The 100 4x05 Thoughts
Mar. 2nd, 2017 06:42 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
iariaThe Tinder Box
I really enjoyed it.
Positive
• This was such a great Abby/Raven episode - the scene where Abby tells Raven she could die was sooo good - and for the first time I actually see the ship, because wow, they were ridiculously shippy. It was amazing. Abby's "okay baby" as she cradled a convulsing Raven and the way she gently stroked her as Raven woke up, plus the way Raven said 'Abby' when she opened her eyes had me going 'hmmm'. Then we got this and it pushed me over:
"It's a two-seater by the way. I drive, you cook, sound like a plan?" ... yes? I'm here for it. It's made so much more shippy by their body language. Raven taking Abby's hand to drag her over to the ship and then only letting go to put her arm around Abby's shoulder, and Abby responding to by putting her arm around Raven's waist.
Abby, who has been gung-ho about doing what it takes to save everyone, hesitates when it's Raven's life suddenly put in the balance. Raven has to tell her "Abby, you have to let me go." and she was so broken up about it!
• Not a favourite but... Abby is so dead. It hit me when Jackson pointed out that she was 'cured' of ALIE the same way as Raven and she refused a brain scan, and then her hallucination convinced me. I really honestly think she's going to die this season. I think Raven is going to be the fake out where you think she's going to die and then unexpectedly it's Abby. ):
• Raven was wonderful.
• I love Niylah. I didn't have a lot of feelings either way last season but I really loved her this ep and I'm now going to be super sad if she gets killed off. They have to let some of the Grounders survive till the end right? Beside her interactions with Clarke I enjoyed her scenes with Octavia and that she was instrumental in helping Octavia figure out where Ilian was.
• Last season I was neutral on Clarke/Niylah beyond loving the hard confirmation that Clarke was bi but they were wonderful here. It was great to see them on such good terms, if a little confusing considering how they left each other last season but I can infer them making up. The hug! I loved Niylah calling Clarke "my friend" and her getting Clarke to smile and reassuring her. Clarke making sure that Niylah's radio worked and Clarke getting Niylah's help with Octavia were also great. Then at the end with Clarke helping Niylah away from Ilian and her cupping Niylah's face and making sure to call someone over to help her when she needed to leave. You could really feel the affection the two of them had for each other. I wasn't expecting it at all but I would actually be fine with it if the show decided to resurrect Clarke/Niylah.
• I love take charge Clarke. As soon as shit happens she's triaging the problems and giving orders and basically taking over the situation. And everyone else stands back and lets her.
• I loved Clarke saving Octavia's life and the gentle way she was with her. Also how worried and upset Harper was over Octavia.
• I really liked Monty's little snarky cold-shoulder moment with Clarke but that as soon as trouble arrives he's back to working with her without any hint of it.
• I love how much more of a presence Monty has this season. I love him being at the centre of the planning meeting and that he and Clarke came up with the plan between them. I loved him walking unarmed into the Azgeda army to protect the peace. I loved him cradling Niylah in his arms. He was great.
• Octavia was great. I loved her warning Clarke (even though she was hovering on the edge of unconsciousness she made sure to get it out) and then as soon as she learned that Ilian was in the ship she forced Niylah to help her search the ship, even though she was injured, and did her best to protect her people.
• I loved the Clarke/Roan scenes. Roan's actually been leaving me cold this season, and I think it's more because he hasn't really been doing much, but apparently all I needed to be back on board was for him to be back in Clarke's orbit. I love their dynamic so much. I love the way they interact. I love that they talk to each other as equals, that they don't talk down to each other, that they understand and respect each other. I love him calling her out on her tribal mentality and that she actually listened to him. I loved that they always seem to be able to find a compromise/peace together.
I also enjoyed their attempts to one-up each other. Bows, guns!, well fine I have hostages beat that! And the Clarke does by talking and appealing to Roan as a person. I actually loved their little cave back and forth moment even more with Clarke being all 'I'd let my mom die to stop ALIE', and Roan trying to beat it with 'I helped to kill my mom for you'. lol, they're ridiculous. Though I'm giving this one to Clarke because that was hardcore (and they are super close) whereas Roan I think was willing to conspire to kill his mother more so he could be king more than to help Clarke (and I didn't get the sense they were all that close.)
