#kabby hug

[electricbluebutterflies]

Kabby + desperate hugs

Immediately post-s2-finale, PG-ish, also on ao3.

She clings, after.

She justifies it while the pain is overwhelming – to the extent that she’s conscious of anything, at that point – but… after, home, safe…

“You’re not leaving me, are you?”

Abby has gotten so, so good at not wanting things. She deserves a break from restraint, she decides. Just for now, just something so small, just-

It helps her case that Marcus looks… okay, she needs to do a total reassessment of what she finds physically attractive there because the fact that he looks like hell right now makes her want him to pin her to a wall or something and at least that’s a normal daydream but the aesthetic component is different and he’s prettier like this and-

He also visibly hasn’t slept in multiple days, she reminds herself. So it falls to her to make good choices here. She hates being the responsible one in their dynamic.

“I thought… you should rest, and-“

There was a point – fine, let’s just call it most of her thirties because it was – when trying to make him speechless was a fun game that she rarely won. Apparently all she needed to do was get drastically hurt. Who knew?

“So should you,” she murmurs. “But you… won’t.”

There are self-sacrificing idiots, Abby thinks, and then there’s this one, and the number of times he’s tried to die in the past couple weeks is just a little concerning, and she knows with her sidelined – and she will take every personal day she never bothered with up in the sky for this, thank you – he’ll be in panic mode, and she’s always thought that him with absolute power would be a disaster but it’s looking like it’ll be a totally different flavor of disaster than she once had the occasional nightmare about, and-

“Can’t, more like.”

“Won’t. I know you, remember. Stay. Please. For me.”

The past few hours gave her time to reflect on the current state of her life, time she hasn’t had in a while, and how tangled up she is in that particular midlife crisis is something to deal with later but it’s become very hard to ignore and-

“Someone has to be out there and-“

“So I’m the only person who’s noticed you’re trying to hide that limp? It’s going to get worse if you don’t-“

“Someone needs to-“

“Someone doesn’t always have to be you.”

With that, from her perch on her bed, Abby reaches out and pulls him in with as much strength and energy as she has right now. She’s able to get a hand on his waist, and they’ve never been tactile and this is fun, and-

“Fine. If it means you’ll stop looking at me like that.”

“Could be worse. I’m not asking you to strip yet.”

Which, when it happens, will be for the most innocent possible reason aka the fact that she highly doubts that bandage has been changed since the whole collapsed building issue and oh they have had a long couple of days and-

“That a threat?”

“Do you want it to be?”

He makes a hand gesture she interprets as “make space” and sits down on the edge of the bed, and this will barely accommodate both of them but she’s small and-

“Just a few hours. I can’t-“

“Someone needs to keep an eye on me, and I’m not above taking advantage of your guilt complex to-“

“You don’t need me.”

“I shouldn’t put weight on my leg for a week. I need someone who can handle how bitchy I get when I’m bored. My options are… minimal, and you can do paperwork on a tablet from here, and-“

“Sounds like you’ve planned this.”

“Watching you try to pretend you’re fine isn’t-“

“It’s that bad?”

“I’m not sure anyone else can see through it, but I-“

“It’s that bad.” Marcus pauses, finishes undoing his boots, and he’s so tense from her current perspective and-

“Yeah. And I wouldn’t say anything if I wasn’t worried and-“

“This is no time for you to pretend to be a better person than you are.”

“Even I can’t take advantage of a physical injury on that scale,” she laughs. “I do have standards.”

“That I’m not sure I’ve ever seen…”

“We need each other. Codependent nightmares who barely tolerate each other but still-“

It’s strange how easily they fall together. She’s figured out that their bodies fit well, but… it’s different, on a mattress, trying to make sure their position involves as little pain as possible, trying to be decent and even that time in the tent wasn’t this complicated and how was that so recent and-

“This alright?” he asks, slipping an arm under her waist.

“Yeah. More than alright, if you’re-“

“You have more to lose if-“

“I wouldn’t be asking you to sleep with me if I thought you’d intentionally hurt me,” she murmurs, and she means that phrase innocently for now but she suspects someday soon she won’t and that’s another crisis for later and-

“Haven’t done this in a while. People don’t stay.”

“Well, I’m stuck here for a week if not longer, so… change your record.”

He doesn’t respond, and she’s thankful for that, and-

It’s going to be a long week, Abby thinks as she closes her eyes. And a long few weeks after that as her recovery completes. And that’s just her, and what happened to her wasn’t permanent, and what happened to him might be given the absolute stubbornness mixed with life circumstances, and-

She’ll worry in the morning. She’s exhausted now. Everything else can wait.

[causewhywouldnti]

My thoughts as I’m watching 24 seasons of law & order svu:

Season 12

I needed a bit of a break after binging 11 seasons. So, back to this. 12x01, dude seriously asking Stabler if Benson is single. As if Stabler actually would give him the go ahead. Bailee’s apology was really heartfelt there… what I really want to know, is what happened with Bailee’s character after this episode. Did she stay? Was she ever happy? Guess we’ll never know…

12x02, I want to know how they got the kid to talk. Benson and Stabler walking away from Henry Ian Cusick, rolling their eyes, is one of my new favorites. There was no need for the two of them to be that close together after they cleared all the perps, but I appreciate that they are. Well, Henry being the good guy was too good to be true. So we have both of Kabby being rapists on SVU.

12x03, Stabler calling out the perp for not washing his hands after using the urinal is a small but important thing for me. Not sure how I feel about the stalking of the perp. So did this episode inspire Mariska to talk about the backlog issue, or was it the other way around? Yay on judge Donnelly being back.

12x04, I always like a good excuse for TV shows having to change up sets, so bursting pipes are fun. Stabler looks so happy when he gets to be a special debuty U.S. Marshal. Finally got to the scene with Benson pointing her gun out of the moving car and Stabler pulling her back in. How did they get their badges back? They left it at the U.S. Attorney’s office…

12x05, I like the characters grappling with the new set. Also, Munch in a uniform is fine. Olivia on shrooms is great! First Stabler saves Benson's hair from being cut, and then he catches her when she faints, go Stabler! And yet again, no Stabler at Liv's bedside in the hospital. Stabler pretending to be high makes the whole episode even greater.

