{"id":5700,"date":"2016-07-12T08:00:34","date_gmt":"2016-07-12T15:00:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/?p=5700"},"modified":"2016-06-22T18:23:06","modified_gmt":"2016-06-23T01:23:06","slug":"mark-watches-the-100-s03e16-perverse-instantiation-part-ii","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/2016\/07\/mark-watches-the-100-s03e16-perverse-instantiation-part-ii\/","title":{"rendered":"Mark Watches ‘The 100’: S03E16 – Perverse Instantiation, Part II"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the sixteenth and final episode of the third season of\u00c2\u00a0The 100<\/i>, Clarke brings the fight to Alie. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to watch\u00c2\u00a0The 100<\/i>.<\/p>\n

Trigger Warning: For blood\/gore, consent.<\/b><\/p>\n

Well, shit.<\/p>\n

There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s no denying that while I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve been largely entertained by\u00c2\u00a0The 100<\/i>, my thoughts on it have changed. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not that the show was never flawed, and I hope I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve explained that in reviews for the past two seasons. Instead,\u00c2\u00a0The 100<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0was a show where I could look\u00c2\u00a0beyond\u00c2\u00a0<\/i>the flaws because everything else they were doing was so invigorating and exciting. I did that with season three, but many of the writing choices have felt confusing, bewildering, or downright enraging. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Perverse Instantiation, Part II\u00e2\u20ac\u009d reminds me of\u00c2\u00a0The 100<\/i>\u00e2\u20ac\u2122<\/i>s strengths and weaknesses of this season as a whole. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s exciting and tense; it relies on shoving other characters into the background in frustrating ways; it can give us intense emotional catharsis, or it irritates me with a lack of insight into certain characters.<\/p>\n

I have no idea how there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s going to be a season 4.<\/p>\n

But let\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s talk about the events that lead to that, because I think the show has written themselves into an incredibly difficult place. That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not a bad thing; I like challenging stories, and\u00c2\u00a0The 100<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0has certainly been ambitious over the course of three seasons. But the trauma of the events of season three hangs over\u00c2\u00a0everything<\/i>, and I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know how they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll move beyond it. At the start of the finale, with a \u00e2\u20ac\u0153healed\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Abby helping her daughter with a bizarre blood transfusion, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Perverse Instantiation\u00e2\u20ac\u009d felt like the end of the world. I wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t surprised by Clarke being the person to enter the City of Light to fight Alie; the show posits Clarke as\u00c2\u00a0the<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0main character anyway. But I was more interested in logistics and execution. What would the\u00c2\u00a0whole<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0City of Light look like? How would Clarke deal with Alie knowing she was there immediately upon entering? How would she get to the Citadel?<\/p>\n

I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m happy to say that I was satisfied with the look of the city and the way that Raven\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s hacking was folded into the action. I understood the importance of the Flame, first as a shield to prevent others from seeing her, and then as a method for her to access information she otherwise would not have had. That included the signs that led her to the Citadel, as well as the appearance of Lexa. (DON\u00e2\u20ac\u2122T TOUCH ME, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122M STILL RAW.) The writers even found a way to represent Clarke\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s physical state in the Throne Room. All of this contributed to a sense of terror that felt real. If Ontari\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s heart could not be kept pumping \u00e2\u20ac\u201c even when Murphy had to do it manually \u00e2\u20ac\u201c then Clarke\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s body would reject the flame. If any of Alie\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s chipped humans got to her, she would die.<\/p>\n

So she has help. Raven\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s hacking has a very real effect on her journey, which includes her creating a door directly to the Citadel when Clarke needed it most. But the Flame also provided her with Lexa. Her appearance is bittersweet. I was instantly reminded of the chemistry between these two characters and how meaningful their relationship was to\u00c2\u00a0The 100<\/i>. And then I felt sad because I knew it was gone, that this version of Lexa was just a glimpse, and that if Clarke was going to save everything, she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d have to definitively sacrifice Lexa, too.<\/p>\n

And that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not even remotely the only thing going on. OCTAVIA, Y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ALL. Was it foolish of her to ignore the plan in order to go after Pike? Of course. I saw that as the whole point. Octavia\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s need for blood was so intense that she let it cloud her judgment. Is it as bad as what Bellamy did? Not at all, and I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t think the show was trying to say it was. But I appreciated that Bellamy had insight into what his sister might have felt, and so he did his best to implore her to set aside her anger so that everyone could survive.<\/p>\n

