If you take anything with you, there is something about love that makes it the strongest choice. 

During The 100 Season 6 Episode 9, Bellamy and Josephine had their night of fun when they got kidnapped by the Children of Gabriel.

They did find time though for Bellamy to pass Clarke a message and for Clarke to make her big return at the last possible second.

Meanwhile, Octavia tried to remember what happened in the Anomaly and instead ended up facing her worst enemy. 

While all of that was happening, Kane tried to get used to his new body, but the reality of it weighed too heavily on him. He instead chose to go out of the airlock, letting the last part of himself find peace. 

"What You Take With You," written by the incredibly talented Nikki Goldwaser in her writing debut and directed by newcomer Marshall Virtue was breathtaking in its depiction of individual journeys. 

The episode explored what it meant to question quite literally what you would take with you. Characters were truly at the front of the story, letting their actions influence what comes next for them and the show. 

This intense look at what shapes those on The 100 successfully let some move forward in epic returns and allowed others to figure out the next steps that made sense for them. 

The 100 Season 6 Episode 8 Review: The Old Man and the Anomaly

An episode like this no doubt holds a lot of expectations, and it blew it out of the water with the way that the story wasn't afraid to dive into its possibilities.

Some things may never be the same, but the history that went behind these choices felt like the truly respectful way of examining each storyline.

Clarke's Life (Bellamy's Heart and Josephine's Hunger For Survival)

Our long national nightmare is over. Clarke Griffin is back, and it is truly over for anyone who ever doubted what she could really do. 

Josephine: Clarke, you don't know how to ...
Josephine: What else of mine have you stolen?
Clarke: Sucks, doesn't it?

• Permalink: Sucks, doesn't it?

Eliza Taylor delivers a real treat, tackling both Josephine and Clarke in one go and the two characters fight it out for control of their body. 

There is so much hope that Clarke would come back, which Eliza manifests with one look or one sentence.

The change is felt because the difference exists. Eliza's acting allows her to seamlessly go from one character to the next, making us wonder how it is one person who is capable of doing this week by week.

Clarke coming back though is still a shock, mostly because that felt like something none of us were lucky enough to see for a while.

But when you wonder what Clarke takes with her, there is no doubt that it is her will to live. 

Because after how close she was to ending it all, it comes down to Clarke choosing herself and her body fighting for her survival from there.

In a way, it is stunning to go back and consider how many theories came down to something else being in charge of saving Clarke.

Whether it was another person or a thing or a concept, it was all about others delivering for Clarke instead of her having that ability to save herself.

But to save herself, Clarke had to first find value in who she was. So the more she shows up looking for a fight, the more the fight becomes for her chance to be the wonderful person that we know her to be.

Clarke isn't just looking for another chance to do better and to be who she knows she has been this whole time, it is Clarke getting that chance even if she has to risk everything to make it happen.

She is not only fine with surviving, but Clarke also wants it hard.

It isn't about the others pushing to save Clarke or someone else forcing her back when she may not want it. Clarke is in charge of her future, and she won't let herself lose. 

It is heartwarming and promising to see Clarke in this confident and determined place, positioning herself as the prize at the end of the race. All she needs to do is get to the finish line, and her chance to truly live becomes a reality.

It empowers and promises those that are watching that it is always worth fighting for yourself.

Then it is hard to argue though that Josephine isn't in the same boat, however sinister her intentions may be.

Josephine allowing Clarke to gain control was her allowing Clarke's passion for her survival to shine through. Both of them were going to make it out even if they had to count on the other to make it happen.

Josephine took with her the strong-willed need to exist, not letting it be taken away if she doesn't have to. 

And then you have Bellamy, a guy on the run with only his heart coming with him on the wild ride. 

The 100 Season 6 Episode 7 Review: Nevermind

It is already obvious that Clarke represents Bellamy's heart, newly utilized front and center. That is what drives him, and that is what he takes with him when he leaves everyone else behind so that he can save his partner. 

This episode was no different, not even questioning what was driving Bellamy and mostly just instilling that even further for those around him.

It was short-lived, but it was perfect, an adventure that allowed our favorite lost lead to find her way back to us.

She has come back in full force, with the drive and the knowledge that she will survive. Because all Clarke ever needed to do was want to live, and everything else falls into place once that happens.

Clarke Griffin is back, and frankly, none of us are ready for this epic comeback. 

Octavia's Search For Redemption 

Who didn't see that one coming?

To be fair, using Pike to push Octavia to her breaking point when it came to denying what she was struggling with was pure genius.

The surprise of having a character who she blamed so much, only for him to manifest back her own mistakes and make her question the journey she put herself on was amazing.

