Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-5575784-20180425204901/@comment-31054681-20180428004440

This season premiere was by far the best in the series. It was really raw and we got to follow Clarke's survival after Praimfaya. I expected that the majority of the episode would mostly focus on Clarke and how she managed to survive for 6 years on Earth, with everything turned to rubble and dust. However, we did get information about how the rest in space survived and the fate of everyone in the bunker.

There were rare moments in this episode that really stood out.

The first instance is when Clarke heads for Arkadia to find food and water. All she finds are "ghosts of the past". Opening the box, she finds Maya's iPod, Jasper's goggles and Jasper's suicide note to Monty. This is the first time in the episode that we truly see Clarke's vulnerability that she has tried to bottle up since surviving Praimfaya. As tears fall, she admits to Bellamy through the radio that this is the first time she's truly felt alone. I felt sympathetic toward her current predicament. After 5 long seasons, this was all that was left to remember these people by and it hurt to see Clarke so emotionally drained. The fact that this box survived Praimfaya and stayed intact plays an important role later on. Clarke finds a use for the goggles and the iPod and they help her throughout her journey.

After surviving on her own for 2 months, Clarke began slowly losing hope. What kept her sane throughout this time was talking to the Ark through the radio. Even though she didn't think Bellamy could hear her, it helped her vent her emotions and keep her sanity. Clarke went through a lot, and I could really empathise with her mental state. Feeling abandoned on Earth, with nothing to eat or no one to talk to, really took a toll on her physical state and her psyche. She was in a state where she was going to give up in order to escape the pain she felt emotionally, psychologically and physically. The way she expressed this was really raw and I could feel her emotional and mental depletion. However, I do think that they could have extended this vulnerable moment she had with holding the gun to her head. It was realistic in the way that the appearance of the bird symbolised a beacon of hope and her automatically thinking the bird would lead her to safety. However, she was disappointed when she climbed the hill to find a barren land stretching on for miles. This suspension led to a climax where she was on the brink of committing suicide after fighting to stay alive. Suicide seemed like the only option left after she stumbled down the hill to the ground, symbolizing the detrimental connection this fall had with her state of mind. When the bird reappeared, this instantly stopped her from pulling the trigger and she ran after the bird and on the other side, she found Eden. So my thoughts on this are: instead of the aspect of the bird leading her to safety and sanctuary being the reason to stop her from committing suicide, I wanted her to stop herself from committing suicide because of perseverance and the vulnerability of leaving her loved ones even though there was a possibility that she would never see them again. I wanted her to contemplate what ending her life would signify, reflect upon how she had survived worse conditions and come to a conclusion to stay alive because she wants to live to see her mother and her friends. I wanted these important people in her life to be the beacon of hope that stopped her from committing suicide. Then, her decision of choosing life over death would be rewarded by the bird leading her to "paradise" in a sense. So by tweaking this tiny detail, in my opinion, could really create a more powerful impact

We also got to see the fates of the people on the Ark. After spending 6 years together in space, the relationship dynamics have really changed. We learn that Emori and Murphy are not together anymore and a new power couple has formed; Becho. To be honest, I was expecting Becho to happen sooner or later, especially now that they were stuck together on the Ark. It seemed fitting since it was either between Echo or Raven, and we already know that Raven and Bellamy suit more as friends than a couple. Plus, if Bellarke were to happen in this season (which I hope it does), Raven would be left on the sideline and she's already been through a lot, we're not going down memory lane with happened to Raven, Clarke, and Finn. Echo seems like the most expendable out of the two, in my opinion, so it's strategic that they'd be paired together if Bellarke were to happen. (which I doubt will happen as it's been freaking 5 seasons long, and I don't see the progression of Bellarke, but nonetheless, I don't really mind Becho. If they're genuinely happy, then I am happy for them.) Near the end, the chance of getting to go back to Earth was both promising and overwhelming. Tracing back to the season 4 finale with Echo's banishment, this is what makes her nervous about the aspect of going back down to Earth. She expresses her vulnerability to Bellamy and I feel for her. Even though it looks like she has changed, the banishment still stands. Bellamy still tries to reassure her that the banishment is in the past and that Octavia won't worry much about it. But something tells me otherwise...

Octavia has changed since then, and that clip at the end of the episode proves that she is a different person. She exerts the power of leadership and this may have molded her to be more commanding as seen by her body language, her clothes and most importantly, her makeup. These dark colours really reflect on her character and we can tell that she isn't the same girl she was 6 years ago. She has grown and matured and this maturity is expressed through her outward appearance.

Overall, the episode really demonstrated how a time jump, as big as this, brings the characters into maturity and points them in a new direction. It was a really good start to the season and it really just hit a reset button and brought us all the way back to the start; namely Season 1. It was, as I stated, one of the best premieres in my opinion. Thus, I would rate the episode 10/10.