Tripp

*clears throat*

So I’m new here (just posted in the welcome thread to introduce myself) and hoped it was alright to weigh in on what I thought of this episode.

Ultimately, I did enjoy the episode overall. I wondered if Murphy was staging for a civil war it would bite them in the ass because there is zero communication between the groups and I was right. That said, it still was enjoyable to watch and it is especially great to see McCready and Diyoza (sorry if I misspelled that) having internal issues. (To me well written antagonists need to suffer as many setbacks as our protagonists do). However, I didn’t like the way the backfiring played out (Kane basically just “That won’t work”) and Murphy and Echo going “well crap, okay than, let’s do this instead” was hastily written to move to the next direction of their story.

Bellamy vs Octavia (I refuse to call her Bloodrina) vs Clarke. It’s easy to forget that six years has happened since S4 and people can change. Octavia is obviously the most changed and you can see that by just looking at her. But Bellamy and Clarke have changed too but since it’s not as obvious, both are making assumptions about each other. “Clarke will understand how important Echo and the gang are to me” vs “Bellamy must know I was ALONE until finding and protecting Madi gave me a reason to live.” First Bellamy and Clarke try to deal with Octavia but when their initial plan doesn’t work out, they fall to their instincts which is what they’ve known these past few years but unfortunately clash with the other. So much is going on right now so I get why they are overwhelmed and panicky and thus things have gotten actually quite worse for them. I’m curious to see how the next episode goes, especially on Clarke thinking she can just run with Madi because that is so short term and isn’t going to work at all.

I think actually my favorite part other than Murphy hilariously throwing that rock (Did he even aim? What if it just fell on the ground between people. Would he have thrown another?) was Octavia crying at the end. THANK YOU. I’ve been rather frustrated with her storyline because while she’s a kick ass character, she’s also human and I just couldn’t buy how cold hearted she was with Bellamy and Clarke since their arrival. There is a difference in a leader who has to make harsh decisions versus a harsh leader . I feel like the show has been presenting her as the latter rather than the former.

Madi with the flame is 10 times more interesting to me now than she ever was before.

I feel the Zeke/Raven ship is going way too fast. I wish they would take some time to develop his character more before hooking him up with Raven. I don’t like characters who are really just regulated to be love interests for character x.

Did this episode mention anything about Abby’s addiction issues? Curious how that goes. As for why Murphy seems so suddenly worried for the good doctor, I’m not convinced his need to go with Kane is about that . I feel Emori was not buying Murphy’s “It’s Abby!” Statement anymore than audience members but I’ll see how this plays out.

Overall I do hope the show realizes the hypocracy of Echo being stopped from killing Zeke because he’s their pilot versus Clarke just outright shooting that guy right in front of Madi. Otherwise it’s frustrating to watch.

I want to see more of Bellamy and Indra in scenes together. I thought they played well. Very curious to next week’s scenes.

Anyway, sorry if I rambled, I do that. Just my opinion.

destroyer of worlds

Welcome to the board and glad that you decided to join us in the thread. And do ask if you have any questions regarding FF.

I really like your points. Honestly, the clear villian this season to me is communication. Bellamy is not talking to Clarke, Eligius is not talking to each other, Kane is not talking to Spacekru, in some ways Madi is not in sync with Clarke, Monty is talking but no one is listening etc etc. It’s frustrating and the dialogue this season isn’t helping as well.

And I really like what you said about Bellamy and Clarke’s demeanour and reverting to past behaviour because they’re desperate and cannot think straight right now. It’s all a mess but I do think that it’ll force them to re evaluate their methods and whether they’re been acting in the best possible way. At least, I hope so.

Murphy. I wonder that too, especially since he ever so casually threw that rock at the crowd. I think that he might have tried throwing another one if it didn’t work the first time.

Same, I don’t like it when new characters are shoehorned for the sake of being a new love interest. To be fair, the writers did seem to try to flesh it out with his backstory a bit (in episode 1 and when Shaw told Raven about his history with Diyoza) but the Raven/Shaw romance set up seems a bit contrived so far, even if I do like them.

Emori knows Murphy all too well and that’s probably why she doesn’t buy his story when it comes to Abby. There’s no denying that he does have a soft spot for her but it’s Murphy so I always sort of assume that there’s an ulterior motive. Like when he stayed back with Raven on the prisoner ship.

Tripp

Exactly! To be fair, not sure how they resolve this, it’s not like they can head to Vault Mart and pick up some disposable cell phones. Perhaps they can retrain the worms to be message worms, sort of like Game of Thrones uses ravens. (Oh I’m kidding). We’re probably stuck with this for the rest of the season.


Actually wasn’t he RIGHT THERE behind them when he threw it? What if they all just slowly turned and looked at him. Hee.


I liked they introduced him with Diyoza but if the show keeps to form, I doubt he’s going to have any interaction with anyone else for a long time. Every time he’s in a scene, Raven will probably be right there. If she’s not, then I bet he will be talking about her. Case in point: Emori. Don’t get me wrong, I like her and I am SOOO GLAD they have her breaking up with him. But her storyline is still ALL ABOUT MURPHY! I don’t need her character to point out “He’s John Murphy” because she can do more than that. Now that they are split up again, I have a huge feeling if she does get her own screen time, she’s going to be talking about Murphy.

