The 100 Review: The Face Behind The Glass (Season 6 Episode 4)

The more we learn about the people of Sanctum, the more I am beginning to think Abby and Clarke were right: maybe there are no good guys. However, that makes it all the more important that our heroes are trying to live up to Monty’s last request and be those good guys, especially in a world where it seems that they are few and far between. 

The 100 Season 6 Episode 4, “The Face Behind The Glass,” written by Charmaine DeGraté and directed by Tim Scanlan, genuinely feels like part of an insane rollercoaster ride. I know that metaphor is used quite frequently in reference to The 100, but it has never felt more appropriate than while watching this episode. 

After an incredibly intense first three episodes filled with emotional baggage, heart-racing action, and information overload, “The Face Behind The Glass” gives the audience a minute to catch their breath–but only a minute. For the first 30 or so minutes of this episode, we climb up the hill, waiting for the big drop as the anticipation builds and builds until the final moments send the audience careening into The 100 Season 6’s big mysteries and missions. 

IMPROVISE.

Charmaine Diyoza may be a fairly new character on The 100, but her complexity as a leader, her quick wit, and no-nonsense attitude turned her into a fan favorite during Season 5. She must be a fun character to write for (especially for her namesake) as she has some of the best dialogue on the entire show. 

The 100 excels at portraying a variety of different approaches to motherhood and what it means to be a matriarch, and Diyoza is a prime (hah!) example of that. 

She plays well opposite just about anyone. She uses her intelligence, lack of fear, and her unending sass to make her as charming as she is abrasive. Jade, Rose’s royal bodyguard who I instantly want to know more about, seems to understand Diyoza on a fundamental level. Rose may not have been her child, but she would do anything to protect her–Diyoza would do the same for her own daughter. 

As such a formidable being, I’m still surprised that the people of Sanctum would risk leaving her on the outside, giving her opportunity and reason to team up with the Children of Gabriel. The offer to give Hope sanctuary if she takes out their enemy is a decent enough deal for Diyoza to take now, but who’s to say that the CoGs won’t offer her a better one? 

Every minute that Diyoza is on screen is an absolute delight; she works in strategy, humor, and clear motivations into her every action. She is out to protect her child and herself. She’s an army of one. I’m excited to learn more about her backstory as we dig into this season.

As Abby said on “The Children of Gabriel,” it’s not about the things we did to survive, it’s the reasons we did them. The American patriots sent to colonize this planet remember Diyoza as a horrible evil terrorist, comparable to some of the world’s worst monsters. But she wasn’t always that. Once a dedicated soldier, Diyoza turned against her country as she watched it become a fascist regime.

That doesn’t necessarily make any of her violent acts okay, but history has always been biased towards the party writing it down. As we’re reminded on “The Face Behind the Glass;” there are two sides to every story, and I am ready to hear Diyoza’s. 

ADAPT.

In the land of gods and monsters, Octavia Blake is both. The past 22 years have not been kind to Octavia, and she’s committed her fair share of atrocities. She bounces between being horrific and unfeeling, and being fiercely protective and kind. On “The Face Behind the Glass,” she almost feels like the savior she has been striving to be since she became Blodriena.

Rose: They’re monsters. 

Octavia: So am I. 

Octavia is filled with a palpable self-loathing, and as much as anyone else could hate her, she clearly hates herself more. She doesn’t fear death at this point. In fact, it almost feels like she would embrace it like an old friend. It makes her impervious to the CoGs threats, and exactly the hero that Rose needs right now. 

The 100 writers played me like a fiddle. They made sure that I was attached to Rose immediately. It worked on me just as much as it worked on Octavia. This little girl has been singled out for her blood, and her captors think she shouldn’t exist at all. It’s no wonder that Octavia sees a little of the girl she used to be in Rose. 

She is instantly protective of Rose, jumping into action the minute her life is threatened. Octavia has always been a fascinating character to watch, but she has not always been an easy character to love. The Octavia we see on this episode is someone I would follow with pride–still vicious and ruthless, but not tethered to any cause outside saving the life of a child. 

