In the second episode of the third season of The 100, LOTS OF PAIN. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to watch The 100.Â
WHEW, THIS IS GOING TO BE A TREK, ISN’T IT.
The City of Light
I am so confused. SO CONFUSED. I know I’m supposed to be; the show is being extremely coy with this whole plot line. At times, I think it’s smart; rather than give us everything at once, the writers are revealing the secrets of the City of Light slowly. Unfortunately – and this is the case across the board – that means that the writers are filling the space between plot reveals with a lot of really weird behavior from these characters. Part of the reason I’ve enjoyed The 100 so much is that even if it’s ridiculously dramatic, it was full of characters trying to do their best. They were thrust into terrible situations with no easy solutions, they made the best decisions they could, and then the show dealt with the ramifications of those actions.
I can still see that in the premiere, but then there are a lot of characters who just do silly, foolish things in order to advance the story. I’m not sure why Murphy suddenly trusted Emori after she betrayed them all, but I can excuse that because she’s a familiar face and Murphy clearly wanted to get as far from Jaha as possible. But once Emori snuck up on Gideon? Yeah, that was just silly. Was she surprised that Gideon fought back? The scene felt designed; it didn’t felel natural. It was a means to kill Gideon for later purposes. Now, I am interested in Emori and Murphy because I want to see where they’ll go after this. They know that Jaha and Otan are way too far gone to come back, so… where to next?
I STILL DON’T GET THE CITY OF LIGHT, Y’ALL. I DON’T GET IT AT ALL. So, the backpack device allows Jaha and Otan to access Alie. Is that where the City of Light is, too? How can people not die there? I’m guessing it is some sort of digital city, since Alie can travel into it and out of it, but requires that weird backpack device. I DUNNO, I’M JUST THINKING OUT LOUD.
Mount Weather
Now this was an intriguing plot. Given the set-up for Abby and Lincoln in the previous episode, I find it totally believable that Abby would question her role in Arkadia. She is spread too thin, and the moral and political challenge of Mount Weather presents her with a chance to do something meaningful and focused. Of course, it’s a nightmare of an idea. After sneaking into the facility with Octavia, Lincoln, Jackson, and Jasper, they’re able to save Nyko. How many others can they save if they modify the terms of the truce to use Mount Weather as a medical facility? IT’S A GREAT IDEA, ISN’T IT? As long as the Grounders are included in it, it could be a way to transform life.
But it’s a delicate situation, and given what’s happening with the Farm Station folks, I imagine this isn’t going to be easy to pull off, if they even get a chance to do it in the first place. It’s also complicated for another reason: Mount Weather represents a terrible thing to a lot of people. Lincoln reminds them all of this, but then we get to see what it means to Jasper. IT IS GODDAMN HEARTBREAKING. Yet one of the coolest things about the second half of “Wanheda†is Octavia, who comforts Jasper during his moment of grief. It’s a beautiful scene that reminded me that these characters were all once very close. I don’t even remember the last time Jasper and Octavia interacted! Yet the scene made sense, and it’s another fine moment in the episode.
The Farm Section
AHHHHHH MORE PEOPLE FROM THE ARK. AND ONE OF THEM IS MONTY’S MOTHER. HALLELUJAH. Does this mean Monty gets a story of his own this season? I am hoping it does! Of course, the appearance of the Farm Section folks complicates matters even more because these people have survived the Ice Nation, the most brutal and uncompromising of the Grounders. Thus, they’re all intensely prejudicial towards the Grounders. I AM SURE YOU CAN SEE THE PROBLEM WITH THIS. Those of Arkadia have managed to maintain a peace with the Grounders because they understand them. The Farm Station folks? Yeah, they HATE the Grounders because all they’ve ever known of them is slaughter. Death. Murder. Torture.
Oh god, IT’S NOT GOING TO GO WELL. I can already see how Pike is going to provide conflict in Arkadia; he’s too stubborn to accept that all Grounders aren’t the same. And I get it! I get that he’s spent all this time fighting to survive after over 120 of his friends were killed by Grounders. (Assuming Kane’s math is correct.) This world is survival of the fittest in the most absurd sense, and this is how he believes he’ll survive.
Wanheda
AHHHHH CLARKE IS SO INTENSE IN THIS EPISODE. It’s ironic that I wrote about her self-imposed isolation because within minutes of the start of this episode, she’s back to being violent again. I actually thought she was going to kill Roan, you know??? But the mythology surrounding Clarke at this point in the story is ridiculous enough that I believed someone would nearly drown, nearly get choked to death, and would GET STABBED IN THE STOMACH and still manage to bring her in. Now, we don’t know much of the Ice Nation beyond their brutality; it sounds like they’ve also got an intense mysticism or mythology to their culture, given that they believe that Clarke has some magical power that’ll give their leader the power over Death.
It’s certainly a bit of a twist to the show, which doesn’t often stray into fantasy. It’s more of a realistic dystopian world than a fantastical one. So how are they going to address this? What’s going to happen when they find out Clarke is just one person like them?
I did want to call foul on that one scene with Bellamy, by the way. The more I thought about it, the more it bothered me that he didn’t actually check to see if there was anyone else in the subway station. During the video, I tried to argue that he was being impulsive – which is a very Bellamy thing to do – but that isn’t mutually exclusive with being careful. Bellamy is smarter than that, you know? The scene felt like one of those moments where someone does something foolish just to push the plot forward.
BUT LET’S TALK ABOUT THAT PLOT BECAUSE LEXA. I honestly thought Roan was taking Clarke to the Ice Nation. It’s far more interesting to me that Roan is a prince in the Ice Nation (!!!!) and that Lexa wanted Clarke to prevent a war from breaking out. IT’S NOT GONNA WORK, IS IT? Oh god, how is Clarke going to deal with being around Lexa after her betrayal????
The video for “Wanheda, Part Two†can be downloaded here for $0.99.
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