#The 100 Season 7 Episode 9 Review: The Flock

What is real, and what is pretend?

Suddenly trying to trust anyone became so much more complicated, and we have to wonder if we can even trust one another anymore.

There is nothing like some quality Bardo cult training to question everything we thought we knew, especially about the characters we spent all this time with so far.

Maybe this is all a simulation, and the real success comes from the friendships we made along the way?

During The 100 Season 7 Episode 9, the timeline takes us back to the Bardo training that Echo, Diyoza, Hope, and Octavia have to get where they are now. It also explains how Hope is missing because she serves out her punishment of five years on Skyring, courtesy of Echo.  

Meanwhile, Murphy and Indra have to deal with Nikki gaining control of Sanctum and putting their people at risk. They have to work together with Sheidheda, which finally gives him the freedom to take his power back and slaughter all of Russell’s supporters to stake his resurrection return.

“The Flock,” written by Alyssa Clark, used life or death situations to corner the characters and redefine their understanding of loyalty. It was a significant study in the concept of “my people” and what that means to everyone when they are forced to identify it. But at the same time, these storylines were another example of stagnant storytelling that keeps holding the final season back from most of the potential it shows.

For a show that brags about not being stuck in the past, all it’s doing recently is wading into flashbacks and slow-motion storylines instead of moving forward. 

Just when the show makes some progress when it comes to the pacing, suddenly, it wastes an episode going back through the motions that don’t require that much screentime.

The Bardo Cult Training Program and Unchangeable Choices 

In true cult fashion, Bardo is shady, and everyone needs to be suspicious at all times. 

As much information that we may have had, it suddenly becomes very cloudy, much like the loyalties between the characters we know quite well. 

Octavia: Let me get this straight. The 10 foot aliens with superior technology who built this place are genocided and turned to stone by the enemy we are going to fight?

Anders: Precisely. Now you know what you are training for.

Anders showing them that the outside of Bardo isn’t survivable (beyond an hour) was the first step in making them complacent enough to want to be loyal.

It did reveal that Anders is positioning it like the enemy is the thing that killed the original people who founded Bardo. But after exploring The 100 Season 7 Episode 8, we know that the real battle has to come down to Judgement Day.

The key to the last war is the flame that Cadogan assumes has the code to the Anomaly that Becca refused to give him. With that code, he can see what she wouldn’t share with him, and the assumption is that it will include a war that humankind has to fight.

It isn’t clear what that will even look like, so preparing everyone for any scenario makes sense. It also makes sense to have everyone get rid of their connections to others because if you don’t know what to expect, it is better to prepare for the worst-case scenario where they will have to risk their lives for Bardo.

But it is almost like the more the others learned about Bardo; the more things didn’t add up.

The cult-like single-minded devotion that they express to the kids is one thing, especially since Cadogan did want to see himself as the answer to his people’s problems. 

But then there is their strange approach to having children, focusing on absolutely no connections of any kind even through childbirth.

Cadogan’s views on family life has shifted quite a bit since we last saw him on Earth. 

It all comes down to whether this will matter in the long run or whether this was information meant to carry this flashback focused episode to its natural end.

Realistically there wasn’t enough to keep the Bardo backstory moving, and this is before we mention the fact that the most important aspects weren’t even explored. The dynamics between Echo, Octavia, Hope, and Diyoza were at the root of the Bardo cult problem.

As long as they were looking out for one another, they couldn’t become what Anders wanted them to. But there’s another side to that story, yet the slanted perspective only allows for a brief look into their time.

During The 100 Season 7 Episode 5, there were hints of an unreliable narrator leading the audience on. But there was still a focus on the actual narrators and their perception of the events happening to them.

This time around Diyoza, Hope, Octavia, and Echo were strangers, and so were their motivations. It was quite odd to explore the flashbacks because it gave Bardo more control over the story being told than the characters who introduced us to it.