It’s refreshing to see Octavia in a setting where the only person judging her for her past is herself.

She takes in all of the information they give away freely while giving up none of her own power. She also refuses to betray anyone she cares about. Lincoln would be proud. 

OVERCOME. 

Octavia has been fighting her own fears (aka her demons) since she was born into a world that told her she didn’t belong. She still doesn’t know where she belongs, having home after home ripped out from under her the moment she begins to feel safe, but she knows how to silence the demons: pure denial.

Octavia: Listen to me, I know you’re scared, but fear is a demon. Close your eyes and tell yourself you’re not afraid. 

Rose: I’m not afraid.

Octavia: Good! That’s how you slay the demon. So no matter what you hear, you keep your eyes closed and you keep saying it.

Octavia’s strategy to slay her demons by denying her fears may have just led to her running from everything that has ever haunted her. It works great in the moment–overcome the fear by denying its existence in the first place, push it away and do what it takes to survive. But what happens when the demons catch up?

This is just one moment in her journey, and she ultimately fails to bring Rose home safely (a loss that will join the others that weigh on her mind), but it’s beautiful to watch Octavia begin to discover the person she actually wants to be. 

Sworn enemies for the entirety of The 100 Season 5, Octavia and Diyoza now find themselves on the same side. Both are former powerful matriarchs with armies that would fight and die for them and both are now entirely on their own. 

Diyoza: The devils from Earth become the heroes of Sanctum. 

This is the buddy cop duo of our dreams, and their team-up is going to be beautiful to watch. 

REPENT.

Meanwhile, back inside the radiation dome, we get an inside look at the gritty horror at the heart of Sanctum, decorated with bright lights and couched inside performative religious practices. Naming Day is going ahead as scheduled, and the people of Sanctum are revealing the dark twisted roots of their society. 

Sanctum has four pillars: repent, renew, rejoice, and rebirth. This episode sees Clarke go through all four processes, while our other heroes get caught in up in the various stages as well. 

Repentance and making amends are the first step in most religions, and it appears Sanctum is no different. However, as is often a pitfall in those religions, the Primes’ attempts to fulfill these duties reads as highly performative. 

Russell begins the process of making amends by apologizing to Kaylee for leaving her and her family outside during the eclipse. While he may actually feel remorse for the loss of those lives, this apology feels far from genuine.

Nonetheless, the performance does the trick, inspiring Clarke to try and make amends for her sins, particularly with Raven and Bellamy. 

Raven is up first on Clarke’s “apology tour,” but she’s really not in the mood for it. I understand why Raven feels the way she feels, and why she reacts with a strong sense of anger. She feels that she has the moral high ground. While she does make some decent points with Clarke, I still think her ability to feel this way is in part due to the fact that she’s never been forced to make the kinds of decisions that require a sacrifice of her soul. 

Raven is right in the fact that an apology should not be the end of a conversation in making amends, but the beginning of the healing process that requires actions to back up new promises and commitments. Confession ends with a plan of action to be better. To earn trust and relationships back, you have to keep your word and be better. 

Apologies are important, but what are you going to do about it next? It’s that next part matters most to Raven. On “Sanctum,” all of Abby’s apologies and promises to be better did not matter to her until Abby proved that she’s putting those promises into action. It’s the same here with Clarke; Raven won’t be able to forgive her until she actually proves that she means what she says. 

Raven: She’s a threat to everyone and everything she comes in contact with. The only difference between you and her is that Octavia doesn’t pretend to feel bad about it. 

She’s is hurting, wondering why she keeps losing the people that she loves, and looking for someone to blame. Clarke is an easy target. She bears it so they don’t have to, and she’ll do the same here. 

However, Raven is wrong about both Octavia and Clarke. Their brains may not work the way hers does–keeping her from understanding who they have become–but it’s clear to the audience that both women are deeply affected by the choices they have had to make. 

Octavia and Clarke have buried their guilt at one point or another because if they didn’t it would have swallowed them whole. They’ve both been isolated by it; Octavia nearly let herself be destroyed by her own inner demons. Clarke is able to compartmentalize just enough to keep herself afloat, and Raven condemns her for that. 

