madness

Yes! Not surprising, but yes! Imagine the trends for their first kiss....

Damocles

So Josie is gone for good, right? She clung to Clarke’s neural mesh to stay inside her head, but then Clarke ‘killed’ her.

Also I think the director of this episode did a fantastic job.

BlueDog9

She might be gone for good, I just kinda imagined it being made a bigger deal once she was.

madness

I'm just still processing everything, among those things is "We've had our time." Not to be extra blarke but that implies it's the turn for someone else and I mean ....


https://sometimesrosy.tumblr.com/pos...o-it-but-could

Damocles

I actually really, really enjoyed it if this was her end. They made me feel empathy for her while still allowing me to kind of hate her. Her weird, lengthy romance with Gabriel finally came to a close and I thought the dialogue was fantastic and actually really heartbreaking.

April7739

I agree. They humanized her at the end, but I still hated her and wanted her gone. It was SO REWARDING!

I’m still recovering, tbh. That was . . . really something last night.

April7739

I agree. They humanized her at the end, but I still hated her and wanted her gone. It was SO REWARDING!

I’m still recovering, tbh. That was . . . really something last night.

destroyer of worlds

Raven's reaction to Murphy betraying Clarke and Bellamy? She's Ms. Morality who judges every single thing Clarke does with such disdain and then Murphy pulls this crap and she's overly gentle with him. Just wow. And her not being remotely sad over Clarke? Disappointed but not surprised.

I really love the mind drive scenes, it's unlike anything we've seen before (love the blurring of lines between reality vs. symbolism) and though I'm not sorry to see Josephine gone, I will miss these sequences. #random

Did Abby even shed a tear for Clarke? Gosh. All she did was look angry and that's it? Okay then.

Josephine did come off as a bit more sympathetic in this episode but she's still a total psycho and I'm so glad to have Clarke back permanently. Also, I was done with her once she slit Clarke's throat. GTFO.

Bellamy's dramatic AF entrances!! Miss/love that.

JFC, they're going to extract bone marrow from Madi? Of course.

That last scene. I felt for Gabriel though, it's obvious that he did love Josephine a lot.

Ryker, we were rooting for you. How dare you.

BlueDog9

Damocles

destroyer of worlds

Yay for Toni's recap!

Also, can I say, Bellamy and Octavia's synchronized/annoyed head turns in response to Josephine ... A plus.

April7739

Okay. Damn. I’m excited to post thoughts about this one. They’re going to be focused mainly on one storyline, but it’s an awesome storyline, so what the hell, right?

I was getting impatient as this episode was airing. I wanted more Bellamy (and the ending just proves how much this character adds to an episode). I was basically thinking of the episode in three parts:

Sanctum stuff – Meh
Dark Commander stuff – awful
Clarkephine stuff – awesome

So all 3 of these things combined were going to combine to make it a meh episode for me. Not something that would constitute a clunker, but not something that I would run over to my friend’s house to rewatch, either. But then . . . BUT THEN. The ending happened, and that just elevated the episode up into greatness. Quite possibly my favorite scene of the entire series? Certainly one of them.

(I should note that I have not rewatched this whole episode, only the Clarkephine mindspace stuff, Bellamy’s dramatic AF entrance, and the ending scene multiple times.)


Clarke/Bellamy/Bellarke: I’m lumping all of this together this week, because how can I not? First of all, Eliza did a great job. I always feel like acting out a medical condition like a seizure would be really hard. Not only that, but she did manage to humanize Josephine a bit while still differentiating her from Clarke. The mindspace stuff has been incredibly interesting to me all season long. I love how it gives the show a chance to be abstract and very symbolic. Is it sometimes overtly symbolic? Sure, but I’m here for it. I just think it’s cool. It was also interesting to see Clarke and Josephine forced to work together. I was kind of worried that a lot of the episode would take place in Josephine’s mindspace, so I’m glad that wasn’t the case. One flashback of her and Gabriel was enough to help me understand that relationship a bit better. (The song playing in the background of their slow dance was so beautiful. Can’t wait to see Cigarettes After Sex get a little more exposure now, as they’ve been unknown for way too long.)

