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truthbeetoldmedia · 5 years ago

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The 100 6x04 "The Face Behind the Glass" Review

Many reviewers have already been singing the praises of Season 6 of The 100, and I’m here to add my voice to the chorus. It’s incredibly unusual for a show’s sixth season to still be just as good as, if not better than, its first few, but this season has already blown me away, and we’re only 4 episodes in! I could not be more intrigued by the mysteries Sanctum holds, and may or may not have already spent multiple hours theorizing about it with friends. “The Face Behind the Glass” was another terrific hour of television, written by Charmaine DeGraté and directed by Tim Scanlan!

Gabriel and his Children

The episode opens with Diyoza in the woods, building a fire. As it blazes to life, she assures her unborn daughter that she’ll teach her how to survive. Three Sanctum guards on motorcycles roar up, led by Jade, the woman responsible for protecting Rose, the nightblood child kidnapped by the Children of Gabriel. She comes with an offer: help them recover Rose and the heads of the Primes that were also taken by the Children, and Diyoza’s baby will be allowed to grow up inside the safety of Sanctum. Diyoza agrees to the deal, on one condition — she gets a motorbike too.

Back where the Children of Gabriel are camped out, one of the women, Tosh, strikes Octavia, asking her repeatedly how many more people with black blood are with the Earth people. Octavia refuses to answer, and Tosh wants to kill her as well as Rose, but Xavier tells her that “the old man” will make her talk. As the group continues to hike, Rose pleads with Octavia to answer their questions so that they don’t kill both of them. Octavia seems to have gotten attached to the child, because she assures her that she won’t let anything happen to her, and that while they might be monsters, so was she. Later, with Rose and Octavia tied to a tree, Xavier makes the mistake of leaving a knife on a backpack near Octavia, who is able to hook it with her foot and grab the knife. While the Children are distracted by another group of Children meeting up with them, Octavia and Rose make their escape.

Octavia and Rose run through the forest, but Rose is exhausted and tells Octavia she can’t run anymore. Octavia tries to motivate her by telling her that if she doesn’t run, she’ll die, but that just makes Rose burst into tears and cling to her. Octavia holds her tight, her hand cradling the back of Rose’s head just like Bellamy used to do hers, then gives her Bellamy’s patented “fear is a demon” pep talk. After Rose repeats “I’m not afraid” a few times, and the two dash off. They get surrounded by Children of Gabriel, but Jade, Diyoza, and the other guards come roaring up and quickly dispatch the kidnappers. But not before one gets off a shot at Rose, hitting her in the chest. Octavia looks on in shock as Jade cradles Rose’s body, wailing.

The Devils from Earth Become the Heroes of Sanctum

Diyoza correctly assumes that since Rose died, the deal for her child to be raised in Sanctum is off. But when Octavia mentions the leader of the Children of Gabriel, Diyoza gets an idea, and asks Jade — if she kills “the old man,” the leader of the Children of Gabriel, will the Primes honor the deal? Jade agrees, and Octavia and Diyoza gather weapons and camouflage from the bodies of the Children. Octavia already wants to kill Xavier, so Diyoza tells her, “looks like you’ve got a partner.” This is a team-up I’ve been hoping for since the two spoke on the Eligius ship in the Season 5 finale, and I’m really hopeful that Diyoza can pull Octavia back from the darkness. Octavia needs someone who won’t stand for any nonsense and can hold their own in a snark-off. I also find it interesting that Octavia refuses to tell the Children whether or not there are more nightbloods. Is this just out of stubbornness and refusal to help the enemy, or did Bellamy’s actions jolt her to her senses and make her realize that she needs to do better? She seems thoroughly shaken by Rose’s death, and I wonder if it might help her understand where Bellamy was coming from all those years.

Inner Sanctum

Back in Sanctum, Simone is trying to convince Russell to cancel Naming Day. She points out that the fact that the Children had sketches of Rose and Delilah and knew where to go to kidnap them means that they have spies inside Sanctum. She’s worried that they’ll use the distraction of Naming Day to strike again. She asks Russell to cancel the ceremony, saying, “Priya can wait.” Russell answers, “Would you say that if it was Josephine? If we cancel, Gabriel wins.”

