A Sequence Analysis of the 6x13 Bellarke Reunion
[a.k.a. the final scene of The 100 because Jroth can Jrot in hell]
After a grim conversation between Bellamy and Jordan, the sequence transitions to a warmly lit, wide angle perspective of the reunion at Sanctum. Friends and lovers āmeet again,ā hugging, kissing, reconciling in a series of action shots: Miller & Jackson, Murphy/Emori & Raven, Jackson & Echo. The sound of their laughter cuts through the uplifting strains of the melody playing [GAITS āOther Sideā]. Against the showās constant onslaught of death and destruction, the beauty in these brief flashes of joy isnāt lost on us; itās fleeting, but itās potent. Weāre back at the gates of Arkadia in 2x16, only this time around, prospects for the future arenāt quite so bleak, nor is it āgetting dark, too dark to seeā beneath āthat cold black cloud [coming] aroundā [RAIGN āKnocking on Heavenās Doorā].
Instead, the refrain āI know Iāll see you on the other sideā embodies a sense of hope and certainty while also referencing Jasperās parting words in S4. Unlike his nihilistic outlook, however, the soft, inviting quality of these opening shots seems to suggest that thereās light at the end of the tunnelāa glimpse at the other side of heavenās door, where peace prevails and war is a distant memory.
As this undertone of cautious optimism resonates, the frame is swallowed up by a dark mass of faceless bodies. The music slows, the crowd parts, and exposed in the center of the frame is Clarke Griffināa solitary, motionless figure within a stream of movement. Her silent presence isolates her from the liveliness of her surroundings. From the side angle of the camera in the shadowy foreground only her profile is visible, yet the expression on her face is noticeably stunned. Weāre left with a sense of anticipation. Where is her gaze focused? What commands her attention so fiercely, stopping her in her tracks and arresting her movements? The anticipation builds, and, with it, the percussive intensity of the music. Soft vocalizations trail after āthe other side,ā echoing in our ears as we --
Cut to a reverse shot of Bellamy. He makes his way to his people, but itās clear that the words exchanged with a disillusioned Jordan weigh on him. His eyes are fixed on the ground, brows furrowed, a pensive expression reflecting his weary frame of mind. Itās the aftermath of yet another battle, another spoke on a wheel that spins and spins, unleashing more devastation with each turn. We, as the audience, can only hope that this is the end of its vicious cycle. Heās lost in thought, but a glance ahead has his eyes snagging on something out of shot. No,Ā someone. Bellamyās steps falter for a beat, then his eyes widen a fraction. Heās mesmerized.
On the receiving end of his gaze, Clarke sharply exhales. The steady pulsing of the music stutters before the rhythm picks up in rapid sixteenth notes, akin to a heartbeat that skips, flutters, then pounds. Energy thrums in the single look that they share; everything else seems to melt away as they fixate on each other, as the tether that binds them together tugs, as the distance between twin souls is bridged.
Weāre hit with the crescendo of the music, punctuated by the sustained beat of the drums. Itās booming. A fluid tracking shot follows Clarke as she launches herself away from the crowd into Bellamyās open arms, and the force of their collision is shown through their synchronized exhalations of breath, through the swaying movement of their bodies pressed tightly together. Like cymbals crashing, they meet in the middle of the frame. The blocking instantly establishes a bubble of intimacy around them that blocks out the rest of the world as they completely obscure the figures (āgirlfriendā) in the background. Refracted light slices across the screen at an angle, tracing the points of contact between these two people who radiate warmth and ignite under a single touch.
The music swells. Their embrace is set to the bridge āoh wait for me in fields of gold,ā and as they hold each other, lost to a symphony of grief and elation, we get the sense that in each otherās arms these two broken beings are very muchĀ found. Itās a homecoming.
Clarke burrows her face into Bellamyās neck. The sun beaming in the background sends scattered light over his shoulder, captured as flare in the camera lens. Not only does this element add a layer of visual impact and aesthetic beauty to the shot, but it also intensifies the climactic moment when their bodies collide.Ā Tension is built and built until it finallyĀ snaps; in doing so, emotional catharsis (for both the characters and for the audience) is maximized. The combination of the lens flare and camera movements makes for a striking, visually dynamic shot with epic romantic overtones. In their reunion a sense of rightness is restored, which has remained a consistent theme of the show for six seasons. When the camera finally settles, whatās captured is the sheer magnetism of the moment. Nearby murmured conversations are unable to overtake the melody, and the bustling movements of the crowd are unable to break that hypnotic hold they have on each other.
Clarke clings to Bellamy; now, more than ever, itās evident that her love for him is a refuge, her strength in times of weakness. Even so, sorrow threatens to overtake the solace found in his embrace; Bellamy immediately senses this, rubs a soothing pattern across her back. With brows drawn, he nestles his face against her shoulder as if to will her pain away.
We cut to a dynamic two shot, with Bellamy occupying the left side of the frame and Clarke the right. Both seem reluctant to part, and as they do, harsh realities set in. Bellamy delivers the sobering line, āI heard about Abby.ā Like a death knell, its implications land on Clarke and reverberate through this gentle, short-lived moment of peace. Her face crumples. With a despondent shake of her head, she manages, āI tried to do better. I did.ā Bellamy can only nod. His strained expression conveys how the mere sight of Clarkeās pain is excruciating to him. A sharp intake of breath from herāāAnd then I lost my mom.ā The tremor in her voice betrays her composure; the words catch in her throat, imparting a strangled quality to the line.