12x07, Benson and Stabler just ignoring Cragen's order to see Huang as always, until they eventually cave. I liked Stabler talking Benson down, when she thought Bello’s character was her half-sister. Entrance of Clavin.

12x08, well, that beginning was eerie. Dana is back, that’s not gonna end well for Stabler. And he got shot. Actually the first time this season he got injured. At least Benson is there to make him feel better. Poor Dana, that court scene was really well acted.

12x09, Paxton is back! Did not expect Paxton to be in the bed, assumed it would be Benson, this makes it better. Stabler looks so smug when Fin is talking about the penis pump. Stabler is terrible to Paxton in this ep.

12x10, the ADA was right, saying that partners can be closer than married couples. Bello is back. Love that Stabler would have backed Olivia up, if she went against her obligation in order to keep Calvin. The last scene started cute with Benson, Stabler and Calvin. Elliot trying to hold Olivia back and Calvin being taken away was sad though.

12x11, Tucker has it out for Stabler again. Sometimes Benson is not a good influence on Stabler.

12x13, Stabler going UC as sex addict, that’s all. Stabler never even denied that Olivia was his girlfriend, just saying. And he only got slightly injured here.

12x15, Munch and Fin eavesdropping with the spy tech is actually funny. And then Liv uses it. Elliot making fun of the perp is quite enjoyable.

12x17, Paxton was killed. At least we got a Stabler/Benson hug out of it.

12x19, Benson and Stabler undercover as a married couple, doesn't get much better than that.

12x21, Casey is back, literally out of nowhere.

12x22, John Stamos as Ken is just creepy. Props though, for accusing Elliot of wanting to get Olivia pregnant. Just logistically, how can he afford child care for 47 kids?!? Domestic Benson and Stabler with the dinner scene was cute.

12x23, poor Elliot. Here comes Tucker… communication in the Stabler marriage seems to be working.

12x24, loved the last shot of Elliot and Olivia looking at each other, whilst everyone else hustled. Absolutely hate, that it’s gonna take another 10 seasons until Stabler comes back.

Familiar faces: Joan Cusack (Runaway Bride), Bailee Madison (Just Go With It), Henry Ian Cusick (the 100), Stephen Tobolowsky (Glee), Jennifer Love Hewitt (9-1-1), Melissa Benoist (Glee), David Krumholtz (The Santa Clause), Amanda Fuller (Grey‘s), Maria Bello (NCIS), Debra Messing (Will&Grace), Kate Burton (Grey‘s), Mika Brzezinski, Rose McGowan (Charmed), Elizabeth Mitchell (again, OUAT), John Stamos and Rita Wilson.

Favorite episodes: 12x04, 12x05, 12x08, 12x12 and12x15

Favorite lines:

"I got a lullaby" (meaning alibi) - perp in 12x05

"I’m hot. I’m wet." - Elliot Stabler everyone 12x05

"I’m not the one who stabbed the captain with a pickle!" - Benson 12x05

"Well, Liv, make a decision. Your call." -Stabler to Benson (about taking Bello in, or keeping Calvin) 12x10

"Fin may have your six, but he’s definitely not me." "No, I’m better. I actually watch her back, and not her backside." -Stabler and Fin 12x17

"You’re an idiot." - Stabler to Tucker 12x23

[raquelmurillolapiz]

Details of a Kabby scene | Part I

5x04 - “Pandora’s Box”

Ok so, it’s been a while since I took the time to analyze a Kabby moment, detail after detail, moment after moment. So let’s start with this emotional, heartbraking, devastating moment, when Marcus comes back from the arena alive, and Abby takes her time (briefly... thank you Indra as always) to appreciate the love of her life, alive and well in her arms... once again.

Let’s begin... shall we?

When we jump to the room where Abby is locked up in, she is waiting, she had been screaming and crying for a long time, pleading to let him go, because he is not guilty of anything, since she’s the one that had stolen the drugs. She feels guilty, and not just because she had been stealing (probably that is not a matter of concern for her, it had never been when it was for the greater good) but she is feeling guilty because 1) Marcus took the blame for it, as always he is once again sacrificing himself, this time though is a selfish sacrifice for her, not for everybody else, just for her, to protect her, because he loves her. 2) She took the drugs not because a patient needed them.. but because she wanted them, because let’s be honest... she probably doesn’t need them anymore, since a long time I might add. She is addicted to them, it’s not about headaches anymore, it’s about the illusion of comfort that those pills are able to give her. It started as a painkiller, after the ice-bath to save her life, and it ended as a surrogate of what was once the ALIE chip (follow me on this). Probably those pills are able to make her feel less, less of everything, less of grief, guilt, emotional pain... We all know that addictions, drugs, medicines, are able to simply blur the rest of the world, and with it all the painful memories, all the painful emotions. It becomes mechanical, it’s routine, take a pill, feel nothing, take another one, still feel nothing, keep going on like that till you die (metaphorically and/or literally).

But these are just suppositions. Let’s get back to this moment.

When Indra enters the room, Abby gets up from the bed with a question upon her face, into her eyes, in the line of her lips. “Is it done? Is he dead? He’s alive?” She doesn’t have the answer, and Indra’s expression isn’t telling her anything. But in that brief moment, it took like one second for it to come in and fade, Abby has no answer, and her heart starts to fill up with the fear that he might not come back to her, and this already starts to make her feel even more guilty. We all know that if Marcus wasn't going to come back, Abby was going to get worse, and worse. But it’s also true that Marcus is strong, there was maybe a chance somehow that he could survive, and even if the old Abby is sleeping under the rubbles that are covering current Abby’s spirit and mind right now, a glint of hope is still visible in her eyes, she doesn’t ask if it’s over, she doesn’t speak, she just waits. And then is when he enters the room.