Our investment is still in those characters, so not knowing where exactly their heads are at just makes us relate to Hope that much more right about now.

(Echo – The Modern Classroom Connection)

How many time jumps and years of connections does Echo need before she is loyal to a group of people?

That is the sentiment that the episode has us walk away with, as Echo’s motives continue to be as muddled as the weather outside of Bardo. 

At first, she figured out the game that Bardo was playing and took it in stride. But her loyalty, as flimsy as it is on a good day, started to falter when Bardo gave her everything she has been looking for right now.

The show loves to praise Echo as this expert spy that may not win any fight she is in, but the dialogue will always remind us that she is the best. These big promises would mean this was Echo’s time to shine as a double agent, pretending to support the Bardo cause and, at the same time, planning a way out of there. 

Instead, Echo hopped on the structure and the praise that Anders offered her in a blink of an eye. Suddenly it isn’t clear whether Echo is playing the people in Bardo or actively looking to join them, with Anders as her next master.

You just like having someone give you orders so you don’t have to think for yourself.
Hope

Maybe it was a good thing that The 100 never got around to showing Echo during the time jump in space or during the time jump on Skyring. She is making all these connections after all this time, yet the second she questions her purpose, she is willing to sell out “her people.” 

It happened with Raven during The 100 Season 5 when Echo was jumping from one side to the next, risking Zeke’s life in the process even when her close friend told her not to.

We got another glimpse of it when Hope and Echo grew close, only for Echo to risk her life and Diyoza’s when she couldn’t stop killing everyone who crossed their path in Bardo.

It is easy to say that Echo has her people and that she is loyal to them; it is another to actually do it. And that is where Echo continues to struggle, with Hope once again struggling under Echo’s wishy-washy friendship.

Because while it is more evident with Octavia and Diyoza that they are doing this because they don’t want to be sent to Skyring, Echo, on the other hand, is consistently toeing the line.

At first, she acts the way that Anders wants her to, just like Octavia and Diyoza. But the more praise he gives her, the more she pushes against her friends to get closer to Bardo.

And it all comes to a head when Echo is in her final simulation that opens our eyes to the side she might be defecting to.

It is interesting that we only see Hope and Echo’s final tests in full. It is also interesting that the set-up is the same, but how the two of them approach their loved ones in these simulations is so different. 

They both have two knives to use as a way to stop the other person.

Echo uses her first one to harm Hope in her leg, and the next one goes in her neck.

Meanwhile, Hope is up against her mother, and her first knife is thrown at the tree as a warning.

Is it significant that Echo harms her friend right away instead of going for a warning first even in a simulation?

We have to break her spirit; rip apart her bonds.
Echo

It is about as significant as Echo selling out her friend’s sanity for more praise from Anders, throwing Hope away because she found someone new to take orders from now.

It may hurt Echo to hear it, but Hope wasn’t precisely wrong about her intentions when that is exactly what Echo continues to do. She needs to get orders from someone—the Ice Queen, Roan, Bellamy, and now Anders.

She doesn’t know how to exist without that direction or that motivation, so if this is meant to be a new Echo then I genuinely do not see it.

This is exactly the same Echo that betrayed Bellamy over and over again. This is exactly the same Azgeda spy that sold out those that helped her to stay in her leader’s good graces. 

But this version of Echo so far seems to think that this time is different and that what she lost gives her the excuse to look for someone new to follow.

It is easier to get a read on Diyoza and Octavia; it is harder to figure out if this is Echo pretending or if this is her finding her place in Bardo.

Regardless, the choices she made didn’t have actually to be made that way. She didn’t need to shot her friends in the group shooting challenge, and she didn’t need to condemn Hope to five years on Skyring.

That was a punishment that she chose, knowing how much it would hurt Hope. Unless there is a plan in place that the audience just isn’t allowed to see, Echo’s performance is a step too far.

It isn’t clear if this new routine was meant to make us like her more, but the only thing it achieved was giving me a better understanding of Hope.

