The 100: The Queen’s Gambit (7.07) Things of Note

Lindsey Morgan crushed her directorial debut! A lot of the scenes in this episode were quite emotional and I think she did a great job getting the performances. Kudos to the actors for rising to the occasion as well! The episode itself was more of a tee-up and I think things are really going to take off next week. Let’s get into it!

Y’all killed my people. Want a job? Gabriel was in a cell alone pondering life when the guards came in and dragged him to the Stone Room where Anders was waiting. Anders told him that winning the last war will bring about transcendence for a species through the stone. Supposedly that happened to people who came before. Previously, he mentioned that the Bardoans went extinct so they must have lost the last war. In that case, there must be a species prior to the Bardoans that won it. I need more on this last war but it’s sounding more and more existential! Anyway, Anders revealed to Gabriel that Orlando hanged himself in the cabin. He thought Gabriel would like to say goodbye before they sent his body to Nakara. I wonder why Hope and Echo weren’t extended that same courtesy. Maybe there was something in Orlando’s note. When Gabriel asked if Nakara was their heaven, I could see the sadness in his eyes and hear it in his voice. It hurt to know that leaving him behind resulted in Orlando’s death. Anders essentially told Gabriel that he had a choice between joining the Cipher Team and sharing his knowledge about Clarke and the Anomaly or being executed. Gabriel joined up but not before asking for a robe.

Therapist mode. After Madi’s panic attack, Jackson morphed into a therapist to help her get down to what’s really bothering her. She’s still drawing things and people she doesn’t know. As Jackson tried to talk to her, Madi longed to play soccer with her new friends. She talked about how her parents wouldn’t allow her to play for fear of her nightblood being discovered. They also hid her when the Flamekeepers came so she wouldn’t be taken for the Conclave. Octavia had a similar experience on the Ark so no wonder she was Madi’s favorite. Anyway, Jackson dug into Madi’s feelings about being asked to take the Flame. She was scared but she believed she had to do it to save Clarke. Indra asking her to be Commander again to unite Wonkru brought back those feelings of fear and obligation. Jackson let her know that it doesn’t have to be on her shoulders. With Gaia gone, he has become someone she can lean on. Although Jackson’s approach is more clinical (he is a doctor, after all), you can tell that he cares about Madi and he wants her to enjoy just being a kid. He did ask to keep her drawings which I think will come in handy when the Sanctum storyline converges with Bardo. Or, they’ll be significant in stopping Sheidheda. Either way, it seems that Jackson will be highly invested in keeping Madi from shouldering whatever burden these drawings will likely bring.

Breakfast run becomes chess match. Murphy got stuck with the unenviable task of delivering Russheda’s breakfast. Alyssa, one of the Faithful, had prepared it. Why? As it turns out, she was baking messages in Russheda’s cookies. Why didn’t they have Jae making the cookies? Why does he get cookies in the first place? He’s a prisoner! Prisoners don’t get cookies! Anyway, Murphy was hoping to drop the tray and bounce but Sheidheda had other plans. He read Murphy’s demeanor and immediately figured out that he knew who he was. Sheidheda did what Sheidheda does when he has visitors: Invite them to play chess. He enticed Murphy to play by alluding to something bad happening. At first, Murphy was kind of enjoying it. He even went bold with the Queen’s Gambit although that may have been because he was in a rush. However, as time ticked by, he got more and more restless because he needed to get to the reunification ceremony to support Emori. He really loves her. The anger in his face when Sheidheda called her “Frikdreina” said it all. Murphy brought up Lexa which is a sore spot for Sheidheda because she’s more popular than him. She united the clans and brought about some semblance of peace. Sheidheda’s thirsty for power and Murphy figured out that he wants to rule Sanctum. I think that should have been obvious. Anyway, Sheidheda was clearly stalling because there were several points in the game where he could have won. Murphy picked up on the missed opportunities but finally realized the endgame after Sheidheda didn’t take the win with his queen. The plan was to occupy Murphy so that the reunification ceremony would fail. Daniel has more sway with the fanatics so Murphy needed to be there.

Long Lost Family: COG edition. Emori was on a mission to reunite the Children of Gabriel with their parents. She was hoping it would bring about peace and it was something Kaylee talked about in her journal. Emori could also relate to the Children of Gabriel because she had also been abandoned by her parents because she was considered genetically impure. She tried to connect with Nelson as he was mulling an alliance with Nikki but he refused. She still took his cup to Jackson to test just in case he changed his mind. At the reunification ceremony, things seemed to be going fairly well although there were nerves. Nelson’s father was on the fence and confided that he’d feel better if Daniel was there. Nelson’s mother mentioned that they called him Sachin (a nod to Sachin Sahel) which means pure. Nelson arrived and had an emotional reunion with his mother. She was happy to see him but his father was not. His father believed wholeheartedly that abandoning him was the right thing to do. He even tried to choke him! You could see the hurt in Nelson’s eyes. Showing up to the reunification ceremony meant that Nelson had some hope that the rift between the Children of Gabriel and Sanctum could be mended. He held out hope that his parents would embrace him and say they were sorry for abandoning him. When his father rejected him, any chance there was for reconciliation was gone. He stabbed his father and joined Nikki when she showed up with her crew and all the guns. He blamed Emori for getting his hopes up so as soon as he got his gun, he was ready to kill her. By keeping Murphy away, Sheidheda ensured that Nelson would align with Nikki because his father wasn’t going to accept him without Daniel’s assurance. We won’t get a resolution for this until 7.09 but I think Murphy is going to end up trading himself for Emori.

