This episode was jam packed! Let’s jump right in!
Xavier=Gabriel. It’s true! Eduardo, a Null Gabriel saved from the Offering Grove when he was a baby, put his mind drive into Xavier against his wishes. Xavier looks like he’s in his mid-20s so this likely happened within the last 5 or 6 years. Ashamed of having another host, Gabriel assumed Xavier’s identity, which made his followers think he had forsaken them. Ironically, he became a “god-like” figure who his followers wanted to please and impress anyway. Gabriel referred to Xavier as a “freeborn” host. Now, does that simply mean that he was born outside the confines of Sanctum or something else? Were all the hosts from embryos until about 25 years ago? Either way, some of the carriers also decided enough was enough and joined Gabriel. Where are the rest of the followers anyway? No way Octavia and Diyoza killed them all. Maybe Octavia will encourage Gabriel to stop hiding and lead his people.
Will you be immortal with me? Murphy asking Emori to join him in being immortal is probably the closet thing we’ll ever get to a proposal on this show. It was a weird moment because Murphy was trying to be romantic but the implications of what he’s asking are messed up. Murphy may be a treacherous jerk but Emori is his soft spot. She is his person and he genuinely loves her. He is her person and she loves him too. Emori appeared to admire the “survivor’s” move and decided to go with it.
Gabriel left 70 years ago…thanks to Ryker. I knew it! I figured Ryker had some kind of loyalty to Gabriel. I think he would have gone too if it wasn’t for his mother. Josephine knows he let Gabriel go so she uses it to blackmail him into building the EMP. The look on Ryker’s face when he realized that Clarke was Josephine was priceless! The eye roll and heavy sigh were a nice punctuation mark to his reaction. He thought he had at least 56 more years of freedom! I wonder if he disliked Josephine from the beginning. He probably wasn’t happy about being forced to try those cotton candy berries. I’m curious to know more about Gabriel’s relationship with Ryker and how the escape went down. He’s also had 8 hosts, more than anyone else. Did Josephine kill him after Gabriel escaped? He may have a host body die early. He was originally a preteen so Gabriel might have thought that transferring his consciousness into a teenage boy would work. It may not have worked long term but that body may have lived long enough to count in the line. I’d like a little more of Ryker’s backstory although I doubt we’ll get it (more on this later). He fascinates me for some reason. Side note: I think it’s funny how Ryker mostly looks like he just rolled out of bed while the rest of the Primes look very put together. He technically did roll out of bed when Josephine called him but even at the end of the episode, he still looked somewhat disheveled.
The MVP. Even though Emori appreciated Murphy’s proposal as a “survivor” move, she had reservations especially when she met Josephine. The comments about her hand didn’t exactly make her want to be friends with Josephine either. Learning that Clarke was alive only increased those reservations. She told Bellamy what’s happening and they hatched a plan to save Clarke. Emori hasn’t had the warmest feelings towards Clarke but I don’t think she really wanted to be responsible for killing Clarke for good. She was briefly hurt that no one told her that Clarke was alive because she was with Murphy though. Emori has always felt like an outsider in the group but I think building relationships with Echo and Raven helped alleviate that a bit. She has some loyalty to Spacekru as a whole. Still, her home and heart will always be with Murphy so, in spite of it all, she wasn’t going to leave him to die alone in the Jo Berry field.
Murphy pivots. Something shifted in Murphy when he found out Clarke is alive. He suddenly became concerned about Clarke “seeing” him work with Josephine. Still, he kept up the alliance even when Emori sided with Bellamy and Echo. That is until Josephine tried to use him for leverage. He lets Bellamy and Echo know that Gabriel would be able to take out the mind drive. Doesn’t make up for his betrayal but it’s a start. Josephine slashed his thigh which is where the femoral artery resides. There’s a good chance he’ll bleed to death if Russell prevents him from getting medical attention. Imminent death might get him to reveal what he saw when he was in that coma.