In her room above the tavern, Delilah gets ready for her Naming Ceremony, Jordan in bed behind her. (Side note: how is it humanly possible to have an eight pack while propped up in bed?!) Jordan tells Delilah that his parents would have loved it there in Sanctum, and Delilah encourages him to unburden — Naming Day is a day to make amends for the things they feel guilty for. He tells Delilah about his childhood, wishing desperately to meet the people in the cryo pods, but they were just faces behind glass. Then he decided to go into cryosleep, and he became the face behind the glass to his parents, and he feels guilty for being happy here without them. Delilah thinks that they should take happiness while they can, and starts taking her dress off again. Who cares if she’s late to her Naming Ceremony — making amends is what the day is all about, right?

Downstairs, everyone is scurrying around making preparations for the celebration. Delilah’s father offers Madi a cookie (that looks suspiciously like a Keebler Fudge Striped Shortbread cookie), and tells her and Clarke that they and their people are the guests of honor. Jordan and Delilah come downstairs to applause, and Delilah makes a beeline to Clarke, embracing her and thanking her for saving her life. And isn’t it so nice to see Clarke be appreciated? She’s incredibly selfless, but gets little recognition for it. Cillian, the doctor that treated Murphy in the last episode, calls Delilah and Clarke over for a checkup. Delilah gets a clean bill of health, and Cillian tells her that after tonight, it’ll be like the kidnapping never happened at all. Delilah skips off, and Cillian turns his attention to Clarke. Despite her protests, he insists on checking the wound across her palm from the kidnapper’s knife — Abby made him promise he would. He flirts with her for a bit as he checks the wound, then advises her to keep the wound covered — if anyone finds out she has black blood, they’ll worship her.

As he walks away, Madi comes up to Clarke, knowingly saying, “He’s cute.” She then asks if this is what it’ll be like from now on, and Clarke says, “Why not? I think we deserve a fresh start, don’t you?” Way to jinx things, Clarke. Madi then asks if she can go to school, and despite lamenting that she hadn’t been able to a few episodes earlier, Clarke says no. She can’t risk anyone finding out that Madi is a nightblood, and besides, Madi chose the Flame over being a normal kid. Clarke reminds Madi that she can still take the Flame out, but Madi refuses, so Clarke reminds her that being the Commander comes with responsibilities, and she wants Madi to keep working at mastering the Flame so that Sheidheda doesn’t become a problem. Clarke sends Madi off to the ship to train with Gaia, and as Bellamy, Echo, Jordan, and Raven join Clarke, Raven wants them all to go to the ship too, where Miller, Jackson, Murphy, and Emori are, instead of to the celebration. Jordan panics a little, because he really wants to go to his first dance. Clarke points out that they’re guests of the Primes, and that it would be rude to isolate themselves on the ship. (Did this remind anyone else of when Clarke told Bellamy in Season 2 that they couldn’t think of things as “our side” and “their side” now that they were allied with the grounders?) Raven heads for the bar, and everyone else follows Delilah to the courtyard in front of the palace.

A crowd has gathered in front of the palace balcony, where Russell, Simone, Kaylee, and Miranda stand. Russell speaks into a microphone, welcoming everyone to Naming Day. He then asks the crowd to name the four pillars of Sanctum, and as they chant, “repent, renew, rejoice, rebirth,” Bellamy, Echo, and Clarke exchange uneasy glances. Russell tells the people that today they’ll be welcoming back their beloved Priya, and they all respond with “hallowed be her name.” Definitely looking more and more cultish. Russell announces that he will begin the process of making amends, and he turns to Kaylee. He tells her that he failed to keep her and her family safe when he realizes that she and her family didn’t make it to Ryker’s Keep before the eclipse. (Side note, remember the name Ryker; it’ll come up again.) “I closed the door,” he says. “I kept it open as long as I could, until the life of everyone else was at risk.” Does this sound like anyone else you know? Multiple times?