• "We don't need to be happy, we need to survive." Sigh. Somewhere Jasper just went 'ugh Clarke'.
• I loved Clarke's expression when Monty told her about Bellamy being missing (and his look at her) and then her expression when she saw captive Bellamy (and his expression in return.)
• I loved that little moment where Bellamy slowly realises that Octavia could be alive.
• There were some wonderful moments in that last Arkadia sequence - the way Bellamy called out 'O', Clarke immediately going for Niylah and helping her, Niylah's concern for Octavia, Clarke sending Monty to Niylah, the way Monty held Niylah in his arms, Bellamy clasping Octavia in his arms, and the way Clarke and Octavia kept holding hands (!) as Arkadia burned down. I'm not sure what individual moment there was my favourite* because they were all really great little silent character moments.
*that's a little bit of a lie because Octavia and Clarke were holding hands, for so long, giving each other comfort, omg be friends please.
• I liked the Bellamy/Echo scenes especially their heart-to-heart during their forest trek. Also - "If you'd killed her these chains would be around your neck."
• "War made me a murderer." I liked this moment. I like that Bellamy has firmly accepted the wrong of what he did and is rejecting Jaha's philosophy on the situation.
• I was absolutely not expecting Arkadia to burn down going in, though Ilian slowly looking at the tech while left alone and forgotten made me go 'oh no', but it's a twist I loved. Honestly it's probably for the best because it only would have caused major issues later on. I'm with Roan on being skeptical that Skaikru would accept only 50 spots while giving the other 50 to Azgeda.
• The opening scene was great. I loved Raven floating and being so happy. It is so nice to see her smiling! I liked how the scene was shot. Abby/Jackson's relationship and clear love for each other is really nice.
Negative
There were a bunch of little things that bothered me.
• Sending Jaha to go search for Bellamy's hunting team makes no sense. He's an engineer who's best use is to finish fixing the ship whereas almost anyone else could have gone search for Bellamy.
• Bellamy thinking Octavia was dead got cleared up really quickly and it felt a little weird. Like, what was the point? It feels like it should have gone somewhere. As is if Roan and Echo hadn't told him it wouldn't have made a difference. I suppose this could be playing into his emotional arc this season but still I wish we'd gotten a scene between Bellamy and Kane on the way to Arkadia. Just a short one with them talking a little about Octavia's death and then it could have cut to Ilian bringing her into Arkadia.
• Riley being made one of the snipers also made no goddamn sense. He was part of Farm Station and then a prisoner of Azgeda for months. That alone disqualifies him by anyone sane. But then he also literally just arrived at Arkadia and there have to be better suited people. It would have made far more sense if Riley had listened in on the meeting (instead of being a part of it, why the hell was he even there?) and then stole a gun and followed them. Monty could have still seen him and things still could have played out the same way but without making anyone look dumb. Having the characters talk about how it was clearly a dumb idea doesn't help. Honestly I wonder if this storyline was meant for Bryan but then the actor left for another show and so they needed to switch it over to Riley.
• How the hell did Ilian manage to wander around the ship - collecting things, pulling a cart - without anyone stopping him? Where the hell are all those 500 or so people that live and should be working in there? I could maybe understand if we'd seen a lot of Grounders (probably Trikru) wandering around and helping before this because then they'd be used to seeing Grounders walking around. But it appears only Niylah is working with them. Also only weeks/months ago they elected Pike because of their fear and hatred of Grounders.
• Actually speaking of - how did Ilian get the materials to blow up the ship anyway? Did they have that stuff just sitting around unguarded for anyone to take? That seems very unlikely considering Raven's in charge of the supplies.
• Why wouldn't Octavia and Niylah put out the alarm and have more people looking for Ilian? Actually where the hell were all the people? Neither Ilian nor Octavia/Niylah ran into anyone else.
• I'm happy to accept it but I call bullshit on Octavia and Niylah surviving that initial explosion.
