In Episode 4 “Hesperides,” Clarke gets word about missing people from her crew. The source: Mysterious Outsiders.
In tonight’s episode, we get to see Hope’s growing pains.
Hope’s time alone on Beta was pretty nice once a mysterious prisoner (hi, Dev! – played by Kamran Fulleylove) showed up and played house with her for nine years (in a father/daughter type of way, not a husband/wife situation). He showed her how to throw a knife, prepared her for an assault on the Disciples, and died tragically in her arms when said assault didn’t go so well (bye, Dev).
Meanwhile, back in the present, Gabriel and Echo are ready to dispatch of the crazy old kook (hi, Orlando! – played by a bushy faced Darren Moore) who just broke the device that would have enabled Gabriel to return them to Sanctum. Hope manages to stop them, allowing the poor guy to escape. Why? Because she says they have a five-year wait, which they should use to gain his support and assistance.
Meanwhile, in Sanctum, Clarke and the gang are dealing with an unexpected discovery – a dead Disciple (aptly named “Goldface” in honor of the helmet). Raven’s having PTSD from her little fallout (couldn’t help myself). And, a whole crew of Disciples (of a Greater Truth) have shown up outside the gate in hopes of getting Clarke to come with them.
Those are the three storylines playing out in this episode. Well, really just the two, the initial one plays through like the first 10 minutes of Up.
Beta’s up first, mostly because this storyline takes up the majority of our episode anyway:
Gabriel and Echo are down for recruiting Orlando to their cause (going to Bardo and fucking shit up), but they realize his interest in Hope is their best in, since for some reason he really hates Gabriel.
Over the course of the first year, with a few missteps, they manage to convert Orlando to their cause. He agrees on the contingency none of his Disciple friends are killed, which of course goes out of the window when the plan actually goes through. Ice Nation (no “the”)’s premiere spy taps into her roots and does the dirty work of taking out the Disciples before ultimately stranding Orlando behind. It’s not entirely surprising, since Orlando makes it very clear he’s still loyal to the Disciples, and, if you pay close attention, Echo never expressly agrees to NO killing (clever girl). Still, OUCH!
Alpha’s storyline is interwoven and goes as such:
Raven and Jordan are going over the dead man’s tech in hopes of giving Clarke any possible legs up, but it reveals some other interesting information. For one thing, the “Anomaly” is actually a wormhole that connects the two planets, and, in their current galaxy, there’s a total of 6 “in network” as it were. For another, Clarke is in danger!
Speaking of Clarke, her meeting with the Disciples isn’t going great, until Jordan and Raven show up to save the day! It’s a double-edged sword for Raven since she’s still smarting from killing people in the last episode, and she has to kill eight people to save Clarke.
It is a good set up for the next episode though, as Clarke and the gang are gearing up to use the foreign tech (along with the Anomaly Stone) to find their friends. Gaia resolves to stay behind to brief the others, and watch Madi. However, that plan is disrupted when one of the invisible soldiers attacks her and shuts down the stone. Gaia isn’t having it and attacks him, but they both fall into the bridge (a.k.a. the Anomaly, a.k.a. the wormhole).
We are left with Clarke and the gang (to clarify the gang consists of Jordan, Raven, Miller – Jarod Joseph, and Niylah – Jessica Harmon), minus Gaia, stranded on an ice planet. The stone is now inactive – completing the initiated shut-down sequence.
Where did Gaia and the soldier go? If Clarke and co. find a stone on the ice planet, will they even be able to use it to get back to Sanctum?
Overall, this is a pretty standard The 100 episode, complete with almost all of our main players (sans Bellamy and Indra). It’s got your hard choices, heartbreaking back-stabbings, and, of course, insane futuristic science that just…works. The character building between Gabriel, Echo, and Hope, and then later Orlando, evolves quickly yet manages to still feel organic. It really does hurt Gabriel and Hope to see Echo turn on Orlando and his people in the end (though, Echo did warn him she would kill his people with or without his help, so is it even much of a surprise?).
I don’t think this was an easy choice for Echo to make, at least not abandoning Orlando. Killing his friends was always part of her plan, but leaving him behind? I doubt even she’s prepared for how that’s going to sting later (especially once she finds out he committed suicide!). Additionally, that move may cause Hope to retaliate against her down the line. They’ve had a playful rivalry from the start, but, if it turns serious, I’m curious who will win.
Finally, it’s nice to see Jordan having something real to do. Since his introduction, he’s been a fairly bland character. Even in these most recent episodes, he’s not a crazed worshipper of the Primes, instead, a far more reasonable believer (come on now, this show thrives on extremes!). What will he be like now that he’s stranded with Raven, and Clarke, and the others on this ice planet? I hope more interesting!!!
The preview for the next episode promises some shit hitting the fan, which is understandable considering most of the major players are now off-world. That leaves a power vacuum…and old Dark Commander is nothing if not thrilled, I’m sure. My only concern is that Indra might bite it. We are in the final season (long-standing characters tend to die in final seasons), and Gaia being off-world as well could only make the impact of her mother’s death worse. Though…they could go in the other direction: Madi vs. The Dark Commander: the Sequel!
Let’s wait and see, eh?
Check out the 100 on the CW.
