The 100 2x12 Review
Feb. 18th, 2015 07:49 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
iariaRubicon
Wow, so that happened. I love this show.
Clarke
• Clarke has made a lot of tough decisions over the course of the show. Sometimes she's made the wrong decisions, sometimes her choices have led to death. This time, this decision, really was the pinnacle of all of that.
Lexa wasn't wrong. Clarke had plenty of chance to warn both Octavia and Kane and everyone else. She could have come into camp calling warning. Instead she kept quiet and told Lexa in private. It actually really reminded me of how young Clarke is. She was putting a lot of trust in Lexa, that Lexa would know the right thing to do.
"This is war Clarke. People die. You showed true strength today, don't let emotions stop you now." - Lexa. Yeah, I can see how this could get Clarke to follow. Clarke respects Lexa and she wants her respect in return. She trusts Lexa as a leader. And you know, was Lexa even completely wrong here? The Mountain men are her people's greatest enemy. They have been kidnapping and harvesting her people, turning them into reapers and are likely keeping the Grounder cultures from advancing to keep them in line. They've been doing it for a century and are now on the verge of being able to leave their mountain. That is a serious threat to the continue well being of all Grounders. To finally defeat them how much is that worth? It was a really difficult decision.
• I think if there had been a little more time things would have gone differently. Clarke did leave with Lexa but she also stopped in the woods. It's clear that Clarke spent the whole time they were escaping trying to figure out a plan on how to save everyone and... she did. Clarke's idea of finding the spotter was great and it could have worked. If they'd found him and killed him quickly and before he could give the mountain the coordinates then a) they wouldn't know where the send the missile and b) there would be no proof that there was a spy rather than him just being spotted.
If she'd come up with the idea during her ride to the village and taken say Octavia aside and set her search for and kill the spotter (would have been so awesome), or if instead of going for Abby she'd looked for him herself, if the missile had taken a little longer... there are a lot of what ifs. Including if Clarke hadn't seen Abby would she have continued with Lexa or would she have gone after the spotter?
• I have to say a part of me actually has a lot of respect for how TPTB played this out. They set up Clarke to go all dark!Clarke and having her deny her emotions and that would have played perfectly into the bombing. It could have shown just how dark dark!Clarke has gone, perhaps spurned her to reject that path and would have given the character a bit of leeway in responsibility. You could point to her and say 'well, she was all dark!Clarke when she made that decision'. Except Clarke never did end up going dark!Clarke. She's a little harder, maybe, but not really. So letting the missile hit without warning was all on Clarke.
• Clarke's greatest strengths as a leader were her loyalty and empathy, and her unwillingness to sacrifice people or leave them behind. It makes me sad to see that slowly being worn down over time. I have to admit that a part of me is really sad about Clarke's choice because I want her as this super awesome/competent/caring leader who people love and trust and follow. That's really all I want and it's what I've been getting. This is still her being awesome and complecated but this is definitely going to effect how others see her and how she sees herself. I adore her and this is a great character moment but I'm not actually looking forward to the fallout here.
• There is no way that this is going to be kept under wraps. It's going to come out that Lexa and Clarke knew about the missile, probably after the Mount Weather attack but it will come out, and there is going to be hell to pay. Prediction: this is how Lexa is going to die. The Grounders are all about 'blood for blood' so in a future episode the truth will come out and Lexa and Clarke will be sentenced to death for letting it happen. Lexa will accept it. She'll accept the consequences of her decision because it's her culture and their way. Clarke will not. Probably. But even if she does I really can't see the show killing her so she'll be saved somehow - perhaps banished, or kidnapped, or she's set free and runs away?
• While it worked out in the end (kind of) Clarke going to TonDC should have taken precedence over what was happening with the rest of the 100. Yeah, it sucks that her people were being killed but there was nothing she could do to stop it. The only way to save them was by getting them free. I think this ended up being foreshadowing for the end - Clarke has become so focused on saving her people from Mount Weather and the success of that mission that she's lost focus on the bigger picture.
Clarke/Raven, Clark/Abby, Clark/Octavia
• Clarke/Raven were fabulous. I really loved them. From the very beginning of the episode their relationship already felt more on solid ground then it has since Finn's death. Clarke was still pretty bossy but it was clearly because of her growing anxiety over the meeting and upcoming attack. Raven was less snappish and I think it was in large part because she realised that.
