The 100: The Flock (7.09) Things of Note

I’m so grateful for this show right now! This week was especially hard because, on top of pandemic-induced depression, one of my coworkers died last weekend. It was quite a shock to receive that phone call while hiking. Watching this show and writing about it has kept me going. Now, let’s get into it.

This feels familiar. The structure of this episode is very similar to 7.o5. The Sanctum storyline is in the present while the Bardo storyline starts three months in the past. This approach kind of reminds me of 3% which relies heavily on flashbacks to fill in gaps and add context. I can understand how some people might see these Bardo flashbacks as a bit extraneous but I’m thinking this context is needed for later. Hopefully, this is the last episode with this amount of flashback because we’re running out of episodes. I did like this episode but I am getting increasingly worried that it’s is going to be a blur sprint with tons of loose ends. It seems to me that Jason Rothenberg is trying to cram two seasons’ worth of story into one. The two storylines are running parallel and it’s hard to see when they will converge. I’m still thinking the connection runs through Madi or Sheidheda but I’m not sure how. Bottom line, this season needed to be 20 episodes! I think four extra episodes would make things feel less compressed. Hell, even two extra episodes would have helped. Ending on episode 102 would have significance as well because it’s The 100+Bellamy and Raven. I guess it worked out because extra episodes may have meant an unfinished show because of Coronavirus. I really hope the series finale is a two-hour episode because this show needs and deserves it.

What happens to Last War losers. Anders took Octavia, Hope, Diyoza, and Echo to the surface to show them the fate of the Bardoans. The Bardoans “lost” their last war so their air became polluted with particulate matter that crystallized them from the inside out. Turns out, this is the Gem9 Anders was referring to in Welcome to Bardo. Octavia realized that Gabriel had saved them from death by turning them in. Anders told them that Gabriel is no longer their concern after Hope asked about him. I think this was the first time someone, anyone, showed an interest in Gabriel’s whereabouts this entire season. Clarke and co weren’t really looking for him and his “children” definitely don’t care about him anymore. Anyway, I’m leaning towards this “last war” being an existential force that will serve to amplify the problems that are already there. It’s supposed to be Judgement Day so I think it will hold a mirror up to humanity and force it to face its sins. It may turn out the Disciples don’t have the proper training. Cadogan is not the “right mind” Becca was referring to so he’s probably leading everyone astray.

Welcome to Disciple School… After their little field trip, Hope, Octavia, Diyoza, and Echo were taken to the training room. Levitt was there and he had some explaining to do! Anders wasn’t there so Levitt told them that the surface is survivable for an hour or two which would have given him time to figure something out. Octavia believed him because if he really wanted to kill them, there were easier ways. Levitt told them that Anders was going to be leading their training and the way to get through was to keep their emotions under control. He also said that the only reason Anders let him out of janitor timeout was because of his deep knowledge of Octavia from the M-Cap sessions. If they didn’t need him, I think Anders would have sent him straight to Penance for getting too close. He probably saw how Levitt was comforting Octavia when Bellamy “died” too. Anyway, Anders arrived with their training partners for the next 12 weeks. Of course, he couldn’t let things start without a little speech and the obligatory “For All Mankind”. Hope, Octavia, Diyoza, and Echo soundly routed their partners. Levitt suggested that Anders show them the Disciple way of life to help them become dedicated to the cause. Anders was hesitant because he was worried about their “selfish bonds”. He tabled the idea and put them in the fear simulator. These were used a lot in Divergent. In Diyoza’s “fear-scape”, she was tied to a chair and a masked person was going to kill baby Hope. Anders appeared, shot the masked guy, and took the baby to be watched by “thousands”. Diyoza reacted like any mother would which resulted in her failing the test like Hope and Octavia before her. Hope attacked Anders in her simulation. This is exactly what he was concerned about.

Too cool for school. Hope was not into this Disciple training at all! It is no secret that she hates Anders. He did cause her a lot of trauma by ordering his soldiers to capture her mom and aunt. Plus his soldiers killed her surrogate father. During sparring, she was more than happy to put a beating on her partner. She was boastful, pointing out that a Level 12 (Orlando) trained her. She still believes that she can take on the army of Disciples. Anders wasn’t surprised because he was Orlando’s mentor. I think Hope blames him for Orlando’s death too. Anders seemed to sense that Hope was amped up so he pushed her further by mentioning Dev. That’s exactly what Levitt said he would do. Before laser training, Hope was eyeing the flame thrower so Echo made sure to ask if the lasers were lethal. The four of them were also taken to a classroom where 8-year-olds were learning about The Shepherd and his “heroics”. One girl was an eager beaver but there was a boy who was nervous because he didn’t know an answer. Anders led the group in a meditation to help control the emotion. Octavia, Echo, and Diyoza went along but Hope scowled the whole time. Echo, Diyoza, and Octavia all got on her about not trying hard enough. Echo wasn’t going to let her mess this up for her. Diyoza and Octavia scolded her like she was 10 again. She needed to get it together or she would die alone on Penance.