“Make amends for those you’ve hurt.”

Russell prompts everyone to turn to their neighbor and tell them that they love them, and make amends with those they’ve hurt. Clarke leaves the crowd and finds Raven in the tavern. Raven is still furious with Clarke because of her actions on Earth, namely that she didn’t know of Spacekru’s plan to help Octavia win the valley, so she sided with McCreary, and then turned in Raven, Echo, and Shaw to keep Madi safe. When Clarke approaches Raven at the bar, Raven knows why she’s there, and already has her defenses up. But rather than getting defensive and justifying her actions (which were completely justified in my opinion), she simply apologizes for all the hurt she’s caused Raven. It’s really hard to apologize without justifying your actions, especially when you have such a strong motive in saving your child’s life, but as we’ve seen in the past 3 episodes, Clarke is determined to live out Monty’s last wish for them and do better, be better. She stands silently, tears welling up, as Raven accuses her of being just as bad as Octavia, of only pretending to regret the bad outcomes of her choices, then angrily storms off. I’ll be honest, I’m really tired of Raven’s attitude toward her the last couple seasons, when Raven hasn’t had to make any huge, impossible decisions like Clarke.

The next part of the celebration involves writing your sins on strips of cloth and tying them to paper lanterns to be sent up into the sky. We finally get to see Bellamy and Clarke address her leaving him in Polis — and not for the last time, if the trailer is any indication. Clarke hesitantly approaches Bellamy, I’m sure still stinging from Raven’s attacks, and admits to him that her greatest regret was leaving him in Polis. He doesn’t want to talk about it, but Clarke presses on, her voice wavering.

“What I did — leaving you like that — I’m so sorry, Bellamy.”

“I know what it’s like to risk everything for one person. And I know Madi’s your family.”

“Hey. You’re my family too. I lost sight of that. But I promise I will never forget it again. You’re too important to me.”

This conversation felt like so many fanfictions I’ve read, and it was so gratifying. Bellamy and Clarke will always be the most important relationship on the show, and the show is always at its best when the two are working together, so I really appreciate that this season is taking time to give the characters space to breathe and interact in deeper, more meaningful ways.

Clarke asks Bellamy if he’s going to try sending up his regrets with a lantern, but he says he has too many sins that would weigh the lantern down. “Octavia?” Clarke asks, but Bellamy isn’t ready to talk about it, and says, “No more amends today.”

Fights with Cranky Engines

Raven finds the mechanic’s shop in Sanctum, and in it, a man named Ryker, working on a motorcycle. (Remember when I told you to remember the name “Ryker’s Keep”?) It’s his mother’s, and he’s getting it tuned up for her, but having trouble. Raven’s eager to get back to her mechanic roots, so offers to help him out, introducing herself as Raven.

“Omen of death, cool.”

“Actually, that’s a misconception.”

“I hope so.”

Now, I don’t know that this “omen of death” comment was significant or foreshadowing, but I wouldn’t be surprised with this show, so take that as you will. Raven and Ryker definitely have a spark between them, and I wouldn’t be surprised if they end up hooking up in the near future.

Later, Raven, sporting her signature ponytail once again, gets the motorcycle running. Ryker comes down the stairs all dressed up, confessing to Raven that he’s not just a mechanic, he’s also a Prime who’s late for the Naming Ceremony. He asks Raven to go riding with him sometime, then invites her to come with him to the ceremony. It’s unclear whether she goes with him, because he’s standing up with the rest of the Primes when it’s time for Delilah’s renaming.

Now Clarke gets another costume change, just in time for the Naming Day party. She looks over the sea of people and colored lights, stunning in a deep blue dress, and Cillian drags her, laughing, onto the dance floor. Clarke finally lets herself relax and enjoy herself, and sways, twirls, and laughs with the man, while Bellamy looks on, somewhere between being jealous and being glad to see her happy. And can we take a moment to notice the lyrics of the song playing while she dances? (Bracketed lines were cut, and you may notice that the CW’s captions on the episode have incorrect lyrics due to the vocalist mumbling. The song is Underwater by RÜFÜS DU SOL.)