When he steps in, Abby’s face lights up. The answer to her question is alive, in warm flesh and bones, right in front of her. He survived the fight, he is alive, he didn’t die. Abby doesn’t waste a second, her lips already starting to form the smile she can’t fight, she exhales softly, releasing the tension and the fear into a soft sigh. She walks fast toward him, covering those few steps between them with her arms already stretched toward him. Seeing him alive isn’t enough, she has to hug him, to be sure he is there for real.

And so she crashes in his arms. Marcus eyes whispering to her “Yes I survived, I am here, I am safe.” but also keeping in the truth he knows, and that she still has to learn about, that he has to fight again and he isn’t going to. But for this brief moment, this few seconds of peace among the chaos, he allows himself to reassure her of his presence, and allows himself too the pleasure to know she is alive and well in his arms, closing his eyes, pressing his nose in the crook of her neck. They close themselves into this hug just like that, as if they are coming back home after a war they weren’t sure to survive, and yet here they are, still breathing, hearts beating, still alive. The way Marcus takes her in feels like a gesture they got used to once again. During those six years we don’t know if they made up immediately after the last episode, we don’t know if that kiss that we didn’t see (damn you writers for it btw) happened at some point, and if they had started to live side by side in the bunker, facing day after day together, in their own way. We know that they love each other though, and that there’s no more tension between them, they made up somehow, she forgave him, we know that, and he forgave himself too... for what he had done to her, for the rest.. well that’s another story.

Abby in this exact moment is holding onto him as if he is indeed her lifeline, he is her anchor, her polar star, the way out of the dark (that in this case we can say are the pills too). In his arms she doesn’t need them, even if just for the moment that takes for a hug, she doesn’t need them, she doesn’t care of them, she cares just for him, she wants just him. So she hugs him, and she lets him hug her. The way here eyes are open when she crashes into his arms, tell us how badly she had thought that she was going to never see him again, how the horror and the guilt had already started digging their way into her heart. But he survived, he is alive, and so she allows herself to enjoy the moment, to feel him. She closes her eyes, pure abandoned into him, her face relaxes, she is safe for a moment. Then her expression changes, wrinkles form on her forehead, around her eyes, her mind is recalling (probably) the reason why she had been so worried. Because she had stolen the drugs, and he had taken the blame. She can’t allow herself to linger on those thoughts, they are still fresh and painful, guilt is powerful, and she isn’t strong enough to fight it back. But she doesn’t withdraw from him, she doesn’t end the hug, she stays in his arms, swallowing down the painful emotion, trying to put back, even if just for a moment, the guilt, because the fact that he is alive and well (for now) is enough.

And here we have Marcus’ side. His hand is secured on her back, her arms are strongly and fiercely anchored to him, she isn’t going to let him go, not now. He has his eyes still closed (and he keeps them close for a long time, even while Indra talks). He is enjoying her presence in his arms, right against his heart. He withdraw from her shoulder to caress her hair with a touch of lips. A light, sweet, emotional, protective kiss, barely visible, that he presses into her hair, on her head. To mark his love for her once more, to reassure himself too somehow that they are both alive and well. Because Marcus was going to sacrifice for her, so she has to stay alive, she has to be safe. He has faith that she will survive her addiction, he has a lot of hope and faith, he has to have them, since they are all that he has left, not just for her, but for everybody else. Marcus Kane knows what hope is, Abby Griffin taught him, and since she doesn’t seem able to hold onto it as she was used to, he is carrying it for her too now, waiting for the moment she will come back to him and to herself, completely.

And here we can see the moment when Abby listens to Indra, without never braking the hug, keeping him in her arms, staying in this embrace as long as they are allowed to, feeling him. Indra tells them that he had won yes, but he has to fight again, she had done what she could to match him with a weaker opponent, to give him a chance to survive. Abby closes her eyes again, as if like that she can shut out the rest, Indra, the bunker, the arena, the notion that she will risk to lose him again. She keeps them close as long as she can, she doesn’t want to listen about anymore fights, she wants to have him safe and alive in her arms. She knows she can’t, but she still needs to believe, even if for a brief moment, that they are safe.

And here, when Indra says “But he’s refusing to fight. Maybe you can talk some sense into him.” Abby brakes the hug, her eyes are wide open now, she was listening, realizing he was going to give up, he was going to die, and this because of something that she had done. She can’t keep it to herself, she had been pleading for them to let him go, to let her take the guilt. (we don’t know if they were going to make her fight in the arena since she’s a doctor, the only doctor except for Jackson, but we all know how Wonkru and Octavia work, so probably the answer would have been yes). So she withdraws quickly, looks at him as if searching briefly for an answer, even if she knows in her heart that is all true, he doesn’t want to fight to survive, not again. And then, her hands slightly squeezing his shoulders, she calls after Indra, “Wait! It was me!” because she can’t push him into the arena again, not for something that she had done, she simply can’t.

And here ends part 1.

[clarkgriffon]

anyone else salty that abby’s core motivation from the literal pilot (limitless love for her daughter and a willingness to do whatever it takes to ensure her safety) was almost completely sidelined for kabby and raven/abby storylines in abby’s final season on the show?

no one? just me? alrighty then.

[serendipitous-bellarke]

Imagine if every fanfic you read about your OTP could be played out as an actual motion picture.

An infinite amount of fluff/angsty/sexy/ romantic/AU content would be available for us to see.

If that's not heaven, then what really is?

