S07.E09: The Flock

[CooperTV]

Quote

Murphy (Richard Harmon) and Indra (guest star Adina Porter, “American Horror Story”) must defuse a tense situation. Meanwhile, old friends make new allegiances.

Original airdate 7/15/2020.

 

Edited July 9, 2020 by CooperTV

[ParadoxLost]

I'm annoyed now.

I truly hate this type of story telling.  I quit Lost over it and I don't like The 100 as much as I liked Lost.

Lost opened the hatch.  Cue cliffhanger.  Then they rewound and told the story of how they got to the moment of opening the Hatch in about three different episodes.  Maybe more than three different episodes because I quit.  I got to the point of not giving a shit what was inside the hatch after living through the frustration of ending the episode in the same place three times.  And I cared at one point what was in the hatch.  A lot. 

Clarke's arrival in Bardo does not fill me with anticipation that Clarke is the bringer of the key that leads to the final war or whatever.  The only anticipation that brought me was that maybe the final season would actually assemble enough characters in the same story line that I wouldn't be wondering if I was experiencing time dilation at 15 minutes into each episode because I'm so bored. Rewinding the story multiple times to tell me how a bunch of characters that aren't the ones I care that much about got to that moment is not making me happy.

Also, this show has stolen many things from many shows and movies, most recently Star Wars and Stargate, but I would have forgiven many things if the would have just stolen one thing from Raiders of the Lost Ark...

Give Murphy a gun and reenact this scene against Sheidheda and his candelabra of death.

 

Can't we just move on.

Altough I reserve the right to come back later and snark at length about the way Russell worked that prop.  The writers and directors must hate him.  Here....we can't figure out how to write in that girl getting you both a key and a weapon....use this candelabra... and try to make it look menacing... just put your lips together and blow.

[quarks]

1. See, this is why you should all follow my lead and call him EvilHeda instead of Sheidheda. That way, you will always remember that he is Evil and thus should probably not be left alone in a room with a bunch of largely untrained and unarmed civilians.

2. Granted, by now Sanctum has the original Sanctum people, Gabriel's people, Wonkru and the Eligius prisoners, but, still, EvilHeda, you should probably spend at least some time thinking about the importance of keeping up a decent sized gene pool. Not to mention that it might be more fun to have more underlings to order around.

3. Also, auugh, Indra, though I guess everyone slips up occasionally and the Sanctum people were causing her problems as well, so....

4. Points to Murphy for figuring out what EvilHeda was doing, minus several points for telling Wonkru that EvilHeda was back.

5. See, Levitt, this is why you shouldn't have stopped at the end of season three. If you'd gone on through season four, you would have found out that everyone that Octavia sleeps with/is interested in dies a violent death.

It's been nice knowing you, Levitt!

6. Oh, Echo. I had such hopes for you when you killed Hope the first time around. And then, the second time around, you only exile her for five years? I mean, yes, I realize you had to show the audience that you weren't really brainwashed, but still. You could have gotten rid of Hope for me! Damnit, Echo!

7. I was, however, delighted to see Diyoza and Octavia jump on the Let's Kill Hope train. Even if they probably were faking that for fake brainwashing purposes to stay alive, it still gives me hope that they might be willing to kill Hope in the future.

8. Ok, so, yes, I just might have a leeetttlleee teeeenyyyyy problem with Hope. Maybe.

9. Was Gabriel just left out of all of this training because he'd pretty much already betrayed them?

10. Aliens! Let's hear more about the aliens!

11. The next episode isn't until August 5th? Grumble. I can understand why, under the current circumstances, the CW wants to spread out their last remaining original filmed stuff as long as possible, but still. Grumble.

Edited July 16, 2020 by quarks

[thuganomics85]

Don't care if it was kind of fan-service, but I was cracking up over Indra's "The hell!  I was gone for half a day and y'all somehow get yourselves overthrown by the rebels?!  Y'all are hopeless without me!" reaction during her return.  Granted, she herself made some questionable decisions tonight as well, but it was fun while it lasted.

