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The 100: Adjustment Protocol

"A mind drive is a terrible thing to waste."

Finales and cliffhangers and desperate situations are all things The 100 knocks out of the park. We aren't being disappointed and there seems to be an unlimited supply.

In the name of keeping track of parallels like an annoying dog with a useless bone, Clarke is about to get on a ship and leave Bellamy on the ground when she isn't sure how/if he will survive. Sort of the way he was forced to leave her on the ground during praimfaya. I'll bet Clarke finds another way, though. I'm hoping. BUT even if she does, Madi and Sheidheda will have an army at their disposal. Is that really better? I'm confused by the amount of autonomy Madi has over herself at this point. Was the chess game her giving control over to Sheidheda? Has he been reborn, so to speak? As I'm typing this, I'm realizing that is exactly what must've happened. Is she in the same closet of the flame as the other commanders? Are the answers in Becca's notebook? I'm getting ahead of the story, these are tomorrow's problems.

I find Gabriel making the most shocking choices in the best possible way. I'm always surprised by what he will and won't do. He was able to get rid of Josephine, the love of his life, even when she sat right in front of him begging to be saved. That takes oodles of conviction. I'm not sure how many of the other characters could've done it. And I know Clarke, Bellamy and pretty much any member of Skykru would've been able to shoot Russell point blank but Gabriel couldn't. Even knowing it would save many others, he could not pull the trigger. He even told Bellamy that he couldn't sacrifice the few to save the many. What a finite definition of respecting human life. It's an interesting contrast to what Clarke and Bellamy have been willing to do in the past in order to save their people. I'm enjoying Gabriel's ride quite a bit but I wouldn't be devastated to see him go and that tells me he's got a chance at surviving the season.

Oh, Abby. Don't you know, you can't make peace with everyone in your life all at once? You might as well have drawn a target on your back for TPTB. Abby's apologies to Raven and Jackson were truly lovely and did justice to who Abby was before shame and addiction took a hold of her. And if her own daughter couldn't be there in her final moments, I am very, very glad that her surrogate daughter and son could be. I also feel like Abby has come a very long way and gone through so much, I'm sort of okay with her journey ending. I don't feel gutted at the loss is my point, but man, Russell is such a tool. I need him to stop drinking his own Kool-aid. Are we supposed to hate him so much? Should I be yelling at my screen for Clarke to blow him up already? Because I definitely am. That's probably the point. Without shades of gray, he is openly willing to kill anyone he chooses but if someone takes him out, and takes the decision of who gets to live and die into their own hands, then they aren't any better than Russell himself. And that isn't doing better.

There was a point when Russell was telling Abby about what a good guy he used to be and it was really very annoying. It'd be like me telling you about how healthy I used to be while shoving Chicken McNuggets in my mouth. No one cares about the salads you had twelve decades ago, Russell, your arteries are still clogged. My metaphors always come back to food. Hopefully you get me.

Even outnumbered and under attack Bellamy tells his people to lower their weapons, reminding them that these innocent people are under the effects of the drug and they shouldn't die needlessly. This season opened with Monty begging Clarke and Bellany to 'do better' and that has been the main theme we've been on all season. There is also a lot of religious imagery and a lot of moon weirdness and cult offshoots and bodysnatching cruelty but at the core we've been exploring what kind of people Skykru Spacekru Wonkru can be. How good can they be in the face of genocides and false gods holding guns to their heads? How much good is even possible and how do they live up to that limit when they've been forced down for so long?? It rings true to me that the path to being better would be a messy two steps forward one step back and not linear. Sometimes we forget and fall into old patterns. Our guys take turns reminding each other. It's nice. Well, as nice as it can be in the middle of a drug-induced war zone.

3.5 out of 4 flamboyant prime costumes

Bits and pieces

The primes call themselves Gods and are worshiped by their people. Gabriel's name had to be a deliberate choice on the writers part, right? The name of an angel-decidedly not God. As far as I know (and my knowledge of religious imagery and names is very limited), he is the only prime with a name that specifically correlates to an angel. Priya, Ryker, Simone and Russell certainly don't ring bells for me. Josephine is the female version of Joseph but Joseph wasn't an angel. I'm sliding down a rabbit hole now.

I'm a little bummed that Abby and Madi never got a chance to bond and get to know each other. I love that this episode made it clear that Madi is 100% Abby's granddaughter even though that connection never happened.

I laughed out loud when I realized that Russell made Murphy and Emori brother and sister. So funny. It's nice that in the end they opted to stay on the moon with their friends but I selfishly wanted them to start punching primes in the throat, not peacefully decline an intergalactic space adventure.

Murphy did his prime face to match Emori's birthmark. I'm not crying, you're crying.

I appreciated Gabriel giving Clarke an outlet for her rage and pain at finding out her mother died in front of an audience that she couldn't be herself in front of. Kind of him.

Clarke, Murphy and Emori all have mind drives in their heads right now. Clarke, Murphy, Emori and Echo are all nightbloods now.

I wonder what being a nightblood is like for Emori and Echo who were raised in a culture that worshiped them.

Did Russell explain why he was taking Madi? Does he still need her for something? Does anyone understand why he'd let Murphy and Emori keep their mind drives if they're as valuable as we've been led to believe?

Abby: "I may not be your mother, but you are my family."

Octavia: "Echo’s strong, she’ll be okay."
Bellamy: "Everybody always thinks that. I do it, too. The truth is, you’re fine, until you’re not."

SheidMadiheda?: "Once we’re free, you will burn."
Foreshadowy realness.

Gabriel: “Without death, life is meaningless.”

Murphy: "All she did was help and you killed her."
I immediately thought of Maya and Jasper when he said this.

Bellamy: "Go."
Clarke: "What will you do?"
Bellamy: "Look, I'm still working on that part, just go!"

RIP, Doc.

2 comments:

  1. This episode...phew. Absolutely hate Russel too, but it makes the whole thing more enjoyable because I’m itching to see him taken down.

    So sad about Not Abby, but you’re right about her coming full circle. And it’s time to let the younger guys take charge on their own.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Loved the weirdness of Clarke watching Abby experience Clarke's death when Clarke wasn't dead, and later, Clarke had to pretend she wasn't devastated when she realized Abby was dead. Only on The 100, huh?

    ReplyDelete

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