'The 100' Season 7 Episode 9 Review: Genocide, brainwashing and some romance make for a thrilling watch
Spoilers for 'The 100' Season 7 Episode 9: 'The Flock'
It may be a little hard to go back to the normal plotline for Season 7 on 'The 100' after last week's excellent prequel episode; however, go back we must. This week's episode also serves as the midseason finale for the final season of the show and signals a massive shift in things to come. As has been usual this season, we don't see Clarke Griffin (Eliza Taylor) or Raven Reyes (Lindsey Morgan) in the ninth episode; however, their absences do nothing to detract from the story. We have been closely following the events on Sanctum and Bardo where time is moving at different speeds but nonetheless remain equally exciting.
While last week's prequel backdoor pilot gave us a few answers on the end goal for the Disciples led by Anders (Neal McDonough) and Bill Cadogan (John Pyper-Ferguson), we were still wondering where the Sanctum plotline was headed before the midseason finale episode. However, Sheidheda in Russell's body (JR Bourne) -- or as people like to call him, Russheda -- seemed to have finally gotten the opportunity he had been planning on for a while and we have to say, we are a little terrified for our heroes.
Let's take a look at the events of this week's episode and what it means for the future of the season. Keep in mind, with seven episodes left there's still a lot to come for 'The 100'. One just has to remember the second season -- which this season mirrors quite a bit -- to know that what we expect to happen may not be what actually happens.
Russheda reigns supreme
In a previous episode this season, we wondered why Indra (Adina Porter) was absent after she got WonKru to follow her as the leader when Emori (Luisa D'Oliveira) planned a reunification ceremony that failed spectacularly. With Russheda pulling the strings and keeping John Murphy (Richard Harmon) occupied with a game of chess, Nikki (Alaina Huffman) leading the Eligius prisoners and Nelson (Lee Majdoub) leading the Children of Gabriel, took over control of Sanctum with the stolen guns and took hostages. It turns out, Indra was only gone for half of the day and she forms a plan to retake control with the help of WonKru.
This week, Nikki's demand was that the Prime pretenders -- Emori, Murphy, and Russheda -- come clean to the Faithful that all the Primes are really dead, which she does so by holding Emori at gunpoint. She had the additional demand Raven also be present, but as viewers know, she is now in Bardo with Clarke and the others. Just as Nikki almost threatens to kill Emori, Murphy says he was responsible for sending the four prisoners to the reactor room and therefore responsible for their deaths. The fact that Murphy was sacrificing himself to save Emori while also trying to save Raven is again proof of just how much he has grown over the seven seasons of the show.
After WonKru storms in with Indra, the different factions are segregated, with Russheda being kept with the Faithful. Just as we worried, however, Russheda massacres all of the Faithful, leading to genocide. We don't know if any of the Sanctumites survive, though there are the Children of Gabriel. By the time Murphy demands the WonKru soldiers to get Russheda out, he accidentally calls him Sheidheda, leading to some of the WonKru members kneeling in fealty to Russheda.
Brainwashing on Bardo
Last week, when Clarke demands to see her friends, we saw Octavia Blake (Marie Avgeropoulos), Echo (Tasya Teles), and Charmaine Diyoza (Ivana Milicevic) walk in as Disciple soldiers. Many viewers wondered where Hope Diyoza (Shelby Flannery) was. This week's episode answered that question. After Echo had previously figured out that the Disciples wanted them to fight in their last war, the four of them were enlisted for training. Anders even shows them what's at stake and takes them to the surface to show them the previously mentioned crystal giants -- a clip that was shown in the trailer.
Leading their training is Octavia's biggest fan on the show, Levitt (Jason Diaz) who is rooting for her survival just as we are. Through the different tasks in training, he offers Octavia hints as to what needs to be done throughout. Echo, Octavia, and Diyoza are clear that they need to make Anders believe that they are on the Disciples' side, but Hope is having a hard time doing the same. As such, Hope is the only one who does not pass the final test which was to check that they would place the lives of the Disciples over their emotions. Echo -- who is either really convincing or has actually turned into one of them -- is given the responsibility of meting out her punishment. She decides that Hope will serve five years on Penance, or as we also know it, Skyring.
Before the final task, Levitt had gone to Octavia to warn her about the final task which led to a scene that fans have probably been waiting for since they first met Levitt. While we are glad to see some non-fighting scenes for Octavia (perhaps her first since the fourth season), we wonder if this is setting up some danger for either of the characters, especially Levitt.
Final thoughts
That Indra was gone for only half the day while Nikki and Nelson took over Sanctum plays into how time moves so differently on Sanctum as compared to Bardo and the other locations that this season is set in. However, Indra's presence in this episode shows that things are truly out of her control. Even if the Faithful have been eliminated, the Children of Gabriel and the prisoners are still threats. Are they really working with Russheda or will they rethink their loyalty once they learn what happened to the Faithful?
Though we have seen Sheidheda since last season and heard horrifying stories about him, this is the first time we actually got to witness it. Russheda is not afraid of shedding blood when it comes to gaining power, in fact, it seems that he thrives on it. We assume the absence of Clarke and the others will go on for some time -- this could mean that by the time they actually come back, Sanctum could be a full-on warzone.
Back on Bardo, we wonder if Echo's tough sentencing for Hope had anything to do with the latter's snide remarks on Echo just being happy to follow orders. Is it too late for Echo? We are not certain, but if Bellamy Blake (Bob Morley) does come back, he will be shocked to find out what kind of person his girlfriend has become. Perhaps with Clarke and the others now on Bardo,
Finally, while many viewers are disappointed that there have been very few Clarke-centric episodes, her absence -- along with that of Bellamy and Raven -- helps put the other characters in the forefront, including Emori and Echo, who until now have been more like supporting characters. It also shows just how good the writers are at developing the characters. It's a question we've all asked: what would happen to them if Clarke was not there? However, we do hope that the second half of the season brings Clarke back to focus. We need to see how she truly processes Bellamy's death and what kind of leader she might be without him. Moreover, we do think that Bellamy is coming back and those will be interesting scenes to look out for as well.
'The 100' airs on The CW on Wednesday nights at 8/7c. The show will return with new episodes at a later date.