Hi everyone, I'm back because 7x04 made me irritated beyond relief. This rant includes spoilers for that episode, so if you haven't seen it and don't want to be spoiled, I suggest you avoid this. 

Happy 50th chapter! What better way to celebrate than a huge, extremely detailed rant? 

I have a lot of things I want to say but no clue how to organize them, so I'm sorry if this ends up being a mess. (Update: Wow, this is really long. I would say I'm sorry, but I'm not. Consider this an analysis of Echo's character as well as the writing, camera angles, and acting involved. I also touch on Becho.)

After the episode, I am genuinely confused about how we are supposed to be viewing Echo this season (and in general). As we know, all of Echo's supposed character development happened off-screen during the six-year time jump. She apparently redeemed herself on the Ring, but we have never been given an example of anything she did. Not even Raven saying, "Hey, remember when you saved my life because I almost started a fire when I didn't realize a spark had lit?" or something. We have gotten. Nothing. 

This is what I don't understand. It's like the writers genuinely do not care enough about Echo. In the past few seasons, she has just existed. She has stayed the same (for the most part, which I will discuss later) as she did before, but with different loyalties. The writers have yet to give her a personality that isn't "Azgeda spy" because it's literally her identity. She is still playing the part of Echo, the Azgeda spy, instead of Ash. She isn't being herself. And for what reason? She had every opportunity to reveal to the others that she's really a girl named Ash who was forced into being a spy. Why didn't she tell them? Does Bellamy know he's dating a character?

The amount of lazy writing when it comes to Echo physically pains me. As a writer myself and a person who has studied film, I have picked up on several apparent leads of foreshadowing that have merely been a) forgotten, b) never mentioned again, or c) glossed over:

1. Echo strangling Clarke in front of Madi in season 5. I thought for sure that Bellamy would find out about this and break up with her. Regardless or not if Clarke had left Bellamy to die, we know that, despite their disagreements, they still deeply care for one another. Echo had watched Bellamy mourn Clarke for six years. She had seen what it had done to him and how he'd become "the head" because Clarke hadn't been there to balance him out. Not to mention that Clarke has just said she'd kept Echo alive because of what she means to Bellamy. Echo, in return, tries to kill her with her bare hands in front of her child. 

To me, this seemed like a clear moment of "Ooh, this is a dealbreaker for her and Bellamy" but Bellamy still doesn't know about this. Nobody ever told him that his girlfriend tried to murder Clarke right in front of a kid. Not to mention that this further got swept under the rug when Echo and Clarke hugged in season 6. I'm sorry, but what? They never talked about it. There was never a moment of understanding or an apology. It was strange because we have never seen them get along before then. The fact that Echo is the first person to hug her was even stranger. To me, the whole "I knew it" line should have come from Miller, who is actually her friend and has known her since the beginning. 

(Side note: can you imagine her explaining that to Bellamy if she had succeeded in killing Clarke? Like "Oh, yeah, I killed Clarke." How did she think that would go down??? Especially since it was in front of Madi – and I think Raven was there, too – so she couldn't have lied and said that Clarke got lost or something.)

2. Echo killing Ryker in season 6. This comes right after the flashback of her backstory where she had to kill the real Echo. That was an instance when she had no choice except kill or be killed. We see genuine remorse on her side when she says "I'm sorry, too" and how she cries for the loss of her friend. However, that situation is not, in any way at all, similar to the one with her and Ryker. 

She has the upper hand. It is 3-1. Miller is standing right there with a gun in his hands and Gaia is present as well. She does not hesitate. The moment Gaia releases her, her instantaneous reaction is KILL. Not to think of another solution or blackmail Ryker for later use. Heck, Miller could have shot a bullet in his leg in a way that wasn't fatal but proved they meant business, which would force him to help them. 

I thought this was going to show Echo going down a dark path again or reverting back to her season 3-4 self. It seemed very plausible given this was the same episode where Bellamy and Clarke agree to go less violent with Sanctum. To me, it seemed like a crystal clear parallel that had contrasted Echo's morals with Bellamy and Clarke's (which would, again, drive her apart from Bellamy by consequence, because he's trying to do better). I may be wrong, but I don't know if Bellamy knows about this, either, which is very ... interesting. 

