'The 100' Season 7 Premiere: Clarke has to deal with a new unstable society as the anomaly takes Bellamy
The final season of 'The 100' is on The CW, so let's get straight into it.
We've always known that Clarke Griffin's (Eliza Taylor) job as the de facto leader was difficult. With each season, the group expands, bringing in every other group they come across and that includes all the grounder factions, the prisoners from the Eligius ship and now the people of Sanctum and the Children of Gabriel.
With so many groups now under one leadership, problems will obviously crop up. The Season 7 premiere of 'The 100' delves into that, letting viewers know that just because they now have a home and the "villains" are defeated, it doesn't mean they get to instantly live happily ever after.
Russell Lightbourne (JR Bourne) is now the only Prime left alive and that causes quite a few problems. The people of Sanctum, those who believe in the divinity of the Primes, want to set him free while the Children of Gabriel want him dead. Clarke, as the leader, must figure out a way to deal with Russell in a way that is both fair and does not upset the people of Sanctum.
Unfortunately, the prisoners who have been woken up are causing issues as well. For now, they may be toeing the line but we are certain, as Raven Reyes (Lindsey Morgan) says, that this is a "powder keg" ready to blow.
In the midst of all this, both Raven and Madi let Clarke know that they are there for her as she deals with the grief of losing her mother, Abby Griffin (Paige Turco). However, Clarke is still in the denial stage.
But, Clarke's grief comes bursting out when Russell, who is trying to get Clarke to kill him, as he is imprisoned in the Primes' palace, gives her Abby's ring and clothes. This sets off Clarke who finally loses it and beats up Russell.
Unfortunately, this could be what sets off a chain of events that could ultimately prove disastrous. When Russell is knocked out, Sheidheda takes control of his mind and kills Russell in the subconscious, thereby taking control of Russell's body.
Clarke rescues Russell, or rather, Sheidheda now, and tells the people of Sanctum to let the palace burn. She also declares that Russell will die for his crimes the next day. We know that JR Bourne is now a series regular and seeing as Sheidheda now has control over Russell's body, we are certain that the death penalty will not stand.
Meanwhile, outside Sanctum, Bellamy Blake (Bob Morley) is grieving the loss of his sister, Octavia (Marie Avgerpoulos) who was stabbed by Hope Diyoza (Shelby Flannery) and taken by the anomaly. However, he is soon knocked out by someone invisible and dragged towards the anomaly as well.
Echo (Tasya Teles) sees this and tries to follow him but she is being beaten up by invisible forces. Gabriel (Chuku Modu) is too fascinated by the anomaly symbols on Hope to notice anything yet, but when Hope runs away he goes to Echo, only to be beaten up as well.
Later, both Echo and Gabriel catch up with Hope, who tells them that she had a message for herself that said "Trust Bellamy." Gabriel deduces that Hope doesn't remember anything outside of the anomaly and the three of them plan to go through it.
A lot happens within the first episode of Season 7 and it may take viewers a couple of rewatches to get every detail. Even with the new sci-fi (and almost fantasy-like) elements, 'The 100' at its core remains the same - it's the story of survival and all the politics that come with it.
We now understand why Bellamy wasn't featured much in the trailer, but we hope his absence is not for long. Let's also hope that Clarke gets wind of what went down soon enough, though she has plenty to deal with already.
'The 100' airs on The CW on Wednesday nights at 8/7c.