Friday, May 5, 2017

The 100 Die All, Die Merrily



To say this may be one of the most consequential of episodes might be an understatement. All along we were told that this was going to be a big one, and that we were going to say goodbye to some people. Well that turned out to be the case, and as blood drenched and climactic as it was, there was a twist at the end that I'm not sure anyone saw coming. I know that I didn't. In fact it was so shocking that I feel like it detracts from everything they accomplished in the episode to that point. And let's be clear it was an amazing episode, and a tour de force for Marie Avgeropoulos as Octavia. Spoilers for this episode of The 100. 

So it's time to fight. The grounder clans and Skaikru each get a champion to represent them, and the winner gets to claim the bunker for their people. Why is the bunker so important? Well, other than the looming threat of Praimfaya (aka radiation storms that will kill everyone), it's not important at all! But the bunker represents the last chance for humanity, and as we saw last week, King Roan has called for a conclave- a tournament of champions- to determine the issue. And it just so turns out that Skaikru's champion is- Octavia. Yes the same Octavia who was almost killed by Echo and then fell off a cliff- she's apparently the best warrior they have. Although Indra did train her- so maybe she is! 

So this was done well. It was gritty and violent and the bulk of the episode showed us twelve champions fighting for all the marbles. I was surprised how violent it was given that it's on the CW- but they did warn us it was going to be a bloody affair. And we knew we were going to lose somebody, or possibly several somebodies- and man did we ever. Luna is fighting, as is Roan and Octavia, and Ilian as well. So we have four major characters as well as some other nameless clan champions, fighting it out in the streets of Polis. And there can be only one.

Shannon and I were talking about what a badass Luna was, looking back at that episode last season where Clarke tried to force her to take the chip and Luna pretty much mopped the floor with Clarke. Here her fighting skills are on full display, and she's a one- woman wrecking crew. And she's on a mission too... if she wins, she wants NOBODY to be safe. She's a force for nihilism at this juncture. I thought the fight scenes were mostly done well, and it was inspired to have this play out in a ruined Polis, with garbage fires burning and even the dreaded black rain falling at one point, to make things worse. The city at this point is almost a deathtrap itself, with the alleys and hiding places galore. 

To make it worse, someone is cheating. Hard to believe, I get it. Someone is shooting people with arrows and Bellamy realizes someone is helping one of the clans- turns out to be Azgeda who is getting a bit of assistance. Echo, as always, is up to something- but Roan was unaware of it, and when Bellamy exposes her Roan banishes Echo. He won't be dishonored by her treachery. You know, speaking of Roan, I liked him here- he wants to win fair and square, and even though he irritated me when he told Clarke off, I was sad to see him go. And yes- Roan is no longer with us. Taken out by Luna, in a brutal fight in the rain, just after he and Octavia agree to an alliance to take Luna out. Because no one can stand against her alone, apparently. 

Setting aside that nonsense, between the carnage and Echo's sniping we soon get down to just Octavia and Luna. Luna's hurt by now but still tough- and Octavia plays it smart, taking her out with a bit of trickery. I was surprised at how Octavia had been built up to be the badass warrior and yet here she avoided most of the fighting- which was smart, and was what Bellamy told her to do- but I thought she would have fought a bit more. But then she might not have made it frankly- it was the smart thing. It might not be a big shock that Octavia walks away although I was shocked that the other three characters- Luna, Roan and Ilian- bought the farm. Yes- we lost all of them. I wasn't expecting that. I thought Luna would make it, and/ or that Roan and Octavia would find a way. Nope. 

It was powerful, and at one point Indra tells Kane that if Octavia wins then they would see what she's really learned- not just her fighting skills, but who she is and what she represents. And for all of her embracing the warrior role, she shows at the end that she represents the best of Skaikru- announcing that as victor she won't just save Skaikru, but that all the clans will be saved. Notwithstanding the space limitations, she's determined that all clans will have a place in the bunker. Unfortunately... Clarke and Jaha apparently have other plans. Yup- after Octavia's hard fought victory, the twist- Clarke and Jaha have sealed the bunker, with Skaikru inside. Screw you Grounders! And apparently Kane and Octavia as well, since they're like, still alive you know. So even if Clarke and Jaha didn't have faith in Octavia winning, are they seriously just sacrificing Kane? I don't see that. 


Random Thoughts

You could feel the tension with Bellamy and Kane as champions fell and the candles signifying their clan were extinguished. When the first two went down Bellamy was so afraid one might be Octavia- the guy has to stand by while his sister fights. And I felt for Indra as well when the Trikru champion went down.  

I was surprised that Octavia didn't come to Roan's aid when Luna was killing him. And disappointed frankly. Also, sorry to see Roan go. He was a stellar addition to this season. 