3. Echo killing the unconscious guards and betraying Orlando in season 7. I've gotten tired at this point, because this seems like another great instance of showing Echo going down a dark path again, but I also think this will be glossed over/excused/never revealed to Bellamy just like those other things I've mentioned. This is nearly the exact same thing as what Octavia did in 6x02 and is what was the last straw for Bellamy, causing him to banish her. Both of them had killed all of the people in their way instead of coming up with another solution and had justified it by saying/implying "It's fine if none of us got hurt." 

This is another example of Echo having the upper hand and still choosing to solve her problems with murder. The guards would have had to wait for the bridge again and Orlando would have been very useful to have on Bardo, which is the whole reason why they wanted to be friends with him. Leaving him behind without consulting Hope or Gabriel first basically means all of their work for the past five years was for nothing. They all worked tirelessly to have Orlando trust them so they could use him on Bardo. If they'd wanted to ambush the guards on his Atonement day, they wouldn't have needed to gain his trust. 

There is a consequence for this – Orlando commits suicide. But will it ever be mentioned again? Will Echo have to deal with the consequences of her own actions and realize that she can't always murder everyone who she deems as a threat? Since time is running out before this series ends, I honestly don't think so, and that pisses me off. 

All of these seemingly obvious leads being dropped like they're nothing is extremely lazy writing. It's not even the same as a misdirect. It's straight-up the writers being too bothered to have someone try to be like "Hey Echo! Maybe don't murder everyone you don't deem 'your people'!" and have her listen. This is especially after season 4, when all Echo did was try to kill everyone and got banished by Roan because of it. That was the only time she had to deal with the consequences of that. Since it almost led to her suicide, you would think that she would ... idk ... learn ... not to do that?

Echo is one of the only characters who hasn't faced the consequences of what she's done in the past few seasons. Octavia is having a whole redemption arc and lost everything, Miller has gone off on Octavia and cried over his actions from when he'd blindly followed Blodreina, Gaia has monologued about her blind loyalty to the Flame, Bellamy has been literally beaten, Murphy has cried and gone to hell, Russell had wanted to die, Josie had wanted to live out her life with Gabriel, Diyoza had given a life of peace to her daughter, and Gabriel had to deal with his followers being angry at him for lying about body snatching and identity theft. Raven has recently had to deal with making the wrong choice for the right reasons. Hell, there's an entire scene at the beginning of season 6 where everyone takes turns berating Clarke for her past decisions. 

If all of these minor characters (Gabriel & Russell used to be minor, Miller, Gaia, Josie, Diyoza, etc) have gotten their remorse shown on-screen, why hasn't Echo? There is no excuse. They've had the time. It's been 2 full seasons since her "revamped characterization" and she has been on the show since the second half of season 2.

Another thing: Becho is the laziest-written ship I have ever seen on-screen and I am not joking. Not only did all of their development happen off-screen, but they hardly act like a couple when they are together in a scene. (I'm not saying this because I'm a Bellarke fan. I also ship Bellamy and Clarke with other people. I'm saying this as a person who is analyzing the camera angles, acting styles, and script and who has spent almost 20 years consuming media. Again, I have studied film.)

1. There is no communication. We were told that it took Bellamy 3 years to forgive Echo, then it must have taken a few more for him to consider her a friend, then for those feelings to turn romantic, then for them to finally get together. They had seen each other every day for six years and seven days. There wasn't a lot to do. Why couldn't Echo have bothered to tell him that she's not even Echo? Why didn't she tell him the reason why she doesn't like to cry in public and how her father was executed by Nia's army? Why did she wait until he got mad at her to tell him this? 

Not only that, but she lied to him about it. In 6x04, after she tells Bellamy about her father's execution, he says, "You told me you didn't remember your parents." And then she just? Keeps telling the story without acknowledging the fact that she lied? I'm watching the scene right now and I'm just so baffled. 