When Bellamy showed up, I’m sure I’m not the only viewer who got some season 2 vibes. It totally reminded me of when he was in disguise (this man loves to play dress-up, I swear) and saved Fox. What a mother****ing hero this guy was in this episode. Not only did he save Clarke, but he saved Octavia, too. The show does a lot of praising its badass female characters, but Bellamy Blake is so badass.

Okay, that ending scene . . . good lord. That was so incredible. I was brought to tears for the first time since 5x13. But they weren’t sad tears. They were happy tears, because I was so happy to see Bellamy fight for her, to keep his promise that he wouldn’t let her die. If it wasn’t for Bellamy, Clarke would have been so screwed this season. His love for her literally brought her back to life. And I know I always say, “However you want to interpret that love,” and that’s fine for people to still interpret it however they want, but to me, it just seems SO ****ING OBVIOUS. So blatant. And honestly . . . so beautiful. Do they have a perfect relationship? No, it’s had some major ups and major downs. It’s been a roller coaster. Last season damaged it. But this season has just proved how pivotal and integral this love of theirs is to the show, and how much better the show works and how much more energized viewers are when that love story is just allowed to be a love story.

Not to mention the fact that this storyline brought back the return of heart-driven Bellamy, perhaps a more driven and passionate version of him than we’ve ever seen before. Clarke has become the manifestation of his heart this season, and he literally got hers to start beating again. He would not stop fighting for her on the outside, and that inspired her to fight from the inside. Even in death, Bellamy and Clarke are unstoppable. It’s SO EPIC. For many seasons now, I've felt like Bellamy and Clarke's relationship has been used to subvert the idea that the show itself put forth in season 2, that love is weakness. It is NOT weakness. Love gives people strength.

Just have to point out that his, “I need you,” was such a good callback to 6x02 when he told her he didn’t need her anymore. And I loved the callbacks to him losing her before (twice) and not being willing to lose her again. “I won’t let you die” takes on even more significance now, as does Clarke telling him in the last episode, “I’m not leaving you.”

I also have to mention the really effective comparisons/contrasts drawn between Bellarke and Gabriel/Josephine. Gabriel’s relationship with Josephine had its time. Bellamy’s relationship with Clarke hasn’t. Gabriel was willing to let her go, whereas Bellamy was not willing to let Clarke go. (They even said these lines.) They’re two complicated love stories that have played out differently, but at the same time, it worked really well to compare them.

I feel like I have more to say, because this whole storyline has probably become my favorite, and I think it’s been written so well and portrayed so well by both Bob and Eliza. But I can’t remember everything right now. Oh, I know one thing I wanted to add: That hug at the end . . . so beautiful, so soft, so pure. The way they’re clinging to each other and are both so relieved . . . my god, I just love it so much. I feel like this episode and this season has proved how important Bellarke is to the show and how greatly their relationship can affect an entire season.


Octavia: She had a small role this week, but I liked it. I’m glad that there won’t be instant forgiveness between her and Bellamy—she still has to earn it—but it’s clear that this is something she’s going to work for. I also love that she was there to see him resurrect Clarke, because it brought back some major 2x05 vibes with her witnessing their first hug there. I felt like she was looking at her brother like, “Yeah, Bell, that’s your soul mate, and I’m happy for you.” It was nice to see her smile, even if it was for someone else. (Now can we get her concerned about her new bestie Diyoza, please?)


Gabriel/Josephine: Mentioned them a bit above in my Bellarke section, but I want to say that, even though I was having a really hard time understanding why Gabriel would ever love Josephine, this episode helped somewhat in that regard. She really wasn’t always so horrible. I kind of felt a little bit bad for her when she said, “I know I’ve done horrible things, but I don’t remember them.” Then I remembered that I hated her and wanted her gone, but you know. I thought the actor playing Gabriel (don’t know his name, sorry!) also did a really good job portraying Gabriel’s grief in that last scene. He was resigned to it and knew it had to be done, but it still wasn’t easy for him, and it was a great contrast to Bellamy’s relief.


