WiC Watches: The 100 season 7
By Zac Giaimo
The 100 — “The Queen’s Gambit” — Image Number: HU707a_0115r.jpg — Pictured (L-R): Marie Avgeropoulos as Octavia and Tasya Teles as Echo — Photo: Michael Courtney/The CW — © 2020 The CW Network, LLC. All rights reserved.
Episode 7: The Queen’s Gambit
Octavia, Echo, Gabriel, Hope and Diyoza are taken captive by the Disciples of The Shepard and find themselves imprisoned. While Gabriel is quickly taken to help the Bardo science team with discovering new codes for the Traveling Stone, Octavia and Echo use the time to mourn the loss of Bellamy. Gabriel is tasked with discovering new ways to use the greatest device is human history. Once his friends’ safety is assured, he needs little convincing.
Hope and Diyoza try to find ways to connect with their strange family predicament. This leads to a sparring match where Diyoza humbles Hope and urges her to learn from her mother’s mistakes. It’s a strangely shot scene but the writing and acting holds up. It’s the first scene they have together but the chemistry is real. These forced interactions allow the characters to have a serious conversation without the show needing to justify their motivations as much. It’s certainly much better than having the walls literally move to cut a group into conveniently arranged pairs.
John and Emori must play their parts as Primes to try to keep the peace in Sanctum. John spends the day conversing with Shedheda while Emori puts together a party to try and bring the Followers and the Children of Gabriel together once again. The plan predictably goes south when the prisoners and Children of Gabriel team up to take the palace by force.
Meanwhile, John and Shedheda have a conversation about strategy and the game of life over a chess match. The talk is full of chess puns and analogies, which is kind of corny, but the strange chemistry between JR Bourne and Richard Harmon keeps the tension taunt; it’s an entertaining scene. The way the scene is shot is, once again, weird when compared to previous episodes, but it does convey the idea that Russel Prime is dead, and Shedheda is the man behind the eyes.
The match lasts all day until Shedheda wins and takes John hostage. He holds him until he hears the shooting start at the palace, then releases him.
After some time in captivity, Echo decides that she has grieved enough to cut herself along her face around the eyes, to create permanent scars there. It is a grounder way to remind yourself of the pain you felt. When she does this, she also decides that she will fight for the Disciples in their Last War. After that, her and her friend are taken to begin training. Echo’s cuts are bleeding so much her entire face besides her nose, mouth and half of her eyes are drenched. It resembles an ancient helmet used for war and it’s, well, intense. She has a fire in her eyes and seems a god of war.
Three months later, we see Gabriel and a team of scientists working on the Traveling Stone when Clarke and her team walk through the wormhole. The scientists stand in awe, since Clarke is regarded as their Key to Everything, and Gabriel tells her of her friends and the loss of Bellamy. The slow-mo used here doesn’t really allow any reaction from Clarke as the scene cuts to black.
This is quite possibly the best episode of the season so far. The tension is high and the acting is great, and it keeps you immersed in the story without taking too many shortcuts. It also leaves off with almost everyone finally reunited and some hope that questions about Bardo will finally be answered. Oh, and they reveal who the Shepard is in the final scene. The music suggests that we should recognize him.
Hopefully more answers are coming next week!