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The 100: The Queen's Gambit

"We're not prisoners. We're recruits."

An episode defined by relationships, with a lot of good emotions. Although not much actually happened.

There isn't much bad here, but let me start with it. I don't get Emori's plan, not that reuniting kids and parents is inherently a bad thing, but in this case I was expecting it to be children. Nelson is not a child, and he is far too estranged and damaged to ever be reunited with parents that gave him up like they did. The entire party had a feeling of doom surrounding it, and it wasn't surprising when Nikki showed up with guns. Why is Murphy always right... except when he goes up against someone smarter than he is?

Sheidheda/Russell is starting to make his move, and clearly it involves an intricate multi-step plan designed to do one thing – give him ultimate power. Except he isn't playing against his true opponents, he is playing against pawns (okay, maybe Indra is a knight and Emori and Murphy are bishops but whatever, go with the analogy), not the queen. Taking them out is like removing supporting pieces. The real power right now is all on Bardo, and I can't wait for Clark and crew take over that planet and Anders' army so that they have back-up when they take back Sanctum from Russell. Or maybe I'm overthinking it.

Speaking of Bardo, the two best scenes were between our four scariest warriors, who of course are all women. Diyoza and Hope had a nice argument ending in a maternal embrace which made me like both characters a little more. When Diyoza was introduced, I honestly never thought she would be a continuing player, and she ended up in three seasons. Hope has already left more of an impact than Jordan, who still feels like a poor replacement for his parents. (Sorry, Jordan.) 

But for me, the moment between Octavia and Echo was the most powerful. Two people who have hated each other, and on more than one occasion have tried to kill each another, had a moment of solace over a shared love, capped by Octavia admitting finally that they are family.

So, yeah... um. I honestly don't think there is much more to say. This was a good episode, but beyond those scenes, not terribly much happened. Hmmm. I suppose I could conjecture about the stinger, and the introduction of the Shepherd. Is he a big bad? Wouldn't that be one too many? I mean we already have Sheidheda, Nikki and Nelson and Anders. I guess we'll find out how they all play against each other, but like everything else this season I'm kinda scratching my head with where they are going with this.

Bits:

This episode was directed by Lindsey Morgan.

Bellamy again had only one scene, in flashback. While nice, I want him back and an active member of the group, damn it.

Time clearly moves more quickly on Bardo, too, although not as quickly as it does on Skyring because Clark and company just arrived.

Frikdreina, I honestly cannot remember when this word was introduced. Probably in second season when we met Emori.  It is possible she is the last living human Frikdreina (radiation mutant) from earth, who now has blood that makes her radiation resistant.

Okay, I totally forgot Echo got the blood treatment to turn hers black, so when she turned around it was a bit shocking. I knew she had disfigured herself because of the framing of the scene, but the blood effect felt more like war paint, which I suppose was the whole point anyway.

Quotes:

John Murphy: "You like this. Being the queen of the castle, being worshiped."
Emori: "Don't be ridiculous. 'Sides, you've worshiped me for years."

Emori: "Come here. I've got almost all the DNA samples from the Children of Gabriel."
Jackson: "That's great, but maybe we should talk about why you're doing this instead of doing it."
Emori: "Ha. Oh, you really are in shrink mode today, aren't you?"
Jackson: "Your parents left you out to die, Emori, just like the Children of Gabriel."
Emori: "If I can give these people peace and, yes, heal myself at the same time, how is that a bad thing?"
Murphy: "Maybe he can do a better job talking you out of it than I did."
Emori: (to Murphy) "He can't."
Murphy: "Yeah, yeah."

Diyoza: "Violence and rage will only destroy your soul. Revenge is a game with no winners. And we've lost too much already."

Echo: "Do you know why Azgeda warriors scar their own faces?"
Octavia: "Echo?"
Echo: "We do it to symbolize that the pain is over, the wound is healed, so that we never forget."

Echo: "This is how my people show we're ready to go to war."
Anders: "I'm glad to hear that. Do the rest of you agree with Echo?"
Octavia: "Alright. Free us and we'll fight your war."
Anders: "The last war will free us all, Miss Blake. Training starts tomorrow. We'll make Disciples of you yet."

Anders: "From the ashes, through the Bridge, the Shepherd will rise."
Shepherd: "You again."
Anders: "Anders, my Shepherd."
Shepherd: "Please, call me Bill."
Anders: "Bill."
Bill (Shepherd): "If you've woken me this early, I suspect you have news. Have we cracked the code? Has the war begun?"
Anders: "No, not yet sir. But... we have the key."

3 out of 4 Moments of Solace

Samantha M. Quinn spends most of her time in front of a computer typing away at one thing or another; when she has free time, she enjoys pretty much anything science fiction or fantasy-related.

1 comment:

  1. Lot's of great character moments! I truly believe Emori was on to something here. By connecting the Children of Gabriel to their roots she thought it would stop them from destroying each other. But it was all too fast and too sudden.

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