(Check out The 100 on my website, www.seriesmonitor.com/the100)
It's hard to decide where to kick off this review of the seventh episode of The 100. Plenty of interesting things happened! There were some pretty intense moments between the imprisoned Grounder, Bellamy, and Octavia, along with Finn's perilous shave with death, a hurricane, and who could forget the new dimensions of the characters that we saw on board the Ark!
Let's take the first of the moments I just mentioned and work from there.
So we finally get to see a Grounder close up, without the mask and fancy outfit that we've seen him wearing over the past few weeks. In last night's episode, we see him first after Bellamy arrives back at the camp with a couple of his henchmen carrying the blindfolded, unconscious guy.
First question right then and there. Why did we not see Bellamy and Co. go out into the storm, get the guy, and drag him back? That would have been interesting to see, but instead we are left to assume that right after Bellamy arrived back at the camp with Finn, he immediately went back out into the hurricane with his henchmen, made their way through the forests that were infested with Grounders no more than a few hours earlier, and dragged the guy back, through said forest, while said storm was raging? I know this is a TV series, but The 100 has been very good at making things make sense thus far, so I thought this could have been done better.
Moving right along to the interrogation of the Grounder. This was, on the whole, a pretty darn good set of scenes. We saw the Grounder being tortured multiple times, but he didn't crack. Interestingly, the torture that made him crack and give up the antidote to the group to save Finn, didn't hurt him physically at all. What's there to learn here? I think it's pretty clear that for some strange and as yet unknown reason, Octavia turns this guy upside down. Speculation as to why, you ask? I'm thinking Octavia is a lookalike that this guy knows. Fortunately though, Octavia used that leverage to force him to turn over the antidote, and Finn's 9 lives have dropped to 7 (including the spacewalk).Turning our attention to Finn for a moment. I think a lot of fans were prepared for Finn's run to come to an end, as was I. His death would have been sad, but the creative team were pretty smart and didn't set out to make the fans like him too much. Still, there's still 6 episodes to go, so don't think he's home free just yet. Anyway, it was really good to see Raven and Clarke teaming up to save their friend. Raven nearly lost the plot a couple of times, but Clarke remained calm and got the job done in terms of removing the knife, even though it was Octavia who jointly shares the title of lifesaver with her.
Again, a question here. Television and movie lovers see the whole 'miracle cure' thing done on a (some would say) annoyingly regular basis. A knife to the chest is fine because it makes sense, but the poison tipped knife with a magic potion sized bottle as a cure was a wee bit off the rails, so why did the creative team do it? I thought it was done solely to add to the drama and suspense, but this show does so much of that so well already that I thought it was unnecessary. If I was on the creative team, I would have advocated for something such as a contaminated water supply as a result of the storm which the Grounder would surely have had some sort of cure for. Octavia could be one of the sick, etc etc, you get my drift.
Meanwhile, Clarke continues to demonstrate her honesty and integrity in a powerful way. When Finn woke, Clarke could have stolen a kiss or cuddle, but she chose to wake a sleeping Raven and give her boyfriend to her. Clarke had finally found the time to cry for a few seconds a short time earlier - something we haven't really seen before. But her dark side really came out in this episode, with her openness to torture as a method of extracting information from the Grounder, despite not approving of the way Murphy, Wells, and others had been beaten in earlier episodes. I'm pleased she does have a bit of darkness in her, because as Bellamy said, who they are, and who they need to be to survive, are two different things altogether.
Right, let's move on upstairs to the Ark. For me, this set of scenes was the pick of the bunch for me. All three lead characters on board the Ark grew a lot more. The regret Kane showed for the part he played in the deaths of 320 people looked sincere and hopefully this is the turning point for the character to drop the nasty attitude and get on with saving the population. There was alcohol involved though. Jaha's devastation at learning of his son's death was also moving, and the same can be said for Abby when she heard Clarke's voice for the first time since sending her daughter to the ground.Abby's removal from the Council didn't come as a shock to me at all, but it's now up to the creative team to make that change in the character worthwhile. I want to see her continuing to play an important role in running the Ark, while using her new-found freedom and ordinary citizen status to keep the Council honest as they launch Project Exodus. Taking her place on the Council is Diana Sydney, a former Chancellor. Clearly there's a story to be told here, in regard to why she's no longer the Chancellor, so hopefully we learn about that at some stage. However my gut is telling me that an ex-Chancellor should be older and a bit wiser. Kate Vernon, the actor guest starring as Sydney, is only three years older than Isiah Washington (Jaha). Sydney would have commanded my respect if she was older and looked like she had worked her way up the ladder but continues to influence things, much like a Bill Clinton here on Earth. Being more youthful makes me feel rather uneasy about her motives and intentions with the way she inserted herself into the Council.