Every day is a Red Sun day in the Verge. The Verge reaches deep into the soul and shows a person their deepest desire and/or darkest fear. Octavia got her deepest fear (Bellamy dying), Diyoza mostly got her deepest desire (Hope), and Gabriel got both (Josephine). In spite of it all, Bellamy is still Octavia’s brother and they will always care about each other. I believe they will reconcile eventually. Hope represents just that to Diyoza and as hardened and ruthless as she can be, she has that maternal instinct. I find it interesting that Gabriel still loves Josephine despite what she has become. He hangs out in the Verge just so he can see her! At the same time, what she has become frightens him. He might believe that he can get the Josephine he met and fell and love with back.
Two go in, one comes out. Led by her hallucination daughter, Diyoza walked right into the Anomaly. Is this the last we’ve seen of Diyoza? I doubt it. I think the Anomaly is going to spit her at a point in time when she has already given birth to Hope. She might have to face her past before it deposits her somewhere. Octavia ran after her but the Anomaly spit her right back out. There must be a salon in there too because her hair was neater and she looked less “beaten up” in general! Jokes aside, her calcification was cured but she passed out in Gabriel’s arms. The Anomaly is not finished with her yet! I think it knows that she and Gabriel need each other on some level. Gabriel will help her face up to what she did as Blodreina and she’ll help him lead his followers.
Corrupted code. Sheidheda is essentially a computer virus in the Flame. Gaia wasn’t able to “upload the antivirus” (the separation ritual), so Sheidheda runs rampant in Madi’s mind. She is filled with murderous rage with teenage attitude to boot! When she said, “I’m the commander” to Jordan, I really wanted Bellamy to say, “You may be the commander but I’m in charge.” That’s what Clarke would say and she said something similar to Abby back in season 2. Madi concocted a plan to kill Miranda which would force the remaining Primes into the Grand Hall. Cornered, she would kill the rest. Terrible plan as we found out when she tried to execute it. Russell knew immediately it was one of them and not the Children of Gabriel. Killing Miranda also messed up Bellamy’s plan to get Josephine to one of the research outposts to have Jackson remove the mind drive. Madi all but started a war which is what Sheidheda is all about. Even if there is a better way, Sheidheda advocates the violent route. I think what’s going to happen eventually is that either the Flame will be completely destroyed or they will figure out a way to permanently remove Sheidheda. The scene with Madi strapped down will probably be related to that.
Prelude to a switch. I think it’s pretty obvious at this point that Priya and Ryker are going to end up switching sides. They are the only non-Lightbourne Primes left alive and have reasons to dislike the Lightbournes. Priya takes issue with Russell “jumping the line” and using an unwilling host. I think she also wants to protect Jordan not only because he saved her life but because Delilah was so fond of him. She may not keep mementos like Ryker but I think Priya has some respect for her hosts too. Protecting Jordan would be honoring Delilah in a way. It’s also possible that Delilah’s feelings for Jordan are in the part of the brain that keeps the body alive to allow for the transfer. Priya looked absolutely horrified when Russell told Jade to give the guards guns. Ryker isn’t really about this life anyway. His hatred of Russell has been obvious from the beginning and he’d be more than happy to be rid of Josephine forever. He did look concerned when he heard Josephine was taken towards Children of Gabriel territory though.
New Kane. She did it…Abby saved Kane! Raven grudgingly agreed to take the spacewalk to activate the nightblood. As angry as Raven is with Abby, she just couldn’t let her die. They’ll never be the way they were but I guess it’s a positive sign that Raven still cares. Anyway, a guard named Gavin volunteered to become a nightblood, get mind-wiped, and become Marcus Kane II. Henry Ian Cusick is going to be a regular on MacGuyver so the original Kane is likely gone for good. These are big shoes to fill for Greyston Holt but I like what I’ve seen from him so far. He pulls off the demeanor switch from Gavin to Kane pretty well. The casting this season has been incredible! In my 6.01 recap, I lamented actor switches because they fundamentally change the character. In this case, this fundamental change is part of the story so I can forgive it. Kane in Gavin’s body will never be exactly the same as Kane in Kane’s body. Would it have been better if Kane had died altogether? Probably but I’m going to roll with what is for now. Anyway, Kane’s relationship with Abby will change because of how she ended up saving his life. She knew this but all she really wanted was to be able to save him. Now that she has, I wonder where the story will take her.
