#s7x12

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I have to believe it was worth it

Interesting how the parallel is extending in opposite directions here. On the left, Clarke backs down because neither she nor Bellamy is willing to sacrifice one for the many. On the right, Bellamy stands resolute because now he is.

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Elementary season 7, episode 12 Reichenbach falls

On my first viewing I didn’t even notice the actual fall; it happened so fast, in the dark, among the surrounding chaos.

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Symbolism: Welcome, Brother

I love Gabriel’s sarcastic ambiguity. I think both of Gabriel’s comments go together here, as we can see in the way the camera pans around both Gabriel and Bellamy when they contemplate their new clothing - adopting new clothing is itself a symbolic act.

Even though he was coerced into joining the Cipher Team, Gabriel is a scientist at heart. He thinks Bardoan theology is a load of folderal, but he puts on those white pjs and joins the team to get to the bottom of what he’s spent the last 150 years searching for - the secrets of the Anomaly. When he sees Bellamy newly dressed in the disciple robes of a true believer, he understands that Bellamy will be working towards the same goal he is, only through the lens of religion. 

This hearkens back to the theme described in my Cat’s Cradle/Gem9 post: Science and religion are opposing but concurrent ways to find the truth. When Gabriel tells Bellamy that he looks good in white, he is subtley telling him that they are on the path together. 

Of course, Clarke isn’t having any of their nonsense:

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Symbolism/Allusion Spec: The Cloak of Protection

Covering a newcomer with a blanket or throwing one’s mantle over them is an age-old symbolic act. It evokes comfort, warmth, and protection; a minister bringing a new believer into the faith - a father welcoming his son home from the wars.

Here, Bill drapes Bellamy with a blanket to warm him after he succeeds in his pilgrimage on Etherea. Bellamy calls him “My Shepherd,” which might as well be synonymous with “My Father” going forward. In fact, the next time we see Bill and Bellamy in conversation, Bellamy is dressed in high-ranking disciple robes and Bill tells him that he reminds him of his son, Reece. 

Looking ahead, Episode 15 is titled “The Dying of the Light.” I suspect this is an allusion to Dylan Thomas’ “Do not go gentle into that good night.” Written for his father on his deathbed, the poem is a celebration of human strength of will and exhorts the old and the dying to fight against death, to “rage against the dying of the light.”

We’ll have to wait and see, but I have a hunch that Bill Cadogan will suffer a mortal injury at some point, and the allusion to this poem will contextualize Bellamy’s anguish while losing his father figure. 

And as the son succeeds the father - Bellamy will take over as head of Bill’s ministry to lead the good disciples in the Final War.

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Symbolic imagery: The Crowning of Thorns

This is a companion post to the one I made about the Crucifixion between Two Thieves.

Nikki, a convict, is bound by her wrists to beams in the form of a cross. Her eyes focus on one of her hands, revealing a bolt that suggests a nail driven through her wrists. The scene then transitions to Clarke struggling in the M-Cap chair.

Unlike Octavia, who was shown from the side or from above during M-Cap, Clarke’s head is shown from underneath - and the similarity to a minimalist crown of thorns is unmistakeable. The head restraint rings her head like a halo. The bolts extend outwards like rays, but also inwards, piercing her skin. Even Bellamy is cast in Pontius Pilate’s role in his final exchange with Clarke (“It didn’t have to be this way/Yes it did”). The blood and tears running down her face complete this symbolic allusion to Christ’s Crowning of Thorns during the torture leading up to his crucifixion.

Here are a few examples for comparison (Giovanni Anontio Bazzi, Ecce Homo; Carlo Dolci, Christ as the Man of Sorrows;  Perugino, Christ Crowned with Thorns):

Seeing this imagery brought this phrase of Clarke’s from the end of Season 2 to mind:

This remark has always bothered me, but I’m realizing now that it’s because it maps all too closely to 1 Peter 2:24: “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness.”

Furthermore, going all the way back to S1x01, Abby even introduced Clarke’s nature to us by saying, “Now Clarke, I know your instinct will be to save everyone before yourself, just like your father.”

I’ve seen many posts praising Clarke for her selflessness and self-sacrificial nature, and other posts decrying her for having a savior complex or even suicidal tendencies. I think we’ve all caught on to the same basic premise: that some part of Clarke - like JC himself - instinctively believes that she was born to die to save her people.

And the crown of thorns imagery confirms it at last.

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“There is so much more at stake here than you know.” – Bellamy Blake

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Nice Duds, Murphy

I was actually working on something else when I noticed this. It appears Murphy favors the “Sherwood Pant” by Native Youth. They actually look kinda comfy - I’m gonna run off and get myself a pair since they must be totes durable.