Because, yeah, I really don't understand the logic of locking up Sheidheda with his disgruntled followers and just assuming they would take him out.  At this point, it is clear as day that he is more powerful than most people here, and there would be an easy chance that he would take them all out with ease.  Especially since; lets face it; Russell's followers aren't exactly the toughest or smartest gang in Sanctum.  I really don't understand why she didn't just finish him off herself or find some other way to stage it.  Was she worried about a backlash or something?  And now thanks to Murphy accidentally letting his true identity slip, it looks like Trikru is going to submit to Sheidheda's  rule now.  Yay!  At least JR Bourne was having fun devouring the scenery.

At least the little rebellion was stopped and Emori made it out alive.  Of course, Murphy would try to make Nikki kill him instead, by claiming he was the one that sent her husband to death, instead of Raven.  Such noble tacts from a guy who likes to believe he doesn't have an unselfish bone in his body!  Still hoping Murphy/Emori make it through all of this in the end.

Meanwhile on Bardo, we go back and see what kind of training Echo, Octavia, and Diyoza went through, and why Hope isn't with them.  Basically, it involves a lot of brainwashing and trickery, and while the three of them either were really good at playing along or are actually buying what Anders is selling, Hope completely sucks at it and continue to be her impulsive self, so she is going back to Isolation Planet for penance.  But it does look like both Octavia and Diyoza are just playing along.  Echo though is another story.  It is certainly possible that she is just really deep undercover, but considering how bad the writing has been for this season, I could easily see her actually drinking the Kool-Aid.  I wish I could care more.

Oh, Lewitt!  I have a bad feeling you will be going out the same way Octavia's past boyfriends tend to go!

This episode did solidify to me that Anders is a better main antagonist than Bill, since Neal McDonough can command the screen better.  Still hoping something happens that makes him the main baddie instead, come endgame time.

I wonder why the show won't be back till August 5th?  At this point, I figured it would be better for them to just get this over with, and not make the fans who have stuck around wait longer than they need to.

 

[quarks]

53 minutes ago, thuganomics85 said:

Echo though is another story.  It is certainly possible that she is just really deep undercover, but considering how bad the writing has been for this season, I could easily see her actually drinking the Kool-Aid.  I wish I could care more.

 

I think she's just deep undercover, largely because:

1. Levitt told Octavia that if they didn't pass the final test (killing each other in the alternate reality), they would all be killed/exiled to The World With Remarkably Fine Pumpkins and Squash But No Hot Tubs.

2. Given the option, Echo sentenced Hope to a five year exile, thereby saving her life.

 

56 minutes ago, thuganomics85 said:

I wonder why the show won't be back till August 5th?  At this point, I figured it would be better for them to just get this over with, and not make the fans who have stuck around wait longer than they need to.

 

I'm in full agreement with this - and that might even have been the initial plan.

That said, the CW told its affiliates that it would be working to provide year round original programming. And, well. The shows that would ordinarily have started filming by now - the Arrowverse shows and presumably Riverdale, Nancy Drew, Charmed and Dynasty - haven't, at least as far as I know, and I don't think any of them expect to start filming until at least the fall. It's also very possible that at least some of them will need to shift to 12 day filming schedules, which will cause additional delays. The shows the CW purchased for the fall all have fairly short seasons.

So my guess is that the CW is trying to stretch out what original material they do have as much as they can - giving them a bit of flexibility in the late fall/early winter if those shows can't start filming safely by October. That way, they can push the fall fill in shows back to November/December/January, giving them a little bit more leeway with the affiliates.

[AudienceofOne]

Why are they going to such great lengths to make this season as tedious as possible? 

[Lady Calypso]

I mean...things happened, sorta. 

It's a shame that Indra had to not kill Sheidheda for the obvious "Sheidheda takes over" twist at the end because, realistically, Indra wouldn't allow others to decide the fate of a very powerful ex-Commander. She would do it herself, or at least keep an eye on the situation instead of going off. Sure, Murphy accidentally spilled the beans on who was in Russell's body, but with how quickly the two Trikru members bowed down, it goes to show how weak they really are if they'd fall under the spell of some dude they probably never even met before. I don't want to see a scenario where all of Wonkru bow down because, at that point, just kill them all if they're that easily swayed. I know they've always bowed down to whoever is called Commander, but it's really an annoyance, at this point.