Murphy: Honestly, Murphy deserved to be the one they picked to have sacrificed after what he’s done this season. I still love the character, but he deserved it. And I think he deserved that slap from Abby, too. HOWEVER . . . Abby should also recall what questionable decisions she’s made this season, too. No, not even questionable. Just wrong.

And good on Murphy for thinking on his feet and saving them all with his idea for bone marrow transplants. I do agree that it’s a little weird someone like Abby or genius Raven didn’t suggest it first, though.

Emori defending him while having to acknowledge that he also screwed up big time was kind of nice, but . . . Emori, you were the one who did the right thing, not your boyfriend. She deserves the credit for that more than him.


Abby: Maybe we’re supposed to take this as her being numb from Kane’s death, but she was kind of emotionless in this episode. A little angry about Clarke, but not devastated the way Bellamy was. This woman owes Bellamy the BIGGEST THANK YOU IN THE WORLD for loving her daughter so much and saving her in every way a person can be saved.


Raven: Oh, I am not here for them putting Raven into the Kane role if that’s the route they decide to go with her. It doesn’t feel earned. It just feels preachy. What she said to Murphy was true, but it felt so weird considering how judgy she’s been towards Clarke this season. (We didn’t even really get her reaction to Clarke’s death. Sad. I was hoping she’d maybe express some remorse about how she treated her.) Sarah, I think you hit the nail on the head: Raven was willing to be compassionate and kind with Murphy this episode, yet she lashed out at Clarke all season. It feels inconsistent and not really fair.

Ten episodes into the season, have we found some semblance of a storyline for Raven? Removing that stupid flame?


Echo: I’m just . . . so confused. I thought this episode was setting up a heroic Echo moment, which I would have just kind of shrugged and rolled my eyes at, tbh, but it would have made sense with her being the one who wasn’t captured. So I was prepared to get on here and say, “Good job, you saved them.” But then she just got knocked out, so . . . what was the point? She continues to have no storyline, even less of one than Raven now.


Gaia: So she wasn’t banished far, huh? Her storyline still just revolves around the flame, which is a multi-season nightmare at this point.


Madi: Ugh. The flame has made her so unlikable. Don’t even get me started on the whole, “She changed the pass-phrase” thing when no other commander managed to do that but Madi did within a few days of having it. The flame and the commander system serves no purpose. It’s gross and disgusting what it’s done to Madi. It’s not even interesting. It was by far the weakest aspect of the episode, and as of right now, I see no reason not to destroy it at the end of the season. (It won’t be destroyed, but it should be. This altering of people’s minds is just wrong.)


Russell: Well, he’s lost both his wife and his daughter now. Wasn’t sad to see his wife go, but seeing JR Bourne portray Russell’s quick descent into darkness was really cool. He’s such a strong actor. Unfortunately, I don’t see how his character could continue on after this season, and I really don’t want the cast to get any more bloated.


Ryker: I don’t understand this guy, and that makes me not really care to see much more of him. He was helping out, then he wasn’t, and it seems like too much has happened off screen for me to fully grasp who he is. Or care.


Stray Thoughts: I was prepared to ship Mackson, but they haven’t been given anything to do. And Emori had a great 6x08, but I worry about her because she’s the one I could see dying, and I like her. She’s getting some Harper treatment right now, though, not being given much to do other than say a few lines. And that’s a shame, because I think most viewers like her.


Episode MVP: Bellamy ****ing Blake. Although kudos to credit for Clarke hearing his voice and doing what he said, fighting. But it’s gotta be Bellamy. He saved her.

5x01: Bellamy (could change when I rewatch. Idk on this one. No one seems obvious.)
5x02: Murphy
5x03: Clarke
5x04: Diyoza
5x05: Jordan
5x06: Bellamy
5x07: Clarke
5x08: Emori
5x09: Kane
5x10: Bellamy

My mom and I talked about this episode last night whilst I was sobbing, so I can’t remember much of what she said. But she is here for Bellamy and Clarke both as individual characters and as a relationship, and that’s the gist of it.

