S07.E07: The Queen's Gambit

[CooperTV]

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Emori (guest star Luisa d'Oliveira) tries to heal Sanctum's old familial wounds while Echo (Tasya Teles), Octavia (Marie Avgeropoulos) and Diyoza (guest star Ivana Milicevic) struggle with new ones.

Original airdate 7/1/2020.

 

[ParadoxLost]

Nothing is better than a long drawn out reveal that ends like I'm supposed to know who the hell that is and barely able to contain myself with the excitement of when that person is brought face to face in the next episode with people whose names I do know. 

So after, I googled it and the amount I did guess (about Second Dawn) was basically all I should be expected to know (and none of it is from memory of prior seasons) and the writing and directing and editing do in fact suck.  If you are going to end with a cliffhanger type feel, maybe next time cut it off when Clarke learns about Bellamy's "death".

I hope this season gets better once they are done with the backdoor pilot next week.

[KittenPokerCheater]

That was.....awful.  The writing was terrible and I felt badly for the actors/directors who had to do it.

 

[Lady Calypso]

So, I actually DID enjoy it. The writing is never going to be stellar so I kind of ignore it, at this point...or I accept it, whichever works. 

But I was really into the stories going on. I think getting more Emori was great. I really like her character and she's been so underused. It was nice to get to see her command a few of the scenes. I really liked her scene with Nelson, as well.

Murphy/Sheidheda's chess match was actually the best part of the episode for me. I loved seeing the power struggle with both before it was clear that Sheidheda had the upper hand. But JR and Richard did a fantastic job...and they got me interested in Sheidheda completely! I seem to like Sheidheda when he advances other characters' storylines. First with Indra and now with Murphy. 

I couldn't care less about the Sanctum political drama so I'm really just here for Murphy, Emori, and Indra. I did like Jackson/Madi's scene, though when did Jackson become a therapist? 

The Bardo stuff was decent. It was all filler, but there were some nice character moments between Octavia/Echo, and Hope and Diyoza. Also, SPACEKRU FLASHBACK SCENE! This is our very first one, as well! It was nice to see flashback Bellamy, as well (sans beard, which reminded me of season 1 Bellamy). 

As for the ending, since I was brushed up on Bill Cadogan and Second Dawn from a rewatch of that particular episode, this didn't surprise me at all. We're finally getting somewhere!

Overall, it was a great episode for me. After the first four episodes being so boring and awful for me, I'm glad the last three episodes have been a bit better, although still not great. They're still just slooooowwwwllllyyyyy moving along and I hope the second half of the season is better than this. 

Lindsey Morgan did an amazing job directing this episode, at least. I loved some of the choices that she made.

[quarks]

1. Echo! I know you wanted to be as convincing as possible for Damien, but surely just ONE tiny scar on your face would have done it? Especially since the rest of your group was not exactly into the whole face scarring thing. 

2. And, also, Echo, to repeat: Azgeda was directly responsible for the vast majority of your personal problems and quite a bit of the death rate on this show. Azgeda is why the Grounders and Skykru only had the one bunker and that tiny patch of land to flee to for five years, instead of the options of two parts of the space station, the Mount Weather facility, and the bunker.  That in turn is part of why you had to flee to another planet, which directly led to you doing all of this planet hopping and getting stuck on the same planet with Hope for years. And this is completely leaving aside the way Azgeda directly abused you.  I think Bellamy's wrong - your weakness isn't loyalty, Echo, it's a complete failure to see that Azgeda was a bunch of evil screw-ups. Good looking evil screw-ups, I'll grant you, but still. So why this whole scarring your face in their honor instead of just yelling hey, I'll join you.

2. I did like the Echo/Bellamy scene, though. It was nice to finally get some context for how they got together.

That said, I'll admit that my main thought right after that scene was, huh, I kinda wonder if Gaia and Bellamy are indulging in some sexy times wherever they are."

3. I was less enthusiastic about Diyoza, Hope and Octavia going along with Echo's "Yep, we're all ready to join the evil guys!" especially since Echo was kinda looking like the sort of person otherwise sensible people shouldn't be following just now. Like, did they just decide to trust her, and if so, why? Diyoza in particular has absolutely no reason to trust or even like Echo unless Hope spent a lot of time talking about how wonderful and awesome Echo is and Diyoza was bracing herself for a new in-law. Which, if it happened at all - and might not have - happened entirely off screen.

4. Speaking of Hope, yes, still annoying.

5. Speaking of Damien Darhk, yep, still not clear what you're up to, dude, but I remain impressed by your abilities to recruit side characters every single time you appear on a CW show!

6. The chess stuff between Murphy and EvilHeda was fun, even if really, Murphy, your entire thing is distrust, so you probably should have caught on to things a bit sooner.  Especially since that must have been a very long chess game - Murphy headed over to feed EvilHeda before Emori had even organized the refreshments for the event and he was still there as that got going.  

7. Ok, when, exactly, did Jackson pick up psychiatry as a medical speciality? And who, exactly, trained him, given that we were repeatedly told that he and Abby were the only trained doctors after everyone left the Ark. Did he just read a lot of books down in the bunker? Did he study with Niylah?

