I have some very mixed feelings about this episode, naturally. At first, I rage-hated it, quite like I did with “Demons”, but the more I think about it, the more… complicated it is. I still think it could have been done in a half an episode, but I also absolutely appreciate things about it. And if this episode happened, say, 4-5 episodes ago, I probably wouldn’t have been as upset? But wow we are close to the end here, and I am just plain terrified!
Just a reminder, spoilers galore!! Like ALL the spoilers- proceed with caution!
The Journey of Bellamy Blake
Zero percent of all people thought that Bellamy Blake was dead. So when Levitt confirmed this (more on Levitt below), no one was gasping in shock. We were, however, glad to see Bell back on our screens. I was equally excited to see what exactly was happening on Etherea (spoiler: literally nothing) so that was fun. Bellamy pops out of the Anomaly with his soon-to-be-bestie Doucette. Idk if this is his first name, last name… actually maybe none of these people have last names, considering they’re community property or whatever. I digress.
They pick up where they left off, beating the hell out of each other. Bellamy because Doucette captured him and threw him into another planet, Doucette for all mankind, because of course. Bellamy leaves him injured but doesn’t kill him (which proves Echo wrong in like, the first minute of the show), but eventually goes back for him. I guess he went back because he couldn’t climb some crappy mountain, but I’d also like to think it’s just cause he didn’t want the guy to die on this useless planet.
That isn’t an ominous foreshadowing or anything….
Bellamy nurses Doucette back to health, via some tips that Pike taught him. Okay, I guess I should have been a little concerned when he started citing Pike, but hindsight is 20/20 and all. I just thought it was a fun callback, that’ll show me. Anyway, there’s a lot of Bellamy chatting, mostly to himself because Doucette is unconscious, about how crappy it is that he is stuck on this random planet. And it is!
We’re pretty bummed about it too, Bell.
Eventually, Doucette wakes up, and they chat a bit about the Shepherd before heading out to scale a mountain or whatever. They make some progress, but are eventually halted by a snowstorm. They settle in some weirdass cave where apparently Cadogan hung out while he was backpacking around the universe. Bellamy realizes who he is when he finds a picture, but honestly, how do he and Clarke both remember this guy they saw once for five seconds a hundred years ago? I don’t remember what my family looks like, but sure.
I mean, it’s okay? ?♀️
So there are some kind of lights, but I am not impressed. Clarke and Company were stuck in a living being’s stomach, and Doucette wants me to get worked up over some lights? Pass, bro. But he convinces Bellamy to pray with him, and Bellamy suddenly has some visions.
Ah, sweet sweet Altitude Sickness.
Seriously, if I am stuck on a mountain with a “disciple” and start seeing my dead parent and some guy from Jaha’s iPad, I am probably thinking I am suffering some kind of High Altitude Cerebral Edema, not a case of the Culties. But here is the truth of the matter: This is who Bellamy Blake is. I hate to say it, but he is easily swayed. Which brings us back to Pike, but we’ll get to that.
Right when Bellamy is done having a stroke a revelation, the storm stops, and now he and Doucette think miracles are real or something, and they continue their climb.
You. Were. Already. Worthy.
They finally get there after a few hairy moments (where Bellamy again saves Doucette’s life even though Doucette is like “nah, I’m good, because mankind”), and Doucette enters the code. Only, seems to be the only way into the Anomaly is jumping off the mountain into it. Doucette doesn’t hesitate, because of course he doesn’t. Bellamy does, because he isn’t stupid. But he has to take the chance.
When they land back in the Stone Room, we see Bellamy bow to Cadogan, calling him his Shepherd. We know we’re in trouble. I know people are begging for it to be an Echo situation where he’s playing Cadogan, but it isn’t. It 100% isn’t. And here is why: 1) He has no idea that he needs to play Cadogan, especially at this point, and 2) Like I said before, this is who Bellamy is. (And I guess 3) They already did this storyline and it would be absurd to keep doing it, but let’s stick to the first two.)
He isn’t a bad guy, let’s clear that up really quickly. I am not saying he’s a crap person, just that he is more easily swayed than the others. He doesn’t have the mental strength of those around him, which is why the strong women in his life help to balance him so much. Think about how he became accepting of Pike. A tragedy befalls him, and Pike offers him the forgiveness he needs, the validation he needs. And that is what happens here. Did Cadogan save Bellamy and Doucette? Hell no, they saved each other and themselves! But Bellamy doesn’t have enough faith in himself to believe that he saved them, so he has to default to Cadogan being his savior.