- "Hey. We'll be ready. We will." The way she said 'hey', so soft and caring, felt like their old friendship. I love that Clarke freaking out caused Raven to reach out.
- I loved that when Clarke gave them a set of semi-impossible orders and asked them if they could handle it Raven met Clarke's eyes and assured her "We can handle it." Clarke laid down a challenge and as always Raven was there to meet it head on. (And if we judge by previous episodes she will succeed.)
- "Hey. Don't get blown up." ♥♥
• I really loved Raven's complete belief in Clarke and that she would save the day, and her reassuring Bellamy but that just makes it worse. Like Clarke betrayed her again. And usually Raven would have completely right in her belief!
• This is going to have serious repercussions with all of Clarke's relationships but I'm most upset about the damage it's going to do to the one's with Raven and Bellamy. Bellamy is going to be super pissed since Clarke left his sister to die. That's going to cause a serious rift between them and the destruction of his trust in her. With Raven they'll only just reconnecting and like I said above this is going to be a betrayal.
Oh, and Octavia. They're not as close but I love their relationship all the same. I'm actually super annoyed with Clarke about this. Octavia is one of her people, one of the 100. It would have been very easy for Clarke to ask for Octavia before sneaking out and telling her to head back to Camp Jaha for some made-up reason, or order her to patrol the woods, or send her to the Grounder army with a made up order. Anything to get her out of camp, without alerting anyone else. Easy. To not do so, with Octavia, was unacceptable. I think of everything this was the biggest betrayal of trust.
• That Clarke/Abby scene at the end was really well done. Abby was completely right that Clarke had crossed a line. I loved Abby's line about the blood not washing off this time. I also loved that when Abby pleaded with Clarke to say that it wasn't her, that it was all on Lexa, Clarke didn't try and shift the blame to Lexa or otherwise remove her own responsibility for what happened. I love Clarke owning her decision.
Other
• If Clarke hadn't gone to TonDC to warn Lexa/everyone about the missile would it still have been sent? They were clearly waiting for her arrival so they could get all the leaders so it makes me wonder. Not that she ever could have known.
• So Finn massacred 18 'civilian' Grounders. Clarke has now allowed the death of countless more (including a number of sky-people). I'm kind of worried about the rest of the main cast. Who is going to be the next to orchestrate a bloodbath? At the moment I'm putting my money on Jasper.
• I loved Bellamy closing his eyes when Clarke said she was going to TonDC. I loved that his only question was about Octavia and her safety.
• "Grounders don't give up. We fight. Either you get up and we fight this or you crawl away and die like a coward. it's your choice." - Octavia. This was a really awesome moment. I loved her speaking to him in his language. I loved how she dealt with seeing Lincoln again.
• "A warrior doesn't mourn those she's lost until the battle is won." - Indra. For the first time I saw a bit of softness in her and it makes me want to see more.
• I loved Clarke having a Grounder guard. Now she just needs a second - clearly that's Raven. Who else? Raven has basically been acting in that capacity in many ways all along.
• I really liked this moment between Clarke and Kane:
"Clarke, being a good leader means knowing which battles to fight." - Kane
"And which to delegate, I know. Please I need you to go to TonDC." - Clarke
I liked him giving her advice on how to be a leader but in such a way that it didn't come off condescending. I love his acceptance of her as a leader and him agreeing to her plan. I loved her silent mouthed 'thank you' and his nod in acknowledgement.
• Okay, I'm sold on Emori and Emori/Murphy. Murphy's crush was adorable and they were just really lovely together.
• "Touch me again and I'll end you. [Jaha gives him a look] In a non-criminal way." - Murphy. LOL. I was a little worried about him joining Jaha on his quest but so far I'm loving it. And if this helps him to move past the shadow of his past mistakes and grow and change I'm all for it.
• I'm glad the show didn't kill off Harper but I don't understand why Dr. Tsing spared her if they were just going to kill whoever they took anyway.
• Okay, but serious: Clarke + horse = awesome.
• I was shaking me head so hard at Jasper shooting the guard in the bulletproof vest. Sigh.
• Clarke wasn't the only one making a dark decision. I totally understand them killing Dr. Tsing but that shot of Jasper, Harper and Miller expressionlessly watching her die from the radiation was so creepy. Monty was there but he was clearly affected, he had to look away. The others had no fucks to give.