8. Look, new old man, I realize that you are a day player we have technically never seen on this show, but, a) what is with this misogyny of trusting Daniel instead of Kaylee, especially given that a large number of people at this point have been pointing out that Daniel isn't even Daniel, b) maybe, just maybe, you don't try to strangle your long lost son right after meeting him?

9. I'm delighted to see this new focus on Emori, but....somehow it also doesn't feel quite right? I realize she's been a lot less focused on her individual survival since season 5, but, also, this entire subplot feels somehow more a "well, we need one of the long term characters that the audience knows about to be paying some attention to the Sanctum stuff and since most of our characters are either zipping around other planets, in a mysterious yet to be revealed location, or going after the characters who are zipping around other characters, that kinda leaves us with Madi, who is too young, Murphy, who, enough said, Emori and Jackson - with Emori sorta chosen as the default.

10. And no Indra.

Sniffle.

[thuganomics85]

I got a kick out of the throwaway excuse they had to have Indra be away from Sanctum, because I totally am choosing to believe that TPTB knew that they had to have Indra be absent, because there would have been know way a coup would have been successful if she was there.  Even they acknowledge the awesomeness that is Indra!

I admittedly was nervous throughout all of this episode, because as soon as I saw how much focus Emori was getting (even delving into her backstory!), I was really worried it was going to all end with her death.  I'm glad that wasn't the case for now, but, yeah: it certainly doesn't look good for her.  I guess I really need to put my faith in Murphy managing to pull out another miraculous save.  Hopefully Sheidheda didn't get into his head too much.

So, "The Shepherd" is this Bill Cadogan character that was played by John Pyper-Ferguson years ago for about two episodes.  I vaguely remember him, but damn, talk about going way back.  Bet he enjoyed getting that call back.  "Hey, buddy!  Remember how you played that one guy for about a minute way back in 2017?  Well, we want you back and we got some big plans for you!"  Curious to see more about what his deal is.  But I'm still keeping my eye on Anders, because I don't see Neal McDonough playing a glorified henchman/follower in the long run.

Finally got a Bellamy sighting!  It was via flashback, but it counts!  No surprise that Echo continues to be going off the deep end.  I love that we are now at the point that Octavia a.k.a. the Artist formally known as Bloodrayna is the one that's like "This woman is crazy!" now.

Diyoza and Hope have some mother/daughter bonding time.  Which includes debating the differences between freedom fighter and terrorist, and ending with Diyoza chocking out her own child.  Families can be so complicated sometimes!

While Sheidheda had Murphy's number sadly, I do think he sincerely was pissed when Murphy dare suggested that Lexa was the favorite, heh.  Yeah, he's certainly got a big enough ego to be jealous over that (true) statement.

Clarke and the rest of the gang have now arrived at Bardo, so that should be fun!

At least Gabriel go this robe!

Cool that Lindsey Morgan directed this one.  I did think she struggled with some of the fight sequences (they were more choppy compared to the norm), there were other parts that were pretty cool.  I really liked how she filmed the chess scenes and made them intense (along with some great performances from JR Bourne and Richard Harmon.)

So, it looks like next week will be both an origin story for Bill and a backdoor pilot for the potential spin-off.  Hmm...

[ottoDbusdriver]

1 hour ago, KittenPokerCheater said:

That was.....awful.  The writing was terrible and I felt badly for the actors/directors who had to do it.

 

Agreed.

Was that a very special episode of 'The 100' ?  Hope needs a hug, Echo needs, Emori is giving peptalks -- FFS !
Plus, it just .... dragged ... on ... and ... on.

And how have the disciples of the Shepherd been on Bardo for a 1000 years ?  And traveled from Earth, no less. 
Is Bardo also a time dilation planet ? Man this is confusing.

I'm bored to tears with the Sanctum stuff -- can't keep track of all the different sects, and frankly don't care.

Bill is ... Tex from 'The Last Ship'.  John Pyper-Ferguson needs to get the hell off this show as soon as possible.
Does that mean he's the Shepherd ?  Since he is risen -- from the stasis chamber or whatever the hell it is.

Echo -- you didn't need to do that to your face.  Plus, it looks stupid.

[AudienceofOne]

6 hours ago, ottoDbusdriver said:

And how have the disciples of the Shepherd been on Bardo for a 1000 years ?  And traveled from Earth, no less. 
Is Bardo also a time dilation planet ? Man this is confusing.

Because Bardo is Earth - spoiler

If it turns out that Bardo is not, in fact, Earth, I'll just come back here and delete these references *whistles innocently*

Bardo is totally Earth. Time dilation!!

As for the whole of this episode - other than the Diyoza/Hope scene that was surprisingly excellent -

 💤 💤

Edited July 2, 2020 by AudienceofOne

[driver18]

I shouldn't be, but I still can't believe that this--THIS?!?!--is the final season. I mean.... it's just wow. This is like a textbook example of everything NOT to do in the final season of a show.

[Ziggy]

3 hours ago, AudienceofOne said:

Because Bardo is Earth - spoiler -

Hmmm, that’s possible. I was leaning towards the possibility that Earth is the planet that Raven said wasn’t “on-line,” and that Cadigan or one on the leaders fron Second Dawn found a stone on Earth. Guess we’ll just has to wait and see.