[okayyprincess]

MY KABBY HEART!

via: Jason Rothenberg’s twitter

[onebatch2batch]

i haven’t watched a live episode of a show in FOREVER but you bet your ass i watched this episode of the 100, commercials and all

[enobariasdistrict2]

i don't understand why t100 s5 is so unpopular in fandom because imo it was easily the best written season of the entire series??? i mean

everyone's six year glowup was fantastic. all the characters looked really attractive. clarke, kabby (their whole aging gray hair thing was hot even if they became totally unbearable hypocrites), octavia, diyoza and mccreary, spacekru... also BELLAMY'S BEARD???? hello that was awesome he truly leaned into his Cheer Dad personality

becho was one of the sweetest and healthiest relationships. lack of flashback/spacekru centric ep aside (my only complaint about s5 tbh), they got through their past differences together, in an environment where they weren't in any significant danger or participated in opposite sides of a war (which lbr was the only reason their dynamic was "unhealthy" in the first place), and they were able to prioritize their mental health and become real friends who shared things about themselves

bloodreina and diyoza were the best villains ever??? their ice cold bad bitches personalities were so fascinating to watch onscreen. i get that octavia is unpopular because of her treatment of bell in s5 but as a character she totally POPPED (also wonkru's whole blood cult thing and eligius being full of sociopathic war criminals was great entertainment material, and part of what made my s5 watching experience so enjoyable)

spacekru slowly becoming fond of each other and transitioning into a found family over their six years together offscreen was amazing. their affection and loyalty towards each other was so heartwarming, they never cared about the war, or eligius vs octavia, only being reunited and spending time in each other's company. plus the group's banter/chemistry, the memori breakup + resulting angst/raven & emori friendship, bellamy being murphy's Big Brother/bullying murphy into recognizing his self worth/respecting and valuing murphy's input to the discussion (just murphamy's developed friendship in general), marper being involved in the memori breakup because they care about their friends' happiness, the echo/monty hug and echo/murphy friendship, emori comforting echo, bellamy refusing to leave raven behind, were also total highlights of the season

k*bby betraying octavia immediately when given the chance and leaving her to deal with the consequences of the cannibalistic blood cult, abby torturing raven (a girl she dared to call "daughter) for the sake of an addiction she couldn't control....... they finally revealed their true colors and it was glorious (and kinda sad because i could not stand them as characters anymore, although at least they remained consistent in their hypocrisy)

cl*rke torturing her own friends to "protect" the daughter she placed a shock collar on (and being called out by the narrative for it/not being handed blanket forgiveness) was absolutely amazing

mccreary and abby/diyoza (even kane) had ridiculous amounts of sexual tension, it was absurdly hot

i love vincent, that cannibalist freak. he's like a feral rabid pet and it was adorable (also he put kane's life in danger which was hilarious, in the sense that it served as abby's punishment)

the aesthetic appeal of wonkru and their hunger games style feeding ritual, octavia's tyranny, it was positively fucked up :D i also loved echo's arc as a "spy," subverting her inital role in the series (something that brought her so much vitriol from fandom) and using it for a positive purpose

it was horrifying and gruesome and violent which automatically gives it five stars in my book 😌

[sunnibits]

OH FUCK OH GOD. I WENT TO WATCH THAT ONE KABBY HUG THAT BREAKS ME IN HALF FOR THE FIRST TIME IN AGES AND I FORGOT ABOUT THE FUCKING MUSIC I WASNT PREPARED

[thirteenreasons-goodbye]

i love bellarke in all facets.

romantic? hell yeah their chemistry is insane! all the hugs, longing glances, unspoken words, love expressed through actions yes.

platonic? absolutely bc romance can fade, friendship is to your core. (plus i’m aromantic so ~personally~ i value platonic relationships deeply)

siblings? sure, kane was basically a dad to bellamy so it worked for kabby if you wanna view them that way

surrogate for octavia? this makes me feel kind of unexplainably icky but I can see the value in that story wise. It furthered their journey bc via clarke bellamy learned to be a better brother and see that O could take care of herself and via bellamy clarke got a taste of total filial devotion (abby turned in her husband and daughter but Bellamy never turned in octavia)

my goddamn point is I don’t give a flying fork who you ship or why. Bellarke did not deserve this.

[opponentsheir]

When you wanted Abby dead but they actually go and kill her:

When you realize Kabby shippers have nothing left:

When Clarke and Echo hugged but Clarke and Bellamy didn't:

When Priya got killed by helping earthkru:

When you realize there is only 1 episode left:

[causewhywouldnti]

[travllingbunny]

The 100 6x12 Adjustment Protocol

Unpopular opinion: I really liked this episode. Especially the first time I watched it (yes, I watch every episode the second time, usually a day later): it is the kind intense, plot-driven, high-tension episode that keeps you on the edge of your seat, exactly as you would expect from the penultimate episode of the season. My favorite episodes this season mostly focused on characters dealing with their demons and their feelings, but this is the part of the season when the plot has to kick into high gear, going into the finale. And this is not a bad thing at all, although it seems that reviewers mostly think it is, while the Twitter fandom is telling me that this episode was actually terrible, for… reasons. Most of which make no sense or are pretty irrelevant.

Although you wouldn’t know that if you just read what most frequent topics of discussion and comments about this episode are, it was the crucial episode plot-wise as the truth about the Primes was revealed to everyone in Sanctum, but thanks to Russell and co. constantly proving they are even more evil than we could have guessed, Sanctum was thrown into chaos, with violence erupting between believers (i.e. the brainwashed) and non-believers; and it also featured the death a main character who had been on the show and a part of since the start. I’m not sure about how I feel about that death and Abby’s arc as a whole. But in this episode, it was done very well – though it may have been predictable (and was kind of spoiled in the episode promo), and the strongest scene of the episode was Clarke learning about her mother’s death, not long after she had revealed to her that she was alive. (And with this, Clarke, Bellamy and Octavia are the only season 1 characters who were billed as mains and who are still alive - since Murphy and Raven were not billed as main characters in season 1).

Eliza Taylor really carried this episode, and a lot of the tension was about watching Clarke under over and worrying if she would be discovered. Not only is Eliza a great actress, playing Clarke, Josephine, Josephine pretending to be Clarke, and Clarke pretending to be Josephine - but Clarke herself turned out to be an amazing actress and plaed Josephine so well she managed to fool Russell – which her life and many others depended on - while, at the same time, going through emotional turmoil and having to hide it.