Echo being upset that Bellamy “died” isn’t a motivation, not when Octavia exists next to her, and she was just as confused at Echo’s punishment. 

Her regression back to her past self has never made her less likable or trustworthy to the audience, so the disconnected narrative only adds fuel to the fire.

There is nothing The 100 loves more than pretending Echo is a misunderstood protagonist, so surely, they will find a way to act like all of this is okay.

(Hope – Failure To Be Loyal) 

Hope obviously listened to My Favorite Murder because she had the sense not to join a cult, real or not. 

But her choice to stand against Bardo came at the wrong time, putting a bullseye on her back that Echo shot at with her non-lethal weapon.

Everyone else found a point in time to prove their “loyalty,” which Hope refused to engage in the entire time Anders was training them. Even their first walk to the elevator where Anders showed them what happened to Bardo above ground had Hope a few steps behind the others.

Hope is looking for a way out of the box, while the others are calmly looking to find the key to the door in said box.

It was apparent that Hope was never going to pass, not while she was openly trying to go against Anders and not when she was forced into it.  This is where the question comes in about how much Hope even knew about this unspoken plan that the others had.

Maybe it was them just understanding that they had to shut up and integrate to escape, or perhaps the three of them knew that trying to add Hope into a plan wouldn’t work.

Regardless, Hope’s faith was sealed before she began any training, and it was like Levitt, and the others were waiting for her to fail. 

Following rules isn’t how you win a war.
Echo

Echo, Octavia, and Diyoza all had Hope as the simulation they had to kill to pass the test and prove their loyalty to all humankind. Hope was the only person that would offer to burn down Bardo, but at the same time, she was also positioned as the stray one from the group.

What Diyoza, Octavia, and Echo thought would pass was really a ticking time bomb to Hope’s demise.

It is even more upsetting that Echo kept track of Hope; she knew to look out for her, but when she needed to Echo ended up giving her the worst punishment.

Hope struggled alone on Skyring when Diyoza and Octavia were taken. From there, she continued to wait. She waited with Dev until they could get her mom and aunt. Then she waited with Echo, Gabriel, and Orlando until they could go back again. 

It doesn’t take a genius to know that being alone on Skyring for such a significant amount of time has to be traumatic for Hope. Her truly being there alone for the next five years will take all this time from her life, it will harden Hope even more than she has been so far.

It is a punishment that makes sense from Anders, but not from someone like Echo who formed a bond with Hope.

The Bardo storyline was hard to digest because so much was missing when it came to Diyoza, Echo, and Octavia’s mindset. The episode didn’t allow the audience to see what they were thinking, putting us in Hope’s position in an exciting attempt to connect to her.

Like the audience was an outsider this time around, Hope also didn’t fit with the friends she was fighting so hard to protect. 

It was inevitable that her journey would make the most sense, as would her punishment and the gap it creates between those she thought would be on her side.

But while Diyoza and Octavia show remorse at not being able to help, Echo is the one that shows none.

Once again, if the narrative wants us to empathize with Echo, this isn’t how to go about it. The only side that exists right now is Hope’s as she is dragged away back to the planet that carries so many of her demons.

(Octavia – Bardo Exterior Reveal)

Being underserved by the narrative in almost every way, Octavia works in Bardo’s favor when she appears to join the cause at the first demonstration from Anders quickly.

She may have had reservations about breaking her bonds, but seeing what was waiting for them and the idea of being punished with Skyring again was enough for her.

Realistically, Octavia has shown no visible signs of mourning Bellamy or struggling with working with the people who killed her brother. Yet she hasn’t found the time or wasn’t given the ability to react at all.

Not when Echo has to be driven by the loss of one master in order to connect with her next one.

Marie Avgeropoulos continues to make Octavia engaging and fascinating, you want to see more of Octavia’s journey, and it is frustrating every time we don’t.

