In the ninth episode of the first season of The 100, ouch. Inrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to watch The 100.Â
Trigger Warning: For torture, blood/gore.
This wasn’t as action-packed as the previous episode, but it’s a much-needed look at the emotional and political ramifications of Finn’s death. I still can’t believe that it actually happened, and I got worried with that opening scene that Finn was still alive. But Clarke’s glimpses of Finn here are confirmation of his death and an exploration of what that death means to her.
LET’S TALK ABOUT THINGS.
Survival
In this act, we actually get three parallel stories. I cannot believe I didn’t see the similarities between Clarke and her mother. MY GOD. Both of them killed someone because they thought they were doing the right thing. Was it right for Abby to give her husband to Jaha? Was Clarke better for having killed Finn quickly rather than allow the Grounder camp to slowly torture him to death? Look, we can apply logic to this situation all we want, and I think it would be easy to argue that Clarke did the “best” thing. But that word implies a reality that simply doesn’t exist. There’s very little positivity here for Clarke. Even if her actions have guaranteed the alliance between the Grounders and the Sky People, how can she ignore the guilt and pain within her? The cost of this alliance is her own happiness, at least for the moment.
Over the course of this episode, though, Clarke comes into contact with people who understand this experience. Initially, that’s Lexa. Now, I don’t think it registered to me at the time what Lexa meant by her story of Costia, but given that Clarke just lost her own love, I can’t help but wonder if this HUGE moment just passed me by. Lexa said, “Because she was mine…” I honestly thought she meant her second or maybe her sister? LOOK, YOU’RE TALKING TO SOMEONE WHO GAYS UP EVERYTHING, and this completely slipped by me. But now I can’t see it any other way. Lexa was talking to Clarke about losing someone “special” to her, and… WHAT THE HELL. It has to be this because what follows this part of the conversation? Lexa’s admittance that she’s stopped loving anyone because it makes her “weak.” It’s a path that Clarke seems to have chosen by the end of the episode, and the fact that Lexa has to execute someone else she cares about (Gustus) doesn’t exactly push Clarke in any other direction.
What’s interesting is that Abby contradicts Lexa. She says that she survived the guilt over her dead husband by loving Clarke. Love is what fueled Abby, and I think you could argue using canon that love is what got Abby to where she is. But she’s in such a precarious arrangement with her daughter. I had wondered if the show would ever address the conflict between Abby and Clarke. I’m glad, though, that it came up here. It makes the story more powerful; it gives it more depth. Abby and Clarke arguing about their complicity in destruction fits the episode! Is it uncomfortable as hell? Of course, and I think if you view all of this as an effort by Gustus to destroy the alliance, it’s perfect. He didn’t need to know the personal histories of these people; he simply had to destroy any connection between them and let the chips fall where they did.
Unfortunately, Gustus’s assassination attempt nearly gets Raven murdered (SHE’S SUFFERED ENOUGH, OH MY GOD), and he gets killed by his own tribe. It’s a colossal backfire, but he was banking on one specific outcome. He relied on his people’s distrust of the Sky People to fuel this nightmare, and he lost in the end. I don’t imagine that this will be the last attempt to break up the alliance, and this is a perfect time to segue to the other plot in this episode.
Mount Weather
The folks in Mount Weather are explicitly interested in maintaining a very specific world on the outside. Any threat to that must be eliminated, so I’m terrified about what the Mountain Men will do to break up the unity between the Grounders and the Sky People. However, I have a more immediate concern: Monty. I am hoping that Miller, Jasper, or Maya break him out, not just because I need him to survive, but because this is now the second time that he’s been taken out of the story by being captured and caged. Twice! I mean, as long as he’s still part of the plot in Mount Weather, I’ll feel better about it. But Monty still hasn’t truly gotten a story that’s just about him, you know?
For what it’s worth, his sequence in the command center was TERRIFYING. I admired that he risked his own well-being to guarantee that he could end the signal jamming. But what’s next? If Bellamy is heading to Mount Weather to break in, how is he going to do any better than the 47 who live there and know it better than him?
EVERYTHING IS SO STRESSFUL.
The video for “Remember Me” can be downloaded here for $0.99.
Mark Links Stuff
– I am now on Patreon!!! MANY SURPRISES ARE IN STORE FOR YOU IF YOU SUPPORT ME.
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– My Master Schedule is updated for the near and distant future for most projects, so please check it often. My next Double Features for Mark Watches will be seasons 1 & 2 of The 100, Death Note, and Neon Genesis Evangelion. On Mark Reads, Diane Duane’s Young Wizards series will replace the Emelan books.
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