Seaside

[I’m running around looking for peace of mind

So come out and change me]

You were always around to make me smile

Stuck underwater, I’m stuck underwater

And I just need some space, my friend

It’s not what you wanted, it’s not what you wanted

But I just need a change again

Help me out before I drown

Save me now, before I give up

Help me out before I drown

Not to look at everything through Bellarke-colored glasses, but… the lyrics combined with Bellamy wistfully watching Clarke aren’t exactly subtle.

A Face Behind the Glass

After dancing (and smooching) it up at the party, Jordan and Delilah head up a group of people headed for the same courtyard in front of the palace once again. Delilah pulls away from Jordan, and approaches the group of Primes standing in front of a large door on the lower level of the palace. Russell tells Delilah that she has been chosen, like each of them, to receive the “great miracle of Sanctum.” He asks if she accepts this honor, and she assents. He then asks her to come forward to be so named, and Delilah hesitates. She starts forward, then turns and rushes back to Jordan, kissing him, and whispering, “Don’t let me be a face behind the glass.” Jordan is confused, but before he can respond, Delilah heads back toward the door with the Primes.

When Delilah comes back out, she’s wearing a new dress, and has a glamorous new hairstyle and makeup. She looks coolly upon Jordan as he greets her, and royal guards move to block him from approaching her. She hugs Ryker, saying, “my beautiful baby boy,” and we realize that this isn’t Delilah any longer, but that Priya has somehow possessed her body.

An Hour Before the Devil Fell

Clarke has other things on her mind than the Naming Ceremony. Specifically, Cillian. The two stumble into Cillian’s room after the dance, kissing urgently. Cillian helps relieve Clarke of her beautiful blue dress, then things fade to black, as the next we see them, Cillian is standing at the window, while Clarke sleeps behind him. Clarke wakes, then wraps a sheet around herself and joins him at the window. We see that the walls of his room are papered with sketches; he’s a fellow artist too. “God, it’s beautiful here,” she marvels. But Cillian responds, “Until an hour before the Devil fell, God thought him beautiful in heaven.” A line from The Crucible, Cillian tells her, Gabriel’s favorite play. But the Primes banned that play. Clarke asks what the quote means, and Cillian says, “I suppose it means that there’s two sides to every story.” He elaborates that not everyone in Sanctum believes in the divinity of the Primes, and we begin to realize that he’s the spy for the Children of Gabriel.

Before he can explain further, Delilah comes out of the palace, and Clarke wants to see the rest of the ceremony. But as she zips her dress up, she notices a sketchbook with a page sticking out of it. She pulls it out to see a page covered with sketches of the people from Earth, with a few faces crossed out, and Clarke’s circled. Cillian tries to explain it away, but Clarke knows that something isn’t right. She rightly guesses that the reason her drawing is circled is because she’s a nightblood, and Cillian wants to know who else in the group is. She tells him that she’s the only one, and tries to get around him, but Cillian doesn’t believe her, and tells her that he’s not the one she needs to be afraid of. He still refuses to let her through the door, so she heads for the window, and he picks up a blow gun and hits her with a paralytic dart. As Cillian carries Clarke to the bed, he tells her that she’ll be fine once he gets her to the Children of Gabriel. He assures Clarke that the Children won’t hurt her, and applies a gel that he hopes will allow him to pass through the radiation field. If his death can put an end to the Primes, it will be worth it. Luckily, or unluckily, depending on how you look at it, Clarke knocked over a wine glass as she fell, and guards burst through the door. Cillian grabs a knife, prepared to kill Clarke to keep the Primes from having another host, but the guards stop him. Rather than letting them interrogate him, Cillian growls “death to Primes” and slits his own throat, collapsing as Clarke’s paralyzed eyes watch in horror.

