But telling Abby that her daughter was (to her knowledge) dead and Russell didnвЂ™t want her to know, right in front of him, was a bold move. Up until now she and Russell have only disagreed about JosephineвЂ™s revival, with Simone clearly taking a back seat to Russell both in terms of her power in Sanctum and within the narrative of the show. It was good to see Simone finally distinguished as a character with motivations in her own right. And what will the nulls do about the giant speech Russell gave about how bad Space Kru is, a speech he then blatantly disregarded to let them go when they offered him something he wanted? Simone was right: the illusion of the Primes is over. It might scare people, but theyвЂ™ll never forgive you and love you again, either. ThereвЂ™s the inherent cruelty, the length of the process, the brutal screams throughout, and the disturbing, unforgettable stench that lingers and forms a distinctive sense-memory. She also knows how bad her actions are and feels that, rather than hiding from it or justifying it, as this season has gone to great lengths to show us.ДЇire might be an appropriately theatrical way to kill someone for television, but itвЂ™s not all that great for putting out the flames of revolution. But Russell is worse than WanHeda, because Clarke only tries to keep her people alive for one lifetime she doesnвЂ™t kill people needlessly. While she was convincing Clarke she was good while plotting against her, he was convincing himself but acting worse, making one violent Classic Clarke move after another while convincing himself that his brutality was both entirely necessary and completely the fault of Space Kru. Russell seemed to be working on almost a parallel track to Josephine. Silly me! Josephine always has something up her sleeve, and she ended up playing herself to death вЂ“ for now. When I thought Josie blinked out of existence, I was genuinely sad for the character to be gone and especially to not get the chance to mourn her. After all, this bait-and-switch gambit only works if JosieвЂ™s redemption becomes the expected path. Even if we (and Bellamy) donвЂ™t necessarily agree with it right away, we expect The 100 to try to sell it to us. One of the strengths of this episode is the way it plays with audience expectations, building on JosephineвЂ™s sympathetic backstory to prime her for redemption вЂ“ or at least cooperation.

Space Cru has their own moral code: they donвЂ™t give up on each other, which makes it harder to watch when, for example, Monty had to reconcile when Jasper wanted to ride out Praimfaya or when Bellamy turned on everyone he loved and everything he believed in during season 3. ItвЂ™s wild to think that Clarke ever needed to be taught to fight, but we all know she was always a fighter. For these two it all comes down to the head and the heart вЂ“ finding the best balance you can to parse morality on a given day вЂ“ and not being willing to lose one another, because thatвЂ™s who theyвЂ™ve been in the foxhole with since day one.

ThatвЂ™s why their closing scene was so powerful, even if youвЂ™re not a Bellarke shipper. Raven might still need that lesson, if her adventure with making night blood wasnвЂ™t enough to make her feel complicit. I hope this season teaches the characters on The 100 that there are no good guys and bad guys вЂ“ everyone has stains on their souls. ItвЂ™s also a reminder of the fact that while Sheidheda is whispering in MadiвЂ™s ear, heвЂ™s feeding off of her own very real feelings. Madi made Murphy tell Abby how he betrayed Clarke, which frankly feels fair since itвЂ™s the truth and he has given Clarke such a hard time for her own moral shortcomings. If you had to, which memories would you toss and which would you keep? Is it possible to peacefully transition a corrupt regime that commits violence, albeit with a sheen of gentility? And of course, in a world where there are no good guys or bad guys, which way is up, morally speaking? This episode, named for Russian nesting dolls, keeps its eye on the prize and manages to align some of the fantastic seasonвЂ™s most exciting plot developments with hefty philosophical questions.

The 100 season 6 ep 1