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The 100: The Four Horsemen

"One kill to prevent thousands... that's good politics."

Politicking and murder: the very best of friends. The 100 universe was basically built on and around the above quote.

In space people were constantly getting floated for even the tiniest of infractions in the name of saving resources for the rule followers. The teenagers were sent to the ground in the pilot to what was almost certain and very painful death on the off-chance that they would survive and give the other Arkadians a place to go when the air ran out. Grounders enforced their blood must have blood way of life to keep order. Everyone has a hand in bargaining with their people with murder.

We started with the 100 teenage delinquents being sent to the ground to test its viability. Now we are looking at a future where only 100 people can survive. Is this number going to be a running theme or are we staring down the barrel of what was always going to be the endgame? This might be the 100 that the title always referred to. As much as I don't want this to be the last season, if it is I have to admire the long game that was played here.

Murphy, Murphy, Murphy.... oh, how I've loved to hate you. No really. I despised this character and actively wished for him to fall off a cliff somewhere. I am as shocked as anyone to tell you, I'm enjoying him this season. Is it his affection for Emori that's softening me to him? He hasn't changed. He's still pretty selfish. He's still the ultimate survivor. Then again, maybe he genuinely was as upset as he seemed when that little girl died. Maybe it's the ambiguity that I'm responding to. Before he was more than willing to strong Charlotte up, I could only see him as horrible. Stealing drugs for the sick and being so honest with the girl he loves is a lot easier to watch.

You know who has changed? Raven. With all of the hardships that have been thrust on her and the ALIE upgrade, it's no wonder that she's changed. The girl deserves a medal and a nap but instead she's in charge of not playing fast and loose with the scarce resources. It was painful watching her say no to Abby, but not because I wanted her to give up the drugs. It's because I could see how much she hated doing it and I could see why she was saying no. I don't think Bellamy or Clarke even could've remembered that one day someone they care about and need to survive might need that medicine. Raven did. If she isn't on the damn list, I don't know who is.

It struck me as odd that last year fear sent Bellamy over the edge and a few seasons ago grief did the same to Finn. Both of those storylines had me worried for the characters almost immediately. Not Octavia, though. She is a straight-up assassin for hire, but she still has the presence of mind to rethink her plans when necessary. She is still loyal to those that she cares about and will fight for them above anything else. How many friends do you have that would volunteer to take on an army of angry looters instead of giving up your kid?

INDRA HAS A DAUGHTER. Whaaat? And Indra's biological daughter and quasi-adopted daughter meeting is like worlds colliding or something. An episode of the twilight zone. Or a sign of the end of the world, probably.

I am really liking this season. 3 out of 4 puddles of melted cultists.

Bits and pieces

Raven mentioned Niylah. Bet we see her again soon.

This week in things that I found entertaining but probably shouldn't have: Abby throwing shade like a teenager at Raven, while the latter held strong to the rules the way Abby used to on the Ark. Again, full circle. And Jaha's epic failure of a plan B. Was he ever good at this?

Did The 100 hire a new makeup artist or did Octavia steal some bomb face wash from one of the people she killed? She is looking even better this season than she did before.

What will Luna do now that the radiation won't kill her and she has no people to swim back to? Take the flame? Start a meditation club?

Octavia body count: one scapegoat.

Who the hell is on the list?

Clarke: "It's already here."
We are down to 2 months. 2 freaking months.

Raven: "Choosing who gets to live or die is your specialty."

"From the ashes we will rise."
So sad that the cultleader/doomsday guy was right about the impending apocalypse, but not smart enough to properly seal his bunker. Also sad that the people 'lucky' enough to make it to level 13 ended up in a giant puddle. You really can't win for losing in a post-apocalyptic world.

4 comments:

  1. This whole radiation plot is bumming me out. I'm not a fan of this sort of thing. Too depressing! But I'm liking the way Clarke and Bellamy are clicking as co-leaders. Octavia has gotten so incredibly cool, too. Poor Raven!

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  2. Good episode. The season is taking its time to build the story, but I’m enjoying it so far.

    I loved the explicit role reversal here, with the younger ones in charge and Abby and Jaha falling in line. I also like that Raven is equal in power to Clarke and Bellamy and gets to set some rules of her own. “Can you please remind Clarke what happened the last time Jaha went looking for salvation?” Lol.

    The episode was a good examination of how leadership can be demanding, especially under extreme circumstances. Raven needs to be strict with supplies, even if that means to let some people die. Clarke needs to choose who lives and who dies. There are no easy calls and those women are going to live with the tough choices they make.

    But here is the thing... The hydrogenerator is gone, there is no bunker of salvation, so it seems that Clarke will need to pull the lever again and kill to let live. But will she? I mean, been there, done that. Does the show really have to put more burden on Clarke’s shoulders? My guess is that they will find another solution. There has to be one. Otherwise, like Billie said, it’s just too depressing.

    Now, Jaha... what an odd idea of redemption he has. Is he on denial? How the hell is he so calm and full of philosophical crap? Are the writers making him the worst so that Bellamy looks better at redemption in comparison?

    INDRA HAS A DAUGHTER

    That was a jaw dropper. And the immediate family conflict, with Indra being the disappointed parent, was great. I hope Indra recognizes later the value of what her daughter chose to do.

    As of now, I’m not completely behind Octavia’s character development. She is a killer, ok, that’s dark, even Indra is worried. But I feel like there is something missing and I can’t quite put my finger at it. Maybe I want to see more emotional conflict, I don’t know.

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  3. Lamounier, maybe it's the emotional conflict that's missing so I'm not worried about her?? I'm not worried about the backlash or her redemption or how she will sleep tonight. I just sort of feel like I want her on my side if I'm ever in between a rock and a hard place.

    Also, my mind is sort of set on the fact that there will be another way. I mean it's episode 3. Surely there are more twists and turns before the end, right??

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  4. This season seems to unfold like I thought season 3 would before Pike entered the picture. With grounders and Skaikru working together mostly but of course with distrust and backstabbing where needed.

    That big puddle of melted remains (seriously gross and awesome all at once) in the bunker reminds us that there are no happy endings in this world, but then again the Nightbloods are descendants from Becca and she made herself immune to radiation to be able to survive on Earth via science. Let's hope they reverse engineer it and innoculate everyone (which would make Clarke the Commander finally possible too, yay).

    I also enjoyed Jaha going on to another of his holy quests. This time to advance to lvl 12 in a doomsday cult the fast way so to speak. :) When a doomsday cult is Your best chance at survival something must have went very wrong somewhere along the line. I love they at least entertained that option, but why is noone bringing up the shelter Murphy was locked in for 3 months. Maybe there is something there usefull like a water purification system.

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