The 100: Matryoshka (6.10) Things of Note

This episode was amazing! Unlike previous reviews, this one is based on one watch. I was short on time. Let’s jump in.

She’s back. It’s good to see Raven get out of her angry slump and into problem-solving mode! Sheidheda is still wreaking havoc in Madi’s mind and getting stronger by the minute. This is the one storyline I’m really not into this season. Even Abby’s exasperated with it! Anyway, Raven realized that Sheidheda has isolated the other commanders which means he’s also isolated. Given that he is really just a bunch of code (the Primes are too), he can be deleted. Genius! Maybe next season, Raven will get her own storyline…if she survives.

Russell’s revenge. It’s interesting how in the last episode, Octavia learned a lesson about killing people out of revenge but then we saw Russell take that path in this episode. Initially, he planned to have Earthkru choose one person to be executed. That all changed when Ty, the father of the baby Isaac tried to save from the Offering Grove, killed Simone after learning the truth about Naming Day from Ryker. Simone had wanted to burn all of Earthkru in the first place so he went that route. I think Sanctum and the Primes exist because Russell wanted to atone for killing his wife and daughter. He wanted to build a peaceful society to make up for his violent rampage. Essentially, he has been trying to make up for what he did for the last 236 years. Losing both Simone and Josephine set him back. Anyway, just before he was going to burn Earthkru at the stake, Murphy mentioned that they could make nightblood using bone marrow. Russell said they had tried that but were unsuccessful. Abby said they didn’t have the right formula so Russell gave them a reprieve. They have 24 hours to make nightblood from Madi’s bone marrow. They suggested Russell at first but of course, he’s not going to risk them killing him. Using Madi actually works out because Raven can execute her plan to delete Sheidheda from the Flame. No reprieve for Ty though because Russell burns him and walks away. No cutaway so the audience sees the graphic and brutal nature of his death. The image is symbolic of Russell’s “goodwill” being engulfed by his desire for revenge. Also, he may have been trying to prevent Ty from telling everyone the truth about Naming Day. The Sanctum folks would believe Ty before they’d believe Earthkru.

Goddamit Ryker! When Ryker was telling the truth to Delilah’s parents and Ty, I really thought he was doing it on his own. I thought he had finally found the courage to step up. Turns out, Echo was blackmailing him just like Josephine did. He balks at her plans because he’d rather do this whole thing peacefully. Still, I would think he would welcome the opportunity to get rid of Russell. I was surprised and kind of upset that Ryker knocked Echo out before she could shoot him. The more I thought about it, though, the more it sort of made sense. He considers Russell family even though he has this thinly-veiled animosity towards him. Echo is a stranger and in his mind, her treatment of him is no different than Josephine’s. His story looks to be ending in 6.11 because Echo stabs him multiple times in the promo. That’s too bad because he had so much potential.

Josephine and Gabriel. I actually felt for them a tiny bit. They never stopped loving each other even though they ended up on different sides of this 70-year conflict. We got to see Josephine II and Gabriel II share a dance which was one of Josephine’s most cherished memories. Underneath the callousness, she has a heart. Gabriel was hesitant to let her go to bring back Clarke to the chagrin of Bellamy and Octavia (their eye-rolling and sighing were everything!). He did it even though it broke his heart. As he said, they had their time. This has always been his point, aside from saving innocent lives of course. People weren’t meant to live forever.

Clarke returns…for real. As I predicted in my episode title guessing game, Clarke came back at the end of this episode. Josephine didn’t want to give up Clarke’s body so she attached herself to the neural mesh before Gabriel removed her mind drive. Her coup ultimately failed thanks to Bellamy. Clarke’s heart had been stopped for a long time which, according to Gabriel, meant that she was gone. Bellamy was not about to give up so he proceeded to do CPR to try to bring her back. The writers really took us the brink with that one! They had me believing that Clarke was actually going to die. Of course, she didn’t and we got a really beautiful reunion between Clarke and Bellamy. Their deep (platonic) care for each other was on full display. It was a peak ship moment for the Bellarke shippers too. They were living in it! That is perfectly fine but I have a real problem with people equating mouth to mouth resuscitation with a kiss. No, no, NO! It’s a life-saving move that anyone with CPR knowledge would use if warranted. To me, it’s kind of crude to think of it as a kiss. Anyway, Josephine is gone and Clarke has her body. I’m not sure we’ve seen the last of Josephine though. I think she’ll be back somehow.

Other things. The Prime luncheon was out of a Downton Abby episode! Awkward and kind of hilarious. Abby laid quite the slap on Murphy! He had no snappy answer for that one. Jordan has fallen by the wayside. I have a theory that he’s going to become Ryker X if they can make nightblood from Madi’s bone marrow. This is one theory I hope is not right because it would mean they failed Monty and Harper. Plus, I think Jordan needs more development as a character. Jade is still a terrible bodyguard. I’m not sure how long she’ll remain devoted to the Primes though.