Getting The Giver vibes. Certain aspects of the Disciple society remind me of the Community in The Giver. Both societies use genetic engineering for progeny except the Disciples took it a step further and eliminated pregnancy. Using embryos is more efficient than having 12-year-old girls pop out children for two years before becoming sanitation workers. It also allows them to correct birth defects so they won’t have to “release” any of them. They’re all “perfect”. Josephine would have loved this technology! She could have engineered all the hosts she wanted for the Primes. Anyway, the way Anders talks, pregnancy and postpartum recovery is a nuisance and a waste of time for the Disciples. I don’t think they’d take the same stance if the Shepherd was a woman. Plus, they missed Diyoza handling things like a boss while pregnant. Like the Community, The Disciples have a dedicated group of individuals to “nurture” the babies until they’re old enough to be watched by thousands. The Community did preserve family units but they were assigned. Emotional control is central to the way of life in both societies. The Disciples teach it through indoctrination and breathing exercises. The Community used pills (injections in the movie version) to eliminate the impact of feelings. Both societies share the belief that emotions and “selfish bonds” are the cause of everything bad about mankind. The people who built the Community experienced The Ruin, an event that might be similar to the last war. They overcame the event by controlling emotions and the Disciples are looking to win the last war the same way.

The Levtavia boat has left the dock! During the training, Levitt paid a lot of attention to Octavia. No one else existed in his mind. He helped her put on her wrist laser and his hands lingered on hers. When he told them about the Gem9 behind the biohazard doors, he kept his gaze fixed on Octavia. When Echo shot the rest of the group so she could win, Levitt only cared to check on Octavia. He helped her up and they stared at each other for a good while before he looked up to see if Anders was looking. Those crumbs were leading right up to the biscuit! The night before the final test, Levitt went to Octavia’s room under the guise of checking in. Sure. We all knew what was going down! I think even Octavia knew. Anyway, Levitt was concerned about the final test. They had come a long way but he was worried they wouldn’t be able to keep their emotions under control. He told Octavia that she is a Level 2 at best and that he is a Level 11. Octavia got close to him and asked him if he felt anything. When he said no, she moved closer, stroked his arms, and asked again. They both said they definitely felt nothing. Their faces said otherwise so I think that was them trying to control the emotions. Either way, they gave in to the stirrings. The writers actually shared the script pages for that scene. The shipper in me is happy. The realist in me thinks this won’t last. It seems like he would do anything for Octavia…even die. The promo for 7.10 shows Levitt bound and gagged and covered in blood but that could be a fear-scape. Still, it could end up that he fails it and Anders finally banishes him to Penance, which effectively means death. There’s also the theory that he’s playing her at the behest of Anders or Cadogan. Ugh, I hope not! Also, it’s kind of inefficient based on what has happened so far. Not sure I believe that Anders would have Levitt go as far as going to Octavia’s room and sleeping with her for that ruse.

…and you failed. It was pretty easy to figure out that Hope wasn’t going to make it through the training. She is incapable of controlling her emotions. She lets her hatred of Anders flow through her. She has the mindset of a teenager. The final test was a simulation in which one of the other three concocted a plan to torch the oxygen farm. I’m sure Levitt concocted this simulation based on Hope’s fascination with the flame thrower earlier. To pass, they had to stop the person, even if it meant killing them. In Octavia, Diyoza, and Echo’s simulation, Hope was the person with the plan. Makes sense each of them has the strongest bond with her. Diyoza, Octavia, and Echo passed the test by killing Hope in the simulation. Diyoza was the rogue person in Hope’s simulation. They have the closest bond so Anders wanted to test that to make sure Hope could bury it to serve all mankind. Hope still has terrible aim with knives so she missed on her first attempt to kill Diyoza in the simulation. When she told Diyoza she was trying to stop her to save Octavia, Echo, and Gabriel, Diyoza told her they were already in the Stone Room. Hope let Diyoza torch the oxygen farm so she failed. Levitt actually sounded a bit sympathetic but he was relieved Octavia passed. They exchanged halted smiles as he was putting the symbols on her. Anders was watching. Octavia, Diyoza, and Echo are now Level 2s. The Shepherd is “merciful” so Anders spared Hope from death. Echo was the best so she got the “honor” of deciding Hope’s punishment. Five years on Penance to break her spirit and her bonds. Diyoza and Octavia were stunned and their grip on their emotions slipped a bit as they looked at Echo in horror.

