So that was an odd episode, wasn’t it? It’s not bad, but it’s not as great as the previous episodes have been. This episode mostly explores characters psyche instead of moving forward with the plot; still interesting stuff happened and the character exploration is mostly quite good, but the execution of the whole episode seemed a little odd to me.
One thing that I was worried about in last’s week episode was the reveal that the grounder (Lincon) does speak English: I think it loses a little bit of its charm when we get to hear him speak, and it’s also a bit weird (to say the least) that he outright went for the kiss with Octavia. While it was evident that he cared for her I can’t help but wonder why, there is not enough context to make sense of this connection they share- other than assuming its love at first sight- and I can only wonder what he is going to do now. I’m at least a bit worried of how this storyline will be treated.
But maybe I shouldn’t worry too much, we know far too little at this point to be really concerned about the direction of that storyline. What I truly struggled with was how everyone was suddenly high and hallucinating all of the sudden; it’s truly weird to watch not just one guy, but near 90 people being high at the same time, and it seems as it was just a plot device to get Lincon to escape.
Bellamy, like any human being, doesn’t always take the best choices, but he’s not a monster- the very fact that he considered himself one is proof of that-, and I like that while the show explored his darkness early on it is now showing us the other side of the coin.
Clarke’s vision of her father was quite predictable and as such it was far less interesting than Bellamy’s trip, but it is important that the show deals with it in order to move forward. There’s going to be troubles with Clarke and her mother, this stuff can’t be resolved just by a vision- and Clarke makes sure not to let go of it-, but it is a step that it is important for the next episodes.
This episode mostly feels like a bridge between the first arc of The 100- the teenagers getting to the ground and exploring Earth- and the second one the show is entering now- the fight against the Grounders and the Ark coming to Earth. As such it is rather slow paced and it has toned down quite a bit, but that’s only for this week I’m sure.
This week’s cliffhanger does energize the whole story overall as our new councilwoman takes down Commander Shumway- who also blackmailed a guy to kill Bellamy in this episode- posing it as a suicide. It was very clear to me that this woman was up to no good last week, but the question remains: why is she doing this?
There is a lot going on with the show right now, so having a break from most of the action is a little bit of a bummer, but things do get done- The 100 have weapons, Lincon is back with the grounders, and the Ark is on its way to Earth unaware of their inner threat. Everything is looking pretty interesting for the weeks to come, but this episode isn’t that much exciting, it mostly set up things and explores some characters minds, and it does a fine job at it, just not as great as the last couple of episodes.
Grade: B
Stray Observations:
-I liked that moment when Dux was about to shoot Bellamy after saying “Nothing personal” and failed because the bullet was damaged. I’ve seen a lot of shows going with the “talking killer” fallacy so I’m glad that The 100 isn’t one of those shows (heck, even my favorite show “Fringe” did one or two talking killers, so this is very refreshing).
-Jasper declares his love for Octavia while being high, things are bound to get at least a bit weird between these two, especially since Octavia didn’t hate that kiss from Lincon.
-I’m very much liking the interactions between Clarke and Bellamy, they are forging a very strong unexpected friendship there, especially near the end when Clarke assures Bellamy that they wouldn’t have survived without him (something I have stated before in the roundtables).
-I didn’t care much for all the Raven and Finn moments this week, as most of the episode it mostly serves as a bridge for what is to come: this is the calm before the storm I guess.
-High Monty is funny, but a bit weird.
-Didn’t you feel at some moments that the whole conversation between Clarke and her father was going in circles?
-Next week we’ll have an attempt of a treaty between the 100 and the Grounders. I think that episode will be quite interesting and intense too!