Otherwise, glad to see Emori make it out alive. I actually thought that Sheidheda might have killed Emori right in front of Murphy at the end to get his chess partner back. And Murphy proves how much he's grown by trying to sacrifice himself for Emori! 

The Bardo stuff was good but it proves that this season is the Hope Show. It wouldn't be as bad if this wasn't the last season ever, which is a bit grating. But I also appreciate that we're spreading the wealth with characters instead of the typical Clarke/Bellamy/Octavia show that it's always been. Other characters matter, too! 

Though, speaking of Octavia, I do NOT mind her and Levitt. This is a great side to Octavia and she hasn't been this happy since Lincoln. 

Anders is a much more compelling villain than Bill, sorry to say. I am curious to see his overall plan because there's more to it, especially with The Key apparently being Clarke. 

I hope Echo is in Deep Spy mode. I have to believe that she's not that naive into joining the Disciples. She's an expert spy, after all. I have to believe that she had to give Hope five years on Sky Ring just to ensure it wasn't for the rest of her life. Anders was testing Echo and I have to believe that she knew that and made sure she passed. But man, was I ever annoyed at Hope's bitchy comment about Echo forgetting about Bellamy, which has to be further proof that Echo is doing what she does best.

The cliffhanger heading into a three week break wasn't really a cliffhanger since anyone who's watched a show like this knows that it was coming. 

[tennisgurl]

 Indra, I love you and you are usually one of the most competent people around, but leaving Sheidheda to be taken out by a bunch of sheeple is a predictably stupid idea. Come on, obviously this was going to happen, he would either turn them to his side or kill them, and now everyone knows that his crazy eyed self has followed us from Earth. Just shoot this asshole or something, you dont outsource your killings unless you know for sure that they're gonna get the job done! I am so not excited about Sheidheda taking over again, we already did this! Can we do aliens or go back to Hoth or something? 

I do like the Murphy/Emori/Indra team, even if the situation is quickly spiraling out of control. Murphy trying to get them to kill him instead of Emori was a good moment, oh yeah how selfish and non heroic you are Murphy, a horrible garbage person with no connections to others, just keep saying it no on buys it anymore. I am rooting so hard for them to make it out of this alive. 

This jumping around story telling is getting really annoying, they give us a cliffhanger on one plot, then skip over to the flashback or to some other plot, and leave us hanging, it makes it hard for me to get into the story. I hate that the characters are all split up, I hate that every plot seems to be moving slowly because we only get bits and pieces of every plot because we keep having to cut to other plots, its just a pain. 

So we get flashbacks to how Echo, Octavia, and Diyoza joined the Bardo team, being possibly brainwashed into their cult, but its hard to tell if its for real or if they are just playing along. Echo is a spy who specialized in infiltration in particular, so I am leaning towards them playing Anders, but I cant say for sure. Its not super interesting, but I do really like seeing some of the old Octavia again at least. I like Levitt and its great to see her actually happy again, although considering how things normally go for Octavia's boyfriends, he might not be long for this world...or his world, whatever. Hope continues to be annoying, and her constant pissy faces make this subplot even less appealing. 

At least we got Neal McDonough as the main villain this week, Anders is a million times the villain that Bill is, especially as the last big villain. Bill has the menace and charisma of your average Arbys manager, I dont really see him as the Big Bad. 

[Taryn74]

28 minutes ago, tennisgurl said:

This jumping around story telling is getting really annoying, they give us a cliffhanger on one plot, then skip over to the flashback or to some other plot, and leave us hanging, it makes it hard for me to get into the story. I hate that the characters are all split up, I hate that every plot seems to be moving slowly because we only get bits and pieces of every plot because we keep having to cut to other plots, its just a pain. 

Yes! I want to believe Indra had more of a plan than to think the Faithful Sanctumites (or whatever they called them) would actually manage to kill Slim Sheidy, because she really is smarter than that, but to be honest I just hate the Sanctum plotline SO MUCH I don't even care if she did or not. Just get that part of the story over with and stop dragging us into it, please.

 

30 minutes ago, tennisgurl said:

Bill has the menace and charisma of your average Arbys manager

VERY glad I had not taken a drink yet when I read that.

[ketose]

21 hours ago, ParadoxLost said:

I'm annoyed now.

