The 100 - From The Ashes

Discussing Ep. 7.1

So it's been a while! But with the return of The 100 for it's final season, I stepped away from my other writing to focus on this show. Man, it feels like forever and yet at the same time, it doesn't

Feels like an anomaly!

HA!

And that's where we start. With a small (basically useless) recap of last season that did little to jog my memory, where Hope (not Hope Mikaelson....Hope Diyoza) returns from the Anomaly and inexplicably stabs Octavia. Octavia goes into the Anomaly and Bellamy is there, screaming her name. Then suddenly, fucking poltergeists carry him off! I have to say, that was really weird, seeing Bellamy get tossed around by some unseen force. Then my Echo steps out to look for him.

And she sees Bellamy being dragged off before she starts getting her ass handed to her by the unseen forces as well. While in the tent, Gabriel is trying to revive Hope who wakes up, kicks his ass and then runs off. Once alone, she finds some weird stick stabbed into her skin. Turns out it's a note, with  one side being the same design of the tattoo that Octavia had on her back.

I forgot what this meant, other than it was related to the Anomaly. It obviously is going to play a big part this season as even Russell makes reference to it and how he built Sanctum because of it. However, on the other side of the paper, there was this.

This is intriguing because....who wrote it? Octavia went into the Anomaly after Hope came out of it. So, how could it be from Octavia? Was it from Diyoza, her mom? I don't see that because I don't think Diyoza and Bellamy interacted at all last season, or if they did, it was very minimal. Mind you, the Anomaly fucks around with time (which is why Hope had aged so fast). So I'm very intrigued as to who wrote this and why.

I will say this about Hope....she is her mother's daughter, at least in terms of fighting. It was VERY impressive how she went one-on-one with Echo and was able to essentially beat her. I mean, that is not an easy thing to do! Echo's been training her whole life to be an assassin. For Hope to be able to best her, I have to imagine that she underwent some serious training from her mom. But if that's the case, how did that happen? Obviously, while in the Anomaly, they are able to exist in other places. How else did she get that note in her arm? How else did she get the training that she has? How else did she get those tattoos on her face?

Speaking of which, seems like she wasn't the only one. These alien beings who were able to cloak themselves....they seem to have those same tattoos on their faces as well. And not only that, they seem to have a real problem with Hope.

It's apparent that where they know who everyone is. Gabriel's full name is displayed. They didn't have a full name for Echo, but they knew she was from Azgedakru so they put that as a last name. How in the world did they know her history? And from the display, they have their orders to spare both Echo and Gabriel so as to be rendered to Bardo. Who is Bardo? But for Hope, she was to be killed on sight. So that creates a lot of interesting mysteries.

Adding to it all was a cameo by King Roan, as well as Echo's childhood friend who she killed. Gabriel said it was the toxin in the atmosphere that created the illusion for Echo, but I do wonder about that because of what Hope saw.

She saw Octavia! Why would she see Octavia? She doesn't even know her. And as opposed to Roan and Original Echo taunting Echo about her past and who she would follow if Bellamy wasn't around, Octavia seemed to be legitimately talking to Hope. So I'm really curious about this too.

Another line that Gabriel said was that the Anomaly was closing because 'they' couldn't control it. Who's "they?" Whoever they are, I found it odd that Gabriel's solution was to essentially step into the Anomaly. That was rather ballsy. But I suppose since Hope survived, that the only way they'll find the answers to their questions is by going in there. Will we see Bellamy and Octavia and Diyoza? The Anomaly collapsed and shot up into space! So where did they all go?

Back at Sanctum, Wonkru moved into their fancy new digs. I have to say, it seemed so bizarre to see them all in a normal house setting. I'm so used to seeing them in caves or in the forest or on some spaceship. This was too normal! LOL! All them get together outside for a nice little picnic before they decided what their next step is. While the death of Abby was certainly a big event, I'm surprised as shit that they mentioned nothing about Kane. He died too! But they were all toasting to the death of Abby and reminding Clarke nonstop about it.