But she passes the Bardo test as soon as she learns about the crystal giants’ history and her survival instincts kick in. She doesn’t need to be pushed any farther to fight for the cause put in front of her.

As much as she is fighting to survive, though, she is also aware that she needs to put on a convincing show and doesn’t find anything she connects with in Bardo.

Outside of Levitt.

Throughout her fight to pass, she is guided by Levitt’s need to keep her alive. And while their romance is colored by Levitt’s place in Bardo and how he can’t openly support her, there is still something substantial there.

Most relationships you try to hide the parts of yourself that you may not be proud of. Octavia didn’t have that chance, and even more so, Levitt doesn’t mind what he saw. 

He gets to see everything about Octavia from her point of view, and he can understand it in a way that no one else could. It feels safe to assume that Levitt is all in when it comes to Octavia, and if he could, he would make them Bardo official.

Instead, he helps her continue to pass and gets to share quite an exciting moment with her as well. 

Now the narrative needs to find the time to explore Octavia’s side of the relationship and how she feels about Bardo. The look she shared with Diyoza was nothing short of concerning, and it is only a matter of time before she has to face what is happening around her.

(Diyoza – The Fear Simulation Baby Transition)

While everyone else found themselves pulled in different directions, Diyoza was able to turn her weakness into a way to trick Anders during the training.

The fear simulation didn’t even need to be revealed (and it wasn’t for anyone else) to know that Diyoza was worried about losing Hope. That was what drove her, which becomes what she must push herself away from to keep her daughter safe.

Diyoza takes what everyone can identify about her and turns it on them, passing the Bardo test by seemingly separating from her maternal bond.

She was also our bridge to learning more about how Bardo makes babies, which is creepy if we’re honest. It is an example of exactly how disconnected the people there are from any form of human connection that isn’t focused on the greater good of an entire population.

And while Diyoza’s love for Hope is what she needs to mask to survive, it is put to the test when she can’t stop the inevitable.

Because while Diyoza does fear not being able to have and protect her child, she lost so many years of Hope’s life. Now she is about to lose five more as Echo chose to punish her, which doesn’t look like Diyoza approved it.

I do love me an unwinnable war.
Diyoza

Once again, we don’t know what exactly the group did or didn’t plan, but pretending to fit in is one thing, and letting Bardo fuel you is another. Echo is letting herself be tempted by the praise, which puts her friendship with Hope at risk, as well as her connection with the others.

How long before Diyoza’s minimal trust in Echo becomes non-existent? 

Sanctum’s Inevitable Conclusion and Rebirth

Then again, Sanctum found itself trying to sort out the tension between the various groups that have nothing else to do but fight.

Here is the thing though, the whole life or death scenario only works when there is actually something to worry about. Thinking anyone (of value to the audience) would die stopped being a real concern five tension-filled plotlines ago.

The stakes aren’t high, and the risks don’t exist anymore, making it harder to worry or invest much emotion for the characters that will be just fine by the end.

The danger doesn’t come off as threatening as it sets itself up to be, so when the expectation is that everyone will be fine, it is harder to find yourself fully invested in the story. 

Still, Murphy was there to save Emori, and now they are both alive and safe. Nelson didn’t save the day, but we will excuse his team-up with Nikki because he had a really emotional day, and according to Indra, he fully cooperated after the fact.

Nikki turned out to be a false Big Bad, a red herring that didn’t hold any dangerous weight in the overall Sanctum story.

The way that Nikki ended up having to just give herself in and her threat over Sanctum diminished felt like some of the Sanctum content was a waste.  It didn’t change anything except now the followers of the Primes know the truth, which hardly matters now.

Instead, Sheidheda used that chance to officially take over and get his flock back with a simple murder bloodbath.

But at the same time, this could have happened days ago in the timeline, and it would have landed exactly the same, if not better. This was precisely where the story was headed since Sheidheda returned, so wasting his time and the audience’s time by pretending he was a prisoner with no upper-hand in the situation was another example of stalling.