Why should Clarke get to wash away her sins when everyone else is still hurting?

Next up on the apology tour is Bellamy, and while he also doesn’t appear to be in the mood, he’s a lot more understanding than Raven. While he doesn’t want to hear it at first, Bellamy’s brain does work a lot like Clarke’s, and he knows what it’s like to be in the position that she’s often put in–because he’s been there himself. 

Clarke: You’re my family too. I lost sight of that, but I promise I will never forget it again. You’re too important to me. 

I don’t think this is the end of their conversation about this, but it’s definitely a good start. Seeing Bellamy and Clarke get the chance to actually be friends/family feels like watching something click into place again. 

The relationships between each of these incredible characters have always been what makes The 100 such a compelling story. No matter the circumstances or situations they are put in, their connections with the people around them are what drives the story forward, and what keeps the audience coming back for more. 

Something tells me those relationships are going to be more important than ever on The 100 Season 6. 

RENEW. 

Much like Octavia, Raven has lost a lot of the people that she loves and most of the places that feel like home to her. On “The Face Behind the Glass” we see her take a step back towards her mechanic roots. Finding interest in a pair of Primes that came to the planet as mechanics: Priya and her son, Ryker. 

I really enjoy seeing Raven literally get her hands dirty working on a machine again. The fact that it’s a motorbike is a sweet connection to Shaw, and it’s niece that it’s also a brand new toy for her to play with. 

I’m less jazzed about the idea of Raven getting thrown right back into another romance plot. I want to see Raven Reyes happy as much as the next person, but I don’t want to see her sidelined again as a love interest.

As much as her relationship with Shaw was refreshing, it also seemed to take her out of commission from the main story. With the introduction of Ryker, a charming mechanic who matches Raven’s sense of humor and intellect, I don’t want to see the same thing happen all over again. 

Ryker: Omen of death, cool.

Raven: Actually, that’s a misconception. 

If this is an opportunity for Raven to find herself and find joy in getting to fix and build things with her hands, I am 110% here for it. And if she makes a new friend who could eventually become more, I’m here for that too. I just want to see Raven as the heroine of her own story, and not reduced to a plot point in someone else’s. 

While we’re here, let’s dive into the only other part of this episode that felt a little bit off to me. This fight between Bellamy and Echo, while understandable, feels a bit contrived for plot revelation reasons. 

Bellamy has always been a person who feels his emotions deeply, and sometimes that leads to him lashing out at the people close to him. Unloading on Echo here–in the midst of an emotional spiral that he sent himself into–is 75% him projecting his own guilt onto her and 25% a set up for the next revelation about Echo’s past. 

Bellamy: I lost my sister yesterday, it’s going to take me a while to feel nothing. 

This line threw me for a loop, because “yesterday” Bellamy told Octavia that his sister died a long time ago. So which is it? 

Echo isn’t wrong for pointing out that Bellamy is beating himself up over his choice to leave Octavia behind. It’s clear here where he is having flashbacks to one of the worst nights of he and Octavia’s lives, and that’s also noted to the audience when he talks about having too many sins to tie to a lantern, particularly in regards to his sister. 

Thankfully, this scene is followed up nicely (and realistically) with Bellamy seeking Echo out to apologize. I believe that more of this would have come out during their six years together on the ring. However, without flashbacks, seeing them work through this trauma now is more interesting than just being told that it happened. 

Bellamy: I hate that that happened to you, but everything we’ve been through has brought us here. From now on we look forward, not back.

I am excited to learn more about Echo’s backstory and how it plays a role in what’s going on on the new planet. She and Bellamy continue to understand each other in fascinating and complementary ways, each providing strength and support where the other is weak. They give each other a safe place to fall apart if they need to; allowing themselves to be that vulnerable with each other can only strengthen their relationship. 

REJOICE. 

I will stand by my opinion of Cillian being a whole idiot, I will thank him for making sure Clarke Griffin has fun for the first time in a long time. The 100 Season 6 is a gift for many reasons, one of them being Clarke getting to wear multiple fancy dresses. 