Right off the bat, Clarke assumed control again. I really wonder why that is. Why is she always the de facto leader of the group? Is it just because that's what they're all used to by now? The person who I was most thankful was there was Indra! Indra is so bad ass. And she's like the only parent there among them now. Not only that, but she legitimately seems like the wisest one now. She had so many great lines like "Every battle plan is perfect until the first shot is fired." Or "Belief is stronger than the truth."

She was out there advising Clarke on what to do. She was the one delegating duties beyond what Clarke was delegating. She was the one who was putting everything into perspective. They have Wonkru, who still follow Madi as the Commander, even though she no longer has the Flame. They have the Sanctumites, who resent Wonkru for coming and fucking everything up and still hold Russell Prime as a god. Then they have the Children of Gabriel, who are resentful towards the Sanctumites and Russell and want their land back. Then they have the 36 criminals who followed Diyoza. I had completely forgotten about those guys. It's going to be really interesting how they work this all out because they have SO MANY players on the field now.

Not to mention Murphy and Emori, who are still playing the roles of Daniel and Kaylee, two Primes who the Sanctumites still respect and worship. I wonder how far they're going to go with this but I am glad that Emorphy still has a role to play and they're not relegated to the background just yet. Also, with Murphy's guilt over the death of Abby (and I couldn't remember what he did....I was happy that he basically recounted everything in the bar!), I wonder if they're still going to go with his vision that he had of Hell and if he's still haunted by that.

The one character I'm somewhat concerned for is Raven. She doesn't seem to have anything to do right now. And I was super upset that all the focus, in terms of grief, was on Clarke. For fuck's sakes, Raven lost somebody too! Granted, she didn't know Shaw all that long but that's the point. She never got the chance to. Everything was about Clarke's grief. What about everyone else's grief? What about Indra's grief over losing Kane, who became a man she respected? What about Jackson's grief over losing a friend and mentor in Abby? No, it was all about Clarke!

I think my favourite moment in the episode was when Madi was attempting to comfort Clarke by sharing her experience in losing her own mother. Clarke, ever the self-centered diva that she is, thought Madi was talking about her. She was like "Madi, I'm right here!" For fuck's sakes! It was embarrassing how Madi had to explain to her that she was talking about her REAL mother, not Clarke! What....did Clarke assume that Madi didn't have a mother before she came along? Like, what the actual fuck?!?

This is why I don't get how people view Clarke as the leader. She's far, far too volatile and inconsistent to be the leader. She spent the majority of the episode defending Russell, insisting that they weren't going to kill him, even though everyone from Indra to Russell himself felt that he deserved to die for what he did. Then, when Russell hands over items that belonged to Abby, Clarke snaps. I'm not harping on Clarke for that. I get that she had a hard time processing Abby's death and that she was suppressing her grief and it all came out. So I get her lashing out and beating the shit out of Russell. But to go and declare to everyone from all the different factions that essentially, the old way of doing things is done and over with, she goes and declares that Russell will die for his crimes! How is that different than what Russell was doing before?

One guy that I was actually glad to see was Dark Commander. I really felt that last season, he was tacked on merely as a way to give Madi a storyline. But now, he's assumed control of Russell's body. How? Fuck if I know! But I like it because it adds a new element to everything. I can totally see Russell/DC (as I'm calling him) taking command of the 36 prisoners. He could also take command of the Sanctumites as they still see him as a god. But the prisoners seem to be the kind of folks that DC could manipulate into following him. So that's where I see things going with him.

So an intriguing first episode. Though Bellamy was barely featured, apparently that's going to be continued this season. I just read that Bob Morley requested time off from the series and that's why he will not be featured so heavily, which is rather disappointing. Still, they have so many characters to focus on, too much in my opinion, that I fear that we may see some fan favourites actually not make it to the end.

Rather nail-biting in that sense!