A gripe. As amazing as this season has been, I have a bit of a complaint. There are so many characters and so many storylines right now! With only five episodes left, I’m worried some things are going to fall by the wayside. Raven, for example, already seems very expendable. She’s mostly serving Abby’s storyline right now and hasn’t done much other than react and sit on the moral high ground. Even Emori has played a more active role than her! Does this mean Raven’s days are numbered? There’s some backstory surrounding Gabriel and Ryker that needs to be filled in. Josephine’s shift to extreme callousness should be addressed as well. Then we’ve got Madi and Sheidheda to resolve. What’s Jordan’s story going to be? Where’s Diyoza? There’s just so much! I really think this season should have had 15 episodes! More time to deal with all these storylines and characters! Maybe there’s a massive clearing of the board planned in terms of characters. We haven’t gotten too many deaths of central characters (both main cast and recurring) so far. Maybe this what Rothenberg meant when he said that 6.13 wasn’t satisfying as a series finale too. 50 million loose ends. We know the Anomaly is going to be a part of season 7 so that storyline will be ongoing. I really hope I’m worried about nothing and that these storylines are going to be resolved in a satisfying way. Even if it’s not until season 7.
Other things. Miranda was shacking up with Null folks too. I think she was also on Kaylee’s side when it came to Isaac. I’m not sure what to make of Simone. She is a bit cold but nowhere near as callous as Josephine. I really think she’s going to be held hostage at some point. It’s amazing how Xavier/Gabriel is able to escape the barrel of Diyoza’s gun by simply talking and then walking away. Smooth operator!
War is about to begin. Enough said!
And that’s my take! Until next time!
Yeah there is a LOT to unpack this episode, isn’t there? I am almost glad for the hiatus just for the chance to breathe hah. Ryker is definitely interesting- I think the whole “rolling out of bed” look is part of his rebellion- like how Jo was mad that he didn’t live in the palace and such. But he has to take on a bigger role (and I think you are right that he will!) to redeem the centuries of body snatching!
Murphy, ugh. I genuinely wonder what he would have done if Emori hadn’t run off with the EMP. I really don’t think he would have killed Clarke at the end of the day, but I guess we will never know for sure! But him telling Bellamy and Echo what to do makes me even more sure. I still have faith in him. He’d kill to survive, don’t get me wrong. I just don’t think he’d do it like this, or to Clarke.
Ugh, NuKane. I can’t. I definitely think if Ian is gone, Kane should have died. Like I get it in terms of the story, but it would have been much more powerful had he died- more, if Abby had been able to make that selfless decision, you know? Sort of her redemption moment. But here we are. I absolutely agree that the casting has been phenomenal, and that the Gavin guy did a great joB! It’s just… ugh, I am trying to reserve judgment but it is HARD!
Now we have to wait a whole week, gah!
Good point about Ryker rebelling through his fashion choices and living in the machine shop! He may not think he has the power to stop Russell and Josephine (yet) but he can control what he wears and where he sleeps. I have faith in Murphy too. Survival may be at the forefront of his mind but he still cares about people. I don’t think he would have taken the deal so easily if he knew Clarke was alive. I completely understand about Kane. Ian has done such a phenomenal job with him and seeing someone different play him is a shock. Maybe, hopefully, we’ll see original Kane again and they’ll give the character an impactful sendoff. Letting go of Kane to prevent more body-snatching would have been a great moment of redemption for Abby. It would start to move her forward somewhat.