Let's jump straight in...
So we start with the teens exploring the wreckage of the Exodus ship. By the looks of it, I'd say that's the definitive end of this particular subplot. So long Diane, you were ... somewhat pointless all things considered, but I suppose her role was to provide a solution to the "conspiracy" mystery that was behind Bellamy's attempt on Jaha's life, and to lead most of the workers to their death. I wonder if the fact that only soldiers and technicians remain on the Ark is going to somehow prove an impediment to their collective survival later down the track.
Also of interest is that in the aftermath of the disastrous bridge summit, Raven at least is adamant that they all would have been killed if she, Bellamy and Jasper hadn't brought guns. It can't be denied that the Grounders also brought weapons, though perhaps it was simply for the same reason the teens did: to provide backup just in case their opponents proved untrustworthy. I suppose we'll never know the Grounders' real motivation (were they in good faith, or was it all a trap?) and so Bellamy's arguments win out over Finn's: all that matters now is that retaliation is coming.
It doesn't come in quite the way they expected, as after the teens back at Camp Drop-ship hear someone lurking outside the fence, they discover that a battered and bleeding Murphy has returned – and he's brought this week's plot device with him! Turns out he's infected by a virus designed to separate the main cast members from the red shirts and spare the former while killing off the latter.
It's also a pretty amazing in terms of the symptoms it produces (some teens bleed from their eyes, other just throw up copious amounts of blood) and the speed with which it passes (after killing off red shirts in a matter of seconds, the afflicted cast members who feature in the opening credits are back on their feet again after just a few hours).
So all this was very much an attempt to check biological warfare off their list of war-story tropes; more an acknowledgement that it exists than an attempt to explore its ramifications to any considerable extent. Yet before all this goes down, Bellamy and Finn once again butt heads. Bellamy wants to immediately kill Murphy for returning to camp, while Finn points out that if he's been with the Grounders he might have valuable information for them to share. And once again Clarke is put in the position of making the call. I know I've said it before, but this character set-up is so great.
So it's not entirely clear whether Murphy was telling the truth about his captivity among the Grounders – though he said that managed to escape and didn't know about the virus (which seems plausible enough) it soon becomes blatantly clear that he's carrying a grudge against the people who exiled him. As in, killing off anyone who had a hand in it.
On the sly, Clarke sends Octavia out to find Lincoln and press him for answers – or even better, an anecdote. Instead she only learns that the virus is to soften the battlefield for the Grounders to attack at first light. Wow, these guys are really something. They know they're up against a bunch of teenagers, right?
Octavia heads back to share the news, only for the virus to break quarantine and spread among the rest of the camp ground – and naturally a bunch of edgy teens armed to the teeth with automatic weapons respond to this exactly as you'd expect. Clarke gets her Big Moment when she silences them all with her own gunfire, only to promptly faint with sickness.
This means that all they can do is wait out the spread of the virus, and try to slow down the Grounders' advance. And interestingly enough, it's Finn who comes up with the idea of how they can achieve this: blow up the bridge. On the one hand, it's risky and destructive. On the other, it'll clearly save more lives in the long run. Finn hasn't quite compromised himself yet, but he's edging closer to that line. Come on, surely it's just a matter of time! I've no doubt that's where his character arc is going.
So after the tense-filled "will they won't they" sequence at the bridge, it's eventually blown sky-high (with at least a few Grounders on it). Rather ridiculously sky-high. Seriously, it looks like a nuclear explosion.
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| Are you kidding me. |
So as we head into the next episode the teens are doubly anticipating an attack from the Grounders, with Bellamy and Clarke at least convinced that all the adults on the Ark are dead.
They're not, surprisingly enough – but with the Exodus ship gone they're running out of air and resources. To be honest, none of this is particularly exciting (or makes much sense – how on earth did Jaha and Kane get that separated when they were in the exact same place before the explosion?) but once Kane has finished wandering around the dark empty corridors and collected a little group of followers who nobly help him shift props and bits of scenery so they can reach more survivors, they start discussing their options.
(Oh, and Abbie is still alive. Don't ask me how, something to do with a service bay).
Due to an accident in the meat-smoking hut that was almost certainly sabotaged by Murphy (though I'm glad they left it ambiguous), a group of teens head out to do some hunting. On the one hand, I want to make a snarky comment about how exactly kids that have grown up in space are going to fare with hunting – on the other, what choice do they have?
So out they all march, straight into a trap. Or at least Finn, Clarke and Red Shirt do.
It's time for another tried-and-tested Wartime Conundrum, in which a doctor is kidnapped by the opposite team in order to save the life of an enemy soldier with their comrade's life forfeit should they fail. All this has been organized by Anya, who shows Clarke a very young girl who is clearly dying of her wounds, informing her that it's her fault for the stunt they pulled on the bridge.
Because yeah, how DARE you injure someone on their way to murder you. The nerve!
Thankfully Clarke is allowed to respond to this idiotic sense of righteous indignation, but sadly it's not so much about the hypocrisy as it is the fact that a pre-adolescent child was taken into battle. Despite all of Clarke's mad scrambling, the girl dies and Finn is hauled away. But this at least leads us into the most interesting part of the scenario: Clarke is left with another Grounder who makes what feels like a genuine attempt to console and advise her. She stabs him in the throat to facilitate her escape.
Yeah, I honestly didn't see that coming, and judging from Clarke's expression – neither did she. And yet there's every chance that her questions about how many "kill scars" he had was a ploy to get him to expose some vulnerable skin around his throat, which means we're either looking at a Clarke who doesn't hesitate to kill when the opportunity arises (I won't say "kill or be killed" as it was clear she was in no physical danger from the Grounder) or is a lot more conniving than we've so far been led to believe. She even shushes him while he bleeds out.