If Pike's appearance wasn't spoiled for it, it was like a cold shower took over both Octavia and the audience. Things were going to get real quickly, and in many successful ways, it did. 

When talking about the way that the show didn't forget the past in this episode, the Octavia part of it demonstrates that well.

So much of Octavia's choices were rewritten by her on screen for the audience to accept as fact. Not everyone did, but her denial still rang true to some the more she said it out loud to herself.

Having someone appear to push her back on it meant seeing Octavia in her truest form. The real Octavia isn't clinging to the claims that she made as she woke up from cryo, no longer was she trying to reason every mistake as if it was anything but that.

Josephine: I don’t know what they taught you in the hunk of medal you grew up in, but where I’m from when someone tells you you’re in danger, you listen.
Bellamy: We do that too unless the people we care about are in trouble. Then we do what has to be done.
Josephine: The people you care about are in trouble. I guess you just care about her more.

• Permalink: The people you care about are in trouble. I guess you just care about her more.

So much of that came from what Octavia took with her.

In the search for forgiveness, there is redemption that first has to be found, and Octavia has to do it in spite of herself. 

The real fight that Octavia is going through can be narrowed down to the darkest parts of herself. There seems to be so much she doesn't want to face, because it means having to dig deep into her blood splattered mind instead of just a big bad that everyone else was fighting off as well.

Because during The 100 Season 5 Octavia did manifest enough darkness to become that big bad. To make sure that doesn't happen again, Octavia literally had to kill a part of herself.

All of this becomes even more twisted when you consider that she was put in that position, either by the story or by her own doing, again and again.

Octavia has been facing death before she even realized that there was a darkness in her that had to be destroyed. 

Instead, it built up until Octavia had to face it full on, the red sun toxin giving her a chance to prove to herself that she can be better if she faces the truth instead of running from it. 

It isn't clear yet if this was the big revelation that Octavia needed, with her now becoming the hero in her own story again. Or maybe the narrative will still have her work for it, especially when it comes to the Bellamy of it all.

The 100: How the Blake Siblings Prove that Forgiveness Should Be Hard

But for Octavia to find the redemption that she is so clearly looking for she has to continue to work for it. 

There is tons of symbolism that comes from Octavia killing Blodreina, but in reality, it is a day by day process. So much of who Octavia became was directly influenced by a part of her that was Blodreina.

To do things differently means to push against instincts that have become natural to her by now. 

Kane's Humanity

It may have been the obvious end to Kane's story in some ways, and yet in many others, it still took us by surprise. 

The clues were all written out for Abby and us that Kane wouldn't just accept this new faith for him because everything that Abby loved about Kane was everything that wouldn't allow for him to live happily ever after in a body that wasn't his.

So the idea of Kane committing suicide becomes even more twisted when you consider the idea that he couldn't take a life that didn't exist anymore.

In his mind and by his own words, the real Kane was already gone. What he saw as his living self was already gone on that operating table when his mind was taken out and put in Gavin.

The conversation about whether a person can just be uploaded into a USB drive and hooked up to a computer is an ongoing one on this show. 

Sometimes it feels like the narrative does support that we can get downloaded and our existence can be narrowed down a series of code.

It is the second planet to allow that to rule the way they viewed their souls and lives, choosing to answer to a "higher being" that got preserved in a way that others weren't given the right to. 

But like in any discussion, there are two sides to every story.

Abby: I can’t do this on my own.
Kane: Yes you can, Abby. You are so strong. You are so much stronger than me. You saved me so many times. Not just my life. Me.
Abby: I need you. I love you.
Kane: I love you too. I love you more than I ever thought I could love anyone.

• Permalink: I love you too. I love you more than I ever thought I could love anyone.

The story of survival ran one way when it came to Abby choosing to bring Kane back because it wasn't about his body to her. It may have mattered, but nowhere near as much as his heart and soul did.

Abby was willing to view that scientifically, allowing his mind to be uploaded because that was the true essence of who he was to her.

The same can't be said for Kane, who woke up in a body that wasn't his and knew this wasn't the life he lived before.

Kane lost who he was when he got put into Gavin's body, similar in a way to the audience itself. Because while Greyston Holt more than stepped up to the plate, he wasn't Kane. 

It felt like his mannerisms, and his words were the right ones, but it was hard to look at him and find the Kane that everyone knew all this time.

That circled back to Kane's issues, him not being able to look at himself and live when he was experiencing a stolen existence. 

He made it clear that his body defined him and losing that meant losing himself. 

In a way Kane was stripped of himself and yet he was still able to take something with him.

The humanity that Abby was so desperate to bring back with Kane's life, however, limited it would be, was exactly what Kane wanted to have with him when he left.

