The 100: Adjustment Protocol (6.12) Things of Note

Well now! That was a penultimate episode for the ages! This post is a long one because there was so much I wanted to comment on. Let’s jump in!

Abby owns her mistakes. Learning that Clarke wasn’t lost forever made Abby see that she had been so focused on what was lost (Kane) that she forgot about what she still had. She realized that resurrecting Kane in Gavin’s body wasn’t worth it after all. She apologized for the drugs (again) and for disappointing Raven with her choices. I don’t know if the apology was necessarily more sincere than the one she gave in the premiere but I think it was less “forced” upon Raven. It helps that Raven was finally ready to receive it. She owned how judgemental she had been and was more willing to show Abby some grace. It was good to see them repair their relationship. There have been hints that Raven still cared throughout this back half of the season and recent events have brought her to a place where she could forgive Abby. As Abby said, they are family and it would have been a shame for that to be irreparable. Jackson also threw her “war criminal” comment back at her and she acknowledged that she shouldn’t have said that.

Complete corruption. Madi is now fully possessed by Sheidheda. He knows Raven is trying to delete him so he threatened to kill Madi. Wouldn’t that shut him down too? Madi is the only one who knows the passphrase so if she died, no one can take out the AI. He’ll be trapped in there forever. Unless he can kill her in the mind space and take permanent control. Either way, the situation has reached a code red. Clarke was feeling so helpless! Trying to process what’s happening to Madi while keeping up the Josephine ruse is hard!

Blakes on the mend. Octavia and Bellamy are starting to act like siblings again. Bellamy was accepting of Octavia’s attempt to reassure him that Clarke would get the shield down. Once the shield was down, Bellamy smiled and said, “I told you she’d do it”. Octavia smiled and elbowed him in response. It was such a great, light-hearted moment. Now, I really have hope that they will get to a good place. It would seem that they are already there but they still have some things to work out.

Gabriel vs Russell. Gabriel blew up the plan when he heard there would be multiple Namings. He walked right into the courtyard and released the low dose Red Sun toxin. I know he wanted to stop the Namings but he wanted that confrontation with Russell too. The smile on his face when the one guard ordered the rest to take him to Russell was telling. It was a great scene! Kim Shumway tweeted that Chuku Modu and JR Bourne knew the scene cold which is impressive! Whoever did the casting for the new recurring characters this season deserves a medal! The choices were A+! Anyway, the two men that started this nutty quest for immortality now stand on different sides. Gabriel essentially invoked “death is life” by saying that life without death is meaningless. The resurrections were already done so Gabriel was too late for that part. Interesting that Russell said that faith is more powerful than the truth because I feel like this has been playing out in real life. The manipulation is so deep that even the truth has a hard time penetrating. Gabriel had a chance to take out Russell but when push came to shove, he couldn’t pull the trigger.

Super Naming Day. Russell’s plan to crush the rebellion was to bring back all the dormant Primes at once. Interestingly enough, Jade gets turned into Jasmine, the Prime Rose was slated to be. Miranda’s luck is almost as bad as Ryker’s as Sierra becomes her 8th host. Simone probably crushed any doubt Sierra had after hearing the truth from Kane. Caleb also returned in a guard’s body. I guess this is their “reward” for their loyalty. Some reward. Murphy and Emori assumed the identities of Daniel and Kaylee Lee. As Gabriel pointed out, Daniel and Kaylee are brother and sister! Squick! Why didn’t Russell make them Victor and Faye, who were actually a couple? He’s really lost his mind! Or maybe, just maybe, he’s got a sick sense of humor and did it on purpose.

Abby’s sacrifice. RIP Abby. When I saw the promo, I had a feeling that Russell was injecting the clearing serum into Abby. To save Madi from being harvested to death, Abby became a nightblood and donated the remaining doses. I think she knew she was risking being snatched by doing so. Russell is an opportunist and Abby having the blood is a big one. He was upset at first but he let it go because the wheels had started turning in his head. Earlier, before she knew Clarke was alive, Abby said that she’d kill Russell for killing Clarke and he believed her. He has this funny way of seeing himself in others. Once he saw that she was a nightblood, Russell figured he could remove a “threat” and get his wife back at the same time. In his twisted mind, he probably thinks that Abby and Clarke can be “together” again by serving as vessels for his wife and daughter. Anyway, after resurrecting the Masons and putting mind drives into Murphy and Emori, Russell comes out of the lab and mind wipes Abby. He doesn’t know it yet, but he took an eye for an eye. He even rationalized it by saying she’d never get past losing Clarke. Of course, she couldn’t tell him that it was moot because Clarke’s alive. Even though I had an inkling it was going to happen, it still shocked me when it did. Abby’s chip was EMP’d so she doesn’t have the neural mesh that saved Clarke. The way this scene was set up was haunting and it hit hard. It went to Abby’s point of view and then moments with Jake, Kane, and Clarke flashed before her eyes. Meanwhile, Raven and Jackson were screaming and devastated. Raven lost yet another person and she had just forgiven her! The fighter in Jackson even came out! At least Abby was able to mend things with Raven and see Clarke alive before she died. I haven’t liked her character lately with the questionable choices but she was a caring person and a capable and brilliant doctor. I admired her determination in the earlier seasons. I was hoping to see her really move forward with a new sense of determination after losing Kane. Now, Jackson will have to take the mantle as Earthkru’s doctor.