I wonder if Cillian really thought that the Children of Gabriel wouldn’t harm Clarke, despite her black blood, or if he was just a really convincing liar. It seems clear that his plan was to tell Clarke about the whole power structure of Sanctum and ideally have her come to the conclusion that the Primes were bad on her own, but he got really sloppy and left his creepy nightblood-vs-red blood checklist laying around. And this show rarely introduces something like that gel without using it again, so be on the lookout for that.

An Echo in the Dark

Echo approaches Bellamy at the party, and noticing the look on his face, asks what’s wrong. He tells her that the last time he was at a party, his sister got arrested (which isn’t even true, he’s been to at least two since then!). Echo responds that if he’s going to tear himself apart over leaving Octavia, they should go get her. Bellamy tells her that he’s not tearing himself apart, he’s mourning her. “This is me being human — feeling things when people I love are in trouble or die. The Echo I knew on the Ring did that. Why don’t you?” Echo counters that this isn’t about her, but Bellamy points out that they lost Monty and Harper three days ago, and she’s shown no emotion or response to the loss of two members of their family. He ends the conversation with a biting remark that it’ll take him a little while to feel nothing over Octavia, like a good Azgeda spy, and Echo leaves.

After the Naming Ceremony, Bellamy finds Echo in the tavern, drinking. He joins her at the table, and apologizes for taking his feelings about Octavia out on her. Echo tells him that she does miss Monty and Harper, even though she might not show it. “I know,” Bellamy responds, and when Echo shakes her head, he repeats it more firmly. “I know.” “You were right,” Echo tells Bellamy. “I feel myself closing down again.”

“Of course you are. We’ve been fighting to survive since the moment we left the ring.”

“I’ve been fighting to survive all my life. I was eight when Queen Nia’s army took our land. My father resisted. They killed him while my mother hid with me in the cellar. ‘If you cry, they’ll hear you,’ she said. So I didn’t.”

“You told me you didn’t remember your parents.”

“Best way to get rats out of their hole? Start a fire. I remember the way it smelled. The wood. The smoke. Her hair.” Echo’s voice cracks and tears spill over. She continues, “When Nia heard what happened, she executed the men who did it, had me brought to Troit, and started my training.”

Bellamy comes to sit closer to Echo, saying, “I hate that that happened to you. But everything we’ve been through has brought us here. From now on, we look forward, not back.”

Echo nods, breathing deeply, and the two kiss.

I was really glad to see that argument between the two play out, because Bellamy was right — we haven’t seen much of any emotion or depth to Echo this season, or even last season. And finally we get some backstory for Echo, after 2 full seasons of being a major character. The scene where she talks about her parents is legitimately the first time since Season 2 ended where I actually found myself invested in Echo as a character. She’s been little more than a cardboard cutout of a “badass” warrior woman whose only job is to be snarky and swing swords around, and it sucks because there was so much cool potential for her. She has truly been an echo, not a fleshed-out character, and I’m glad to see that the writers recognize that, and am hopeful they’ve done and will do better at giving her more depth instead of just being a prop for Bellamy. I’ll be honest, I’ve never been much of a fan of Echo or her relationship with Bellamy, but I’m so hopeful for the writers to make her an interesting character, develop her own identity beyond Bellamy. I want her to be someone I can like, and based on the way things are going, and what has been said about her backstory reveals this season, that might actually happen!

The only thing I didn’t like about these scenes was that Echo made Bellamy’s grief over Octavia about her. Of course it wasn’t great of Bellamy to lash out at Echo, but instead of holding space for him to work through his incredibly complicated relationship with his sister, who Echo has been pushing him to reconcile with since the beginning of the season, she talks about her own tragic backstory. The moment when Bellamy is dealing with this isn’t the moment to reveal to him that you’ve been lying to him about your past for years. And I can’t imagine what kind of relationship the two had on the Ring that Echo never felt like she could tell Bellamy about what happened to her parents. Yes, she is a private person, but who are you going to share that with if not your significant other? Revealing her Tragic Backstory in the moments that should have been saved for Bellamy to work through his feelings about Octavia felt a bit cheap.