 I’m not sure about how I feel about Abby’s death in the context of her entire arc. It’s safe to say that it’s certainly not among the most satisfying character arcs on the show. She started off as an idealist fighting against the Ark establishment and one of the few people on the Ark in season 1 who were doing the right thing, but over the following seasons, her role got a bit lost between acting as the supporting character to Clarke (from giving Clarke moral support, to being controlled by ALIE to create drama for Clarke) and being a part of the Kabby relationship – which, to be fair, was one of the best developed (or very few really developed) romances on the show.  But between the two of them, Kane was the one who got the better character development and arc by himself. Abby was the Chancellor for a while, but then gave up that role in season 3, to be fought over by Kane and Pike. She also got other important relationship as a surrogate parent figure to Raven, and, to an extent, Murphy. But in terms of her arc, rather than her impact on others, she only finally got development in late season 4. Mind you, it was negative character development – which is a perfectly valid narrative choice, but one that fandoms usually don’t forgive characters. Because of the things she was forced to do, she lost not just her moral certainty but her faith in herself and, for a while, her will to live, and then her self-loathing turned into a drug addiction that she struggled throughout season 5. In season 6, she tried to recover, but instead developed a new addiction of sorts – her obsession with saving Kane, largely driven by her guilt over the things she did the previous 6 years and for kind of betraying the man she loves and indirectly causing his death, again (something that haunted her since Jake’s death) – which, in turn, led her to making some terrible choices and crossing moral lines. While I thought Kane’s death was perfectly fitting for his character, and that point, it would have been more interesting if the show had tried to have Abby survive and had to really recover and move on, rather than kill her off just a couple of episodes after killing off the ship she was a part of. One may even wonder if she was seen as useless for the show except as a part of the ship. Or, since her remaining main role in the show was as a mother to Clarke and surrogate mother to Raven, so she got killed off for their development/angst/possible bonding in future episodes. Which does make sense as Clarke is the show’s protagonist, and it was easy to guess that the older-Ark-generation characters (Abby, Kane, Jaha) would die once Clarke, Bellamy and Octavia are all adults and mature enough to not need mentors or ‘adult’ mirrors of themselves. Still, it would have been great if the show had given more attention and sympathetic moments to Abby herself in more than just this one episode, especially since the fandom has become determined to hate her – partially because it was convenient to blame her for other character’s actions, partially because fans are judgmental of any middle-aged mother character – especially if she is the mother of the protagonist – who isn’t focused on her children 100% of the time, even if said children are mature adults. But let’s forget about the fandom. It’s not necessary to have characters who suffer from addiction. PTSD or depression recover – Jasper’s arc was about someone who never recovered, but his death was the logical outcome of his arc and felt inevitable. Abby’s death isn’t really about her arc, it’s about Russell deciding to kill and bodysnatch her. Unlike Jaha and Kane, she didn’t get to go out on her own terms.

(I guess you could say that her injecting herself with Nightblood led to it, but Russell could have had her injected with Nigthblood anyway. Or you could say that he did it because he was convinced that she would look for revenge for her daughter’s death, so it was her love for her daughter that doomed her in a way.)

Still, this episode itself covered her death as well as it was possible to do – even if the fact that Abby got to save the life of a child – her granddaughter-by-adoption, find out that her daughter is alive (after having her heart broken in the previous episode, where she was made to believe Clarke was definitely dead), reconcile with and apologize to the two of the closest people to her, Raven and Jackson, and get closure – was a pretty big hint her days were numbered. Her death scene was good, with flashbacks of her happy days with Jake, with Kane, and many memories of Clarke, but the strongest scenes were those of other people reacting to her death, especially Clarke.

Raven has been a side character this season, but she has gotten some subtle character development lately, such as admitting that was way too judgmental with Abby. While she and Clarke didn’t get to talk things through, Raven has been, in a way, redeeming herself and making up to Clarke by making all the efforts to save her daughter and being focused on that more than anything else, just as Clarke is redeeming herself by trying to do the right and moral thing and save as many people as possible.

I’ve been really liking Gabriel more and more, especially in this episode, when he risked everything to stop more innocent people being killed by the Primes. However, what was his plan, exactly? Distract people and then – what – convince Russell to stop being evil? He is a bit like Kane – a guy who did bad things, had a moral awakening, and is now trying to be perfectly moral, but he is more pacifist than Kane was. And he comes off too naïve and sometimes ineffectual: he doesn’t want to kill anyone and allow any lives to be lost, and he can’t even make himself kill Russell – but if he had killed Russell, taken out and smashed his mind drive, he could have prevented many more deaths. 

Speaking of mind drives, it was smart of Clarke to find the instruments and take out Ryker’s chip and keep it to later blackmail Priya with. I just wonder why more people don’t do the same. Surely everyone should be aware that killing Primes is irrelevant, if you don’t destroy the mind drives? They don’t even have to kill the Primes, for that matter, just take out those drives, smash the damn things, and you’ve stopped bodysnatching.                 

So many comments on this episode were about Clarke and Echo’s hug during her reunion with her, Miller and Gaia. Yes, Clarke and Echo are not particularly close – this season, they were on amicable terms, and Echo was one of the people who wasn’t verbally attacking Clarke, but they barely had any interaction and didn’t have any one-on-one talks since that dramatic conversation in 5x12. So, a hug just like the one Clarke had with Miller was maybe a bit odd/surprising But it was also weird when Clarke called Murphy her friend when she found him Polis in 3x07 – even though they had only had terrible interactions up to that point, or when she called Roan her friend or was on great terms with him a couple of days after he almost started a war with Arkadia and threatened Bellamy’s and Kane’s lives to blackmail her into political concessions. Maybe Clarke and Echo were trying to show the “we’re comrades in arms” solidarity, or are trying to be friends because of Bellamy, or Clarke is just happy to see any of the Earthkru and is glad when they hug her as friends, or a combination of all of that. In any case, I almost feel bad for even discussing this, because it’s been so overblown– the fandom seems to talk more about Echo hugging people than about Abby’s death or the chaos in Sanctum