Speaking of, what I hope they are going with Murphy asking “Shaw told you this” is Murphy knows human behavior and while Zeke intentions may be totally about protecting Raven (a girl he’s known for 5 minutes), is it possible Zeke had made a deal that he could be a spy for them because he’s got an in with the hot girl genius. (And I find that way more interesting, he uses Raven at first only to really fall for her and then worries she’ll find out the truth...angst city.). See that storyline appeals to me WAY more than just watching two who’ve just met hook up.

April7739

Welcome to the thread! Glad to have you and see those thoughts. It's a little bit of an intense episode thread to jump into, just because it was an intense episode.

This is an interesting distinction. I would agree that they've been presenting her as the latter, too, which is probably why I've struggled so much with her this season. Now if we can get something that shows us the former in a way that feels genuine and not forced, then I may alter my opinion.

Dammit, my thoughts got stuck at the bottom of the last page. I worked really hard on them, too!

Tripp

Thank you for the welcome. And I hate it when I get my thoughts get cut off or boards screw up.

As for Octavia and them showing her as a harsh leader, I GET why she covers her emotions so as not to look weak, I mean the people she’s leading HATE weakness and the first sign of it, she would be in the arena (again). However, there’s no excuse the writers can’t show the audience this side. I know technically they just did but we shouldn’t have had to wait 9 episodes to see a glimpse of it.

April7739

Well, and I think we need to see more of it, too. The crying was a very effective shot to end on, but it's not like seeing her cry just makes it all okay.

BlueDog9

I need more from Octavia then a few tears.

April7739

We'll see what more we get in the next episodes. I feel like it's a really pivotal point in the season for Octavia.

BlueDog9

I'm just holding onto the hope that she stops the fighting because she realizes she can't actually kill her big brother.

Fuzzy Dunlop

I'm really expecting the Dark Year episode to give us a whole new understanding of Octavia. It works better as a late season twist if they show her at her worst for 10 episodes and then hit us with the gut punch and reveal how much she's been through and why it's like this.

And there's no way she's gonna kill Bellamy.

Damocles

^ agreed with Fuzzy

I am sooooo looking forward to the Dark Year episode, what the heck did Octavia do/what burden did she bear alone to make everyone be SO devoted to her? And to make her refuse to talk about it to this day?

Alexa

I was on twitter all night last night, it was making me feel better seeing people agreeing with me. When I'm upset, I like to see others feeling that same frustration.

im gonna be so bummed if this whole episode turns out to be the dumbest plot ever. If its actually cannabilism then... oh boy. You dont want to be on the forum with me that night because the rant that will come out of my mouth is going to be something.

I wonder if Octavia was abused or something horrible like that happened to her. Theres gotta be some twist. I like the idea of what you said though and it would help me to understand her again because right now I just cant.

sammmeeeee bro. Welcome to the board. Completely agree with all of these!

CanIcallYouKate

Hey Tripp
Gosh, I really like that last statement in particular and I completely agree. We need to see what happened in the Dark Year to fully get what happened with Octavia and we will soon I'm sure.

Murphy throwing that rock (and his entire plot in the last episode) cracked me up as well.


As per usual with Murphy, there might at least be another motivation in addition to caring for Abby.

I am a huge fan of the Bellamy/Indra pairing
Especially in light of their "complicated" history
Yes, more of that please!



So true, Sarah! As in previous seasons, when the plans go south because of a lack of communication, it makes me want to tear my hair out LOL


Tripp, if it does turn out to be more than "hey, we've know each other for 5 min, I let you get tortured and we make out", that would be welcome


Absolutely, April
Like I said before, I think people might be caught up in a bit of a collective frenzy right after watching episodes that gets amplified on social media LOL
At least for me, re-watching a season in its entirety a lot of times smoothes out those bumps that had people riled up in the week-to-week madness


Lisa, me too
At this point, I'm stumped. What could possibly be worse than cannibalism? What did she do? I need to know, I am so impatient

Regan

It's episodes like this one that make me wish that this show could have the population counter that Battlestar Galactica used to have at the beginning of its episodes.

Have they even got a thousand people left on Earth at this point? At the rate they're going, they won't need to fret about sharing the valley, they should be more worried about a sustainable population for future generations. Given that the Eligius group is predominantly male, they will need an influx of women in order to reproduce.

I like that Octavia's incapacity and Madi's ascension weren't quick fixes. The latter planted the seeds for a schism in Wonkru, but Bloodreina still has what looks like majority support.

It's creepy that the child Clarke is parenting will now have the memories of somebody who was in love with her.

The Dark Year becomes more and more intriguing. At this point, I'm not only leaning against cannibalism, I'll be disappointed if they go with it. I'd be curious to see if the staunch loyalty Octavia commands from characters like Miller, Jackson and Niylah traces back to the Dark Year. From what Indra said, it sounds as if Octavia shouldered the burden of a horrific action alone.

BlueDog9

From the behavior of those three, it definitely is from that year.