Episode six of The CW's The 100 taught us a lot about a couple of the main characters in the series through flashbacks, as the 100 continue to survive, and begin to thrive, but not without casualties. Thanks to The CW, SpoilerTV has access to screeners for several of the season's episodes, so we can bring you a bit more content than we normally can for many of the other shows we cover. Our roundtable discussion for the sixth episode has questions by Jimmy Ryan, with comments thanks to Daniel van der Veer, Bradley Adams, and Pablo Troncoso Uriarte.
Let's get underway.
Jimmy: The purpose of tonight’s episode was to grow the background of Octavia, and in particular, Bellamy. Do you think this was achieved successfully?
| Daniel: Yes, I think the episode served its purpose. We haven’t learned much about either of them besides small pieces of information, but now we get their full backstory. We now know how Bellamy became the big brother that he is today. We know how Octavia’s existence was discovered, and it all adds to that interesting relationship between the siblings. So I think the episode was successful in exploring that dynamic and what lies underneath. |
| Bradley: I do. We’ve known for a while that it wasn’t a great experience for them, and we had been made to come to our own conclusions. I really hadn’t thought it was this bad. It really helped develop the characters and show us why Bellamy is so protective of Octavia. |
| Pablo: There were some little details in the storyline that bothered me, such as how it was possible to hide a baby in the Ark when she is obviously going to cry from time to time. It seemed a little bit implausible. But as I said, that’s a detail, I do think it was successful as it echoes what we have already seen of the dynamic Bellamy and Octavia have. Their relationship makes much more sense now that we have seen their background, so that’s a big accomplishment. |
Jimmy: From the flashbacks, it’s pretty clear that Bellamy had to work awfully hard for many years to care for Octavia when their mother couldn’t. Do you see both characters in a different light now that you’ve seen what they’ve been through?
| Daniel: We always knew that Bellamy was on Earth to protect his sister, but we didn’t know the circumstances surrounding that. Now that we know, I do see Bellamy a bit different as he has a clear reason why he is protecting Octavia. It gives the character more depth, especially because the last scene also shows that it hasn’t been and isn’t always easy to play the big brother. I don’t see Octavia as very different now, but we do get to see the awful life that she had on the Ark. |
| Bradley: I certainly see Bellamy in a different light now. He has seemed very annoying, but now that we understand why he is like he is, it certainly helps me understand why he is like it. I still think he’s annoying for what he does, but I can appreciate him for why he is that way. |
| Pablo: I understand Bellamy’s will to protect his sister. It doesn’t come just out of the fact that they are related, there’s much more to it, and I like that there is more depth to it than just the fact that they are family, as many shows just seems to believe that being related is enough justification for being protective. Bellamy played a kind of father figure, he has to withstand the pain that is caring for his sister, and at the same time he grew to love her as if he was her own father, which is quite poignant. We get to see a more caring side of Bellamy while also getting to know where Octavia’s anxiety for freedom comes from. |
Jimmy: This episode was the first where we’ve seen multiple grounders, and they were definitely out for blood. The information we have about them is almost nil, so do you have any theories about their being and actions that you want to share?
| Daniel: The Grounders don’t know why the 100 are on Earth, and they might not even know that there are any survivors from the apocalypse 97 years ago. They might see the 100 as their enemies because they don’t know what they want. The Grounder that took Octavia is clearly different, yes, but isn’t there always a good guy among the enemies? And maybe he was just looking for confirmation whether the 100 are really a threat, and now that he has seen the hostility of Bellamy, Finn and Jasper, he might just have gotten this confirmation. |
| Bradley: I was a little torn. The one that took Octavia didn't appear to be like the others. They were out for blood, while Octavia's kidnapper didn't seem to have a motive. Whether he is with them or not, they are obviously a threat to the group. I can't figure out whether these are a few generations down from people who survived, but I am really excited to find out. |
| Pablo: I think most of the grounders just see these kids as threats, they don’t know where they came from or why they are here, so it wouldn’t be surprising (and it would make sense) that they attacked them out of a feeling of fear and to protect their territory. The one who took Octavia probably just wanted to know who these people are. |
Jimmy: Finn grew a lot in tonight’s episode. Raven tells Clarke that he is the reason she is alive, and Finn, in addition to locating the bunker containing the radio controlled car, proved instrumental in tracking Octavia’s whereabouts. Do you think he’s one of the most important people on the ground?
| Daniel: Finn is clearly important on Earth, and he has skills and talents that come in handy for the survival of the 100. But I think everyone has his or her own skills that is needed for the 100 to survive. Finn surely cannot be missed. I think he might be one of the members of the Council on Earth would there be any. |
| Bradley: Yeah, he is. I am a little worried that the point of this is to make him a central character and thus easy for Clarke to fall in love with and easy for the show to create another love triangle. However, he is the kind of character that they need. A strong, intelligent character who is the ideal candidate to lead - yet he seems expendable. |
| Pablo: Finn is proving to have multiple skills that really come in handy, but I don’t know if he is one of “the most important people in the group”. I think Bellamy’s leadership skills are far more important, otherwise these people would have probably gone different ways and died at some point. Finn is a valuable asset, sure, but I’m just not sure yet if he is the most important of the bunch. |
Jimmy: Raven and Finn are back together, but Finn is clearly not over his feelings for Clarke. Do you see the former romance rekindling?