.Another hug that, however, wasn’t surprising at all., was between Bellamy and Echo, but even that turned out to be an issue, because, apparently, a lot of people were shocked and disappointed by the fact that Bellamy cares about Echo and worries about her life, or that Bellamy and Echo were happy to see each other after not knowing if the other was alive. I’m not sure what exactly anyone was expecting? That Bellamy would say “Who are you? I don’t know you, woman!” or act like he doesn’t give a damn? Echo is one of the people he spent 6 years with, has been at least friends for 3 years, and has been dating for a while, so he would have come off as a real asshole if he didn’t care if she were dead or alive. Of course he felt a lot of guilt over leaving her and his other people, because he was focused on saving Clarke. Especially after Josephine called him out on caring for Clarke more than for the rest of them. He already showed guilt over leaving them in 6x11, so it’s mind-boggling that this is what some say is “inconsistent character behavior from episode to episode”. Also, apparently, when Bellamy and Clarke have the most intense hugs with heart eyes and romantic music, it’s just platonic or “baiting”, but Bellamy and Echo’s hug that was no more intense than that between Clarke and Echo, and that looked similar to how Bellamy hugs his sister (even with the same pat on the back!) is a sign that Bellarke is dead and Becho is endgame (?!) ¯¯\_(ヅ)_/¯Even though, again, like so many Becho scenes, it had Clarke in the frame, focused on Clarke and her sad face more than on Echo and Bellamy, and included Clarke interrupting their hug, twice, once asking Bellamy “What took you so long?” Followed by Bellamy looking at Clarke, while Octavia was watching the situation and glancing at all of them. (I see what you’re doing, show. We’ve been there before - except Bellamy and Echo were kissing back then, not just hugginh, and this is the first time Bellamy saw Clarke watching them.)

Is it too soon for the Blake siblings to already be on such good terms that Bellamy is  even gently joking with Octavia? I’m not sure, but Bellamy has shown a great capacity for forgiveness, and he has now seen enough evidence that Octavia has genuinely changed, which is all he needed.

Bellamy, again, got to be the one to give another speech to the masses, helping kindle the flames of the revolution in Sanctum – though it wouldn’t have worked without Priya telling everyone the truth. (Good thinking on Clarke’s part to take Ryker’s chip, and good suggestion on Echo’s part to suggest using it to blackmail Priya.)  

It’s amazing that the Primes were obviously evil from at least 6x04, but we still keep learning just how horrible they are. Russell is an amazing villain because he is so infuriating – a megalomaniac and a hypocrite who genuinely seems to think he is godlike and has the right to murder and exploit others. And then there’s the way he uses language to normalize terrible things, with terms like “adjustment protocol” (translation: make your own people go wild and kill each other, hoping that the religious fanatics will kill the doubters). He is even funny (unintentionally, on his part) with the way he talks, and in this episode he had gems like “I am disappointed in you, Priya. I am disappointed in all of you” and “ A mind drive is a terrible thing to waste”.

I was wondering before if Russell’s actions would turn a lot of the Sanctum residents against the Primes – and they did, but many of them are way too brainwashed, and his solution was to drop the toxin and cause chaos, while the Primes go to the ship to get away until Sanctum is safe for them again. But why are they so sure it will be and that it’s the Prime loyalists who will defeat kill all the rebels, rather than the other way round? If it’s based on previous experience – that was about fanatics vs people who had doubts, but the rebels who hate the Primes are (at least) just as angry as those who worship the Primes.

And Priya got to experience that when Delilah’s mother killed her to avenge her daughter, after getting a confirmation that Delilah was really dead. It was funny that Priya was still hoping to use Delilah’s name to get them to help her, just as she was lying to Jordan a few episodes ago that Delilah was ‘with her’ and happy. I just hope that someone took out and smashed her drive – and Ryker’s drive that she had in her hands, so we wouldn’t have any more resurrections.

The royal guards were the most brainwashed of them all. They heard Russell more or less admit in his conversation with Echo that bodysnatching was murder, knew he was going to do it as a punishment to someone who almost assassinated him, but they kept believing in the crap about being one with the gods? And three of them got the “honor” to be hosts to the Primes: Jade became Jasmine (after having failed to protect Rose, who was meant to be the host for Jasmine), Gavin’s widow became the host for Miranda, and another guard, a bald white dude, became Caleb.  I can’t say I’m sorry for them – they were really “Too Dumb to Live”.  

It was fun to see Murphy and Emori dressed and made up in the Prime fashion (which looks a lot like the fashion of the Capitol from The Hunger Games) and pretending to be two of the Primes who whose mind drives were wiped by Simone – Daniel and Kaylee Lee. And there was a rare comedic moment when they realized they were playing brother and sister. Russell is a massive troll – he could have given them the identities of the parents, Faye and Victor Lee – it’s not like it would have made any difference. 

Clarke is really an amazing actress, to be able to fool even Josephine’s parents into believing she is Josephine, even when she had to hide her feelings about seeing Madi in pain and danger, and when she learned that her mother was dead. That scene was the strongest in 6x12 – even while we knew what would happen, Clarke finding out by seeing Simone in Abby’s body was really painful. That was too much for Clarke, who couldn’t hide her tears. Good thing that Gabriel was there to help by giving her a cover – and she did a great job playing a scene as a lovers’ quarrel and pretending that her pain was about Josephine’s disappointment with the “traitor” Gabriel. (And channeling a real experience from her own life  – as actors often do.) 

I’ve seen comments that Murphy’s actions in this episode were confusing, but it all seemed pretty clear to me. He told Emori and later Raven that he was doing what was good for their friends, too. He thought they were helping them all survive - which was definitely the case as they would have been burned if he hadn't come up with the idea about bone marrow. Then in 6x11 Russell threatened Emori to get him to bring "Josephine", even though Murphy was obviously already disgusted by the Primes at that point, seeing his reaction to when one of the guards touched him.  I don't know if he's still really interested in immortality, but since 6x10, the issue was "immorality or mortality", the latter meaning – death in the immediate future, since that the Primes were going to kill Emori, and probably him and everyone else. But he expected them to keep everyone alive if they play along. When they killed Abby, it was obviously too much for him, since he said it to "Josephine"'s face, with disgust: "All she did was help, and you killed her". That and knowing that Bellamy, Octavia, Echo and Miller are somewhere in Sanctum needing help, made him decide to stay and help his friends.