Her motherās death clings to her. Itās reflected in her head-to-toe black attire, in the misery painted on her face. The weight of impossible decisions looms (how tragic that her motherās endangerment was what drove her to pull the lever back in Mount Weather), and it seems that, this time around, the burden is too heavy to carry alone. āTell me it was worth it,ā she pleads to Bellamy, barely choking the words out as she battles tears. āTellātell me it was worth it.ā In deep anguish Bellamy watches Clarke unravel before his eyes. With gentle words he tries to piece her back together. āHeyāHey, we did. We did do better.ā
This entire verbal exchange is filmed as a continuous arc shot that swings back and forth on an axis (Bellamy -> Clarke / Clarke -> Bellamy) with the sun acting as the focal point between them. The shotāmuch like their soul-deep connectionāremains unbroken and uninterrupted. Rather than keeping a fixed, static position, the cameraās movements allow us to feel the push-pull emotional tension of the scene. It orbits Bellamy and Clarke in a way that cinematically mirrors the gravitational pull they feel towards each other. For years and years, the two have danced around each other. Though distance and time separated them, theyāve always been inextricably tied together in common orbit. Like binary stars, Bellamy and Clarke orient themselves around a shared barycenter. Their center of gravityāthe sun flaring at the center of the frameācoincides with the showās key thematic elements: forgiveness, rebirth, redemption. The rising of the sun marks the start of a new day and, with it, another chance toĀ do better.
With each dizzying motion of the camera, flashes of light shine between their silhouettes, obscured only to re-emerge seconds later as lens flare; The sequence, as a whole, is a study in subtle contrasts: the contrast between the white sun in the background, the light glinting off the water, the pale gold of the sky + of Clarkeās hair vs Bellamy and Clarkeās shadowy figures captured in low-exposure, the darkness of their clothing, Bellamyās black hair. This balance of light and shadows/brightness and darkness mirrors the tenuous balance between hope and despair driving the scene. In parallel, the despair that consumes Clarke is a darkness balanced out by Bellamy, who maintains a more optimistic outlook for the future and serves as her guiding light.
[Additional Note: These cinematic contrasts are also a perfect illustration of the concept of yin and yangāthe cosmic duality that reflects Bellamy and Clarkeās āhead and heartā relationship. The two are equal, seemingly opposing forces but, in actuality, function in such a way that enforces their complementary and interdependent nature: One cannot exist without the other, and both are connected as two halves of a whole in perfect equilibrium. Yin and yangāthe head and the heartādo not act as isolated parts, but rather continuously influence and interact with each other to bring forth balance and harmony.]
Hope.
In spite of everything, it shows its presence in the vibrant yellow tones of a scene filmed at golden hour; the honeyed glow creates a dreamy, inviting atmosphere, giving off a quality of softness and romanticism that balances out the heaviness of their conversation. Hope echoes in the melody as it conveys the inevitability of reuniting with a loved one in this life or the next: āItās not the end. Itās all I knowā¦I know Iāll see you,Ā I know Iāll see you on the other side.ā (In other words,Ā we will meet again). Hope is felt through the warmth of two lovers embracing, the warmth of the rising sun on their faces.
As we cut to a final close-up shot of Bellamy, he delivers the last line of the scene with resolve: āI have to believe that that matters,ā he murmurs softly, brows knit in concern. His eyes search Clarkeās, but her teary gaze is cast low as she chokes down a sob. Her close-up shot captures the internal conflict taking place:
Ā Itās a mental battleāgrappling with the urge to fall apart or to suppress the vortex of raw emotion churning inside her. Bleary-eyed, she turns away from Bellamy as if every instinct screams at her to flee, to bear the burden alone. Still, an unspoken conversation anchors her to the spot:Ā āTogether.ā āI got you for that.ā āI need you.ā āIf Iām on that list, youāre on that list.ā āThe heart and the head.ā āYou donāt have to do this alone.āĀ Though devastation lines her face, the morning sunrise bathes her skin in light. Clarke draws a shaky breath. She turns back to Bellamy, then nods: a decision has been made. The camera switches from this close-up of Clarke to a hazy, low exposure medium shot as she leans into Bellamy, drawing strength from him (notice its resemblance to Miller and Jacksonās reunion). They wrap their arms around each other, and their bodies meld together. Clarke tucks her chin onto Bellamyās shoulder. The immediate relief that sheās flooded with is palpable. She closes her eyes and sighs, and Bellamy rubs her back consolingly. The visual of their merging silhouettesāreminiscent of two suns eclipsing just above the horizon lineācomposes the final frame of the scene before the shot dissolves with a last āI know Iāll see you onĀ the other side.ā
Thereās a true sense of finality to this closing shot which sets it apart from others before itāor, rather, establishes it as a culmination of every moment in Bellamy and Clarkeās āexhaustingā history to get to this state of perfect alignment. The hug, in particular, serves as a departure from previous seasonsā hug scenes in which an interruption was often required to progress the conflict and reestablish some semblance of distance between the two of them.
In this season, however, though death and distance and other outside forces conspired to separate Bellamy and Clarke...they, against all odds, end it with bodies intertwined, defenses stripped away, never more unified both physically and emotionally: the heart and the head joined together in perfect equilibrium. Two bodies, two souls breathing, moving, thinking, and working as one.
