What an episode, uh? Everything on The 100 has a direct consequence and no easy solution; whereas other shows may shy away from conflicts that could potentially be too big to handle The 100 just goes straight on, with its head up, standing still, showing us that this show is up to the task, that it is confident enough to go into battle in a two front war.
If there is any possible complain about this season of The 100 the only one I can think of is that there are too many stories going on and as such the storytelling can feel a bit scattered or even convoluted sometimes, and though some episodes are somewhat off balance this season, The 100 so far has been steadily showcasing incredible stories in all fronts, and even the most unbalanced episode still feels great in terms of the thematic exploration of said episode.
Luckily, “Fog of War” not only brings interesting themes, but it also brings along answers and balance to make a case to become one of the best episodes of the season so far.
In terms of actual action not much happens, you could say this is transition episode from point A to B, but this episode is an absolute necessity to get to point B, and the transition we go through on the episode is just outstanding.
The aftermath of Finn’s massacre has repercussions not only with his direct interactions with Clarke and company, but also puts Kane and Jaha on a very dire situation, as the Grounders become very pissed at sky people after the massacre and decides to try turn them against each other, offering freedom to the one who kills the other.
I really didn’t know how the writers would solve this, I felt that either Kane or Jaha would end up sacrificing themselves and I was half right as Kane decided to go for it -which was an incredibly well acted scene-, but Jaha stops him as he says they don’t get to die that easily after everything they’ve been through.
It is a wonderful moment of character development, since we get to see how much both Kane and Jaha have come since their journey started on this show. The weight of the lives Kane took when they killed over 300 people on the ark is an incredibly heavy burden for him and Jaha’s survival quest on the remainings of the ark with the hallucinations of Wells and all really brought out his survival instinct and his sense of hope.
I can’t be too mad at the show for not killing either Kane or Jaha since: 1) They are both incredibly well made and complex characters and 2) it was responsible for the incredible introduction of the new Grounders commander Lexa and her message to the sky people sent via Jaha: leave or die.
The intensity over the scenes with Jaha and Kane are incredibly well done and the turnout is also quite surprising and it will move the plot forward for next week’s episode, forcing the people at Camp Jaha to decide if they will move forward with rescuing the 47, retreating or battle the incoming Grounders.
Talking about Camp Jaha, there’s a lot of great interactions this week among some of our main characters. Most surprising of all it is how well handled all the Clarke and Finn scenes where; she is a little bit scared of him, disappointed, angry and somehow resigned over him. Eliza Taylor makes a great performance as it only takes me to see into her eyes to realize how affected and impacted Clarke is over everything that has happened. And Finn himself is pretty lost himself as he doesn’t know who he is anymore, he tries to be who he used to be, but it doesn’t come naturally and he realizes that what he did was a point of no return, and that he is someone completely different from before.
Aside from the great Clarke/Finn interactions, this is the week in which finally Abby seems to be ready to listen to her daughter as they all go together on a mission to find out what is jamming the radio. And as the acid fog strikes and divides our characters into three groups -Clarke and Finn on the bunker, Abby and Raven on their tent and Bellamy and Octavia somewhere inside Mt Weather -we learn via the radio signal Raven snatches that the acid fog is actually a weapon created by the people on Mt Weather.
Bellamy takes Lincon by surprise and knocks him out and they decide to take him home. However they are going to handle Lincon is to be seen; there’s a lot to be learned about reapers by taking Lincon home, but if he is cut loose at any moment hell will ensue on Camp Jaha, so it’s a risky move.
Finally, over at Mt Weather, Jasper’s illusion over Mt Weather is finally shattered as Maya decides to show him and Monty what really is going on; they see the Grounders caged and being harvested for Mt Weather’s people treatment, which leads him to take the smart choice: instead of outright going against people at Mt Weather and risking ending up by the Grounders the 47 start to volunteer so they can win some time so that Clarke can break them out.
I think the 47 will need to come up with a plan B since Clarke is pretty busy with everything that is going on at Camp Jaha: with the grounders marching their way to take revenge on Finn’s massacre there will be no chance to save the 47 anytime soon. Also, they shouldn’t leave it all to Clarke; I’m sure that they are already thinking of said plan B and they don’t solely count on Clarke to save them, but the episode does seem to suggest that.
As a whole this episode once again proof that The 100 has sucessfully reinvented itself over the course of season 2; the narrative is completely different, bigger, and as such there is always the risk of drifting and end up with something completely different and worse than before, but the show has managed to construct a whole new narrative without losing its sense of the self, the high stakes, the tensions and the wonderful world building. In short, the show sacrificed none of its strengths and has only gained more and more resources to explore themes about the human race. And it is awesome.
Grade: A-
Stray Observations:
-Not really much to complain about, but how the hell does a tent protect you from acid fog? I just don’t see it. If anyone could explain it to me I’d appreciate it.
-Lindsey Morgan is usually a great actress on the show, but she should have made sure to limp a little bit while walking; it seemed like she had no trouble whatsoever hiking.
-Jasper’s days of enjoying free cake are over.
-Something worth mentioning: the sound editting in this episode is pretty outstanding, as it builds the mood of every scene even better than it has done in previous episode. Kudos to the crew in charge of that!
-Since there was a lot to cover on this episode I didn’t really get into all the Abby/Raven scenes, but they were pretty awesome. They have a very strong dynamic, I really like how Raven can speak for both the arkers and The 100, and how she helps Abby get some more perspective. Besides, both their character are pretty great.
-President Wallace doesn’t seem to want to harm the 47, but I feel his son will back stab him pretty soon. And Wallace was quite terrifying when he told him that if he was lying there would be no Wallace on the office after him; pretty cold stuff.
-If a main character on the show is to die over the course of the season, who do you think it will be? As of right now I wouldn’t bet against anyone, but I feel Finn and Raven could be potential candidates. What do you think?
-Next week's episode is Jason Rothenberg's favorite so far... oh boy, we are up for a great time!