Yikes. That was scary stuff.
Elsewhere, Raven and Finn are in that weird post-breakup calm in which all the tension has been drained out of their interactions, allowing them to demonstrate just how well they know each other. Which in turn has the adverse effect of making Raven all the more aware of her single woman status, leading to her propositioning Bellamy in his tent. And ... he goes for it. Man, just when I was starting to like him.
It all comes to a head when an escaped Clarke and the search party of Bellamy, Monty, Octavia and Raven look as though they're about to crash into each other (using that old Cut Apart editing trick), only for Clarke to end up dangling from a Grounder snare and the others to run into Red Shirt who is surprisingly still alive. Oh, and in a very LOST-esque twist, Monty sees something that causes him to utter: "oh my God," before his walkie-talkie fades out.
So we come to the penultimate episode of the season.
The surviving members of the Ark are getting ready to die with dignity, and in ways that suit them best: Kane wants to run through more simulations, Abbie has a patient to attend to, and Jaha has – well, not to give him too much of a hard time, but he's given up. And the thing is, he almost looks relieved.
So ironically, after Kane can't come up with any new ideas, and Abbie fails to save Symbolic!Clarke, it's Jaha who twigs to a solution after watching an old recording of Clarke and Wells: to fuse the Ark stations together and fly it back home. In lieu of any other plan (besides dying) everyone else agrees.
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| Aww. Thanks mini-Clarke and Welles! |
At this point, the events on the Ark and those on the ground feel like they belong to completely different shows. In the sky, there's still some semblance of order and civilization; on Earth things are getting more and more chaotic.
After getting recaptured by the Grounders, Clarke is privy to a little world-building: turns out that there is more than one tribe, and Anya's unit has just been taken over by a guy called Tristan, as ordered by someone referred to as "the commander." He's about to make short work of Clarke, when they're all distracted by a signal flare on the opposite hill. Apparently this has something to do with "Reapers", which if nothing else tells us that these writers have definitely watched Firefly.
If an enemy is wandering around with their face covered, it's bound to be because he's an ally in disguise – and sure enough, the Grounder who carted away Finn and who is left to dispose of Clarke is Lincoln. In many ways, Lincoln is this show's shining light, for he's the only one acting out of a sense of genuine altruism. Because no, I don't just believe this is all just for Octavia – because she's not even here to appreciate him rescuing Clarke and Finn, and he says himself that he doesn't agree with what the Grounders are going to do to a bunch of teenagers.
It takes real integrity to oppose your own people on matters of life and death, so I've suddenly become more invested in Lincoln's wellbeing. Seriously – where exactly does he get this mentality?
Meanwhile, Bellamy is getting more and more paranoid, while Murphy is still killing people left, right and centre. Surely the 100 should be about 38 by now, but at least Jasper walks in on the death of Miles; leading to the inevitable hostage situation.
Methinks Bellamy is better at handling situations than anticipating them. Every time he's tried to pre-emptively ensure or prevent something from happening, he's invariably made the situation worse. Yet when shit really does hit the fan, he keeps his cool, searches for solutions, and is even willing to put himself on the line to make sure of a successful outcome.
Unsurprisingly, Murphy is targeting the people who were responsible for his near-execution – and Bellamy is next on the list. After rigging up a makeshift noose with a seatbelt, Murphy forces Bellamy to put his head inside it, though luckily stops for an extended bit of evil gloating, allowing Raven and Jasper to open the drop-ship doors and let in reinforcements.
Yet Bellamy still probably had a better day than the one Clarke had: between realizing a tribe of Grounders are cannibals and having to hear the worst-timed declaration of love ever, she ends up back at camp just in time for an argument with Bellamy on whether they should stay or go.
And I was somewhat surprised that despite King Bellamy's stirring speech on how they all have a right to remain exactly where they are, it took only the less-impassioned insistence of Princess Clarke to get them unquestioningly moving out. I almost wish the teens had split up into two groups, each following a different leader – but it seems they're all sticking together for the time being.
Miscellaneous Observations:
I was amused to discover that my download for "I Am Become Death" featured advertisements for Labyrinth (you know, the Kate Mosse adaptation featuring Jessica Brown Findlay and Katie McGrath). Man, I had such a weird fascination with that miniseries. Maybe it's time to watch it again.
Best exchange of the episodes goes to Clarke and Octavia:
Clarke: Think of it as a way to stop her from sneaking out again.
Octavia: Screw you Clarke.
(Bellamy leaves)
Clarke: I need you to sneak out again.
This show gives its female characters some great lines. Also good was Raven declaring: "[the bridge] won't survive me," and (to Bellamy): "who are you to tell me what to do? Aren't you a janitor?" Bless.
We get a fair bit of world-building in these three episodes, with talk of more Grounder factions, including Reavers Reapers, Mountain Men, and a clan led by a woman near the Eastern Sea. So now we know beyond the shadow of a doubt that these writers have watched both LOST and Firefly.
Wow, Raven has a powerful set of puppy-dog eyes. When it came to her breakup with Finn she reminded me a lot of Lavinia from Downton Abbey – except in that case Lavinia rolled over and obediently died when she realized she was standing in the way of Matthew's happiness with Mary. I hated the way that was written, and though I hate to unfairly compare the two characters, I'm glad Raven is more of a fighter. She knows what she does and doesn't deserve.
Jasper's mini-plot about how his newfound fame goes to his head and results in an estrangement with his best-buddy has only been done a million times before – but hey, it was still cute when Monty turned up at the bridge with the artillery he needed to make the shot.
Most disturbing shot of the three episodes would have to be Murphy smothering Conner to death while Raven slumbers peacefully in the foreground.
Perhaps it looked a little fake, but I still loved the design for the mutated horse.
Full speed ahead to the season finale!
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