If you know them, you can destroy them. It appears that Echo has chugged all the Disciple Kool-Aid! She took to Disciple training like a fish takes to water. Hope had a point when she said the reason Echo was all in was that it gave her someone/something to follow. Echo was a little hurt by that but being loyal to something has defined her identity from the beginning. Also, burying emotions is something that Echo has done her whole life. She didn’t have to work too hard at Disciple life because of that. However, I don’t think she’s in so deep that her emotions are completely gone. Something in her face before she handed down Hope’s sentence said that it hurt her to do this. She couldn’t make the sentence too light or Anders might get suspicious. Also, Echo is a spy! Spies integrate, gather intelligence, and then act upon it. Anders is pretty impressed with her so maybe she’ll be in the gifted track and progress to Level 11 at warp speed. I think Levitt telling them about Gem9 is significant in terms of Echo’s plans.

20 minutes to carnage. Meanwhile, in Sanctum, Nikki had taken Emori and all the attendees of the reunification ceremony hostage. Nelson and the COG were aligned with her but it seemed that Nelson wasn’t feeling this whole hostage-taking thing. The look on his face when Nikki called him her “friend” said it all. Anyway, Nikki got on the Hunger Games mike and invited “Russell”, “Daniel”, and Raven Reyes to the Great Hall. She was loving it! If they didn’t arrive in 20 minutes, she would start killing hostages. Three guesses as to who she planned to kill first, the first two don’t count. Murphy’s eyes welled up on that realization. He loves Emori so much and it would devastate him if anything happened to her. He was ready to charge but Jackson was there to talk him down. I didn’t clock this before but Jackson seems to have gotten over his anger towards Murphy for Abby’s death. Some rifts heal automatically on this show. I guess they have to given the situation. Anyway, Indra was none too pleased to return to this mess! She also informed Murphy and Jackson that there was no trace of Clarke and company at Gabriel’s camp. Immediately, Jackson was concerned about Miller but Indra told him to stay put. She understood how he was feeling because Gaia is with them (as far as she knows) but they can take care of themselves. Murphy suggested that they recruit Sheidheda to Indra’s chagrin.

I require fresh air and a friend. I can’t say enough about how much I enjoy JR Bourne’s portrayal of Sheidheda! He really brought that character to life. Indra and Murphy went to Sheidheda for help and he thought revealing his identity wasn’t in his best interest. Indra grudgingly agreed to protect him from the foolish little lambs that are the Faithful. In addition, Indra offered to reinstate his 10 minutes of sunlight but he asked for 30. Indra agreed to 20. Sheidheda also wanted a chess opponent who respects the game as much as he does. He had Murphy in mind but he declined. Indra was the next choice but she has no time for games. Sheidheda must respect her on some level if he thinks she would make a great chess opponent. His expression and tone of voice were softer when he asked for the chess partner. It’s almost like he felt lonely and wanted a friend. Sheidheda wasn’t loved enough as a child…or as an adult. With the terms set, Sheidheda vetoed the plan to storm the Hall from the front. There was a map in Russell’s journal that indicated a tunnel leading to the Great Hall. Sheidheda and Murphy would go to the Great Hall while Indra and the remnants of Wonkru would ambush from the tunnels.

Confession Time. With four minutes left to carnage, Murphy and Russheda arrived, without Raven of course. She’s on Bardo and months older. “Kaylee” and “Daniel” revealed their true identities to the Faithful and the rest of the COGs. Jeremiah refused to believe it because “Daniel” had saved his son from being sacrificed. Russheda got up there with a sneer and spit all over Russell’s name before telling them that he wasn’t Russell. He stopped short of saying who he really was. Madi may have had an idea. The clock ran out and with no Raven, Emori was targeted to die. Murphy wasn’t about to allow the love of his life to die so he told Nikki that it was his idea to use the Eligius prisoners to repair the coolant pipes. He then told her that Hatch saved everyone so killing the hostages would disrespect his memory. Nikki’s hesitation bought enough time for Indra to show up with Wonkru. Shots were fired and Murphy protected Emori with his body. Season 1 Murphy would never! They’re endgame for sure! The COGs and the prisoners surrendered but that was only part 1 of Indra’s plan.