 Ilian- we barely knew thee. A guy who lost it all thanks to Becca/ ALIE, came back to save Octavia, and to go out how he did- an arrow through the neck- that was tough. I've been a little hard on Ilian this season, not always seeing the point of his character, but he won me over here- not only saving Octavia's life when she was outnumbered three to one, but he died well- and that's what a Grounder would want. 

The best moment for me might have been Bellamy and Roan. Roan said that he would tell Octavia how lucky she was to have a brother like Bellamy before he killed her, and Bellamy's response? " You tell her I was the lucky one". 

The twist. We didn't see much of Clarke after the beginning, when she has words with Roan- and how much did that affect what she did?- but man at the end, when Bellamy asks Clarke how she went along with their plan, and Jaha tells him it was her idea. That hurts. Who would have thought Clarke and Jaha? Does every season have to push Clarke that much further along? What will be left of Clarke at some point? 

16 comments:

  1. I haven't watched this film. Totally new to me. But I'm curious about it. Really curious. I'm googling it right now. Haha.
    I haven't watched many films and movies. I've never been a big fan of them butI used to watch a lot more than I do now.
    Thanks for the review, Greg. Awesome! :)

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    1. It's a fun show if you ever get a chance to check it out. :)

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  2. I haven't watched The 100 yet. (I mean, I have a Google Play coupon and I'm considering Netflix for the summer, but eh, I don't know.)

    I'm really glad you enjoyed the episode, Greg. ^^

    ~Sophia @ Bookwyrming Thoughts

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    1. Oh you gotta try it! It's fun to binge, but you have to get the first few episodes before it really gets going.

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  3. The more I read your recaps the happier I am that I stopped watching! LOL

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    1. Oh no! You're NOT watching? lol but at least you're not agonizing over the plot twists. :)

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  4. I was flipping through Netflix and realized they stream this series. I never know what to watch, but I'm going add this to the list. :)

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    1. It's a lot of fun, just be patient with the first few episodes as they take a few to get going and it seems all teen angsty at first. And it has lots of characters you'll love and maybe hate and then love again!

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  5. Gahhhhh this episode. I am in love with it, I think. And then I also kind of hate it but in the way that you KNOW it is an amazing episode because it ripped your heart out and stomped on it but for a good reason? Yeah that is where I am.

    So. I feel you with O and Roan- I thought that too. But after thinking about it for awhile, I realized that she KNEW they'd both die- plus she did try to get him to run too, he just wouldn't (I talk about this in my recap which I am writing now- or, wrote last night, vowed I would not make 2373 GIFs for, but... am currently making 2373 GIFs for....)

    But YES you are so right about Roan- he is SO fair here. Like.. I am kind of devastated that we won't see more of his reign, because I think that he was a good, fair leader. Not as much of a visionary as Lexa, but at least fair and honest and strong.

    And I did NOT think I would be as moved by Ilian's death as I was. Holy crap. I agree, I was not a huge fan of him during the season, but both the actor AND the character were phenomenal in this episode. And I fully believe that his being there was for Octavia, and Octavia alone- at this point he basically gave zero fucks about fighting for Trishanakru, he'd made that clear. Which made it all the more heartbreaking. GAH. This episode, I cannot.

    Fabulous recap though- you were far more succinct and readable than I was, I... ramble and then throw in too many GIFs so it should be up in like... 3 weeks? (Kidding, I am literally not sleeping until it is done. I realized it is more fun to do the recaps early because then we get to ruminate on them and make incorrect predictions while we wait for the next episode ;) )

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    1. I know?? I watched it TWICE and I never do that! And yeah as I thought about it- there was no way she could fight in the black rain, and Roan just stayed out there. And yes he wasn't having any of Echo's bullshit. Did she look bad though in that mask? Loved that!

      I am going to miss Roan big time. Ilian not so much, but he did win me over (and saved O's bacon). I agree though, I think he was there for Octavia- he basically told her when he came in that room that he wasn't going to fight her. And to catch an arrow like that- I wanted someone to off echo at that point.

      Thanks! I had to write it pretty quickly after the episode, I was just all jambled. Your GIF's rock though so the wait will be worth it- looking forward to what you come up with. And yes we must discuss at length! I was surprised how much the bunker reveals remind me of Mt. Weather. How big is that place? And losing Roan AND Ilian AND Luna- although when did she become Terminator? I mean it WAS a bit much. Also... I'm starting to see why Clarke did what she did (isn't that awful- I almost don't want to admit it) but... when Roan rejected her alliance and she admitted that she didn't think O would win- she must have felt she had no choice? I still don't like it though. And Jaha's probably all like "she has potential" lol!!!