I loved the Clarke/Memori scene. I don’t think that there’s anything wrong with Clarke telling Murphy that she’s proud of him, and it doesn’t mean that he does not get held responsible for his actions. He was held responsible in 6x10, to the point that his friends and himself assumed he would be the one chosen to die, and Abby slapped him and told him he would be. Clarke – who may not even know the worst of his actions (that he almost helped Josephine kill Clarke, and that he helped her manipulate Abby) – did not trust Murphy and didn’t tell him she was alive, but was watching to see whether he makes the right choice, and praised him when he did the way a mentor praises a student who fulfills their positive potential.

Quite a scene for Indra and co. at the ship – “Abby” and Clarke in royal robes and some blond guy in similar robes, pointing guns as Gaia, Madi and Raven. I don’t think the Primes have much of a chance, with “Josephine” being Clarke and the fact that the ship has 400 people who, if woken up, would absolutely wreck everyone in Sanctum, let alone a few pampered Primes. But it’s an interesting image: the Lightbournes always seemed like the evil version of the Griffins, especially with the casting choices for Josephine and both the original and the current Russell, so it is weirdly fitting that Josephine bodysnatched Clarke for a while, and now Simone bodysnatched Abby.

Rating: 8.5/10

[murphystartedthefire]

Don’t know how many Kane or Kabby fans follow me but I’m sending you the biggest hug right now. It shouldn’t have gone down the way of... any of this. :-/

There’s nothing really to say but it sucks to be hurt by a story in this way. I’ve been under lowkey highkey stress myself about my faves not making it through the season with their lives intact -- or having their characters assassinated in the process for that matter.

Just... sending you all the love. A ship and character belongs to you as much as the writers and actors and it always will.

[historyofshipping]

I just hope 6x11 isn’t Be/cho

For just so many reasons:

Their hugs are uncomfortable

They apparently don’t know jack about each other.

By that time, presumably Clarke will be back and all 3 of them deserve better than Be/cho sex.

We’ve already had a Be/cho sex scene and it’s still something I can’t scrub out of my head.

It literally wouldn’t make sense for the rest of the season where we’re not shown any real intimate moments between them. Not really.

Other than Marper, do we get any sex scene A- more than once or B- at anything other than at/near the beginning of their on-screen relationship?

I don’t think it’ll be Bellarke.

I hope it’s not O/Xavier.

Memori? Maybe.

Murven? Doubtful.

Kabby? I also hope not.

If this was any other season, I’d say Raven & Ryker but these writers seem different.

Maybe Jordan & Delilah reunion sex? I could get behind that one.

[truthbeetoldmedia]

The 100 6x12 "Adjustment Protocol" Review

Hello friends, it’s good to see you all again! I’m happy to be sharing my thoughts with you in this form again. Tonight I’m reviewing episode 6x12 of The 100 “Adjustment Protocol”, written by Kim Shumway and directed by Antonio Negret. I found myself underwhelmed by the season’s lead-in to the finale episode and I’m detailing why below! 

The Good

1. Eliza’s Exceptional Encore

Eliza Taylor has been on it this season. She’s been given extremely meaty scenes and she keeps blowing them out of the water. Clarke has been through so much lately and I am always excited to see what Eliza brings to the material she’s been given. The last few episodes have perhaps been some of the most challenging in her career and she’s been phenomenal in each of them. This episode was particularly tough for her, having to vacillate between Clarke playing Josephine, to Clarke listening to her daughter’s crazed rants and having to hide her tears, to Clarke experiencing the grief of realizing that her mother is dead and having to camouflage it so that her Josephine cover remains intact — and her friends remain alive. I wanted to reach through the screen and hug her when she broke down, because the girl has been through it!

For several seasons it’s been easy to debate about Clarke being a “worthy” hero because her actions don’t often line up with what we’ve been trained to expect of heroes. She is always ready and willing to make the tough choices, to kill whoever needs to be killed to save her people, to reach into the darkest parts of her own soul to make sure that other people don’t have to. This season Clarke has been unwilling to compromise on the promise she made to Monty’s memory. The promise to “do better” is layered in everything that she does and everything that she says. If last season was about the development of Bellamy into a “fully realized” leader, this has been that season for Clarke and she is extraordinary. 

I do find myself concerned about what Abby’s death will mean for Clarke’s determination to be different. It would be so easy to fall back into her old patterns, to lash out and turn her rage to all of the inhabitants of Sanctum (including innocents) instead of just on Russell who rightly deserves it. I’m hoping that she turns to her friends for support in this moment (and in the future) because heaven only knows that she’ll need them to get through this and I believe that perhaps that will be one of the biggest pluses of this season. With all of the crimes her friends laid at her feet this season, after watching Clarke go through so much and consciously continue to “do better”, I hope that we come through this with them realizing how much Clarke has done for everyone, often at her own expense. She’s a hero and she deserves to be treated as such. 

The Bad

1. Men Ruin Everything (Especially Female Television Characters)

In a rather shocking (not!) development, Dr. Abigail Griffin has joined the ranks of deceased characters even as her body continues to walk among the living. It’s been clear to me since Season 4 that Abby and Kane didn’t have long for this world, with Kane’s Season 4 quote, ”The youth will inherit the Earth”, playing a huge part in my thought process. I expected Abby to die that season, due to the problems she was suffering post A.L.I.E., but thanks to Raven’s genius (and Kane’s unwillingness to let her walk out of the bunker) she lived to fight another season. I expected Kane to die in Season 5 after he was attacked mercilessly by the cannibal Vinson and yet he survived those wounds as well. For some, that was a relief but I personally found myself confused and after tonight’s episode (and, in all honesty, their treatment all season) that confusion continues. Instead of being treated with the gravity that main character deaths deserve, both felt unceremonious and rather rushed, but at least Kane received a hero’s death. 