Mending fences? Echo had a flashback to her and Bellamy’s first kiss. Prior to that, Bellamy told her that her weakness was loyalty because it made her do things she shouldn’t. I’d argue that it also made up a significant part of her identity. She has to be loyal to something or someone. She was loyal to Bellamy and she loved him so when she lost him, she lost a part of her. Echo was shattered and Octavia held out an olive branch of sorts. Octavia can relate to how Echo was feeling because she felt the same way when Lincoln died. The pain, the rage, and the thirst for revenge consumed her and broke her. She wished she would have hugged Bellamy instead of beating him down. So, she hugged Echo who resisted at first but then Echo broke down in her embrace. That moment shows that Octavia finally accepts Echo as someone Bellamy loved (or at least cared about-don’t @ me!). Despite their differences, Echo is the only link to Bellamy that Octavia has left. Bellamy did hope that Octavia would accept Echo so I guess there’s that. They do have to work together too. It turns out Anders wants them, Hope, and Diyoza to fight in the last war just like he wanted Gabriel to help the Cipher Team. I think that might vindicate Gabriel’s choice to surrender in the previous episode. Anyway, Echo scarred her face to show she was ready. Anders was confused but she’s willing to join up so it’s cool. I think they put them together because they wanted them to work out their issues before going into training. Disciples aren’t allowed to have emotional baggage! I also think that Echo plans to take revenge after the war is over. Bellamy’s likely alive so that’ll become moot.

15 years of parenting in 10 minutes. Hope was chomping at the bit to ambush some guards but Diyoza wasn’t having it. She was upset that Hope had learned to fight and was wanting to fight. It’s the part of herself that she didn’t want Hope to inherit. She also learned that Hope knows about her reputation as a terrorist. Diyoza was remorseful about her actions during that time even though she was fighting for a good cause. A wrong thing done for the right reasons is still the wrong thing. I feel like Diyoza found some peace on Skyring with Hope and Octavia and this whole situation ruined that. I think there’s also a sense of sadness in Diyoza because she missed out on 15 years of Hope’s life rather than 45 days. Dev got Hope through those preteen and teen years as a father would. Her real father was a psychopath who destroyed Earth for good. Diyoza only slept with McCreary to get him on her side so she could take over Eligius IV. She’s not proud of that decision but it resulted in Hope, the best thing that ever happened to her. Hope was still looking for a fight so Diyoza issued her a challenge: take her down and she’ll help fight the Disciple army. Hope hesitated but then she accepted. Of course, she was no match for her momma. She became that scared 10-year old girl who’s mom and aunt disappeared into thin air. I really liked this scene because it showed different aspects of the mother-daughter relationship. We got mother trying to talk some sense into daughter and daughter being stubborn. We also got mother comforting daughter as she cried. Diyoza is determined not to lose Hope again but I have a feeling that Hope is going to lose her again.

Catching up…again. Gabriel was bored AF putting in codes every day for three months. I would be too! He signed up for science, not trial and error! The Cipher Team hasn’t made a new discovery since long before the current members aside from Gabriel were born. It was the code that allowed them to control the Anomaly. Anyway, Clarke and co arrived locked and loaded. Clarke didn’t realize Gabriel was there until he said her name. Not that they were looking for him. Raven asked after Octavia, Echo, and Bellamy. Gabriel told them Echo and Octavia were there but Bellamy was dead. Shock and sadness were the prevailing expressions on everyone’s faces. I read an article where Lindsey said the original plan for the scene was to have Clarke fall to her knees. In all honesty, I think the way the scene was in the episode makes sense. She’s still in the middle of a mission so I think she feels she has to hold it together for her team so they can complete.

The Shepherd is alive and he ain’t Levitt! Speaking of Levitt, where was he? Jason Diaz was credited but I didn’t see him with the Cipher Team. The PA announcements mentioned overcoming “lesser emotions” so he might have ended up going for “reeducation” after all. Anyway, from the moment Hope mentioned Level 12 in Hesperides (7.04), I knew The Shepherd was Cadogan. I didn’t think he’d actually be alive though! When Clarke and co arrived, the Cipher Team alerted Anders (did the Conductor do it with her eyepiece? They had their hands up!) who gleefully made his way to the secret Level 13. He recited the full Second Dawn credo (From the Ashes, Through the Bridge, We Will Rise) before opening up Cadogan’s cryo chamber. When Cadogan woke up and saw Anders, he said, “You again?” Anders must have been going up there to feed him updates. Or maybe he was frozen too. The backdoor prequel should explain some things.

Other things. The Disciples didn’t bother to clean up after the explosion that “killed” Bellamy. Lindsey said on her IG Live that her cut of the episode was 12 minutes too long. Maybe the Levitt scene(s) ended up on the cutting room floor. Director’s cuts make great DVD extras. Just saying! Levitt probably got to stay on the code-breaking team because there’s no chance of being exposed to “lesser emotions”. The first skip week is coming up on July 22nd. I knew it was coming because they haven’t released any episode titles beyond 7.09. Now I think Jordan is speaking to Cadogan when he says, “The answer to all this violence isn’t more violence.”

Until next time!