I am hoping, desperately, that because of the growth Bellamy has gone through in the past century six years or so, it won’t take as much as it took last time before he realizes that he’s wrong. I hope it doesn’t take him killing another of O’s lovers before he figures it out, but I mean… Plus, he doesn’t understand yet what is at stake. And true, he should have trusted his friends over some rando cult leader. Obviously. But he has no idea what Cadogan has been up to. Perhaps they can get him to see reality before it is too late? Either that or we will all be forced to mourn the loss of who we hoped Bellamy was forever and ever.
Aftermath in Bardo
First, before Bellamy gets back, Levitt realizes (via another Disciple’s M-Cap) that Bellamy isn’t quite as disintegrated as he thought. Whoopsie! It seems that Levitt figured it out basically minutes before Bellamy popped back in, but I think it’s important for another reason. First, he basically dismissed his colleague, and ignored the Disciple in the M-Cap when he found Bellamy. But even more, is this:
Did… did he just roll his eyes!? Living for it.
I think that scene was meant not to tell us about Bellamy (we already knew), but to tell us some stuff about where Levitt is at. After Bellamy comes back, the gang is trying to formulate a plot. Clarke is about to sacrifice herself to get everyone else back to Sanctum, but Echo isn’t about that life. But the debate is interrupted by their friend and new Disciple, Bellamy.
Remember that time your brother saved you from yourself? Looks like it’s time to repay the favor.
It’s so great! Only, we know it is not. He looks happy to see them, which I will take as a hopeful sign for the future, and they are beyond thrilled. O, Echo, and Clarke all go to hug him, but the Disciples throw up their spidey weapons to stop them. Echo and O back off but Clarke is basically like “shoot me then” and hugs him anyway. She explains that they won’t shoot her because they think she has the Flame, and shhh don’t spill our best kept secret!
Everyone’s least favorite Bellarke Hug™.
And then… he immediately spills the damn beans. Like- I know he is all #TeamCadogan at this point, but wouldn’t you at least ask your lifelong friends and family what was going on before betraying them? Ugh, again, Bellamy has been down this road before, acting rashly before thinking through the consequences, out of some sense of undeserved blind loyalty.
Their faces are all of our faces.
The looks on their faces… wow. Talk about a betrayal! This is quite possibly worse than the situation with Pike, since while it was an absolute atrocity what Pike did to the Grounders, this is the fate of every single person. Let’s hope he sees reason. Preferably the next episode, so I don’t have to hate him through another damn hiatus. ?
Random Thoughts:
- Is… is there a chance that “Etherea” is just a simulation? I had the thought when I was watching the episode, and then Greg asked me as well, and so now it is nagging at me even more. I had talked myself out of it because he looked like he had just climbed a mountain but… stranger things have happened, and it would explain a lot. Like… everything. Because it is either a gnarly case of altitude sickness, or a sim that is making our guy hallucinate. I refuse to believe that Cadogan is a god. Please. ?
- Gabriel eating after all they have been through is a literal mood. Just when I think I could not possibly love him more, he proves me wrong.
- Is Echo’s massacre of Disciples what ends them? Or, will she end it because how very dare Bellamy? Honestly, I prefer the latter. Kick him to the curb, girl.
- I cannot wait to see Levitt defect . It’s gonna happen, right? In a blaze of glory? I only wish Anders was there so his face could be rubbed right the heck in it.
- Nice to see Aurora! I will never not love these dead folks coming back to hang out. If only she could have like, told him that he didn’t need to join a cult for validation? ?♀️
- Why do none of these people care that Anders is dead, and shouldn’t that be a red flag? I hope Bell finds out soon that they give zero fucks about him and his life. Just saying.
Episode 7×12: The Stranger
This is going to be intense. That is literally it. (Also, after this there will be another two or three week break, which is too hard, this close to the end. It’s like they want us to go mad!)
- So Gaia and Orlando are definitely on Earth now, right? I mean, where else in the universe can they even be at this point? And if you are sick of me saying this, well, sorry, but until I have proof to the contrary… ?♀️
- Can Miller be the voice of reason here? I really hope so tbh. I want Miller to get a chance to save the world. Also, since he and Bellamy saved Clarke the last time, maybe he can like, remind him of that shit.
- I have a feeling O will be the calmest. I mean, she has been there, doing awful things for crappy reasons. She’s also been through the shit and has found some kind of equilibrium that the others haven’t achieved.
- Bellamy looks so pretty, but Bearded Bellamy was nicer on the inside. Just a fact.
- Jordan and Hope really do need to bond, I approve. I mean, they kind of had the same childhood, Hope’s was just a little more stabby.
- Sanctum… is there. Look, I am so stressed about Bellamy, can someone just shoot Sheidheda so we can get back to business? Cool, thanks.