Damocles

Re: Cadogan

scribere

I would say it was okay/good, but thats mainly because i loved Clarke & Josephine & Gabriel & Octavia. Put Diyoza in that Group and kill the Rest of the Show. Besides Murphy. But this Episode proofed to me once again that i wont have cried myself to Sleep if they really went there and killed Gaia, Abbi, Jackson, Miller, Emori and even Raven. Murphy is pretty much the only Character i truly care and love out of that Group. Besides, that wouldnt have havent happen anyway, so whats the Point? That Storyline fell Incredible flat. It is like back when The Flash made a whole Storyline Like, sure. Drew Lindo is really not my favourite Writer, at all!

Raven and Abbys Reaction to Clarke being dead sucked. Raven was more sad when her Love of three Episodes died. But Lindsey Morgan disappointed me this Season in General, which is very sad, given Raven used to be my favourite Character and shes such an amazing Actress, but this Season (what started in S5), shes just meh. Either she doesnt get proper Material or when she finally gets a tiny bit of screentime, Lindsey Morgan doesnt shine. Even when they were about to get burned alive, the Actor that most got me was Sachin Sahel. Sachin Sahel, whos Lines are reduced to one liners and whos Scenes mostly contain of Hugs with his so called Love Jackson. Im sorry for being so salty, im just sad this Episode was not too great. Even Echo was so stupid. (Not her, the writing). Because Echo is this amazing Robin Hood and then she takes forever to take that shot and Russell can talk and talk..she had that shot when he finally stopped Walking, but she was slow enough for Ryder to hit her. That is just bad writing imo.

What i loved though: Octavia, whom reminded me a lot of her Season 1 self, she was so quiet, calm, if you know what i mean? I really loved that. Beautiful compared to Season 5 and fitting after what she went trough last Episode. I cant wait for Bellamy and Octavia to get some Blake Focus in the next Episode.

Also i do not care or like that whole bad Commander/Madi/Flame Storyline, once i agreed with Abby.

Another Thing i loved as said above is the Group of Clarke & Josephine (Their Scenes were so interesting to watch). But i also feel like im over that Setting/Storyline at this Point. Not in a bad Way, i just feel like i have seen enough Memories and Mind Stuff. Im happy to have Clarke back and im curious to see what they do with Josephines Mind. Put it into Raven and give her some sass back. JK of Course. I also loved the way the Gabriel and Josphine Storyline ended and how Octavia and Bellamy were basically a part of the Fandom with turning around, being annoyed, reminding him to get to do stuff. That was so much fun so watch and they all work so well together.

Aaaannnddd then. he Head and the Heart, him saving her like that Octavia seeing Bellamy so down, him not giving up on her and that beautiful Hug in the End and the Parallels to 2x05 and 2x07.

CanIcallYouKate

For once, I'll be a bit of a downer this week.
Maybe my head wasn't in the right place but this episode was a bit of a mess.

They always pack the maximum in terms of storytelling into each episode but somehow this week it bugged me. Maybe I just need to rewatch it

Loved the mindspace scenes and ideas. Loved the awkward Blakes hug, was a bit surprised at the Clarke death fake-out and then of course happy about the ending.

Good job humanizing Josephine a bit but hopefully she is dead dead now. Good riddance, psycho.

Man, cramming the sheidheda story into this episode was just meh. I do not mind the flame and all flame related stories at ALL, but they clearly thought they devoted enough time to Madi/commander/sheidheda in earlier episodes, so it just felt super weird to me here (again maybe I'll change my mind upon re-watch).

Burning that guy at the stake, holy crap. Like who TF burns people at the stake anymore

Made me think of Cadogan burning Becca at the stake
Coincidence? Considering burning ppl at the stake is so out of fashion in the 21st century LOL maybe not a coincidence then...

WTF was Echo's plan? shoot Russell? And then? everything was all gonna be rainbows and unicorns? the rest of sanctum was gonna be like cool. cool. you killed our god but no sweat, feel free to leave? Or what exactly was the plan here? Kinda dumb..

Ryker has outlived my patience at this point.

Nobody giving two ****s about Clarke being dead? ok. alright then.

So yeah, all in all definitely meh on this episode. It wasn't bad or anything, just a bit underwhelming.