important scenes between the two of them that I really enjoyed. A lot. And I thought it was a nice contrast to the previous episodes.

The campfire scene was, I thought, incredibly beautiful in the way it was shot. We can see Bellamy behind Clarke, barely able to take his eyes off of her. She talks about being impressed with Wonkru, and he’s just feeling impressed by her. Bellamy was such a fangirl of Clarke’s here, and I loved it. It is impressive surviving on your own like she did. And when she said she wasn’t on her own . . . right away when I watched it, I thought she was debating whether or not to tell him about the radio calls. Then I considered the fact that I may have had shipper goggles on. But then I rewatched it, and I was like, “Nope. No goggles.” She definitely hesitated, and it struck me as her wanting to say something more but backing out before she could.

Then there was that scene in the tent, where they actually vocalize the whole “head and the heart” thing, except they phrase it less poetically as “the heart and the head,” which honestly leads me to believe the writer lurked here, saw our thread, and just didn’t want our egos to get too big. Kidding. Or am I?

But in all seriousness, I love that moment, too, because with those five words, you can just see that they immediately go right back to where they were six years ago, having that conversation, and you can see how important it was to both of them. Bellamy internalized that and kept it with him, and Clarke recognized that. So Clarke got to be Bellamy’s fangirl there. And you know what? He deserves it. Bellamy is constantly **** on, and he probably felt pretty crappy about Octavia. But Clarke is always there to lift him up when Octavia puts him down. (This is also a good point to mention that I absolutely loved how shocked and appalled Clarke looked to hear Octavia say what she said to Bellamy at the end, and the way they filmed that shot was really cool.)

And then . . . oh, and then. That look from Clarke at the end. I loved that so much. When I imagined her finding out about him and Echo, I imagined a moment just like this: subtle but important. I know some people have said it was a jealous look, but I don’t think so. Clarke has never struck me as the jealous type, and it wasn’t like Bellamy was ever her boyfriend or anything. But . . . Bellamy has always been her person, and as we’ve been discussing in the Bellarke thread, she’s never really had to share him with anyone besides Octavia (but it’s a different situation with Octavia). To me, her look was much more of a confused, uncertain one. And yeah, perhaps a little hurt. Definitely disappointed. It seemed to me that they were spending this episode re-learning each other, getting reacquainted with who the other one is now, and Clarke was feeling pretty glad that she had her guy back. It was starting to feel pretty natural to her again. And now this. I think she’s going to be in full on conceal-don’t-feel mode, and she might not even understand how she’s feeling about it herself.

But the directors are directing us into a story. The editors are editing a story for us. If there was no story to tell between Clarke and Bellamy, then why show her reaction? It’s very deliberate and obvious to me, which is why I’m no longer shying away from putting all my Bellarke thoughts right into these episode thoughts anymore.

Oh, also, I loved their numerous WTF looks they gave each other throughout this episode. Same, Bellarke, same.


Gonna speed this up now.


Raven and Shaw: Why must Raven always be tortured? Maybe because Lindsey is so good at acting tortured? Her screams just pierce you, seriously. I’m glad Shaw has a moral compass and a conscience and wasn’t okay with what was going on there. He’s in a precarious position. He doesn’t want to be a part of this, but he is a part of it whether he likes it or not. Obviously there has already been a lot of discussion about whether or not he actually betrayed her, and I’ve already articulated why I don’t believe he did. I never got that sense from the scene or the character, so if I’m wrong, then I’ll be fine with admitting that I’m wrong. But I believe everything that happened in this episode was all part of the plan.

It’s pretty obvious they’re setting up a ship here, and I’m down for it, although I’m still feeling like Murven trash, too.


Murphy and Emori: Oh my gosh, first of all, his interaction with Madi was the best. I love that Madi has met Creepy Uncle Murphy now. I also love how concerned he and Raven were that the other was okay. But now Murphy is once again separated from everyone else. Although Emori clearly still cares about him, because she stayed behind. I’ll admit, having become such Murven trash, I’m slightly less enthused about Memori as a ship than I was before. But I still like their dynamic, always have, and I won’t be disappointed if they get back together. At the very least, they need to reconcile at least on a friends level, because it’s clear they still care about each other. I’m glad Emori stayed behind with him. Now I’m getting that early season 3 Bonnie and Clyde feel from them again.