But if the pause in big storytelling beats isn’t natural, then the reveals don’t land the way they could have.

In a perfect world, Sheidheda murdering all of Russell’s followers would be a startling twist in the Sanctum arc; instead, it fell flat because Sanctum, in general, has been dragging this whole time.

It was also out of character for Indra, knowing all she knows about Sheidheda, to assume that he wouldn’t come out a winner even in a room with all of those people.

The parallel to them not being able to kill “Russell” when he was assassinated because he would appear a god to his people vs. Indra leaving Russell’s followers to now kill their false god made sense.

Sheidheda: There is an ancient saying: What is a king without subjects?

Well I ask, what are subjects without a king? They are but lost sheep; confused and scared. They need guidance and protection from the wolf who delights in their slaughter.

Indra thinking Sheidheda wouldn’t do exactly what he ended up doing didn’t make sense.

The only way it manages to create interest collectively is because of the magnificent actors that carry that stagnant arc the entire time. Characters like Indra, Emori, Murphy, Nelson, and more deserve to play a more prominent role in a more useful setting. 

Instead, they have to carry Sanctum and pretend that it matters beyond Sheidheda gaining power just in time for a little journey over to Bardo.

Once again, Indra now knows that the others are gone, but she isn’t a rush to find them. Sheidheda has ceased power, and presumably, he will be after Madi next because why not?

The two of them bring the most value to Bardo with their knowledge of Becca and beyond. As mentioned many times before, it only makes sense that they will eventually be brought over to Bardo when the action gets going.

But right now, we are nine episodes into the season, and the show has moved back more than it has managed to move forward.

Maybe if the audience is lucky, Sanctum’s tension next time around will move everyone somewhere meaningful in this season’s arc. Sanctum is in desperate need of a narrative rebirth, and Sheidheda’s literal second chance at leadership just isn’t it, even if JR Bourne looks good doing it.

The Disappearance of Clarke Griffin and Bellamy Blake

At this point, there has to be a word other than exhausted to describe the frustration with having to still talk about this. If you told me before this final season started to air that almost every week would have absolutely no screentime for the lead characters, I would have called you a liar.

But now it isn’t an accident or an attempt to prepare the storyline for Clarke (and Bellamy) to appear and take it over. Instead, these two just aren’t considered worth the investment if the narrative is anything to go by right now.

And Octavia is not far behind them with how minimal her voice seems to be since she got to Bardo.

There is finding time to focus on other characters in addition to the real driving force of the show, and then there is forgetting who pumps life into the legacy of the series. 

Once again, it can be possible that Bellamy Blake isn’t being focused on because the actor asked for time off. Maybe. 

But that doesn’t explain the way that Clarke Griffin has been completely shelved. She always drives the structure of The 100, and right now, it just feels empty without her there to make us care.

It doesn’t make any sense logistically to pretend like Clarke doesn’t exist every other episode, and it doesn’t make sense to make Clarke necessarily a guest star in her own story.

She finally got to Bardo, where all the action is happening, and she is connected to the key. The Bardo storyline was stalling until she got there so the action could start, only for her to get there, and the narrative simply dug its heels into yet another look back instead of look forward.

It doesn’t add up that Clarke holds so much value, yet the audience has to take ten steps back first, especially with how little the show invested in Clarke.

It seemed like they were waiting to get Clarke to Bardo for everything to commence, but what now?

It really might be time to create a search party for the missing screentime that Clarke and Bellamy can’t account for anymore. Because it is a significant loss not to invest any time in Bellamy, it is a ridiculous mistake to pretend like everything is fine when Clarke isn’t around.

It isn’t. It is a glaring gap in the storytelling for the final season, and it isn’t only limited to the two of them at this point.

Even though Clarke and Bellamy are the literal head and heart of the show, what about Octavia?

She is a sidekick in another person’s adventure, and it is insulting to who Octavia was all this time. She was at the forefront of the show every season because Octavia is the third most crucial character on The 100.