Sheidheda unleashed. Once Nikki and Nelson were arrested and everyone else was cleared out, Indra locked Russheda and the Faithful in the Great Hall. Part 2 of Indra’s plan. She was banking on the Faithful morphing into an angry mob and killing Russheda. Alyssa missed his confession so she still believed he was Russell. Russheda gave a speech about how they were lost sheep with no one to protect them from the wolf. He, of course, was the wolf and he killed them all with a pointy candelabra. I thought he would have let Alyssa live because she was so good to him. I guess Sheidheda wanted to remove every trace of Russell’s followers. The kids weren’t in the room though so they’re still alive. In fact, there was scene of Madi’s friend crying over his parents in the trailer. Severe miscalculation on Indra’s part! This was a man who destroyed whole villages! Murphy knew something wasn’t right when he heard the screams of multiple people. He let it slip that Sheidheda was in the hall which piqued Knight’s interest. Sheidheda ordered them to open the door and when they did, there was Sheidheda soaked in blood. His siege has begun! Knight and the other Sangedakru guard kneeled. It’s about to go down in Sanctum! I’m expecting an Indra vs Sheidheda fight at some point. They may actually finish this storyline out in 3 episodes and then reunite everyone for the last war.

A word about Miller. Jarod Joseph spoke out about how he felt like Miller was just there to check two boxes (black and gay). Miller is one of the four remaining members of The 100 but we know less about him than characters that were introduced much later. Jarod wanted to do more with the character but nothing happened. He said he didn’t get much guidance either. It’s too bad because there was a lot of potential for more depth. They could have had a little bit of Miller dealing with losing his dad to Praimfaya. He obviously had some trauma with following Blodreina so that could have been worked in more. They barely show his relationship with Jackson, who doesn’t do a ton either although he does more than Miller. These are things that would have made Miller more than just a hired gun. Other black actors have had similar complaints. Andrea Lewis was on Degrassi for 5 seasons but her character, Hazel, only had one focus episode. She was a textbook “black best friend”. Hazel was dating Jimmy when he was shot but they never showed her visiting him at the hospital or even just talking about him. Craig and Marco saw Jimmy more than her! If I remember correctly, Hazel wasn’t in a lot of the episodes between Jimmy getting shot and his return to school. It’s a shame because it wasn’t like Jarod and Andrea weren’t talented enough. They just weren’t given the opportunities. Black people from all industries can relate to this. I certainly can. It makes you doubt your talents. It’s not enough to increase representation in front of the camera. It has to be done in the writers’ room, in the director’s chair, and in the production office too. Jason Rothenberg said he was listening so I hope he heard Jarod and will take a hard look at his writers’ room and production suite.

Other things. The masks Anders, Octavia, Hope, Diyoza, and Echo wore on their field trip would come in handy during this pandemic! When Indra said Sheidheda wouldn’t just volunteer, it looked like some Wonkru guards were in earshot. Anders has maybe 2 facial expressions and is nearly emotionless. Cadogan isn’t as controlled so I wouldn’t be surprised if Anders overthrew him and became the Big Bad. After all, he was running things while Cadogan was taking his Millenium cryo nap. I call BS on Cadogan climbing the mountains of Etherea. I think there’s some revisionist history in those textbooks. Cadogan probably killed the people who actually accomplished the heroics and took the credit. Another episode without Clarke and Bellamy but I think Clarke will be in every episode going forward. I have liked seeing the development of other characters like Octavia and Indra. Random: I miss midseason extended promos! The CW always had some good ones for Smallville and it would be nice to have them for The 100. The 11-second promos are never enough.

Super hiatus. We have wait three weeks for the next episode! Right when it’s about to pop off! I blame Coronavirus! To tide us over, there’s a Comic-Con@Home panel on July 26th at noon PDT. It’ll be Rothenberg and all the mains except Eliza, Bob, and Chuku. Lips will be tight on the endgame but I’m hoping for some fun behind the scenes stuff. As for content here, if episode titles come out of the rest of the season, I might do a speculation post. A theory post is under consideration as well along with some non-The 100 content.

That’s the end of my dissertation! Until next time!