Abby’s story has grated on my nerves from the moment she first appeared in Season 5 with a drug addiction that was second only to her addictive obsession to Kane. Prior to Season 5, Abby’s story involved Kane but did not revolve around him. After that, all bets were off and Abby was only capable of caring about one person and that person was Kane. Everything she did in Season 5 and Season 6 up to and until Kane’s death served one person: Marcus Kane. Abby, a mother, a grandmother and one of only two qualified doctors for all of the people aboard the Eligius ship, became nothing more than a pawn on a romantic chessboard. She, like so many women on this show once they become romantically involved, became nothing more than a support for the man in her life. Even her death, which should be a hugely pivotal moment for this season, as Abby is the only mother of the original 100 we have any connection with, became wrapped up in the irony of what she’d done only three episode prior to save Kane. 

I believe that it also says quite a bit about how this show (which features women quite heavily) understands feminism. It is tragically horrific to kill a woman only a few episodes after killing her male love interest. It sends a message, even if unintentional, that she is only worth keeping around as long as her man is there, too. Abby’s arc could have been finished well in the closing scenes of Season 4, it could even have worked in the mid-season finale of Season 5, but after giving her a drug addiction (which she had not completely conquered), showcasing the absolutely insane lengths she was willing to go to save Kane (which she was not given time to properly “learn” from), it was clear that Abby still had some growth left in her. Unfortunately, it’s a story we’ll never get to see. 

In addition, the lead in to Abby’s death was painfully obvious. They needed to make 6 hosts, they only had 5 bodies. After making herself an obvious threat to Russell, Abby made herself a nightblood (“Like mother, like daughter”, says Jackson in the background for additional foreshadowing) and she’s in just the right age range to be suitable to host a 50-year-old man’s wife — unlike Ash (aka: Echo). She makes up with Raven in a rushed moment and conveniently learns that Clarke isn’t as dead as she thought she was — all in an effort to “finish” her storyline. As she dies, we’re treated to Raven and Jackson sobbing through flashbacks of her loved ones. It’s a death and not one particularly suited to a character of Abby’s standing on the show. More, fans of Paige Turco are likely going to have to prepare to watch “Abby” die once more — just as they did with Kane. It’s been a rough season for fans of Kabby. May we meet again Abby Griffin, you deserved more than you were given. 

2. Forced Female Friendships are not Feminist (Say That 3 Times Fast)

This episode felt like a good reminder that most TV writers do not understand female friendships (yes, even if the writers identify as women themselves). In this episode we are treated to a moment that is still confusing me as I write this (after my second viewing of the episode): Clarke and Echo (and Gaia and Miller) are reunited and in a moment of relief, Echo hugs Clarke after realizing she’s managed to kill Josephine and that ...doesn't make sense. This season has felt like a huge attempt to retcon Clarke and Echo’s relationship into a friendship that does not exist; in fact Echo has been kinder to Clarke than people who have known Clarke for longer (albeit only by a few months) and that doesn’t work for me. 

In the Season 5 two-part finale, Echo literally threatens to kill Clarke, because she is enraged that she left Bellamy to die, in the Season 4 premiere she does the same, in Season 3 she is responsible (in part) for killing many of Clarke’s “people”; and yet, the show, in a strange attempt to portray “friendship” between two women who the audience largely believe to be romantic rivals (because that’s how they are written), would have us ignore all of these previous transgressions, pretend the characters don’t need to have at least a conversation about mending their relationship and have jumped onto the bridge of friendship together. Echo and Clarke honestly don’t even know each other. It’s disingenuous and another example of the horrible ways in which a show that primarily features women treats those women. 

Even worse is the fact that, after repeating Monty’s mantra all season long through many characters (but primarily Clarke), we watched Echo murder Ryker last episode in cold blood. (I have yet to come up with a reason his death makes sense. Yes he was going to wipe Echo, but Miller had him at gunpoint and he’d surrendered. It would have been easy enough to force him into the chair, tie the restraints and gag him — leaving him to be found later by the guards, or in this case Josephine.) What about Echo’s actions this season (in the small amount of screen time she’s been given) equate to “doing better”? We watched people castigate Clarke for killing people to save her people, but no one has anything to say to Echo for killing people to save….herself? It’s baffling that this show continues to have Echo act in ways that are antithetical to those of our confirmed heroes (Bellamy and Clarke) and suffer absolutely no negative pushback from anyone. At what point do we see the consequences of her actions? Especially with the messaging for this season? 

3. Plot Holes Big Enough to Sink a Ship In

As per usual, The 100 once again crafts a season that is perhaps too big for its season length. This problem has been consistent since Season 4 and it’s largely because, after Season 3, the show which once prided itself on the fact that “anyone could die” has now become afraid to kill even the most useless character, if at least one fan likes them. This episode attempted to wrap up several character and plot arcs and as a result it felt overcrowded and rushed. Between bringing the Flame into the plot, the nightblood, making new primes, Emori and Murphy becoming Primes and pretending to be Kaylee and Daniel, Gabriel returning to Sanctum, Russell bombing his people and forcing them to kill each other, Priya’s kidnapping, and Abby’s death it’s just too much for one episode to handle!

If they needed all of these things to happen before the end of the season they should have begun the wrap up sooner (and or gotten rid of two characters in Season 4 and 5 respectively as mentioned earlier) and this is one of the prime reasons I support and advocate for smaller casts. Because every character with even an ounce of screen time is given the “main” treatment, all of their storylines must somehow be wrapped up in the final two episodes and it has historically not worked. In fact, this particular episode’s issues are so glaring largely because this season seriously pared down the amount of time it spent with people who weren’t Bellamy and Clarke (much like Season 2), greatly alleviating the audience’s need to care about so many different characters and it worked! Season 6, up until this episode has been one of the best seasons (my current order being 2, 1, 6, 4, 3, 5) because it felt like they were returning to the heart of the show: Bellamy and Clarke and their relationship to one another (however you might describe that). With this disjointed episode I was again reminded that there are too many characters I don’t have enough time to care about and it sapped the joy out of an otherwise excellent season for me. 

But perhaps that’s my own fault. Perhaps I’m expecting too much from this show in its sixth season and of course I’ll wait to pass final judgement until the finale airs next week. I’ll be writing that review as well! I can’t wait to close out the season with you guys. See you soon!!!

April’s episode rating: 🐝🐝.5

The Season 6 finale of The 100 airs Tuesday, August 6 at 9/8c on the CW.