'The 100' Season 7 Episode 7: With the Becho flashback, here's what Echo's arc means for the Bellarke endgame
Spoilers for 'The 100' Season 7 Episode 7 - 'The Queen's Gambit'
When it comes to 'The 100', romantic relationships have caused much concern among fans. Some of the biggest arguments among the fandom revolved around who Clarke Griffin should date (a toss-up between Lexa and Bellamy) or who Bellamy should end up with — either Clarke or Echo. While the Clexa vs Bellarke arguments have been going on for a while now, the major contention these days is between Becho and Bellarke. However, even though Lexa (Alycia Debnam-Carey) was killed in the third season of The CW show, fans still want that endgame.
Bellamy (Bob Morley) began a romantic relationship with Echo (Tasya Teles) somewhere between the fourth and fifth seasons — when both of them were up in space on the Ark after the second Praimfaya (nuclear apocalypse). Many of us were surprised by this development -- a lot of us disappointed, especially for those who were hoping Bellamy's and Clarke's reunion after six years of separation would lead to romantic developments.
So far, Bellamy and Echo have gone strong, although, in the previous season, the story mostly focused on Bellamy's fight to save Clarke when he went above and beyond. Which is why it might have been weird for many of us to see the Becho flashback scene this week.
We saw Bellamy and Echo have a heart-to-heart and what seemed like the beginning of their romantic endeavor. When Bellamy says he thinks his weakness is Octavia (Marie Avgeropoulos), Echo reminds him that his sister is his strength. Bellamy, in turn, says that Echo's weakness is her loyalty because it causes her to do what she knows is wrong — for instance, when she nearly killed Octavia in Season 4 for Roan (Zach McGowan) or when she betrayed Bellamy in Season 2 for Queen Nia (Brenda Strong).
While fans may be disappointed in not yet getting a scene between Bellamy and Clarke yet, we feel this Becho flashback was vital in possibly showing how the most-wanted relationship at the moment could be the endgame.
This season, we have seen Echo go off the rails a little bit — maybe more. When Bellamy first disappeared, she was more than willing to do what it took to find him, including killing indiscriminately. When she found out he was dead (though we are certain he is not), she brutally murdered the Bardo disciple who showed her what happened. After the flashback scene, we also see Echo carving up her face to show the Disciples that she is ready for battle. This, of course, maybe a ploy to ultimately get her revenge, but we think Echo's path forward is going to be much more intricate.
We have been waiting to see who Echo is going to be when she isn't loyal to one person — and it looks like we will see that. In an interview with Hollywood Life, Tasya Teles said, "What happens when she unravels when she tries to find her own identity is basically the journey that she goes on for the rest of the season. Because I think for the first time she really feels like she’s alone and she’s making decisions. She starts making decisions for the pack instead of just executing decisions on behalf of somebody else. So things get a little weird for her."
This means, that if and when Bellamy returns, he will be doing so to a person he will not be familiar with — especially considering more time has passed for Echo than it has for Bellamy from what we know so far. Perhaps by the time Echo does reunite with Bellamy, she might consider holding her personal strength higher and may even reject their relationship so that she will never be as vulnerable again.
Now, this is important. Rather than seeing Bellamy mindlessly moving on with Clarke — if that were to happen — we need to see him and Echo getting closure on their time together and their feelings for each other. We also need to remember Echo's hallucination of Roan from the final season's premiere episode, when he implied that she may be with Bellamy because of her lack of self-worth. This was only the beginning of Echo's journey this season and we are certain that it is going to get much more evolved.
By virtue of her relationship with Bellamy, Echo ends up getting a lot of hate from the fanbase. Most viewers may not understand the point of Echo's unraveling at this point. We are seeing Echo going through what Octavia did when she lost Lincoln (Ricky Whittle), only unlike Octavia, Echo probably feels she has no one else, despite Octavia's insistence that she is family. It is important to see that even if fans want Bellarke to happen, for Echo, Bellamy was her strongest relationship and her anchor — perhaps in her whole life.
Bellamy's death/disappearance is a catalyst to Echo's much-awaited, long-awaited character development. Who is she when she is not fighting for one person? Will it ultimately lead her to transcend who she was before, or, more, unfortunately, to her death? We hope the latter is avoided, especially because it would be really cool to see an Echo who is not tied down to the whims of another person.
Ultimately, this leaves enough room to see a potential Bellarke relationship happen — which may not happen eventually, but we're holding out hope. They could still remain platonic friends or they might move on to a romantic relationship -- which after such a long fight for the survival of their people, might be weird. Again, with just a bit more than half the season left, anything could happen.
One of the strongest things about 'The 100' is the way the show allows its characters to evolve. One needs to only look at John Murphy (Richard Harmon), Marcus Kane (Henry Ian Cusick), Charmaine Diyoza (Ivana Milicevic) or even Bellamy for that matter, to see how brilliantly the Jason Rothenberg-helmed show has done that. Echo, who has been a part of this universe since the second season, more than deserves the same level of treatment and appreciation and we are glad she is getting it in the show's final run. Tasya Teles' portrayal of the character remains painful and brilliant as she continues to give Echo what she deserves.
'The 100' airs on The CW on Wednesday nights at 8/7c.