• Why was everyone standing around literally right outside the burning ship? I spent the end of the episode mentally screaming at them all. Get the fuck out of Arkadia! You can see it burning and blowing up into pieces just as easily from the treeline! You know, where the falling debris, exploding shrapnel and falling giant ship won't kill you! Dear god. Ugh. It was an emotional moment otherwise really well done but half ruined for me because I just could not stop thinking of them all being killed. We kept getting distance shots of the mayhem and then close-ups of everyone's reactions but they were right there! In the blast/debris zone! Maybe I didn't understand where exactly everyone was? They're fleeing Arkadia proper and the server room is right behind it in the large arcing piece of ship? But even if the 'main' bit of Arkadia is between the 'courtyard' and the exploding part they're not actually safe. Am I insane? It bothered me so much.
• Not a negative but I wonder how many people are going to end up dying from this? It has to be pretty large, right? I feel like someone has to die. I wonder if they'll use this opportunity to kill Bryan who's actor was apparently cast in another show.
I caught the preview for the next episode and I am so excited.
I really enjoyed it.
Positive
• This was such a great Abby/Raven episode - the scene where Abby tells Raven she could die was sooo good - and for the first time I actually see the ship, because wow, they were ridiculously shippy. It was amazing. Abby's "okay baby" as she cradled a convulsing Raven and the way she gently stroked her as Raven woke up, plus the way Raven said 'Abby' when she opened her eyes had me going 'hmmm'. Then we got this and it pushed me over:
"It's a two-seater by the way. I drive, you cook, sound like a plan?" ... yes? I'm here for it. It's made so much more shippy by their body language. Raven taking Abby's hand to drag her over to the ship and then only letting go to put her arm around Abby's shoulder, and Abby responding to by putting her arm around Raven's waist.
Abby, who has been gung-ho about doing what it takes to save everyone, hesitates when it's Raven's life suddenly put in the balance. Raven has to tell her "Abby, you have to let me go." and she was so broken up about it!
• Not a favourite but... Abby is so dead. It hit me when Jackson pointed out that she was 'cured' of ALIE the same way as Raven and she refused a brain scan, and then her hallucination convinced me. I really honestly think she's going to die this season. I think Raven is going to be the fake out where you think she's going to die and then unexpectedly it's Abby. ):
• Raven was wonderful.
• I love Niylah. I didn't have a lot of feelings either way last season but I really loved her this ep and I'm now going to be super sad if she gets killed off. They have to let some of the Grounders survive till the end right? Beside her interactions with Clarke I enjoyed her scenes with Octavia and that she was instrumental in helping Octavia figure out where Ilian was.
• Last season I was neutral on Clarke/Niylah beyond loving the hard confirmation that Clarke was bi but they were wonderful here. It was great to see them on such good terms, if a little confusing considering how they left each other last season but I can infer them making up. The hug! I loved Niylah calling Clarke "my friend" and her getting Clarke to smile and reassuring her. Clarke making sure that Niylah's radio worked and Clarke getting Niylah's help with Octavia were also great. Then at the end with Clarke helping Niylah away from Ilian and her cupping Niylah's face and making sure to call someone over to help her when she needed to leave. You could really feel the affection the two of them had for each other. I wasn't expecting it at all but I would actually be fine with it if the show decided to resurrect Clarke/Niylah.
• I love take charge Clarke. As soon as shit happens she's triaging the problems and giving orders and basically taking over the situation. And everyone else stands back and lets her.
• I loved Clarke saving Octavia's life and the gentle way she was with her. Also how worried and upset Harper was over Octavia.
• I really liked Monty's little snarky cold-shoulder moment with Clarke but that as soon as trouble arrives he's back to working with her without any hint of it.
• I love how much more of a presence Monty has this season. I love him being at the centre of the planning meeting and that he and Clarke came up with the plan between them. I loved him walking unarmed into the Azgeda army to protect the peace. I loved him cradling Niylah in his arms. He was great.
• Octavia was great. I loved her warning Clarke (even though she was hovering on the edge of unconsciousness she made sure to get it out) and then as soon as she learned that Ilian was in the ship she forced Niylah to help her search the ship, even though she was injured, and did her best to protect her people.