I’m right there with you about this episode potentially being better had it been earlier! I did enjoy the dynamic between Bellamy and Doucette though.
I don’t completely buy the simulation theory. I do think Anders made a last-second pivot when Octavia suggested sending Bellamy back to Sanctum though. He may have even caught Bellamy jumping into the Anomaly from his angle. He wouldn’t tell Levitt that because he knew he’d turn around and tell Octavia. I think the golden light on Etherea is similar to the Verge on Sanctum. The lights might be part of a phenomenon that makes people hallucinate. Doucette was constantly in Bellamy’s ear about the Shepherd and with Bellamy worn down, those ideas were able to take hold. It’s definitely possible that Cadogan and the Disciples were able to harness that to make some sort of test too. It might be similar to how Simone used red sun toxin for the Adjustment Protocol.
It’s definitely shades of the Pike situation. In both scenarios, Bellamy was emotionally vulnerable and when he’s in that state, he’s easily persuaded. I don’t think it’s necessarily character development going out the window so much as that’s just one of his flaws. The test of growth will be if he’ll be able to see reason before he does some serious damage.
I caught that sigh/eye-roll from Levitt on rewatch! It reminds me of Ryker from last season. However, I think Levitt is much more willing to make the move because of his bond with Octavia. I will be so upset if he dies because of Bellamy! Hell, I’ll be upset if he dies at all!
I liked the dynamic too, it kind of showed how good of a guy Bellamy is, how much he’s grown. I just hope everything they’ve done doesn’t undo that growth.
I don’t know if I buy that it’s a simulation either! I am torn- on one hand, it WOULD explain a lot for me (how Aurora is there, how Cadogan appeared, why this whole planet is one big ol’ mountain hah), but I also think your points are super valid too- it could have been a hallucinogen situation, no question! I just feel like SOMETHING more was at play than “praying to Bill Cadogan” ?
I agree with you completely about this just being one of Bellamy’s flaws. Like I said, I don’t think it means he’s a bad person or whatever, it is just who he is. And EXACTLY- will his previous growth be enough to wake him up? Because we do not have nearly a whole season to wake him up! I really think it will be though- BECAUSE he has grown so much as a person, it will be easier for him to overcome? I hope?
YEP yep I think Levitt is OVER Bardo 100%. And mostly because of Octavia, but not just their romance- but because he sees that she has this whole FAMILY, people she fights for, is willing to DIE for, over and over. And he wants to be a part of something like that- having that kind of loyalty, love, etc. I will be SO heartbroken if he dies. And again, Bellamy doesn’t have time to make those amends again, so let’s cross our fingers that they wouldn’t do that again!
thanks for sharing
sherry @ fundinmental
I have such mixed feelings as well. I did kind of raise my eyebrows at the “I’m trying to scale this cliff 150 times and there’s absolutely positively no other way around it” thing a little, but hey whatever. And Bellamy *sigh*. You may be right though, maybe that’s where they’re going with this? It is unfortunate, but I guess we’ll have to wait and see. I share your thoughts on that though pretty much. And I HOPE the Etherea thing was a simulation, but I’m probably wrong. It just seems odd that Cadogan just shows up in his “religious vision” like that. And honestly, that sneak peek shows that at least for a little while they’re going to go with Bellamy being stubbornly Disciple-ish. I just don’t know, it doesn’t feel right.
If it is a simulation clearly Levitt didn’t know about since he seemed shocked that Bell was alive. If it’s NOT a simulation them yeah, like you say, are they going to go all mystical with Cadogan? Blech! That doesn’t feel very 100-ish, though?? Either way I’m sad though that with so little time left we have to go through all this Bellamy-betrays-them-and-must-be-redeemed stuff.
Interesting choice with the reunion- Clarke hugs him, Echo makes no move (granted the guns were pointed at them, but clearly they’re sending a message here- Clarke has preeminence even if Echo and he are “in a relationship”). I was surprised O stayed put.
La’Chia’s theory has promise. The lights make people more susceptible to being influenced? Certainly possible. I do hope they explain it and don’t just go okay Bellamy comes to his senses, it’s up to viewers to decide how/ why he turned. that would be a shitty thing to do.
Loved the Levitt eye roll!
I felt like there was ABSOLUTELY another way around it, no one wanted to look 5 feet in the other direction? Which was definitely eye-roll worthy. I didn’t watch the sneak peek, but YEP based on everything I have heard (and even just the trailer), they seem to be going with this full steam ahead. I am SO frustrated, with so few episodes to go. Like, bad enough if they don’t give us Bellarke, but to destroy Bellamy’s character will be too much to handle. He makes mistakes, and that is fine, he’s human, but this is a little over the top.