I truly hate this type of story telling.  I quit Lost over it and I don't like The 100 as much as I liked Lost.

Lost opened the hatch.  Cue cliffhanger.  Then they rewound and told the story of how they got to the moment of opening the Hatch in about three different episodes.  Maybe more than three different episodes because I quit.  I got to the point of not giving a shit what was inside the hatch after living through the frustration of ending the episode in the same place three times.  And I cared at one point what was in the hatch.  A lot. 

I remember Season 1 of lost. The show was already doing some of that stuff. When I saw the hatch open, I knew it was never going to end. I stopped watching until the last episode.

[SourK]

Aw -- Echo finally found another place where acting like a psychopath is valued. In all seriousness, there's a kernel of something I liked in that story, which is that the three characters who were able to join the psychopath army are the three who have already been established as ruthless, cold-blooded killers. I also kind of like that it taps into one of the central themes in this show, which is acting based on principle/the greater good vs acting to protect the people you feel closest to, personally. I wish that all of that had been developed more, but it's a cool idea.

Also, I'm a fool because, for a split second, I thought Echo really stabbed Hope in the neck and that's why Hope wasn't there in the future.

22 hours ago, ParadoxLost said:

I truly hate this type of story telling.  I quit Lost over it and I don't like The 100 as much as I liked Lost.

Lost opened the hatch.  Cue cliffhanger.  Then they rewound and told the story of how they got to the moment of opening the Hatch in about three different episodes.  Maybe more than three different episodes because I quit.  I got to the point of not giving a shit what was inside the hatch after living through the frustration of ending the episode in the same place three times.  And I cared at one point what was in the hatch.  A lot. 

 

I didn't watch Lost, but I agree that this structure isn't working for me. I think it's partly because the flashbacks generally aren't adding new context that changes the situation or deepens the themes -- the flashbacks are just literally explaining step by step how we got to where we are. At this point, I'm not totally sure what the benefit is of showing it out of order if that's all that's happening.

21 hours ago, thuganomics85 said:

Because, yeah, I really don't understand the logic of locking up Sheidheda with his disgruntled followers and just assuming they would take him out.  At this point, it is clear as day that he is more powerful than most people here, and there would be an easy chance that he would take them all out with ease.  Especially since; lets face it; Russell's followers aren't exactly the toughest or smartest gang in Sanctum.  I really don't understand why she didn't just finish him off herself or find some other way to stage it.  Was she worried about a backlash or something?  And now thanks to Murphy accidentally letting his true identity slip, it looks like Trikru is going to submit to Sheidheda's  rule now.  Yay!  At least JR Bourne was having fun devouring the scenery.

I don't know anything about JR Bourne's career, but I like to imagine that he just chills in Vancouver/LA, and when his agent calls with a weird SF/F show, he's just like, "Sure -- I could use a new car. What do you want me to do?" and then stuff like this happens.

As for Indra's plan... it was probably the stupidest plan anyone has had this season. I guess she didn't want to have to explain why she shot Russell and then have the grounders find out he was Sheidheda? Which is also why she wanted them to stay outside the room no matter what? But literally the only thing he has wanted is to be left alone to talk to people, and he's supposed to be some kind of master manipulator so... why would you leave him alone with people?

21 hours ago, thuganomics85 said:

At least the little rebellion was stopped and Emori made it out alive.  Of course, Murphy would try to make Nikki kill him instead, by claiming he was the one that sent her husband to death, instead of Raven.  Such noble tacts from a guy who likes to believe he doesn't have an unselfish bone in his body!  Still hoping Murphy/Emori make it through all of this in the end.

 

I'm pulling for them, too. I think they have a cool story, with being two people who were only out for themselves but now they're kind of out for each other. I'm just worried that the resolution to that story is for one of them to become a good person and sacrifice themselves.

Meanwhile, if what's-her-name believed Murphy's lie, she now thinks he's responsible for her dead boyfriend, and that's probably not good.

[ParadoxLost]

7 minutes ago, SourK said:

I didn't watch Lost, but I agree that this structure isn't working for me. I think it's partly because the flashbacks generally aren't adding new context that changes the situation or deepens the themes -- the flashbacks are just literally explaining step by step how we got to where we are. At this point, I'm not totally sure what the benefit is of showing it out of order if that's all that's happening.