About that survival, though\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 I have no idea how they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re going to do it. I needed to know why Alie had done such horrible things, and I finally got the answer, just prior to Clarke \u00e2\u20ac\u0153saving\u00e2\u20ac\u009d the world. But in doing so, I am shown\u00c2\u00a0why<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0Alie was so desperate: in six months\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 time, the world will be uninhabitable due to the degradation of the world\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s nuclear power plants. Her methods were hostile and violent and horrible because Alie assumed that the ends justified the means. That was what Alie 2.0 was for: to give her programming a moral context to work\u00c2\u00a0with<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0humanity instead of against it.<\/p>\n

I do not suspect that Alie is lying. I think she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s telling the truth. Alie never really\u00c2\u00a0lied<\/i>, did she? She obscured the truth at times, but can she construct actual falsehoods? Is that in her programming? Regardless, Clarke\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s decision to hit the killswitch still works within the morality of the show because free will \u00e2\u20ac\u201c and all the messy implications of that \u00e2\u20ac\u201c are vital to human existence. Without that, Clarke can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t imagine living.<\/p>\n

That scene where she flips the switch is so painful, though. You can see all the trauma and hurt rush back into these people as soon as their chips no longer work. LOOK AT KANE\u00e2\u20ac\u2122S FACE, MY HEART IS BREAKING ALL OVER AGAIN. The same goes for Jasper, who experienced peace and happiness\u00c2\u00a0willingly<\/i>. He is distraught upon returning to normal. But if there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s hope for the future, it is in friendship. Companionship. Community. Swearing to others that together, anything can be conquered. In a way, it felt like a callback to the first season, didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t it?<\/p>\n

Yet I still can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t imagine a future. What of Jaha??? That man unrepentantly sought a destruction future and seemed overjoyed to torture others. Yet there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not any real chance here to even address him post-Alie, and it feels super weird. He was the other major antagonist, and his story fizzles out in \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Perverse Instantiation.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d There are no nightbloods left, so how can the Grounders have a Commander anymore? Will their religion change because its origin has been exposed? Will everyone return to their own communities? WHAT ABOUT THE NUCLEAR THREAT? How do they find and stop the spread of radiation??? CAN THEY???<\/p>\n

And what story is there for Octavia, who rejects Pike\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s gesture of reconciliation by STABBING HIM IN THE STOMACH. While a Pike plot might have been interesting, I think Octavia\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s story is a lot more compelling. Will we see Indra again, or will she only be mentioned by another character? (Whose writing decision was it to punish Indra for saving Kane\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s life by CRUCIFYING HER????) What about a future for Bellamy or Raven or Abby or Miller or Bryan or Harper?<\/p>\n

I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know how much feedback ever reached the writers room for this show, but in a lot of ways, this season has felt like a learning opportunity. I am still incensed by Lexa, so much so that I feel tired just\u00c2\u00a0thinking<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0about the reasons this show did her wrong. (And Sinclair. And Pike. And Jaha. And Hannah. And many others.) I want this show to be a lot more respectful with its non-white characters, and I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d really like it if there more fulfilling storylines for\u00c2\u00a0everyone<\/i>.<\/p>\n

We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll have to see. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll come back to\u00c2\u00a0The 100<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0after season 4 airs. Until then, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll be moving on to a show called\u00c2\u00a0Terriers,\u00c2\u00a0<\/i>which I know nothing about. Thanks for following along, friends!<\/p>\n

The video for \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Perverse Instantiation, Part II\u00e2\u20ac\u009d can be downloaded\u00c2\u00a0here for $0.99<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Mark Links Stuff<\/b><\/p>\n

– I am now on Patreon<\/a>! There are various levels of support, from $1 up to whatever you want! You’ll get to read a private blog, extra reviews, and other such rewards.<\/b>
\n– I\u00c2\u00a0will be at numerous conventions in 2016! Check the full list of events on my Tour Dates \/ Appearances page.<\/a>
\n– My Master Schedule<\/a> is updated for the near and distant future for most projects, so please check it often.\u00c2\u00a0My next Double Features for Mark Watches have been announced here.<\/a>
\n<\/b>-\u00c2\u00a0 Mark Does Stuff is on Facebook!<\/a>\u00c2\u00a0I’ve got a community page up that I’m running. Guaranteed shenanigans!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"