After a very dark episode last week, last night's episode of The 100 introduced some much-needed hope into the equation, despite there being just ten days until the nuclear fallout. Omar Madha directed the appropriately titled "God Complex", which was written by Lauren Muir.
The lab dominated proceedings in this hour, and rightly so, as the subplot concerning a cure for radiation exposure reached an intense and unexpected climax. For the first time since they arrived, all the characters were "awake" and, as a result, a much more dynamic and unpredictable series of events took place.
First up was Bayliss, the dude that was caught inside the house by Emori and Murphy last week, met a grisly demise, even by The 100's standards. As he lay apparently sedated inside the chamber, all appeared well as the radiation levels were ramped up, but thinks took a hasty turn as his skin broke out with large welts and black blood gushed from anywhere it could. Seconds later, Bayliss was dead, and Abby's first live test was deemed a failure.
Some solid continuity followed, as Emori's late remark last week that Bayliss wasn't who she had portrayed him to be resulted in karma coming back to haunt her in spectacular fashion. It was this part of the story that was my favorite and gave me the most satisfaction, especially given that I'm not a huge fan of Emori for starters.
Murphy wasn't spared for his part in the deception either, and soon both found themselves fastened to the rocket while Clarke, Roan, Jackson, Abby, and Luna pondered what to do next. Eventually, a consensus was reached, and Emori was booked for a jab from Abby.
First we survive, then we find our humanity again.
Richard Harmon had another great outing in front of the camera here. His role doesn't usually demand a lot of animation and agitation because it's not in Murphy's nature, but things were getting serious for Murphy, who was about to potentially lose the love of his life, though Clarke had to say something about that.
This stint at the lab has been the source of significant growth for the series' leading character. It's amazing how her moral compass has been neutralized throughout this testing process, especially given its similarities to the Mount Weather occurrences - something I discussed last week, and Raven mentioned this week. Ultimately, when her mother couldn't dehumanize Emori enough to jab her, Clarke took the syringe and faltered at the same hurdle, instead jabbing herself instead.
Welcome to Mount Weather.
The lab left things on somewhat of a cliffhanger. Abby, having been unable to jab Emori, may have been regretting that somewhat as she couldn't fathom allowing her daughter to undergo the radiation test. So she smashed the chamber, meaning her newly developed cure can no longer be lab tested, and its second trial will be for real, with no control for the amount of radiation Clarke is exposed to - a luxury the damaged chamber provided.
Arkadia featured less prominently than it has done in a while. The return of Niylah was about the only highlight, even if her appearance was a dud, with nothing productive coming from it aside from a blessing on the bodies of some of those who perished in the black rain last week.
After his absence last week in which his girlfriend had a rough experience with the realities of black rain, Monty was back last night, comforting Harper before departing for Polis with Jaha and Kane. Jasper's continued bizarre behaviour finally received some justification as he led Bellamy on a wander outside the confines of Arkadia, and revealed why he had adopted his present attitude to life.
Though I don't have a lot of time for Jasper in general, his wee stint with Bellamy about this was fascinating, and one of the highlights of the episode from my perspective. The crux of it was that Bellamy and most others had been piling baggage onto their shoulders in the wake of tough decisions which haven't panned out the way they hoped.
At the end of the world, nobody gives a damn about your reasons. No matter how much you punish yourself, it's not gonna change anything. It's not gonna bring anyone back.
The way I see it, we can spend our last days wallowing in our reasons, or we can do whatever the hell we want!
What's important for Bellamy to remember - and I'm not sure he truly understands this - is that Jasper's coping mechanism isn't entirely correct, but neither is his own coping mechanism. There is room for both in dealing with the things he is struggling with - and the same could be said for Jasper, who has become burdensome and unproductive - proven by the fact that he nonchalantly left Arkadia minus black rain survival equipment, forcing Bellamy to follow him to provide that protection.
When the pair returned to Arkadia, a party was in full swing, and just for a moment, you could see Bellamy become carefree again, particularly as he allowed the advances of an intoxicated girl.
Meanwhile, Jaha, Monty and Kane were in the middle of their own expedition to Polis, where Jaha had hoped to locate a twelfth Second Dawn bunker which would provide shelter for the population once the radiation arrived. I can't say I've missed Indra over the last few weeks, and wasn't particularly blown away by her or her daughter's involvement this time around.
Though things started off at a higher than normal level intellectually, with Jaha proposing a team comprised of thinkers, not fighters, the whole thing descended into a cliché-ridden fiasco when the stealth approach was blown immediately, then the special coin that Jaha had recovered from the previous bunker had to be burned to reveal the magic key that would open the secret trapdoor located directly under a temple. We have a new bunker which should be adequate for a sizable population to ride out the radiation, but its reveal was badly underdone given its supposed importance to the story. Anyway, I'll adopt Jasper's approach to handling this, and tell myself that it's happened, it can't be changed, and I should just let it go and move on.
Overall, despite a fuller cast than usual, the juicy subplot in the lab was let down by a dud Polis subplot and limited material at Arkadia even though Harper and Monty, and Bellamy and Jasper made for good viewing. Octavia and Iliyan were absent this time round, but Niylah could have been scratched in favor of an appearance by them, especially given what happened between the pair last week. The more hopeful tone which was present throughout was a nice change. Omar Madha's directing was notable, and there were patches of decent cinematography, but the wow factor was about as present as Octavia in my opinion, and it was needed given the radiation is just ten days away. Hopefully things will pick up again when The 100 returns in four weeks - yes, four weeks.
Thanks as always for reading! Don't forget to share your thoughts and theories on this episode and on my review in the comments below. See you right back here for the first of the season's last five episodes on April 26.