More about the Ark for a moment. It was revealed that there are 2,237 people living on board the Ark, but drop ships for just 700. "We are on the Titanic, and there are not enough lifeboats" were the words Jaha used to describe the situation. For stats nerds out there, if you add the 100 adolescents that were sent to the ground, and the 320 people who died in Section 17 in last week's episode, you end up with a total population of 2,657 people. Removing those 420 people reduced the population by 15.8%. That's quite a bit considering the total number of souls on board. Personally I thought the population was a lot higher, say around 10,000, given the separate stations, and classes of people selected to be sacrificed last week. Some more food for thought, I guess.
On next week's episode of The 100, titled 'Day Trip,' Clarke and Bellamy go on a mission to find supplies for approaching winter. Some of the 100 accidentally eat nuts with powerfully hallucinogenic properties and lose their grasp on reality. Meanwhile, Octavia seizes the opportunity to help a friend escape, and a terrifying event brings Clarke and Bellamy closer. On the Ark, Commander Shumway secretly assigns one of the 100 to kill one of his own, and the treacherous actions of Diane Sydney are revealed. It's going to be an action packed episode.
Thanks for reading! Remember you can view full ratings, statistics, and an episode guide for The 100 on my website, www.seriesmonitor.com/the100. Watch a the promo for next week's episode here.
Jimmy
Good review. My only main problem with this ep was Finn's miraculous survival. The way it was done with the hurricane and all, it came off too fake. I would have respected the show more if he had died when Clarke pulled the knife out and they all got hit with the hurricane. It would have been more realistic.
ReplyDeleteMy only other issue was why did the Grounder not speak or tell them which vial it was. Why let everyone beat on him and torture him. Was he really willing to die just to let one of the 100 die?
How they resolve the problem of not enough ships for everyone is going to be big. They've already shown they will kill off as many people as necessary. It will be interesting to see what happens there.
Great episode. Loved the scenes on Earth and the Ark. Can't wait for next week!
ReplyDeleteI honestly took issue with the imagery of the torture scenes with the Grounder. Too much of it was uncomfortably reminiscent of a slave being tied up and whipped. Maybe it's silly and ironic that I would think the CW would be more responsible than that, but there's alot about the whole scene that completely did not sit well with me because of how it was presented. Particularly because this show is set in the future, not our past...
ReplyDeleteI think it was intentional. Yes, the people on the Ark & the 100 are 'saving' the future of humanity in their eyes. But they are essentially colonizers and invading the grounders' land. It's understandable and justified that the grounders are suspicious & attacking them.
ReplyDeleteThere are lots of ways to torture someone. I don't think being tied up and whipped was a random choice. The torture was awful. But I admire the show for pushing those buttons, especially on a network like The CW. We should feel uncomfortable and upset about the torture. The 100 see the grounders as savages. But the last 2 episodes showed the 100 and the viewers that isn't true.
Hmmmmmm, it was meant to impact the viewer though and it definitely succeeded. It could foreshadow further flashbacks in another season as to who got selected to live on the Ark and who didn't.
ReplyDeleteI think the grounders is loyal to his groups and doesn't care about The 100 except for Octavia.
ReplyDeleteI think Finn should have died too but they probably don't want to kill too many characters too soon.
ReplyDeleteThe torture scene was supposed to make you feel uncomfortable. TVD always has torture porn so it was good to see another CW show that presents torture as something horrible.
Even if I am the only one, I am happy that Finn is alive. The time frame of the show is very short, Finn has not really had time to tell Raven his side of the story except for the first night when she dropped out of the sky. He was in lock up for quite some time, we don't really know what kind of relationship they had. And as it was hinted Finn is 17 but Raven is over 18, he might have taken the fall for her with the spacewalk, so she would not get floated. I cannot see the romantic aspect of Bellamy (though I am starting to like him) and Clarke, but to me the pairing of Finn and Raven is even worth.
ReplyDeleteKilling of the main male cast would not make much sense, if the goal is to get a second season, which I am hoping for. I even think Wells death came to soon. In my opinion a show needs more than 2 interesting characters, so I am hoping for more backstories and not necessarily more death.
Great episode! It was emotional and intense, both on Earth and on the Ark. The torture scenes were dark, and it brought out the darkness in both Clarke and Raven. I liked to see the 'powerwomen' Clarke, Raven and Octavia all trying to achieve the same goal. Glad Octavia did not let the darkness inside.
ReplyDeleteI'm fine with the way they continue to handle the love triangle. Clarke is really classy about it even though she clearly still has feelings for Finn.
I liked Kane's character development, he is starting to be a bit of a better person. However, I do not trust that Diana lady, something that we might discover in the next episode. And the press release already said that there weren't enough dropships, but I was shocked to learn the number of people that cannot go to Earth.
Great summary Daniel!
ReplyDeleteI want the grounder and Octavia be together,not with Jasper :))
ReplyDeleteI'm glad he is alive too. I'm a Finn fan.
ReplyDeleteFinn isn't the main male character. Bellamy is.
ReplyDeleteThat's the point. You got attatched to Wells and then he died. It made you feel something.
ReplyDeletegreat episode.! x3 can't wait for the next =)
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