There is something about their never-ending discussion of humanity, the constant search for it and the inability to have it, all of which came back when Kane made his decision.

To stay who he was and who Abby wanted to bring back, Kane had to put his foot down and let that humanity exist.

He may not have stopped The Dark Year, but he could put a stop to the next bad choice that Abby would make. This time around there wasn't a way for Kane to do that and live with himself.

Everyone has their limits, and for Kane, it was the literal loss of himself. 

So while it rightfully came off as suicide to some, to others like Kane there wasn't a chance for him to kill himself when he wasn't himself, to begin with.

Instead, Kane went to the place where he took other people's lives when he first got introduced on the show, and he did it one last time.

Floating Gavin's body was bringing it full circle, with Kane no longer the man he originally was and instead of the one that the fans followed for years.

The original Kane followed the system and the rules that went with it, while the present day Kane fought for people to have a true choice even if it meant pushing back. 

Kane was never going to fit in with Sanctum and he sadly instead became a victim to their practices. But a lot like his decision to take Gavin's body out of the airlock, this wasn't for nothing.

He made sure that no one else would get put through what he went through, and that no one would get their soul taken away as Gavin did. 

Kane finally found his humanity in the ability to make tough choices. The fact of the matter is that it was difficult to do this knowing what it would do to Abby, seeing another person she loved driven to the airlock because of her actions.

But in another way, this seemed like the easiest choice that Kane made on this show, and it made sense after all this time. 

 The 100 Season 6 Episode 6 Review: Memento Mori

And it was beautifully done, going back to who he was emotionally and literally. It may have been new darkness that Kane wasn't able to face, but that doesn't mean his death did bring with it a new meaning.

Losing Kane meant not losing anyone else. 

The Bellarke Corner and The "Platonic" Weight 

Examining Bellamy and Clarke's relationship can become a bit messy when so much of it is linked to Josephine, who looks like Clarke but isn't her in any way. 

Just think about how Bellamy feels.

Any interaction that came from Josephine and Bellamy is always under the lens of him seeing Clarke even when she isn't there.

This time around though he got his wish, with a twist. It turns out Clarke can see what is happening, which Bellamy is allowed to use to his advantage.

Bellamy: Let me talk to [Clarke].
Josephine: I got to give her control for that so no.
Bellamy: But she can hear me.
Josephine: Yes, she can hear you.

• Permalink: Yes, she can hear you.

In a heavily charged moment, Bellamy tries to convey to Clarke everything he wants even though they have an audience and a ticking clock not making any of it easier.

Still, so much of what he wants to say comes out in his promise to keep her alive. So much more, though is what is left unsaid.

The words that Bellamy holds back in hopes that Clarke knows it herself and that he might vocalize someday to her is all in that look.

All of that builds up to such a point that Bellamy has to look away because everything that has boiled to the surface gets directed at a person who wasn't Clarke. 

She may look like her and Clarke may be there somewhere, but it is different from Bellamy having that talk with his soulmate.

Then you have Josephine, the third wheel in a relationship she didn't sign up for. 

Because it isn't just the way that Bellamy is affected, it is the way that Josephine feels the intense emotion at that moment.

Maybe she heard some of that romantic theme music playing in the background, or maybe it was a combination of Bellamy's gaze and Clarke's feelings and Josephine intercepting all of it at once.

Once again, so much is left unsaid, and yet enough is thrown out there to make it feel strange at best.

Here you have Josephine pointing out how much Clarke means to Bellamy, more than the others that he left behind so that he could save her himself.

There is also that heavy-handed moment where Bellamy swears to Clarke that she won't die, followed by a quick exchange where their past is discussed and faced in person.

Josephine and Bellamy say it best, the great six volumes of Bellamy and Clarke's Relationship Highlights is tiring. And it isn't because of the place that they are in, it is the never-ending question of what lies underneath all of the obvious.

So much of it isn't platonic that it is almost embarrassing to consider what can still be called Bellamy and Clarke just being friends. 

And yet it stands still, hitting us over the face and leaving us waiting for the next time that the way those two care about one another becomes the show's entire heart. 

It is tiring, and it is about time that something was done about it.

Bellamy's heart is out there; he is literally putting it on the line because it seems to be Clarke Griffin's existence. 

Then you have Clarke, whose biggest regret is leaving Bellamy in those pits and whose first thought once she comes back is how she won't leave him again.

It isn't even a conversation for them, Clarke won't leave him, and that reinforces it for Bellamy. He is the one who maybe still needs not only to hear it but to see it too.

The lengths that Bellamy has been willing to go for Clarke have never been more obvious, so the ball is always in Clarke's court to remind him that he isn't alone on that front. 