On a totally different note, did anyone else catch that the Azgeda capital was named Troit? As in, De-troit?

Hallowed Be Her Name

Finally, we rejoin Clarke, still paralyzed, being carried by a royal guard, accompanied by Russell, into the same room on the ground floor of the palace that Delilah entered for her renaming. This time we get to see what’s inside, from Clarke’s point of view. She is laid on a table in the center of a circular room, with rows of skeletons circling the table like spokes on a wheel. We know from the script excerpt the writers posted that there are 12 rows of them, for 12 Primes. A ramping solo cello plays as Clarke looks frantically about the room. Simone is already in the room, and after dismissing the guard, Russell tells her that Cillian was the traitor. Simone asks why he hasn’t used the antidote for the paralytic on Clarke yet, and Russell, touching Simone’s necklace, tells her that she knows why. “She has the blood. Tell me not to do this, and I won’t, Simone.” Simone tells him that Jade has returned, and Rose is dead. “Okay,” Russell says, desperation tingeing his voice. “Here’s the math. There are no more hosts. It was 14 years between Rose and Delilah — 14 years. Josie’s still 3rd in line — that means her host won’t be born for, at best, 35 years. Another 21 until her brain is ready. We can wait 56 years for our baby girl’s Naming Day, or we can get her back tonight. All we have to do is kill this innocent girl.”

Simone opens the locket around her neck, revealing a Flame-like chip inside, and we hear the bells and synth associated with both the City of Light and the Flame as Clarke puts the pieces together. “I’ll prep for insertion. You clear the host,” Simone says. The cello grows more and more frenzied as Russell apologizes to Clarke for what he’s about to do to her. Tears fall from Clarke’s eyes, and Russell assures her that she won’t feel any pain. “The mind of the host is erased, but the brain is left unharmed. You’re giving us such a gift, Clarke. Sacrificing your body so that someone else might live.” Simone wonders at the perfect timing, that after 236 years, as the Primes are on the brink of extinction, a perfect host arrives on their doorstep. Russell injects Clarke in the neck with a large syringe, then says, “No more fighting, Clarke. You’ll be at peace. A better place, just like you said you wanted.” He kisses Clarke’s forehead as her consciousness, and our screens, fades to black.

We start to see blurry shapes and hear muted conversation, Simone saying that Clarke’s brain function was starting to return. As things sharpen, we jump outside her body to see Clarke sit bolt upright, screaming. It seems Josephine’s consciousness resumed right as where it ended, with Josephine falling (remember, Russell told Clarke his daughter had died in a fall). Josephine calms down, looking relieved to see her parents there with her. Simone pulls Clarke’s hair (or is it Josephine’s? How long does someone have to inhabit a body before the body becomes their own?) away from Josephine’s neck to check her sutures, and we see a familiar incision at the base of her skull. Josephine slides off the table, and walks to a large mirror to check out her new habitance. Eliza Taylor truly kills this scene, because while it’s the same face we’ve been watching on our screens for 6 years, Josephine looks nothing like Clarke. In fact, her expressions are exactly like the original Josephine’s, who we met in a flashback in episode 6x02. Josephine surveys her new body, twirling her hair around her finger the same way she did 236 years ago. “Now, this I can work with,” she says, smirking.

Final Thoughts

Many people in the fandom had hypothesized after last week’s episode that Clarke would become the new host for Josephine, but I don’t think any of us were prepared for how brutal it actually was. They wiped Clarke’s brain, you guys. Now, of course, we all know there’s very little chance that our heroes won’t find a way to get her back, but even that slight possibility is terrifying. Clarke has had both the Flame and ALIE’s chip in her head, so I wonder if there’s still some aspects of that code that remained in her mind and will protect her consciousness. The Flame protected Clarke in the City of Light, after all. Another possibility, one alluded to by Gaia, is that there might still be a copy of Clarke’s consciousness on the Flame, that they might have to download into Clarke. This would mean that the “new” Clarke would be the one that went into the City of Light at the end of Season 3, which would mean that the Clarke from the past 2 seasons would be erased. (Shoutout to my friend April for thinking of that one!) It would certainly be a bold move. It would also explain why we see Clarke back in Mount Weather in the season trailer — the consciousness in the Flame could be reliving her worst moments and hardest decisions over and over again. Or Josephine’s consciousness could put Clarke’s in there, sort of like a mind palace, to keep her from breaking through. So many possibilities!