To have her first not be allowed to mourn her brother’s loss and now she is supporting Echo’s murky need to join the Bardo cult is astounding. The minimal amount of time reserved for Octavia and her possible connection with Levitt isn’t enough for a character who drove season after season.

It is almost like Octavia was put under the Bardo spell of not letting her emotions show the second she was found by the others in M-Cap. There is no time for her to sit in what she is going through, but there is time to walk it back and focus on characters who aren’t the essence of the show’s full circle journey.

It is hard to form a connection when The 100 is almost forgetting what it took to get it this far. It wasn’t overambitious arcs, it wasn’t brand new characters each season, and it wasn’t the next big cliffhanger.

It was the original characters that brought the soul to the show. Without them, especially in the final wrap up of The 100, it is more distant, and it isn’t what makes sense right now.

Let us know your availability so we can plan that screentime search party as soon as possible. 

The Final Season Confusion Syndrome

At this point, the narrative is Murphy and Emori trying to stall the audience until the storylines finally find some kind of proper pacing.

For a show that refused to offer any flashbacks when they mattered to the overall arc of The 100 Season 5, suddenly, they have nothing but flashbacks to throw our way.

Except to be honest, now is the time when they are absolutely not necessary. The information they want to express can be narrowed down instead of stretching it out into an entire episode that literally moves the actual show nowhere.

The 100 Season 7 Episode 8 ended with the Bardo group joining the cause, and that is exactly where we are still at right now. The same goes for Sanctum, where the biggest twist could have happened several episodes ago, but instead, they brought Nikki to create almost no change.

It was concerning a few episodes ago that it didn’t look like any movement happening in the storylines; now, it is the new normal, and it is a problem.

The arcs should be going somewhere; the characters should be explored in equal measure; the narrative shouldn’t pretend that constant flashbacks are compelling examples of story growth.

Instead, the final season fails the characters and the audience that has gotten the show this far. 

The show needs to focus on its actual main characters instead of giving most of the screentime to newcomers. The show also needs to allow the characters it is exploring to have room to grow because they are stifled by the claustrophobic settings that they are written into now.

If the end of an episode leaves us exactly where we started, at some point, you have to wonder what the point of all of this even is.

It is one thing to have a stagnant plot and characters that can distract from that. It is another not to have the plot go anywhere, and on top of that, the leading characters are now guest stars on their own shows.

Some characters on The 100 always talk about “their people” but aren’t actually there to support them. Other characters on The 100 don’t have to talk about “their people” because they show up whenever they have to.

The audience has their people that they spent seven seasons falling in love with, supporting, and actively tuning in for. To not have them matter or exist is dooming the legacy of The 100.

Because when the series wraps, it won’t be the edgy storylines that your fans remember. It will be how the original characters and relationships were treated and how the story concluded. 

But to conclude, it has to be going somewhere, and the main characters have to matter to the narrative. 

Stray Thoughts

• Keep checking TV Fanatic for more upcoming interviews with surprise cast members from seasons past!

• Etherea is the last planet that we haven’t explored, so the fact that it was mentioned doesn’t mean anything at all. Except now, we decided that is where Bellamy and Gaia are, and I will not be accepting any other explanations.

  For reference, “The mountain was very tall and scary. But the Shepherd was brave and wise”. 

• #WhereIsBellamyBlake; #WhereIsClarkeGriffin; #WhereIsGaia; #WhereIsGabrielSantiago; #WhereIsMySanity

• There was yet another mention of Murphy being worried about kids. If Emori somehow isn’t pregnant right now, they need to steal an embryo from Bardo because there is no way they are ending this season without a Memori child. 

• Echo’s scars are just disappearing over time. Self-harm that graphic felt like it would be a permanent mark on her face, but it is now gone.

• Bellamy mentioned to Clarke that he wished Octavia could go to school, but somehow I doubt Octavia wanted him to make that wish for her.