After that, she says, "When Nia heard what happened, she executed the men who did it, had me brought to Troy, and started my training," conveniently skipping over the part where she is still not Echo. This is a supposed heart-to-heart and she still chooses to lie to Bellamy. 

Even though I have never been in a romantic relationship myself, I understand that proper communication is the foundation for basically any dynamic. A lack of it creates an unstable environment and a lack of trust. Keep in mind that Bellamy doesn't know that his girlfriend is not even Echo. I think he, of all people, deserves to learn that. 

A really good idea would be for the helmets on Bardo to have her real name and label her as "Ash" instead of "Echo." Bonus if they call her Ash right in front of everyone and Bellamy's like ???? Why did they call you Ash ??? but since the writers are lazy, this probably won't happen and Echo's past will never get brought up again :)

(P.S. I am still calling her Echo because that's what she goes by, just as Miller's name is Nathan but mostly everyone calls him Miller.)

2. The camera shows everything. In 5x05 when Becho reunites in the desert, the focus isn't on their kiss– it's on Clarke's reaction to the kiss. Bellamy and Echo are not only blurred, but they're hardly in the frame and Clarke is in focus, so it's made explicitly clear that she's looking at them. This happens the moment they start kissing. A technique like this shows us that it's not the kiss that's important, it's Clarke's reaction to it that they want us to pay attention to. 

I'm honestly shocked that Netflix lets you screenshot on the desktop version like wow cool that comes in handy. More screenshots to come.

Again, in 6x12, Becho reunites but Bellamy closes his eyes for .2 seconds before looking at Clarke. The camera also doesn't linger on them together or Echo's reaction to the hug (the camera never shows her face until they pull away). If they'd wanted the focus to be on the reunion hug, it would have lingered on them and shown Echo smiling into his shoulder or something. Or having her close her eyes in relief and then show it. Instead, the camera keeps jumping specifically to Bellamy and then back to Clarke. 

3. Now, the writing and acting. 

Bellamy spends 2 whole episodes fighting for Clarke's life and risking everything to get her back. He doesn't care about his own safety; he's willing to do whatever it takes to get to Gabriel and get Clarke back once he finds out she's alive. Josephine repeatedly tells him it's a lost cause, but he ignores her and forges on. When Clarke flatlines and Octavia says she's gone, Bellamy absolutely refuses to give up on her and brings her back to life. 

Bellamy has proven himself to go on similar suicide missions when it comes to other people he cares about, I just mentioned that one specifically because it occurs right before my next point. Bellamy has done it for Octavia, Mel, the 48 in MW, Clarke in s3, etc.

Contrast this to when Murphy tells him Echo is in trouble and Bellamy's literal reaction is "I'm tied up idk what u expect me to do lol" and he just looks down. 

This is the same Bellamy who, in the last episode, got out of a cave, tracked Josie/Clarke, Octavia, and Gabriel down, disguised himself as a Sanctum guard, and killed the other guards before revealing himself in a matter of like, an hour. It's really hard for me to believe that, given Bellamy's history of doing stupid things to protect the people he loves, he wouldn't try to go after her in some way, either by acting as a double agent yet again by dressing as a guard or by being taken into Sanctum as a prisoner by "Josie". Or even... looking extremely worried/trying to ask Murphy what was wrong by making a noise around the gag. Or making a head motion backward like "Oh jeez what else can go wrong today?"

Bob is an extraordinary actor. We know this. But Bellamy's expression before and after Murphy tells him about Echo is the SAME. His eyebrows don't even pinch any more than they already are. I don't think I need to provide a screenshot of the fact that Bob is usually very expressive with his eyes & eyebrows (plus the wrinkles on his forehead) but if you want to, you can check out the episode because Bellamy spends it in constant worry.

Here's right when Murphy starts talking and before he completes his sentence of "Echo's in trouble, too":

Here's after he completes his sentence and right before the camera angle switches to him and he says another line:

No widened eyes, no tense muscles, no blink in surprise, no clenching his hands into fists.

