The 100's second episode of its fourth season was pretty good overall. Following last week's excellent season premiere, the season's primary storylines were progressed in earnest, with some solid moments spared for character development. Ed Fraiman directed "Heavy Lies the Crown", which was written by Justine Juel Gillmer.
Polis was the center of proceedings early on in this episode, and I largely liked what I saw. Initially, Abby and Kane made things more official than ever, and were seen in bed together in one of the opening scenes. The pair worked together throughout, and featured in some of the more politically charged moments. In a rather unexpected moment later on, Abby gave away the ring her deceased husband wore in favor of effectively starting over with Kane - despite Kane earlier stating he had no problem with her wearing it. I'd have liked to have seen the ring remain with Abby for a couple more episodes, followed by a handover of sorts to Clarke. It wasn't the only example of a rushed piece of story that could have done with more hang-time.
What was handled much better was the interactions between Roan and Echo. The newly appointed but wounded Azgeda king spent much of the hour preparing for an impending challenge to his leadership. He and Echo sparred intensely at one point, which demonstrated in no uncertain terms that Echo is a highly competent fighter. Despite briefly ascending to the throne before Roan came to last week, Echo displayed strong, convincing loyalty and obedience, which enabled some fairly significant chemistry to come through, too. Of all the part-time characters this episode featured, Echo left a much better impression on me than everyone else. There's definitely potential for the role to expand in the future.
The threat to Roan's rule came via Ilian, a grounder whose life had been torn to shreds after he fell under ALIE's rule. The flashback to the defining moment in his decision to attempt to overthrow Roan played out in a brilliant flashback at the start of the episode. This was one of the hour's best moments, and it's fantastic to see that ALIE's influence hasn't been left behind completely. It also made me take Ilian's intentions far more seriously, even if his quest was cut short before it had really begun.
I'm here to ask you, one more time, to back down.
That was courtesy of Octavia. Sparingly, but very effectively used in this episode, Octavia, sporting a new, rejuvenated look, overheard Ilian conspiring with others who shared similar views. After attempting to have his plans railroaded through other more official channels, she tried once more to force him to stand down before assassinating him. Though his cause of death was later described as a heart attack, I found that very difficult to swallow. Poisoning would have been more believable than a stabbing through the ear going unquestioned as a heart attack. Nevertheless, Octavia continues to differ very much from the norm - as has always been the case since the early days.
The episode's B-plot was another example of things being far too rushed. In just a single episode, some of the teenagers created a plan to acquire a hydro-generator from the former Farm Station site. Bellamy led a five-strong party, which also contained Monty, Harper, Bryan and Miller. Including some snow in the more alpine environment was a nice change, but that wasn't enough to stop the Grounders ambushing the group, with a pass provided to them by Clarke the only thing preventing the body count climbing yet again. Inside Farm Station, the group found many Ark survivors being treated as slaves. One thing led to another, which led to the group deciding to blow up the hydro-generator in order to free the slaves. A handful were returned to Arkadia and reunited with their friends. With no hydro-generator left, at least the next part of the plot requires that be solved, but there were some opportunities that were missed that could have slowed the pace and deepened the story, just like how we saw the flashback of Ilian's time under the influence of ALIE.
Raven was fully engaged with repairing Alpha Station, which, it had been decided, would become the home for everyone during the impending nuclear meltdown. I'll interrupt to say that this is a really good, simple move. Simplicity was really important to me last week, and it is again this week. Jaha was right where I wanted him: on the fringes as an outcast. With volunteers in short supply, Jaha put himself forward and took the menial job he was given by Raven with grace. In last week's premiere, the big news was that the impending meltdown was to be kept secret, and I was looking forward to watching that play out, but that's been rushed and blown right out of the bag in this episode. At least it was done well, with Clarke and Raven agreeing to publicize the meltdown in order to motivate the people and crowdsource knowledge and resources. If this had happened next week or the week after, it would have been ideal, but rushing it through in the season's second episode wasn't good timing. Hopefully there's a payoff further down the line.
For Jasper, things continue to get weirder. His willingness to give up and die - as seen by his near suicide last week - is definitely cause for concern. That said, my patience is getting thin for the guy, but I get the feeling that his negative energies are about to be channeled in a better direction. If the showrunners hurry up with that aspect of the story, I wouldn't be lying if I said I would be supportive of it.
Though Clarke didn't leave Arkadia, and featured less than usual, she grew massively as a person in this episode. She supported Raven's attempt to repair Alpha Station, and she gave the speech to the crowd concerning the impending meltdown and the need for all hands on deck. However, most crucially, she gained a greater understanding than ever before about leadership thanks to a faceoff with Jaha in the episode's best scene. Jaha confronted Clarke about the materials that were being gathered, and demanded to know what was really happening to Alpha Station. Clarke held firm, but Jaha, in as few words as necessary, convinced Clarke right then and there of her next move:
I know the burden of keeping a secret you think is going to destroy your people.
You locked me up. You floated my father.
And now you understand why.
This was a truly fantastic exchange. Jaha - despite his many previous wrongdoings - is exactly right. Even his decision to bring ALIE into the fray was driven solely by the following line he gave Clarke seconds later:
We make the best decisions that we can with the information that we have.
The character isn't meant to be liked a hell of a lot, but Jaha definitely commands respect. It's hard to say whether Clarke sees herself in him, or vice versa, but either way the respect they have for each other has definitely increased. All Clarke needs to do now is say goodbye to the bitterness and resentment she has for him so she can take advantage of his knowledge. Jaha is now far less expendable in my eyes and Clarke's because of his potential as a mentor. Jaha's long game could then turn into regaining power as a third person because of his mentoring, but hopefully that's a long way off yet.
While not as good as last week's premiere, the character development - in particular Clarke and Jaha - along with others I haven't mentioned specifically made this episode pretty good overall. The propensity to rush the B-plots was a real issue for me though. The best television series are always spot on with their use of time and space to let things develop their own brand of intensity and suspense, but by dumping seemingly major parts of the story so willingly, The 100 loses a lot of potential to elevate itself among its competition.
Thanks as always for reading! My review was late thanks to a family holiday and moving house, but I hope you enjoyed it anyway. Don't forget to share your thoughts and theories on my thoughts and theories in the comments below, and I'll see you right back here in just a few days time!
