After a bye week (which was also my birthday), we have a new episode. Groundwork was laid for the second half of the season. Let’s jump in!
Eventful break. Before I get into the actual episode, some huge news came out at the end of last week. Eliza Taylor and Bob Morley announced that they got married! I’m very happy for them and hope they have a wonderful life together. The fandom went nuts and watching the reaction was the most fun I’ve had on Twitter in a long time. It certainly took the edge off of having to wait an extra week for a new episode.
Team Josephy. The Josephine/Murphy dynamic is quite fascinating to watch. It’s like Clarke and Murphy except they don’t actually care about each other. Josephine clearly aggravates Murphy and vice versa. We even got a “Shut up, Murphy!” from Josephine! Anyway, Murphy’s coaching improved Josephine’s impersonation but it’s still obvious that something’s off.
Old Man=Gabriel! This was an unexpected piece of information. I really thought they weren’t going to reveal this until 6.08! Anyway, The Old Man is apparently the original Gabriel which would mean he never had a host. It would be so ironic if Gabriel was actually immortal thanks to The Anomaly! There’s a theory floating around that Xavier is actually Gabriel. In that case, maybe the Old Man is a cover story or The Anomaly gave Gabriel the ability to shape shift. I guess we’ll learn more in 6.08!
Caste system. Xavier reveals that Diyoza’s daughter would be considered a null in Sanctum because neither of them have the royal blood. Nulls are the lowest rung of society and the only jobs they can have are guard, toilet cleaner, or tenders to the dead. They also can’t have children. I don’t think all red blooded folks are nulls though. If they were, there would be plenty of hosts because they’d be the only ones who would be allowed to have children. They’d probably be having them before 21 too. That would be happening if Josephine did her breeding program. My word, this is messed up! Anyway, the hosts are likely born to parents with red blood who carry the royal blood gene. So, the hierarchy is Primes, hosts, carriers, and nulls. I’m willing to bet that some of the null folks left with Gabriel or defected later on.
The moral high ground. Raven’s on it and is not coming down anytime soon! It actually grates a bit. When Josephine says that they all have done things they’re not proud of to survive, Raven says she hasn’t. I question that a bit. Her hands are definitely not clean! Maybe the difference in her mind is that she hasn’t necessarily had to kill “innocents”. She hasn’t faced the difficult decisions or circumstances that some of the others have either. I’m also not sure she would have said anything if she wasn’t so upset with Clarke. Raven is just so full of anger right now and now that she’s knows about the Primes, her next target is Ryker.
Well, maybe I don’t want to be a Prime anymore. Ryker immediately figures out that Raven knows everything when she starts sniping at him. He then uses the same logic as Josephine (it’s not murder if they’re willing) to justify the body snatching. On some level, though, I think he’s ashamed of everything. Unlike the rest of the Primes, Ryker wants to remember the people his hosts were before he took their bodies. He has mementos from each of them and even held yearly commemorations with one of the mothers. He cares but it seems like he feels powerless to do anything about it. Ryker may look and act like an adult but I think he still feels like a 12 year old boy. He’s probably seen as such in the eyes of the other Primes, especially his mother. Because of that, he doesn’t think he can say “no” to being resurrected. His non-answer to whether or not that was his last body shows both his shame and his feelings of powerlessness. I could see Ryker’s story being about him finding the courage to challenge the system.
Telegram from The Anomaly. In addition to the “aging”, Octavia’s hand now has a tremor. Noting the shape of the tremor, Xavier puts a rock in her hand to let it scrape against a bolder. The resulting drawing is a logarithmic spiral which is the shape of The Anomaly. Apparently, that’s its “calling card” because Xavier had the same shape on his chest and Diyoza was drawing it. Looks like these three will be stuck together for a while. Good, because their dynamic has been so fun to watch! I’m thinking The Anomaly is calling Octavia so that she can face Blodreina. I’m curious to know what it wants with Diyoza and Xavier. For Diyoza, it might have to do with what got her put on that prison ship. That means we’ll be getting her backstory in 6.08! Xavier may have had a past experience with it (especially if he’s Gabriel) and so will be a guide for the journey.
Convincing Bellamy. Josephine is an evil genius for real! When Murphy brings Russell into the mix, she takes advantage of Bellamy’s desire for revenge. She cuts him loose and goads him to kill Russell. Violence is all they know according to her. Murphy had already invoked Monty and his “do better” directive and no doubt told Josephine about it. Josephine was definitely counting on Bellamy’s desire to honor Monty overcoming his desire for revenge. He takes the deal in the end. Big swing for sure.
E-death. Josephine and Simone wipe the Lees’ mind drives which makes their deaths final. This was probably the Children of Gabriel’s plan for their drives anyway. So, are you really immortal if there’s a way to permanently kill you? I guess gods can have weaknesses. I can see this coming back around as the way to defeat Josephine once and for all.
Madi to the dark side. Sheidheda begins to assert himself to the front of Madi’s mind. Talk about bad timing! Between her exasperation with Gaia, learning that Clarke is gone and not being able to avenge her, she is vulnerable. She banishes Gaia and looks to Sheidheda for tips on how to kill everyone. I’m curious to know where this is going and if it will tie into getting Clarke back. With Clarke dead and Gaia banished, Madi will have to rely on herself in order to tap into the other commanders and overcome Sheidheda.
Clarke lives…sort of. Not that anyone was worried or anything. The final scene of the episode finds Clarke (complete with season 1 hair) back in her prison cell on The Ark. Drawings on the walls depict her memories. It’s the perfect set up for next week’s episode when Clarke takes on Josephine for control of her mind. I was hoping this would happen!
Other things. The camera panning out while Bellamy was telling Madi that Clarke was dead made the moment even more sad. Jade did a terrible job handling Echo. Should have been more discreet although Echo probably would have found her out anyway. She’s just that good. Still no Indra and we’re halfway through! With Raven and Abby heading back to the ship, maybe we’ll see her soon. I wonder where Gaia will end up following her banishment.
That’s all folks! Until next time!