I really don't mean to keep bringing this back to Clarke because I honestly don't mean to make it seem like I'm just hyping up Bellarke, but I'm trying to give clear examples of instances where Bellamy could have reacted differently and didn't. Plus these are in the same scene. 

Bellamy shows more emotion when Clarke pretends to be Josie than when he finds out his girlfriend is in trouble (and he doesn't know what kind of trouble).

Before Clarke claims to be Josie, when he's waiting to see if she'll pretend to be her:

After Clarke says she's Josie (the camera cuts right back to his reaction before Jade even moves to cut her out).

And this is in the same scene, seconds apart from the Echo bit (the Clarke as Josie thing happened before Murphy's line about Echo).

When Clarke takes the gag out of his mouth, Bellamy doesn't even say something like "Hey can you make sure Echo's okay while you're at it?" or something. It's almost like he? Forgot? Which is really weird for a romantic relationship. You can claim that Bellamy thinks Echo can handle herself, but remember that Murphy only said "trouble." He didn't say what kind of trouble. And the harm she was in was pretty extreme. We all know that Clarke could have gone to Sanctum, asked for an update on the rest of the invaders, discreetly asked about Echo, and learned information about her that way if Bellamy had asked her to.

4. The imbalance in the relationship is abysmal. In 7x04, when Echo said, "I don't know who I'd be without Bellamy," my immediate thought was, "Your own person??"

Prior to season 5, Echo was a spy serving Ice Nation. Now, ever since Becho has happened, the dynamic has switched so Echo is still "serving" Bellamy. Don't believe me? Emori says it in 6x02:

In this case, Bellamy is pounding on the door and telling Echo to let him in. The "master" Emori is referring to is Bellamy. This is not something we can infer; it is stated in canon.

This was also stated in 7x01 when Echo saw Roan and the real Echo in the forest (screenshots are from the episode on the CW site so that's why they're different):

The fact that this is stated here is significant because Roan and real!Echo are Echo's own fears being reflected back at her. Deep down inside, either Echo is still thinking about what Emori said or she realizes the power imbalance herself.

In this same scene, Roan calls Bellamy "the man she claims to love." CLAIMS. Not "the man she loves." This is Echo talking to herself. It's a manifestation of her own doubts. 

This almost makes me feel sorry for Echo because the obvious imbalance in power is not anything anyone should want in a romantic relationship (or any relationship, really). Echo doesn't see herself as an equal to Bellamy. Their dynamic feels like an embarrassment to both of their characters.

I honestly think that they should have split long ago so Echo could become her own person and learn to live without having to "serve" someone. I honestly think that would have given the writers more time to properly develop her character (though it's still long overdue in my opinion) before the series ends. Now, it will just seem rushed. 

I also do not think that Echo should be focused on as heavily as she has been so far in season 7. I personally feel like she lacks the complexity to carry a storyline because of the wishy-washy way she's been written so far and because most things she's done have just been forgotten about. It's the last season and instead of seeing more of Clarke, Raven, Murphy, Miller, Jackson, or any of the other characters we've known since the beginning (not including Bellamy because Bob explicitly asked for time off), so much about her is being crammed down our throats when she has never carried this much weight before. I think Gabriel can do it because he had a huge role in the last season, but Echo has been around since 2x11 and we're just now getting all of this. She should have been given a bigger storyline early on if they wanted to lead up to this. 

Anyways, I think that's going to be it for this rant because I touched on most of my other points in my last rant about her. I hope you enjoyed this rant that was way more in-depth than it honestly had to be. Shoutout to Netflix for letting me screenshot because I was really afraid I wouldn't be able to (you can't on the mobile app) #notsponsored. The screenshots really enhanced my points. 

Please drop a comment telling me what you think. I also discuss a lot of Echo on my Tumblr, nathanmillers, and tag everything appropriately so you can check out my blog for more stuff on The 100 in general or if you want to send me an anonymous ask! My tellonym is also always open for questions (you can be anonymous on there as well). My username is stilestastic.