Wow, so that happened. I love this show.
Clarke
• Clarke has made a lot of tough decisions over the course of the show. Sometimes she's made the wrong decisions, sometimes her choices have led to death. This time, this decision, really was the pinnacle of all of that.
Lexa wasn't wrong. Clarke had plenty of chance to warn both Octavia and Kane and everyone else. She could have come into camp calling warning. Instead she kept quiet and told Lexa in private. It actually really reminded me of how young Clarke is. She was putting a lot of trust in Lexa, that Lexa would know the right thing to do.
"This is war Clarke. People die. You showed true strength today, don't let emotions stop you now." - Lexa. Yeah, I can see how this could get Clarke to follow. Clarke respects Lexa and she wants her respect in return. She trusts Lexa as a leader. And you know, was Lexa even completely wrong here? The Mountain men are her people's greatest enemy. They have been kidnapping and harvesting her people, turning them into reapers and are likely keeping the Grounder cultures from advancing to keep them in line. They've been doing it for a century and are now on the verge of being able to leave their mountain. That is a serious threat to the continue well being of all Grounders. To finally defeat them how much is that worth? It was a really difficult decision.
• I think if there had been a little more time things would have gone differently. Clarke did leave with Lexa but she also stopped in the woods. It's clear that Clarke spent the whole time they were escaping trying to figure out a plan on how to save everyone and... she did. Clarke's idea of finding the spotter was great and it could have worked. If they'd found him and killed him quickly and before he could give the mountain the coordinates then a) they wouldn't know where the send the missile and b) there would be no proof that there was a spy rather than him just being spotted.
If she'd come up with the idea during her ride to the village and taken say Octavia aside and set her search for and kill the spotter (would have been so awesome), or if instead of going for Abby she'd looked for him herself, if the missile had taken a little longer... there are a lot of what ifs. Including if Clarke hadn't seen Abby would she have continued with Lexa or would she have gone after the spotter?
• I have to say a part of me actually has a lot of respect for how TPTB played this out. They set up Clarke to go all dark!Clarke and having her deny her emotions and that would have played perfectly into the bombing. It could have shown just how dark dark!Clarke has gone, perhaps spurned her to reject that path and would have given the character a bit of leeway in responsibility. You could point to her and say 'well, she was all dark!Clarke when she made that decision'. Except Clarke never did end up going dark!Clarke. She's a little harder, maybe, but not really. So letting the missile hit without warning was all on Clarke.
• Clarke's greatest strengths as a leader were her loyalty and empathy, and her unwillingness to sacrifice people or leave them behind. It makes me sad to see that slowly being worn down over time. I have to admit that a part of me is really sad about Clarke's choice because I want her as this super awesome/competent/caring leader who people love and trust and follow. That's really all I want and it's what I've been getting. This is still her being awesome and complecated but this is definitely going to effect how others see her and how she sees herself. I adore her and this is a great character moment but I'm not actually looking forward to the fallout here.
• There is no way that this is going to be kept under wraps. It's going to come out that Lexa and Clarke knew about the missile, probably after the Mount Weather attack but it will come out, and there is going to be hell to pay. Prediction: this is how Lexa is going to die. The Grounders are all about 'blood for blood' so in a future episode the truth will come out and Lexa and Clarke will be sentenced to death for letting it happen. Lexa will accept it. She'll accept the consequences of her decision because it's her culture and their way. Clarke will not. Probably. But even if she does I really can't see the show killing her so she'll be saved somehow - perhaps banished, or kidnapped, or she's set free and runs away?
• While it worked out in the end (kind of) Clarke going to TonDC should have taken precedence over what was happening with the rest of the 100. Yeah, it sucks that her people were being killed but there was nothing she could do to stop it. The only way to save them was by getting them free. I think this ended up being foreshadowing for the end - Clarke has become so focused on saving her people from Mount Weather and the success of that mission that she's lost focus on the bigger picture.
Clarke/Raven, Clark/Abby, Clark/Octavia
• Clarke/Raven were fabulous. I really loved them. From the very beginning of the episode their relationship already felt more on solid ground then it has since Finn's death. Clarke was still pretty bossy but it was clearly because of her growing anxiety over the meeting and upcoming attack. Raven was less snappish and I think it was in large part because she realised that.