| Daniel: Maybe. Whatever it will be, don’t let it become the sole focus of the show. This is a great show and I don’t need any screen time wasted on another CW-ish love triangle. But it is certainly possible that Clarke and Finn will reunite, although Raven might have to die first for that to happen. |
| Bradley: At this point, I'm not bothered by either or. Finn and Clarke have had good chemistry since the show started; Finn and Raven obviously had something before. But the show has to choose. This is a fantastic show, and it doesn't feel like a CW show. A developed love triangle would change that, and I really don't want that. |
| Pablo: I don’t know, this is The 100, the show has established that romance is not its core, so I can see it swaying both ways. I don’t think the show will focus too much on the triangle, I think Clarke will probably tell Finn just to go be with Raven and I think he may do so and we won’t hear anything about this romance thing until later in the season, and if it comes to surface it will be somehow organic. |
Jimmy: On board the Ark, it’s seems corruption could be rife throughout the guardsmen. Commander Shumway played on Bellamy’s bond with Octavia to get him to kill Chancellor Jaha, and another guard used their mother as a prostitute. Any thoughts on this?
| Daniel: Indeed there is and sadly will always be corruption, even in a small and tight society like the Ark. We have already been introduced to Nigel in episode 4, and now we learn who was behind Jaha’s assassination attempt. The interesting question is: does Shumway work alone or are there more corrupt ‘government’ officials? Is there perhaps a mutiny against the Council or the Chancellor? We have also seen Shumway around Kane a lot, which makes me wonder whether Kane had more to do with it. |
| Bradley: I'm not surprised there's corruption. It happens today so why not 90 years into the future? I'd like to see more of it because this obviously can't be the only corruption on the Ark, and I'd love to see what else the guards and officials have been up to. |
| Pablo: The Ark is not nearly as perfect as they try it to make it seem. Of course there would be corruption or something like that. I think the power struggle is silent yet evident, and it’s going to surface quite soon, and once it does, all hell will break loose. |
Jimmy: Finally, what are you most looking forward to seeing in next week’s episode?
| Daniel: In this episode, we didn’t get to see the Ark’s reaction to the shooting stars from Earth. That will definitely be interesting to see, how Jaha and Abby react, how Kane will deal with this, and what the Council is going to do. It also says that we will meet the former Chancellor, which I am also looking forward to. On Earth, I hope and think that Finn will survive. I am excited for the ramifications of the search for Octavia and what the 100 have discovered about the Grounders. Most of all, I am just looking forward to seeing new footage of the show. |
| Bradley: I can't wait to see Clarke talking to her mother. And, as I said earlier, Finn doesn't seem like he's untouchable. I am unsure whether or not he'll live through the episode, so I'm excited to see how it concludes. |
| Pablo: On the ground I’m eager to see how Bellamy will deal with the fact that the grounders are out for blood. I want to see what measures he will take. I hope the love triangle stays as quiet as it has, and maybe have an insight on the grounders if possible. As for The Ark, I want to know what Abby and Jaha will do now that they saw the flares! I’m really looking forward to see Abby’s probable ascendance to power now that she has been proven right. |
That concludes the roundtable for episode 5 of The 100. Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments below! If you're curious about something, or want to pick our brains for spoilers, follow us all below and send us a tweet! We'd love to hear from you.
| Jimmy Ryan | Daniel van der Veer | Bradley Adams | Pablo |
| Tweet to @SeriesMonitor | Tweet to @veer95_stv | Tweet to @Bradley_STV | Tweet to @PabloTroncosoU |
Below is the weekly "What did you think of" poll, which we've combined into this article for your convenience instead of creating two different posts. After you've voted, be sure to share your thoughts about the episode and roundtable in the comments below!
On next week’s episode of The 100, titled 'Contents Under Pressure', Clarke and Raven make contact with the Ark, and Abby guides Clarke through a dangerous procedure in a desperate move to save Finn’s life. Meanwhile, on the Ark, the council is shuffled as Abby is removed from the council, and former Chancellor Diana Sydney takes her place. Jaha reveals to Abby that there are not enough drop ships for everyone on the Ark to go down to Earth, and Kane begins to deal with his guilt over his recent decision
Thanks for reading and voting! Unfortunately, we are out of screeners for now, so our roundtables will turn into solo reviews for the time being, unless The CW kindly send us some more screeners.
On behalf of the roundtable contributors, thanks for reading our thoughts and sharing yours! We are all looking forward to enjoying the remaining 7 episodes of the season.
The The 100 roundtable team.