Clarke’s moments of pure happiness without anything weighing her down are few and far between. A whole montage of her dancing, having fun, and being appreciated (alas, by a crazy person) is long overdue.

Unfortunately, her fun is short-lived. While I’m very grateful for the continued textualization of Clarke’s bisexuality, she sure does have bad taste in men. 

Cillian may not have been a bad person–hell by the end of this season it’s likely to be revealed that he was on the right side of all of this–but his plans were half-baked at best and his motivations for sleeping with Clarke are now muddied by his ulterior motive as a sort of double agent for the Children of Gabriel. 

Thanks for showing her a good time and giving us some fun expository information about the divide between Russell/Sanctum and Gabriel/the CoGs, but Cillian, you’re a really unsympathetic spy.

Now both Clarke and all of the information he’s gathered on the people from Earth have fallen into the hands of the Primes, as well as the system he was so desperate to bring to an end. They know she’s a nightblood, and they have good reason to keep investigating as to whether Madi, Abby, and Echo are as well. 

This is why we can’t have nice things. 

REBIRTH. 

Jordan is experiencing everything for the first time, and that comes with a lot of complicated emotions. Having lived the first part of his life with only his parents and the stories of their sleeping friends, coming to Sanctum is essentially a rebirth for Jordan. His life here is different from the one on the ship in every conceivable way.  

He’s keeping the memory of his parents alive in everything he does–Jordan embodies all of the best things we remember about Monty and Harper–but he’s also carrying around a significant amount of guilt in having finally gotten what he wanted at the cost of leaving the two of them behind. 

He had a good childhood and he was obviously deeply loved by his parents, but he wanted more, and that’s completely understandable. Now he has that, and it comes with a sense of melancholy because of what he lost. 

Jordan’s experience is a good metaphor for what happens to Delilah. The primes of Sanctum are so desperate to keep the past alive that they are continually sacrificing the future to keep their ghosts with them.  

Delilah: Don’t let me be a face behind the glass. 

Delilah is a whole person, full of life and joy with a beautiful, kind personality and a passion for the world around her. But Sanctum doesn’t care about any of that, because her blood makes her a viable host for one of the primes. 

It’s a barbaric system that our group of Earthlings could (and will likely) bring crumbling down. Especially now that they’ve taken Clarke as one of them. 

Paralyzed but fully conscious thanks to Cillian’s absolutely terrible improvisation skills, Clarke is taken by the Lightbournes and used for their own selfish desires. Literally a prisoner in her own body, she watches Russell and Simone make the choice to use her as a host. These moments in Clarke’s perspective are an apt look at what is about to become of her mind. 

She has no power to stop any of it, but I definitely think that Russell and Simone are underestimating the host they just chose for their daughter. 

Their desperation as they make this choice is palpable, knowing that they are not only harming Clarke (who is, an innocent girl, in their own words) but also usurping the order of succession–something I sincerely doubt the other Primes–Miranda in particular–will be okay with.

We don’t know everything how this technology works yet, but I’m guessing neither do the Lightbournes. They believe that the host’s mind is erased when the Prime consciousness is inserted, but what if that’s only true for those who were raised to believe this is their destiny? Clarke Griffin is certainly no docile lamb, convinced she is nothing more than a vessel for someone else’s mind. 

Because Russell and Simone have chosen to take Clarke for Josephine, it’s likely Josie is going to have to pretend to still be Clarke: both with the people of Sanctum, to keep the other Primes from knowing they cheated the order, and with Clarke’s friends and family, to keep them from knowing what kind of horrific body snatching cult they’ve walked into. 

Russell: No more fighting Clarke, you’ll be at peace–a better place–just like you said you wanted.  

Abby, Madi, and Bellamy are likely to notice that Clarke isn’t herself pretty quickly, so Josie better be a damn good actress if she plans on fooling those three.

There are a lot of factors that could lead to this playing out differently than it has for the Primes in the past. Not only does Clarke have some of the strongest survival instincts around, but her nightblood is also synthetic. Just wait until Russell learns that Abby can actually turn them all into nightbloods.