Madi: Her line about the bear cave and the bears being gone was really funny! I’m sometimes hesitant about shows adding kids into the mix, but obviously this isn’t a normal show and Madi isn’t a normal kid, so it’s working really well. Octavia being her favorite, though . . . oh, girl, I hope she doesn’t remain your favorite. Just have Bellamy or Murphy be your favorite.


Monty? Harper? Question marks because they’ve barely been given anything to do. But Harper is still my beautiful babe, and Monty’s little wave to Octavia at the end is literally one of the only things giving me hope that the Octavia I enjoy is still in there.


Abby: I didn’t know that Paige herself pushed for this storyline because it’s such a national crisis. Good for her. I know some people aren’t feeling this storyline as much, but as someone who has a family member who has been struggling with addiction for decades now, I’m really proud of the show for tackling this and (hopefully) doing it justice. Obviously this show has some really gigantic plots sometimes, and this is a smaller one, but it’s so universal and important and relatable for so many people, much like Jasper’s PTSD was. And Paige’s acting when she was shaking . . . wow, so good. Of course Diyoza gave her the pills back, though. She needs a doctor who can function. I’m really worried for Abby.


Kane: I continue to love Kane this season. I can’t believe we got to see him have his first shot of tequila! Awesome! I have absolutely NO PROBLEM with Kane being willing to talk to Diyoza and possibly divulge some information to her. Octavia and Wonkru may call him a traitor (hell, Diyoza may call him a traitor), but . . . does he really have any reason to be loyal to a group that was about to kill him? Kane has always been trying to make peace and use words to fight battles rather than weapons. So let’s see if he can accomplish that with Diyoza.


Diyoza: I’m starting to enjoy this character a lot more. I’m not one of those people like I see in the episode reviews where they’re like, “Wow, she’s the greatest villain the show’s ever had, maybe the greatest new character they’ve ever introduced!” It’s too early for me to say something like that yet. But she’s been given layers so far, and the actress (Ivana, I believe) playing her has done a really good job with the material. What I can appreciate about her is that, unlike Octavia, she seems to be rational. She actually listens to people. She’s willing to listen to Kane. That’s an intriguing trait in an antagonist.

It looks like she’ll be offering defectors a place with her group. And a question I asked after the episode was, at what point does joining Eligius become the better option than staying with Wonkru? I could see some people being willing to defect. Kane, obviously. Abby. Indra is less likely because she’s so damn loyal, but you never know. Same with Miller and Jackson.


McCreary and Vinson: McCreary still hasn’t given me much to say, but I think the actor is good, and I think he’ll try to overthrow Diyoza at some point. That Vinson guy was creepy as hell. I’m not super interested in what’s going on with him and the others yet. As I always say, I just care more about our established characters.


Indra: Never did I think I would see the day where I can say . . . I am LOVING Indra! You guys know I’ve been critical of her. I’ve never been a fan and have never really understood why so many people like her. But this season, she’s really grown on me. She’s one of the few people who isn’t brainwashed, it seems. She’s loyal to Octavia (probably loyal to a fault, because now the poor woman has shards of glass in her lungs), but she’s not blindly loyal. She’s obviously not happy with the path Octavia has gone down, and I absolutely LOVED that she called out that “love is weakness” bull****. Her telling Octavia she loved her was really touching.

Also, I’m glad we got the confirmation of what we were all thinking: that Gaia has been instrumental in developing this cult-like mentality of Wonkru. Indra throwing that shade at Gaia was EVERYTHING I have ever wanted! Yasss, Indra, yasss! I can’t stand your daughter, and now it seems like you can’t, either!


Kara: But now onto someone I can't stand, and someone who does seem to be blindly loyal to Octavia. I don't like her at all. I have nothing nice to say. All I want to point out is that she talked about those rations A LOT, and I'm not giving up on the cannibalism theory. I swear, if they fed Clarke and Bellamy people, that is disgusting. At least let them know what they're eating! But as others have pointed out, the whole "All of me for all of us" slogan . . . perhaps it's not as "beautiful" as Clarke thought it was. And Kara seemed surprised that they were leaving the bodies. Why? It could have something to do with burying them, but I think it's a lot more likely that they're used to using the bodies as food.


Mackson: Just briefly wanted to mention, yay for another cute kiss! And I’m really proud of Miller for saying, “I think we should hear what Clarke has to say.” But it was really startling to see him just ignore Clarke like that at first. Startling and weird, just like it was weird to see Bellamy and Clarke fall into the line rather than be at the head of it.


And that’s all I can do right now. I’ll be back later to post the Octavia and Blake siblings thoughts.