The 100 Review: Anaconda (Season 7 Episode 8)

We finally get a few answers to our questions on The 100 Season 7 Episode 8, “Anaconda.” 

“Anaconda,” is intended to serve as a backdoor pilot for a new series under development, and as such should be judged as its own entity and how it weaves into the plot.

Since it provides answers and leans heavily on the mythology long-time fans know and love, this is one of the most effective episodes of the season so far. It’s so effective that it’s disappointing when the viewer is pulled back to Bardo at the end to bring us back to current events. 

The episode picks up exactly where we left off on The 100 Season 7 Episode 8, “The Queen’s Gambit,” and reveals surprising revelations about what “the key” is. 

These tidbits are a nice tie-in to the series at large, and the interaction between Clarke and Bill, aka The Shepherd, functions to set up a way into a long flashback. Through this flashback, we learn about Bill’s daughter Callie and the first cataclysm that wiped out Earth. 

“Anaconda” wastes no time giving the viewer high stakes. Within moments of the flashback’s commencement, there’s tension between Callie and her father, and the news that missiles are in the air. 

In so many ways, this episode satisfies a need for a new kind of story in post-apocalyptic shows for ages. So many shows jump ahead to a generation or two after the cataclysm to show a new generation solving a problem, and while that’s compelling, it can also be problematic to keep presenting viewers with an idea that there is a “door number two.” 

“Anaconda” brings to the table a new narrative about people trying to survive immediately after a devastating attack. While it’s necessary to jump forward to cover everything this episode needs in order to be effective, we get bits of the emotional toll the bunker has taken on The Second Dawn disciples. 

It’s bleak and terrifying to imagine that these people have been lied to and that once they’re in this bunker they’re essentially prisoners for the rest of their lives. The brief mentions of suicides and the toll that this is taking on their mental health are hinted at just enough to register, but it’s clear the focus is on Bill and his family. 

Callie is the perfect heroine for this. She sees and cares about the planet she’s on. Her involvement with Tree Crew is only hinted at but the ways in which she attempts to fight for what’s right are impressive. They are almost a mirror of Clarke early in the series run down to watching her run to the hatch door to let in those trapped outside. 

Many of Callie’s scenes are with Becca (Erica Cerra) who she’s long admired. While we don’t get to see them form a partnership, understanding how The Flame got from Becca to the Commanders as we know them enriches the storytelling in new ways. 

There have been hints about Becca’s regret in developing the A.I. that wiped out humanity, but this is the first we see of her spending time in that regret. Even though we don’t see her for long, she has a lasting impact and her guilt and conscience seem to leave an indelible mark on Callie. 

While the plot is generally unsurprising it does add context to some of the things viewers have seen in previous seasons like the dead bodies on the way to The Second Dawn Bunker, the flashes of Becca Franko being burned at the stake. 

However, since “Anaconda” covers a long expanse of time that gives the characters little time to connect to anyone other than Callie and her family. While there are palpable grief and loss in the air, this episode it’s hard to imagine the dynamics between the characters. 

Granted there is hope for a series to spiral out of this, so if The CW has its way, we’ll likely know more about each of these characters soon. 

On its own, “Anaconda” isn’t an effective pilot, because it requires us to have some knowledge of Bardo. Bill himself, isn’t an effective character yet because we haven’t really seen the hold he has on his flock. 

Yes, clearly the humans on Bardo are devoted followers, but without a visual representation, or something that provokes an emotional response from the audience, we have no reason to believe this guy is really as enigmatic as he appears. 

What the episode does do well is define Bill’s relationship with his daughter at the time she and the Nightblood’s staged their exodus. If the flashback is all context for that, there’s really only a few moments to place in the context of this season, and right now, this story doesn’t feel compelling enough. 

That bond between a parent and child can be strong, but this one, in particular, also feels cut from the same cloth as Josephine and her parents from last season. While I have no doubt that his desire, and maybe regret, over the things that happened in the bunker it pulls a little too strongly in the same direction. 

Overall, “Anaconda” presents an interesting concept and brings questions with it that will only be aided by the show being picked up for a full season. There’s a compelling character in Callie, and her story needs to be told. 

Stray Thoughts:

• I feel like it needs saying, that bunker had bad juju the moment Wonkru stepped into it. 
• I know this is a back door pilot episode, but I’m still wondering why no one is remotely concerned about Gaia. 
• Lucy deserved better. That is all. 
• Leaving “Anaconda” with one question: what the heck happened to 2,000 doses of the Nightblood Serum? Nightblood is rare by the time we meet the Grounders so it’s possible it doesn’t get passed on genetically, which also begs the question who started the conclave?

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The 100 airs Wednesdays at 8/7c on The CW.

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