It feels like they are stalling because they wanted to end at 100 episodes but don't have the ideas or money to get there.  I think they know how poorly focusing this much on side characters was going to play if it went linearly so they threw in Clarke's arrival "early" to try to bridge across this string of episodes and in an effort to get people to tune into the backdoor pilot.

I know that there was BTS stuff going on but it feels like they were finished with this show last year and aren't interested in writing the final season.

 

[foxfreakinmulder]

20 hours ago, tennisgurl said:

Indra, I love you and you are usually one of the most competent people around, but leaving Sheidheda to be taken out by a bunch of sheeple is a predictably stupid idea. Come on, obviously this was going to happen, he would either turn them to his side or kill them, and now everyone knows that his crazy eyed self has followed us from Earth. Just shoot this asshole or something, you dont outsource your killings unless you know for sure that they're gonna get the job done! I am so not excited about Sheidheda taking over again, we already did this! Can we do aliens or go back to Hoth or something? 

I do like the Murphy/Emori/Indra team, even if the situation is quickly spiraling out of control. Murphy trying to get them to kill him instead of Emori was a good moment, oh yeah how selfish and non heroic you are Murphy, a horrible garbage person with no connections to others, just keep saying it no on buys it anymore. I am rooting so hard for them to make it out of this alive. 

I agree with everything you wrote but only picked the first two paragraphs to quote.

I wanted to see Indra take out Sheidheda, she's such a badass I just wanted to see that. And does Sheidheda have superpowers because he broke those chains/cuffs and killed a room full of people in like 10 seconds.

I'm on the Murphy/Emori train and really want them to make it out alive. I can't believe I'm saying that about Murphy, he was one character I hated the most the first few seasons but now he's my favorite.

Hope and her sour puss face can stay gone for the rest the show. I'm wondering if Bellamy was sent to the same planet Hope is now on growing pumpkins, because I can't think of any reason to see Hope again.

Yeah, I hope Echo is playing a con, if anyone could pull it off it's her.

 

 

 

[domina89]

18 hours ago, SourK said:

I'm pulling for them, too. I think they have a cool story, with being two people who were only out for themselves but now they're kind of out for each other. I'm just worried that the resolution to that story is for one of them to become a good person and sacrifice themselves.

I feel like that is definitely the natural resolution to Murphy's story, even though I don't like the idea of it.  He's the Theon Greyjoy of this series...

[ParadoxLost]

2 hours ago, foxfreakinmulder said:

Yeah, I hope Echo is playing a con, if anyone could pull it off it's her.

I think they are pulling a con simply because Diyoza was mugging so hard at Echo to convey that they were pulling a con.  It was to the point that its not realistic that to think that the guy in charge doesn't realize it.

[ketose]

This season is so full of people I not only don't care about, but can't even identify. Like, who the hell is Nikki and why is she so pissed? Who's that moron who gave Shitheda the key to the cuffs? Then again, I know why Murphy keeps having to redeem himself. He killed his own people in the first couple of seasons.

So, they have a war coming but they have no idea who they're fighting or how to fight them? Why is Clarke the key? She doesn't have the flame in her head anymore. So far, we have stupid domestic issues withe Sanctum which is turning Indra from a general to a police captain. You've got a bunch of Grounders, the people who survived from the Arc and some idiots from Sanctum who thought they were lead by gods. Plus, there's this "judgement day" arc where the war for humanity is being waged, even though there appears to be many planets where humans can populate and rebuild.

I still don't see where the whole Shitheda story could not have just been lifted out of this and made no difference, except to give us more exposition of the potentially cool scifi stuff we're getting in bits and pieces. This is heading into Season 5 Andromeda territory, where they spent half their time at a bar, had a broken ship and massive time dilations to deal with.

Edited July 19, 2020 by ketose
Last minute corrections

[Taryn74]

21 minutes ago, ketose said:

Shitheda

Oh man, it hurts to laugh this hard.

 

22 minutes ago, ketose said:

Like, who the hell is Nikki and why is she so pissed?