Bribing Priya. Like son, like mother. Ryker was blackmailed into helping Earthkru and Priya was bribed. Although, unlike Ryker, Priya was not torn about sticking with Russell and the Primes…at all. It sounded like she was annoyed with him questioning the resurrections. She seemed to get along just fine with Josephine too. She even called her Josie! A long way from what I had expected. I wonder if she knew that Ryker let Gabriel escape and went to Josephine for help. Anyway, Clake was the first to discover Ryker’s body so she took the opportunity to take out his mind drive. Smart girl! It was the perfect leverage to use to get Priya to lower the shield. I love that Clarke took out such a big hammer to emphasize that she would smash Ryker’s mind drive to smithereens if she didn’t comply! Priya loves her “beautiful baby boy” in spite of his vacillating so of course, she shut the shield down. Too easy. In addition, Bellamy had Priya expose the Primes to the common folk. Russell was “disappointed” in her. The way he spoke to her was less like an equal and more like a villain admonishing his minion. The revelation left the Sanctum citizens stunned. The spark had already been lit by Ty via Ryker but Priya fanned the flames.

Adjustment protocol. Russell tossed weaponized full strength Red Sun toxin into the crowd. Ironically, this was essentially Bellamy and Children of Gabriel’s original plan. The idea here is that there are still people who believe in the divinity of the Primes despite what Priya said. Those people would take out the non-believers and Sanctum would be “purified” once again. Russell is desperate! That cool, calm, collected demeanor has left the building! Priya got caught in the chaos and she pleaded to Delilah’s parents for help. She had some nerve! Ryker had already told them the truth. She also told them that she hated Delilah’s favorite dessert, Jo Berry Pie. Combine that with Red Sun toxin and Blythe Ann was feeling vengeful. She called Priya a murderer before stabbing her. Again, like son, like mother, although Blythe Ann didn’t twist the knife. It’s ironic because Ryker believed he was saving their lives by siding with Russell. As Priya lay dying, Blythe Ann and Jae were overcome with grief. They’re such nice people who didn’t deserve any of this. If they stick around, I would like to see them build a relationship with Jordan. He’s someone Delilah cared about and together, they can help each other through the grief. The group of people surrounding them must have been non-believers too. In the midst of all the chaos, Clarke and Miller spotted Madi, Jackson, and Raven bound and gagged. Miller immediately wanted to go to Jackson but is stopped by Octavia. He was not going to take orders from her. I think it was good for him to stand up to her even though it wasn’t the best time. He wouldn’t get past the guards. It’s actually surprising that Russell didn’t send guards down to look for “Josephine” before he decided to initiate the Adjustment Protocol. Clarke took Gaia with her to the palace as her guard.

The Primes peace out. Russell wasn’t about to stick around for the Adjustment carnage so he decided the remaining Primes would go into space to wait it out. He’ll gladly give up Sanctum to Gabriel now! When Clarke heard Abby’s voice as Simone VII, it took everything she had to hold it together. Luckily Gabriel offered an assist by pointing out the irony of the situation and giving her a believable place to channel her emotion in front of Simone. Speaking of Simone, she is cold as ice. Her “comforting” words to “Josephine” about getting closure for Gabriel were so hollow. It was almost like how Abby was when she was under the influence of A.L.I.E. Also, she didn’t hesitate to point a gun at Madi when Raven initially refused to fly the ship. I see where Josephine gets it although even she had her “warm” moments with Gabriel. Anyway, Murphy and Emori decided to stay behind to save the rest of Earthkru. Learning that Clarke was alive and hearing that she was proud of him brought a tear to Murphy’s eye. I think it’s safe to say she forgives him for working with Josephine. I think he’s going to take the lead in calming the Sanctum folks. Gaia is exposed but Clarke is smart to convince Russell that she could be leverage against Indra (although she doesn’t say that outright). She might need her to save Madi. I must say, Clarke has displayed some real tactical genius this season! I think Raven told Indra to be prepared if the transport ship returns because Indra was waiting with a small army when Russell arrived.

Where the heck is Jordan? Seriously, where is he? We know he was recovering from his stab wound and Priya was overseeing it. Since all of Sanctum was in the courtyard for Super Naming Day, poor Jordan was all alone with no clue to what was happening. He’ll be brought up to speed in the finale though. It’s disappointing because he was talked up as being so important to this season’s story. I feel like he was wasted.

Food for thought. You know what? Things would have been so different if the Primes’ drives were the same version of A.L.I.E 2.0 as the Flame. Then, the hosts could have lived and been “one” with the Primes. The City of Light might have also come in handy for them. Russell could have created a religion around that instead of making the Primes gods. When you die, you go to the City of Light and can reunite with your family. It could be like San Junipero! Of course, that might be too happy for The 100…unless they had Gabriel be the “demon” Russell said he was.

Other things. Even though it’s thanks to crazy Russell, I really like that Murphy got a face tattoo similar to Emori’s. Priya and Ryker are pretty much lost forever. Their minds are still on their drives but no one is going to implant them into another body. With the Lees gone, only the Masons and two Lightbournes remain. I have a feeling Russell will survive this season. I really hope Gabriel survives. He’s a great character and they’re going to need him to face off with the Anomaly. Speaking of the Anomaly, I think Diyoza will be back to tee up that storyline. I don’t go on social media on Sundays so I just saw that season 7 would be the last. Although I think there is plenty of story left to tell, I can understand why Rothenberg wants to cut and run. It’s a lot better than the show being canceled with no resolution. Also, ending on episode 100 is poetic.