One of the things about television is that any series has its ups and downs. Even the very best. There's always a few episodes that don't quite hit the mark, and they often stick out like sore thumbs if they come on the back of a blindingly good last handful.
When this phenomenon occurs in television series that's considered to be around the middle of the road, a low can hurt a series quite badly, while a high can give the best of its genre a serious run for their money. In a top tier series, lows happen less often to begin with, and the highs produce television nothing short of incredible.
CW's The 100 is without a doubt on a high at present. Last night's episode, titled "Resurrection", is one of the series' finest to date, delving deep into the darkness bubbling away in the characters' souls. It was writer Bruce Miller's fourth stint with the pen, and director Dean White's seventh episode at the helm.
The hour kicked off with a beautiful shellshock sequence that picked up proceedings seconds after the final moments of last week's episode, in which we saw the missile launched by President Cage Wallace, impact the Grounders village. I knew immediately that this would be something special as soon as a woman holding her left arm in her right hand stumbled out of the trees and collapsed. The white horse was a powerful piece of symbolism too (more on that later). It wasn't long before a more coherent Lexa came to shake the shock out of Clarke, and right at that moment, it was clear revenge was the only thing on their minds.
This was the catalyst for a solid set of scenes at ground zero that really made the most of the time on screen they were given. With Clarke and Lexa vacating the area for their own safety thanks to their advance knowledge, triage was left up to Abby, Octavia, Niko, and Indra, with Lincoln also lending a hand for a time. The team spent a lot of time pinned down by a sniper, who took several lives before being confronted by Lincoln and killed by Clarke. However, of equal concern was the whereabouts and well-being of Marcus Kane, who ended up at the bottom of a sizable pile of rubble, as displayed beautifully - and gruesomely by director Dean White as the camera descended past piles of rubble and bodies to where Kane was trapped by large pieces of concrete.
Somehow, Abby made it down to Kane, but her rescue attempts didn't get far as a cave-in put a stop to that, trapping her in the process and further injuring Kane. While the two managed to hold on until their rescue, the time they had to talk was put to fine use by writer Bruce Miller, as we watched Abby's horror at admitting her daughter was aware of the impending carnage, only to hear from Kane that he stood by Clarke's actions, and compared her reasons to the parallels they faced on board the Ark.
With the coverage the creative team gave to ground zero, it's amazing they had the time to produce an equally compelling and dark series of events inside the infamous Mount Weather. What ensued was the long awaited uprising by the remaining 40 or so captives, with Jasper leading the charge through a series of wonderfully dark and gruesome events. With Monty's electrical expertise and Bellamy's diversions, the remaining teenagers barricaded themselves in their quarters, and ambushed Wallace's men. They took them to the cleaners with scenes reminiscent of a zombie massacre, but they made a big mess, and it was Jasper who engaged in the darkest act of the night, as he drove an axe through a badly wounded guard, putting him out of his misery. We learned a bit more about Maya for the first time since the character was introduced in the season 2 premiere. Maya and her father live together, but they told a tale of a defiant past which took the life of Maya's mother. Maya did her bit to assist Bellamy, but was captured later in the piece and forced to wear a hazmat suit with a limited oxygen supply. Fortunately for her, it was Bellamy who came to her rescue saving her life.
The Mount Weather soldiers didn't give up, but when they returned more determined for a victorious round two, the remaining teenagers were nowhere to be found. Though they haven't escaped the mountain just yet, Bellamy and Maya had managed to find some allies among the mountain's occupants, who wasted no time hiding the teenagers away. "Stay alive, be ready to fight" were Bellamy's last words to Jasper and Monty, as Bellamy left to resume his role undercover. "War is coming."
Though Clarke and Lexa avoided the missile strike, they didn't avoid the camera. The duo have grown closer and closer as their respective colonies have come to rely on them for leadership. Eliza Taylor delivered one of her finest performances in the series to date, with her eyes playing a huge part in the portraying the unmistakable emotions of a warrior committed to the impending battle.
The white horse shown in the opening seconds was fleeing the carnage, but a white horse in ancient mythology is a symbol of warrior-heroes, and its tangent, Pegasus, a symbol of power, speed, and for the ability to turn evil into good. That is exactly what Lexa's Grounders, and Clarke's Sky People, need to see in their leaders as they prepare for the impeding war. In the final few minutes, Abby gave her blessing to her daughter to go to war. She has watched her daughter grow as a person, as a warrior, and as a leader. She has finally conceded that now is her daughter's time to become a white horse, to become Pegasus.
The hour came to a close with Abby and reinforcements from Camp Jaha carrying the wounded to safety, while Clarke and her comrades - Lexa, Lincoln, Octavia and Indra, set off for Mount Weather. With just one more episode until the two part season finale, the time has well and truly come for the evil inside Mount Weather to be destroyed. The 100 is in the top tier, and it is definitely enjoying a high. Lastly, congratulations are in order for the set designers and wardrobe team, who did a fantastic job as always in their respective roles.
Thanks so much for reading! Check out the promo for next week's episode of The 100 here, and read the press release here. Your thoughts and theories on the episode are always welcome in the comments below. You can also follow The 100's ratings on my TV ratings website, www.seriesmonitor.com/the100.