The concept of the Griffin ladies bringing this whole society to its knees is a story I very much would like to see. 

It’s also possible that the concept of “hosts” could come into play in the plot to save Kane’s life. If Kane’s consciousness is put into someone else’s body, and Clarke’s body is being used for someone else’s mind, seeing Abby get caught in the middle of it all is guaranteed to tear my heart to shreds. But I wouldn’t have The 100 any other way. 

Clarke is unlikely to take this lying down, and her friends and family aren’t going to let her go quietly into the night. As terrifying as this new plot twist is, it could be a thrilling ride to watch those that love Clarke (and even those who are angry with her) fight to save her life while she fights to take back her body from within. 

Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go put together a conspiracy theory board of all of the things we just learned about the primes. 

THOUGHT DEBRIS: 

• Why do they keep the skeletons of the primes? How is this science different from what Becca created with the flame? Are people allowed to in this room full of skeletons? Is it a museum or is it an inner sanctum (wink wink) only viewed by the Primes who know the whole truth?
• The mirror shot of Clarke as she becomes Josephine is complete and total genius. Hats off to Tim Scanlan, everybody. 
• The shot of the lanterns going into the radiation shield is one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen. This whole planet is gorgeous and dangerous, I love it. 
• Do you think Xavier left Octavia the knife on purpose? Where was he when the others surrounded the two of them and killed Rose? What are his motivations? I’m not sold on the romance that The 100 is clearly setting up between these two, but I could be persuaded. Octavia’s girlfriend Niylah might need a little more convincing, though. 
• Gabriel is “the old man,” and no one knows whether he’s dead or alive. My money is on alive. But why has he isolated himself from both the other Primes inside Sanctum, as well as his own “children?”
• I really appreciate that DeGraté took the time to textualize where our missing heroes were during this episode. 
  • Murphy, Emori, Miller, Jackson, Gaia and eventually Madi spend the day hanging out at the transport ship.
  • Abby spends this episode in the Sanctum medical library, presumably pouring herself into finding a solution for saving Kane. Excuse me while I draw hearts around all of these details.
• It looks like there are only five active Primes at the start of this episode: Russell, Simone, Kaylee, Miranda, and Ryker. Now Josephine and Priya have taken over Clarke and Delilah. Where are the minds of the other Primes stored? I don’t think Abby, Bellamy, Madi and the others in Earthkru are going to be the only ones upset when they find out what happened to Clarke. 
  • Why does Ryker skip most of the Naming Day festivities for his own mother? Is he against this nonsense? Or was he really just working on the bike?
• That hug between Russell and Kaylee had me raising my eyebrows. I don’t doubt his love for Simone at all, but these people have been alive, mentally, for over 200 years. I have a lot of questions about what’s gone down between the original group of primes over all of that time. 
• Congrats to Abby, Harper, Emori, and Echo for being able to get laid without putting a death sentence on their lovers. Can Clarke, Raven, and Octavia catch a break, please?
• The Griffin-Kane-Blake family is the only royal family I’ll serve, thank you very much. 
• I appreciate that Monty and Harper’s memories are being kept alive both through Jordan and the other members of their Spacekru family. 
• WAS THE AZGEDA CAPITOL DETROIT?!
• Jordan covering Madi’s ears when Raven joked about him getting laid has huge big brother energy and I’m here for it. 
• Why does it take 21 years for your brain to be able to take on the consciousness of a prime? How have these people been okay with erasing the minds of 21-year-olds for 200 years? 
• Even though I think what they’re doing is horribly, horribly wrong, I can’t help but feel for the Lightbournes and the other Primes as they fight to keep the people they love alive. 
• I’m also very here for fancy women in fancy gowns. The aesthetic of this planet is stunning. 
• Eliza Taylor is going to blow our minds this year, I have no doubt. 

 

What did you think of this episode of The 100? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

Critic Rating:

User Rating:

 

The 100 airs Tuesdays at 9/8c on The CW.

 Follow us on Twitter! 

Want more from Tell-Tale TV? Subscribe to our newsletter here!

The 100: 22 Times Clarke Griffin Gave Us All the Feelings