I really hope that our heroes are able to recover Delilah, too, and I loved that her way of warning Jordan that something was off and asking him to save her was by referencing the conversation they had earlier in the episode. Jordan of course didn’t know at the time what she meant, but between the way “Delilah” acted when she came back out of the palace and now Clarke having been taken over by Josephine, I’m sure he’ll put it together. Clarke and Delilah have both become faces behind the glass — it looks like it’s still them walking around, but you can’t talk to them, just like Jordan couldn’t talk to all the people in cryosleep. I don’t have much hope for Delilah’s consciousness, though, unfortunately — Jordan is jumping right into losing people he loves.

Who is Gabriel? We know that the doctor who the original Josephine was hooking up with was named Gabriel, and can extrapolate that he’s who the Children of Gabriel are named after, but since the Children are so vehemently opposed to the Primes and everything they stand for (for example, implanting their consciousness into host bodies so they can live forever), it seems unlikely that Gabriel has been transferring his consciousness from host to host. But we know based on the script that the writers released that Gabriel created the serum the Primes inject the hosts with to wipe their minds, though it took him over 20 years. So Gabriel was still on Russell’s side after the first eclipse and Russell’s massacre, for over 20 years. I wonder what made him change his mind and break off from the Primes?

The Children of Gabriel that we see in the forest also seem to be separated from Gabriel in some way, because last week they said things about “the old man” (also the descriptor Russell and Simone used for Gabriel) coming back to them. Strangely, however, the Children of Gabriel always refer to him as “the old man.” I’m intrigued to find out who or what Gabriel is, and how he’s survived this long. One of the Children mentions that if they want to speak to “the old man,” they’ll have to go into the anomaly, which is one of the things I’ve been most curious about since seeing the season trailer. There is some sort of glowing green storm or aurora on planet Alpha that we see a few times in the trailer, but we have no idea what it is or what it does. I have a few theories of my own (maybe time moves more slowly inside it, hence why Gabriel could be 260 years old without being a Prime?), and I’m excited to find out if I’m right!

Sundry Observations

I loved the moment of Diyoza talking to her unborn child, assuring her that she’ll teach her how to survive.

It cracks me up how the Children of Gabriel greet one another with “death to Primes” and say goodbye by saying “death is life.”

When Josephine wakes up, it’s in the same way as when Murphy woke up after “dying.”

It was so cute how Jordan put his hands over Madi’s ears when Raven insinuated that he’d been having sex! Such a big brother moment.

The music in the scene where they were all prepping for the party was so sweet, it reminded me a lot of the hopeful, wide-eyed music in Season 3 when Kane and Abby were at the party.

I’m glad Abby is getting a chance to learn more about their medical stuff, I’m sure that’ll be helpful in the event they do have to leave Sanctum.

Echo’s line, “Murphy missing the chance to act like a drunken fool? Now I’m worried” made me laugh. And I have no idea what’s going on with that guy — he’s had near-death experiences before and never became a reformed man.

I’m loving all the new music for Planet Alpha, particularly how it mingles with the Bellarke scene during the scene where Clarke apologizes to Bellamy, and the solo violin behind Russell’s speech about making amends.

I’m really glad to find that the Children of Gabriel aren’t nearly as primitive as the grounders — it didn’t make narrative sense for civilization to have devolved so quickly, and we didn’t need a repeat of that.

The 100 airs Tuesdays at 9/8c on the CW.

#The 100 #The Face Behind the Glass

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