[tennisgurl]

The chess match between Sheidheda and Murphy was definitely the highlight, it actually made Sheidheda seem interesting again. Not enough to make me really want him still around, but its something at least, and it gave Murphy some decent material. And Sheidheda actually had some interesting bits beyond smug and evil, especially when he was clearly pissed and annoyed at Murphy (correctly) reminding Sheidheda that everyone liked Lexa more than him!

I am happy to see Emori getting more screentime, but I knew right away that her party was going to go badly. It was a decent idea, but she really needed to feel people out before she started reuniting people with their kids who they threw out like moldy bread because their cult leaders told them to. I did like hearing more about her past and how she related to the people who had been kicked out of Sanctuary at least, and how much it still affected her. 

Nice to see Bellamy, even if it was just in a flashback! Oh its ok Echo, he will certainly be showing up sometime soon at an appropriately dramatic moment. Also, damn girl, when even Octavia is looking at you like your losing it...

Looks like Octavia took some time at her homestead to watch Good Will Hunting, enough to pull the "its not your fault" hug on Echo. 

Hope and Diyoza have some mother/daughter bonding, which is kind of awkward considering Diyoza hasn't known her as an adult, and Hope now knows about her whole Terrorist/freedom fighter depending on who you ask past, but they still manage some nice moments. 

Oh my God its...that one guy! GASP!

[SourK]

Yeah, I had no effing clue who that guy was. I just assumed it was the dude you guys keep talking about, who I don't remember at all, from a season that feels like it was a thousand years ago -- hey!

16 hours ago, thuganomics85 said:

Diyoza and Hope have some mother/daughter bonding time.  Which includes debating the differences between freedom fighter and terrorist, and ending with Diyoza chocking out her own child.  Families can be so complicated sometimes!.

I loved how Diyoza's whole attitude was, "From your POV I've been missing for almost 20 years -- why are you being so dramatic about wanting to find me?" Also I call bullshit on her or anyone else on this show ever learning the lesson that "doing the right thing in the wrong way" is bad. "Doing the right thing in the wrong way" is basically their motto.

26 minutes ago, tennisgurl said:

I am happy to see Emori getting more screentime, but I knew right away that her party was going to go badly. It was a decent idea, but she really needed to feel people out before she started reuniting people with their kids who they threw out like moldy bread because their cult leaders told them to. I did like hearing more about her past and how she related to the people who had been kicked out of Sanctuary at least, and how much it still affected her.

 

Same. As soon as what's-his-name showed up to meet his parents, I was like, "He's gonna kill them."

To be honest, I thought her whole attitude about it was strange -- saying that the thing that would be most healing is to have the chance to convince the people who rejected you that they were wrong. That's a game lots of people play with problematic parents -- constantly trying to prove that you were worthy of love in the first place -- and it usually ends badly.

[Daltrey]

"I'm bored to tears with the Sanctum stuff -- can't keep track of all the different sects, and frankly don't care."

100% this! My post was going to start with "am I the only one who gives zero F's about all the nonsense on Sanctum and the multiple groups who may as well be one for as much as how clear all their agendas are?" 

...wow, that was a terrible sentence....I could write for this show, lol! Seriously, they never should have brought shedhedda or whatever the F back. Whatever group wanted to burn Russell and the primes should have been allowed and then burn the rest of the planet and be done with it. The Bardo storyline is far more interesting and the season just isn't long enough for this back and forth BS. Now you're telling me there's a backdoor pilot for a possible spinoff? Why?! Just streamline this mess, wrap it up in a way that satisfies but leaves it open for another potential season. I know the show had it's fate sealed already going into this season so that's not actually possible, but it still would've been better than this hodgepodge filled trash compactor result.

[Samwise979]

What ever happened to the crazy sun or whatever it was?

I know she's the main character and all (and I like her) but, I get the biggest eye roll when they all talk about how Clarke is "the key". 

[foxfreakinmulder]

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I don't get why Clarke is "the key" either.

I'm also bored with the Sanctum stuff.

Coo-coo Echo is sitting in a corner slashing her face. Yeah, let's follow her.

Gabriel betrayed his friends but hey he got a robe.

Boring episode. Do better show this is your last season start connecting the dots.

 

[domina89]

On 7/3/2020 at 8:10 PM, Samwise979 said:

I know she's the main character and all (and I like her) but, I get the biggest eye roll when they all talk about how Clarke is "the key". 

I agree!  Every single sci-fi show and movie that has ever existed has a "key to everything" or a "star-child" or a "chosen one."  So tired of that trope!  It's a way to manufacture drama when the writers can't find a way to explain why a character exists or hasn't been killed off even though they should have died like 50x over.  Boring.  This series has kind of done it twice now because Madi is a chosen one, too.  I am assuming Clarke is "the key" because of her interaction with ALIE/Becca in season 4.  I think all this will tie back into that subplot because of Bill/Second Dawn. I just hope it all makes some kind of sense when the finale comes.

Edited July 6, 2020 by domina89