• No matter how shady Bardo is, they always find a way to be so freaking beautiful too.

• Everyone is choosing who “their people” are within the show. What about you? Who are your people when it comes to characters on the show?

• Call me a pessimist, but is anyone else worried that Octavia is playing Levitt?

  They obviously have a bond, and Levitt is all in when it comes to Octavia. But Octavia is the one calling the shots with their romance, and at the same time, she seems to be creating a plan with the others to pretend she is fitting in. 

  Let’s hope she is just as into him as he is into her. It’s a Bardo romance for the ages.

• Who wants to tell Levitt that he isn’t actually for the Bardo cause like he is helping train the others to be? He is so skewed by Octavia’s feelings that there is no way Bardo comes first for him anymore. 

• Hope counted Gabriel when she was talking about saving her friends, and for that, I’m so thankful.

• Speaking of Gabriel, he was also absent this time around, and the episode was so empty without him.

  It did shine an interesting light though on his actions during The 100 Season Season 7 Episode 7. At first, there was so much blame falling on Gabriel for using the non-lethal approach to stop the group from going upstairs.

  But Octavia did point out that Gabriel saved them by taking into account what Anders said and not blindly following Levitt’s advice.

  It was also a parallel for the ages of how Echo planned to take out her friends with a non-lethal weapon to prove that she was Bardo worthy. Anyway …

• Does anyone else feel bad that Indra couldn’t leave for even a day? She looked away for a second, and everything went to shit, and this is exactly why we trust her and only her when it comes to big decisions.

  She makes it look so easy.

• I’m still waiting for Nelson to apologize to Emori so they could solidify their friendship and run off into the Sanctum sunset for a relaxing friend date.

• Bardo saved some of what killed the people outside and have it behind a door called biohazard. The critical question now is, who will open that door and unleash it all through Bardo first? 

• It is curious how Echo, Octavia, Diyoza, and Hope had to be stripped of all their feelings and connections to simply fight for Bardo and have no real information beyond that. 

  Meanwhile, Gabriel is offered a job cracking codes and is also a Level 2 without the assumed emotional breakdown or punishment looming over him. Gabriel was trusted right away while the others had to be broken down first. 

• Do Clarke and her team even exist at this point? Maybe we are just hallucinating them, and our demands to see them are confusing because they don’t even exist in the narrative anymore. 

• Cadogan apparently had a journey to enlightenment, but all these years later and he is still focused on the same things he was before. He also makes everyone swear off any bonds or connections, even though he seemed to care even a little about his family.

  What kind of enlightenment could he have reached if he took steps backward?

• This is the worst time possible to pitch this, but Diyoza and Anders should totally hang out. Their friend energy is blowing up their scenes together. 

• All Sheidheda wants is someone to play chess with at all times. Does anyone in Bardo even know how to play? Something tells me Sheidheda might find his chess friend in Cadogan and he may even find his chess mate.

What did you think of the episode? Do you trust Echo? Do you think they have a plan and is Echo actually following it? How bad do you feel for Hope from 1 to 5?

What did you enjoy finding out about Bardo today? What are you confused about? What do you want to learn more about as we move forward in Bardo?

How shocked were you by Sheidheda’s massacre? Did you expect that to happen when Indra left him behind? Where do you think Sanctum goes from here? Who else is tired of standing in place or moving backwards with flashbacks?

How is everyone feeling after Octavia and Levitt finally defined their relationship? Do we trust Levitt now that he is Octavia’s secret boyfriend?

And who else is starting to think that maybe Clarke and Bellamy are just ghosts that we see but that don’t actually exist on the show anymore? Maybe they are both hanging out on another planet just waiting for someone to find them.

Let us know what you think below!

Stick around for more interviews, features, slideshows, and reviews of the upcoming season, and watch The 100 online right here on TV Fanatic.

Yana Grebenyuk is a staff writer for TV Fanatic. Follow her on Twitter.