- "Hey. We'll be ready. We will." The way she said 'hey', so soft and caring, felt like their old friendship. I love that Clarke freaking out caused Raven to reach out.
- I loved that when Clarke gave them a set of semi-impossible orders and asked them if they could handle it Raven met Clarke's eyes and assured her "We can handle it." Clarke laid down a challenge and as always Raven was there to meet it head on. (And if we judge by previous episodes she will succeed.)
- "Hey.
• I really loved Raven's complete belief in Clarke and that she would save the day, and her reassuring Bellamy but that just makes it worse. Like Clarke betrayed her again. And usually Raven would have completely right in her belief!
• This is going to have serious repercussions with all of Clarke's relationships but I'm most upset about the damage it's going to do to the one's with Raven and Bellamy. Bellamy is going to be super pissed since Clarke left his sister to die. That's going to cause a serious rift between them and the destruction of his trust in her. With Raven they'll only just reconnecting and like I said above this is going to be a betrayal.
Oh, and Octavia. They're not as close but I love their relationship all the same. I'm actually super annoyed with Clarke about this. Octavia is one of her people, one of the 100. It would have been very easy for Clarke to ask for Octavia before sneaking out and telling her to head back to Camp Jaha for some made-up reason, or order her to patrol the woods, or send her to the Grounder army with a made up order. Anything to get her out of camp, without alerting anyone else. Easy. To not do so, with Octavia, was unacceptable. I think of everything this was the biggest betrayal of trust.
• That Clarke/Abby scene at the end was really well done. Abby was completely right that Clarke had crossed a line. I loved Abby's line about the blood not washing off this time. I also loved that when Abby pleaded with Clarke to say that it wasn't her, that it was all on Lexa, Clarke didn't try and shift the blame to Lexa or otherwise remove her own responsibility for what happened. I love Clarke owning her decision.
Other
• If Clarke hadn't gone to TonDC to warn Lexa/everyone about the missile would it still have been sent? They were clearly waiting for her arrival so they could get all the leaders so it makes me wonder. Not that she ever could have known.
• So Finn massacred 18 'civilian' Grounders. Clarke has now allowed the death of countless more (including a number of sky-people). I'm kind of worried about the rest of the main cast. Who is going to be the next to orchestrate a bloodbath? At the moment I'm putting my money on Jasper.
• I loved Bellamy closing his eyes when Clarke said she was going to TonDC. I loved that his only question was about Octavia and her safety.
• "Grounders don't give up. We fight. Either you get up and we fight this or you crawl away and die like a coward. it's your choice." - Octavia. This was a really awesome moment. I loved her speaking to him in his language. I loved how she dealt with seeing Lincoln again.
• "A warrior doesn't mourn those she's lost until the battle is won." - Indra. For the first time I saw a bit of softness in her and it makes me want to see more.
• I loved Clarke having a Grounder guard. Now she just needs a second - clearly that's Raven. Who else? Raven has basically been acting in that capacity in many ways all along.
• I really liked this moment between Clarke and Kane:
"Clarke, being a good leader means knowing which battles to fight." - Kane
"And which to delegate, I know. Please I need you to go to TonDC." - Clarke
I liked him giving her advice on how to be a leader but in such a way that it didn't come off condescending. I love his acceptance of her as a leader and him agreeing to her plan. I loved her silent mouthed 'thank you' and his nod in acknowledgement.
• Okay, I'm sold on Emori and Emori/Murphy. Murphy's crush was adorable and they were just really lovely together.
• "Touch me again and I'll end you. [Jaha gives him a look] In a non-criminal way." - Murphy. LOL. I was a little worried about him joining Jaha on his quest but so far I'm loving it. And if this helps him to move past the shadow of his past mistakes and grow and change I'm all for it.
• I'm glad the show didn't kill off Harper but I don't understand why Dr. Tsing spared her if they were just going to kill whoever they took anyway.
• Okay, but serious: Clarke + horse = awesome.
• I was shaking me head so hard at Jasper shooting the guard in the bulletproof vest. Sigh.
• Clarke wasn't the only one making a dark decision. I totally understand them killing Dr. Tsing but that shot of Jasper, Harper and Miller expressionlessly watching her die from the radiation was so creepy. Monty was there but he was clearly affected, he had to look away. The others had no fucks to give.