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    2. Yeah I am seriously considering watching it again because it was THAT GOOD. And YEP- I will miss Roan a LOT- especially his banter with Clarke and his snarky looks shared with Echo. She was so devastated when he died, even though he'd banished her. Maybe it'll soften her up a bit? And Ilian won me over in the end too. I will miss him, and I never thought I would.

      AW thanks!! That makes me feel slightly less ridiculous for spending ALL the time making them ;) My goal, in the hiatus, is to make some of those cool artsy ones like on Tumblr but spoiler: I am not artsy haha.

      DYING @ "Jaha's probably all like 'she has potential'" because YES! I seriously bet he is! And let's be real- Jaha is the actual king of shitty decisions, so I don't know WHAT this means. You are right- the bunker IS Mt Weather-y- I guess it kind of has to be to work, but still. I bet they used a lot of the same set parts hahahha.

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    3. If they spend a lot of time in the bunker and it has all these passages like Mt. weather I will be so happy- they need a lab to experiment on Grounders though. I probably won't get my underground tunnels with cannibals but hey, I can try... Jaha's like one of these fanatics, like when he got the whole bunker thing in his head and now they have it. He's probably going to try to make some utopia out of it. Same with CoL- he HAD to find it. It's almost like he thinks of himself as some messiah- like figure- and poor Clarke just wants to save everyone. She's in over her head against Jaha the high priest of bullshit- but in the close quarters of th bunker he can't get away with TOO much. Right???

      I'm not artsy so don't feel bad. Some of that Tumblr stuff... man.

      Watching it again was TOUGH. Especially Ilian and Roan. And yes I LOVED how he would look at Echo sometimes- like he valued her loyalty but her WTF-ness drove him nuts at the same time? And he and Clarke did have a nice dynamic. I seriously think the show is going to miss him.

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    4. GAH I want tunnels toooo. True story, I have always wanted an old house with like, secret passages? So this would be perfect. If there are cannibals, can we offer up Jaha as the first sacrifice? And then Riley? Maybe Riley first, tbh. He IS going to die, right?

      You are SO RIGHT about Jaha thinking he is some kind of messiah. You know- when he ended up surviving the missile launch he kept telling people (esp. Kane) that he had this "reason for living" and I think you have nailed it- he DOES think there is some divine reason other than just dumb luck.

      Clarke is in wayyy over her head. Jaha probably is trying to form... Jacult (Jaha Cult, of course) down there, and who KNOWS what he is going to try. I mean, last time he got someone quasi-reasonable to agree with him... everyone ended up chipped and killing each other. I hope you're right and he is stopped. I am SO over Jaha the villain!

      I think Roan is a BIG loss for the show. I mean, I get it, but... it's kind of huge. He was the only male leader really (because let's face it, Clarke IS in charge, no matter how many times Kane calls himself Chancellor), and I kind of liked that there was that dynamic. And frankly, I just like his character's dry sense of humor and snarky looks haha. He will be missed for sure.

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    5. Yes to tunnels! The Reapers were scary AF and I loved that whole dynamic. And yes Jaha would be a wonderful sacrifice. He might even understand since he thinks he's some kind of mystical leader. And Riley... obvs he has to go! And I rolled me eyes SO much when Jaha survived both on the Ark, and then on the missile launch. I was like, seriously? S4 is actually the closest I've come to liking him... and then they pull this shit.

      Jacult... love that. I don't think he can imagine giving up power so he always would have to be watched carefully, would always probably be plotting. And if they could get off the villain shtick he could be so much more cool. Let's hope they do that!

      Roan is a loss. Interesting that both shows I've seen him on have offed him. But he had the snark...

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  6. I've been reading some awesome reviews about I Found You, including yours, so now I really want to read it. I hope you have another great reading week!

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  7. AH, this was an amazing episode and I already want to watch it again. But then I also don't, because it was tough losing so many characters. Especially Roan, who was a snarky, but fair leader and I will miss him and his friendship with Clarke. But I'll also miss Luna and Ilian, even though I didn't love them as characters, I still thought they were super interesting and well-developed.
    I so didn't see the twist at the end coming and part of me still can't quite believe it. I mean, did Clarke really think Bellamy would be okay with leaving Octavia out there like that? And what about Abby? We didn't see her so I'm not exactly sure where she is, but I assume she's in the bunker. Would Clarke really seal it off with her mom still out there? And if she is in there, I don't quite believe she would leave Kane out like that either. So lots of questions still for the next episode.
    Oh and Octavia really was the best of Skaikru here. I've always loved her, but this episode especially was her chance to shine.

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