She was one of the Eligius criminals, her husband got voluntold by Raven to weld the pipes when the radiation was leaking and put them all in danger for like 20 seconds a few episodes ago, so she's pissed because he died saving everyone. But before he died he told Murphy a sob story about how he and Nikki used to rob banks together, he was just in it for the money but she would kill hostages and witnesses. And he found it hot somehow? Or just loved her anyway? I don't know. Basically she's a piece of sh!t who gets off on killing people and I cannot understand why they didn't just leave the Eligius criminals in cryo sleep forever. I'm so over them.

 

27 minutes ago, ketose said:

Who's that moron who gave Shitheda the key to the cuffs?

She's the moron who's been slipping him secret messages hidden in the cookies (probably hoping he'd take a liking to her and start slipping her something else). One of the few truly brainwashed Sanctumites left. Well, not anymore I guess. Glad they're gone, I was very over them all, too.

 

30 minutes ago, ketose said:

Why is Clarke the key? She doesn't have the flame in her head anymore.

The best speculative explanation I've seen is that Anders (and thus, Cadogan) doesn't know she no longer has the Flame in her head because Levitt didn't get that far when reading Octavia's memories. They know that Clarke took the Flame (which we now understand has Becca's memories of the codes on the anomaly stone on earth) and think she still has the codes - the key - in her head.

[Samwise979]

^^^ does Clarke still have the codes and all the other memories from the commanders before her in her head? Does she retain the memories even though the flame has been removed? Or do you need the flame to have the memories?

Edited July 19, 2020 by Samwise979

[Taryn74]

51 minutes ago, Samwise979 said:

^^^ does Clarke still have the codes and all the other memories from the commanders before her in her head? Does she retain the memories even though the flame has been removed? Or do you need the flame to have the memories?

Honestly, I'm not sure. I don't know if we've gotten a firm answer one way or the other on the show yet. Madi is obviously still drawing memories from past Commanders (including Becca watching people travel via an anomaly stone) and she no longer has the Flame. Also, Clarke retained enough of Josephine's memories to pretend to be her even after Josie's mind drive was removed, but it's not clear if she retains any memories that she wasn't aware she had. If that makes any sense, LOL.

It seems like past memories may somehow have the consciousness whether or not to present themselves to the Flame carrier, but I don't know that for sure. We never got any hint of Sheidheda's existence until Madi had the Flame, even while Clarke had the Flame. So.....I don't know. LOL.

[Isazouzi]

20 hours ago, Samwise979 said:

^^^ does Clarke still have the codes and all the other memories from the commanders before her in her head? Does she retain the memories even though the flame has been removed? Or do you need the flame to have the memories?

I suppose the answer is whatever will suit the plot^^.

It's hard to care anymore. I'm OK with Shedheda killing all the sanctum people that were left. The less morons there are, the better, honestly.

[ramble]

Blame quarantine, but I’ve been rewatching The 100. Which reminds me how frustrated I am that this final season has our original kru split up and spread out. Can’t we, the weary loyal few, who have stuck by this show through it’s good and very bad, get some pay off of togetherness at least? 

It also reminded me how horrible Murphy was originally, and how Bellamy started out as a massive jerk. Things I had let myself forget. Things I hadn’t forgotten were that I didn’t like Clarke from the get go, Lincoln was a beautiful man, and Jaha was a bit of a nut job. 

I’m completely not interested in stupid, evil hada and his storyline of vengeance and domination. And I have a soft spot for the actor because he was Papa Argent on Teen Wolf so it’s almost a struggle to have this much disinterest. 

I have some mild interest in the den of mind controlled monks and the coming human-ending war. Mainly because I still love Octavia and, even at their mind controlled worst, they don’t seem as dumb as the prime believers and their system of stupidity. 

[Taryn74]

9 hours ago, ramble said:

Things I hadn’t forgotten were that I didn’t like Clarke from the get go,

Ha! Same. Clarke has always annoyed me.

Never hated her the way I hated Abby, though. Dear Lord I hated Abby.

[SourK]

On 7/24/2020 at 1:28 AM, ramble said:

Things I hadn’t forgotten were that I didn’t like Clarke from the get go, Lincoln was a beautiful man, and Jaha was a bit of a nut job.
 

LMAO, I forgot Jaha existed.