EXACTLY I am not here for spending the little time we have left with our own heroes as the baddies. NOPE. We did NOT come this damn far from S3 and Pike just to go right back there at the end. I hated those episodes, and I feel the same about these. There are MORE than enough villains without making a beloved character one, especially this close to the end. I think it’s even worse since we haven’t seen him in so long, it’s like there’s really no reason for iit. And I agree that ANY validating of Cadogan is VERY unlike The 100, and it makes me mad if that is what they are doing. You know my heart will break if this ends in a shitty way.
YEP yep I agree, that was undoubtedly a message being sent, that Clarke was the only one who ignored the weapons. O didn’t move because O has become the rational, level headed one, I think. Which I like for her. Echo is just a mess of a person, and this should be VERY interesting. Like I legit think I care more about Echo’s response than Bellamy’s at this point, which is just SAD.
I liked La’Chia’s theory too! She has some really good ones! I hope WHATEVER the bullshit reason, they tell us, and it isn’t just “hmm maybe Call Me Bill IS a god” because come ON.
Exactly. I feel like they’ve painted themselves in a corner with Cadogan a bit. Tech is one thing, but when he starts appearing in religious visions and they flirt with mystical stuff it takes away from the grounded nature of the show. Maybe? See what I did there? Grounded? Anyway… and yeah about Echo. As you know I’ve grown to really like her but the last few episodes… ugh.
There are MORE than enough villains! Gah what are they DOING? You’re right, e went through this with Bellamy, what… years ago? SO dumb.
They did tbh! And it is especially dumb if the prequel isn’t picked up hah. I HOPE that they are just like, messing with us with the “religion” because I agree. Even with the strange stuff we’ve seen, it was definitely rooted in science, not supernatural. No one wants that, especially now! (And yes, quality puns ?)
YEP I mean, it’s such a HUGE regression for Bellamy, especially THIS close to the end. People think Jason may have done it out of spite which would be AWFUL and I really hope that isn’t the case!
OK, I like the idea of Etherea being a simulation. Let’s stick with that. If Bellamy was held there for months…wait, how many days has it been since they saw him “die”? Hrmm…..dangit. If he’s been brainwashed, I hope it’s with more sinister methods than we saw in this episode. Because while he can be swayed, as you pointed out, it takes an event that shakes him to make him vulnerable to manipulation. And no such event occurred here. I’m just deeply unhappy with the writing in this episode, and also with the seemingly throwaway plot so close to the end (and also, if I’m being honest, with the fact that it occurred after a gut-punch episode and interrupted character journeys to give us…not much).
HA right!? I would like it because it would be so much easier to believe. I think it has been… maybe about 3 months since his “death”? But I am not totally sure. Just a guess more than anything.
Yeah I agree. I CAN see Bellamy being swayed to believe Cadogan eventually, but NOT that he’d turn on his family and friends without questioning it. Like- had they told him their side first, maybe. But that he went from reunion hug to betrayal… yeah I agree, that was lazy and out of character. And YEP it was a very slow episode, compared to ALS. I felt like ALS was like, perfect The 100, it felt like what we have come to expect, and Etherea was just…. throw on the brakes. Which if this was episode 2, maybe, but episode freaking 11!? Nope nope. Though I do think my feelings about this episode can’t really be fully determined until I see how it plays out. Still absolutely one of my least favorites, if not THE least favorite. Sigh.
VERY NICE BLOG
Yeah, this episode was rough, but I agree that it wasn’t that unbelievable. I mean, Bellamy did resist all of Doucette’s religious ramblings for months—it wasn’t until he experienced something himself (that was timed perfectly with his “prayer”) that he believed. And, I mean, in some ways you can’t blame him. I don’t know about a simulation, but I definitely don’t think those light people are what Cadogan claims they are. I mean, how did he come up with that theory anyway? Cool—light people; they’re obviously highly evolved humans living in some sort of eternal bliss. Huh? I guess maybe he had a vision of it when he was there? I like La’Chia’s theory that they somehow induce hallucinations—that would make so much sense.
Yeah I think there is obviously WAY more to this than Cadogan ACTUALLY being some kind of god obviously, though I haven’t a clue what- maybe we won’t ever know? Though frankly that’d be the best plan to get Bellamy back on our team, if one of them figures out what Cadogan was doing.
I also wonder if they saw Bellamy joining Pike in O’s mind- maybe they had this whole thing set up, knowing Bellamy would be the easiest to sway? I mean- there are so many parallels between what happened in s3 and now, and that was ALL stuff O had shown Levitt, so it’s definitely possible! SOMEONE had to send them to Etherea after all!