And the two of them might be separated right now, but if The 100 is anything, it is consistent. So much of Bellamy and Clarke's separation is all about the way they come together again. 

Especially now that Clarke is back there is no way this won't continue to drive Bellamy to make sure she is actually back for good.

The 100: Shipping Culture and the Bellarke Romance of It All

Beyond that, though, comes the question of what does all of this mean?

What does six years of build up for the audience become when the narrative hits the brakes as soon as it makes any real movement towards the organic next step for these two.

There is still plenty of the story to tell though, and for everyone's sake hopefully, there is an understanding of where all of this needs to go.

Otherwise, it just continues to be exhausting. 

Stray Thoughts

• This is a point just dedicated to appreciating Clarke Griffin's existence. 

• The conversation about how suicide is depicted on our TV screens is a very important one to continue having.
  
  However, wasn't it earlier in this season that Clarke was ready to harm herself because she didn't think she deserved to live? Wasn't Octavia's arc rooted in her giving up and looking for a way to die?
  
  There is plenty to talk about when you consider the characters on The 100 not always looking to live, and in some cases actually taking it to a place where they take that to a point of no return.
  
  But there is also plenty to say about the silence that appeared before, six years of it to be exact.

• Diyoza was in that green box, and Octavia needs to get back to it. Maybe she thinks she went through some Eat, Pray, Love experience that means she is all good now, but she isn't.
  
  Like is anyone else confused why no one is bringing up going back in to save Diyoza?

• It is a smart decision not to allow every storyline to make an appearance in each episode because frankly, even three can feel like too many when you consider how much happens.
  
  But I am also ready to return to Sanctum and make sure Jordan is okay. There is also Madi to consider because there is nothing promising at the end of that rainbow for her right now. 

• Josephine was right about the Children of Gabriel. They may be rooting for the same cause, and yet there are so many answers that we deserve about their outfits. There were choices and I'm not sure the group considered all of theirs. 

• The only reason Indra wasn't woken up before was because she would have prevented all of this from happening.
  
  Instead, people brought her back when there were barely any choices left, and then she ended up having to open that airlock on her friend. It was a tough day for Indra, and this is before she gets filled in on Gaia's situation.

• Not to be that person but Abby still hasn't realized what happened to her daughter. Clarke has been "dead" for a huge chunk of time and her mother can't find it in her to connect the clues? Even just the question of why her daughter would be so pushy

• It has to be useless now to hope for Raven's individual storyline to see the light of day. Everything is a reaction to someone else's arc, the least that she deserves now is to be brought up to speed soon. 

• Goodbye Greyston Holt. We hardly knew you, but you stole the screen even in the limited time that we got to have with you. 

• The chance to become a nightblood is no longer available, but if you could turn anyone into a nightblood still who would you choose?

• There is something about the potential of Bellamy and Gabriel meeting that is just proving to be too much. Two idiots in love?
  
  Both of them focused entirely on this one person, Clarke and the body that allows Josephine to exist right now. These two may not have everything in common, but this talking point should do it for now. 
  
  The possibilities are truly endless for those two right now. 

• In case anyone needs a refresher: Madi being tortured, Bellamy and Miller grabbing guns, some Russell appearances, and now the mind space sequence with Josephine disappearing.
  
  All of these are concrete scenes that have yet to air and that hold a hint of what is still yet to come.

• To defeat Josephine means to walk through her mind space and all of her lives. We already saw some of what she went through, but that had to be the tip of the iceberg, and by the looks of it, we are about to see so much more.
  
  As long as this means Clarke gains control of her body and we see more of Sara Thompson at the same time, count me in. 

• Let's give it up one more time for Adina Porter and Mike Beach. They came and they conquered like they always do. 

• In case the Bellarke Corner wasn't enough and you need more to hold you over before Bellamy and Clarke get to reunite again, here is a thread that highlights all the tropes used by our favorite soulmates. 

How are you doing after everything? Did you see that Kane ending coming? Did you also think we would get more time with Greyston Holt?

Where are you now with Octavia? Do you think she will find redemption, and does she deserve it? And will Gabriel ever find out what is in that Anomaly?

How much did you love Bellamy and Josephine's after-dark trip? Is this where they will start to make friendship bracelets for one another?

From 10-100, how thrilled are you that Clarke Griffin is back? What do you expect to happen from here?

What was your favorite part of the episode? What was your least favorite part?

Let us know what you think below!

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

Stick around TV Fanatic for more features, slideshows, episode previews, and reviews of the upcoming season, and watch The 100 online catch up on the adventure!

Yana Grebenyuk was a staff writer for TV Fanatic. She retired in April 2021.