• I loved the Clarke/Roan scenes. Roan's actually been leaving me cold this season, and I think it's more because he hasn't really been doing much, but apparently all I needed to be back on board was for him to be back in Clarke's orbit. I love their dynamic so much. I love the way they interact. I love that they talk to each other as equals, that they don't talk down to each other, that they understand and respect each other. I love him calling her out on her tribal mentality and that she actually listened to him. I loved that they always seem to be able to find a compromise/peace together.
I also enjoyed their attempts to one-up each other. Bows, guns!, well fine I have hostages beat that! And the Clarke does by talking and appealing to Roan as a person. I actually loved their little cave back and forth moment even more with Clarke being all 'I'd let my mom die to stop ALIE', and Roan trying to beat it with 'I helped to kill my mom for you'. lol, they're ridiculous. Though I'm giving this one to Clarke because that was hardcore (and they are super close) whereas Roan I think was willing to conspire to kill his mother more so he could be king more than to help Clarke (and I didn't get the sense they were all that close.)
• "We don't need to be happy, we need to survive." Sigh. Somewhere Jasper just went 'ugh Clarke'.
• I loved Clarke's expression when Monty told her about Bellamy being missing (and his look at her) and then her expression when she saw captive Bellamy (and his expression in return.)
• I loved that little moment where Bellamy slowly realises that Octavia could be alive.
• There were some wonderful moments in that last Arkadia sequence - the way Bellamy called out 'O', Clarke immediately going for Niylah and helping her, Niylah's concern for Octavia, Clarke sending Monty to Niylah, the way Monty held Niylah in his arms, Bellamy clasping Octavia in his arms, and the way Clarke and Octavia kept holding hands (!) as Arkadia burned down. I'm not sure what individual moment there was my favourite* because they were all really great little silent character moments.
*that's a little bit of a lie because Octavia and Clarke were holding hands, for so long, giving each other comfort, omg be friends please.
• I liked the Bellamy/Echo scenes especially their heart-to-heart during their forest trek. Also - "If you'd killed her these chains would be around your neck."
• "War made me a murderer." I liked this moment. I like that Bellamy has firmly accepted the wrong of what he did and is rejecting Jaha's philosophy on the situation.
• I was absolutely not expecting Arkadia to burn down going in, though Ilian slowly looking at the tech while left alone and forgotten made me go 'oh no', but it's a twist I loved. Honestly it's probably for the best because it only would have caused major issues later on. I'm with Roan on being skeptical that Skaikru would accept only 50 spots while giving the other 50 to Azgeda.
• The opening scene was great. I loved Raven floating and being so happy. It is so nice to see her smiling! I liked how the scene was shot. Abby/Jackson's relationship and clear love for each other is really nice.
Negative
There were a bunch of little things that bothered me.
• Sending Jaha to go search for Bellamy's hunting team makes no sense. He's an engineer who's best use is to finish fixing the ship whereas almost anyone else could have gone search for Bellamy.
• Bellamy thinking Octavia was dead got cleared up really quickly and it felt a little weird. Like, what was the point? It feels like it should have gone somewhere. As is if Roan and Echo hadn't told him it wouldn't have made a difference. I suppose this could be playing into his emotional arc this season but still I wish we'd gotten a scene between Bellamy and Kane on the way to Arkadia. Just a short one with them talking a little about Octavia's death and then it could have cut to Ilian bringing her into Arkadia.
• Riley being made one of the snipers also made no goddamn sense. He was part of Farm Station and then a prisoner of Azgeda for months. That alone disqualifies him by anyone sane. But then he also literally just arrived at Arkadia and there have to be better suited people. It would have made far more sense if Riley had listened in on the meeting (instead of being a part of it, why the hell was he even there?) and then stole a gun and followed them. Monty could have still seen him and things still could have played out the same way but without making anyone look dumb. Having the characters talk about how it was clearly a dumb idea doesn't help. Honestly I wonder if this storyline was meant for Bryan but then the actor left for another show and so they needed to switch it over to Riley.
• How the hell did Ilian manage to wander around the ship - collecting things, pulling a cart - without anyone stopping him? Where the hell are all those 500 or so people that live and should be working in there? I could maybe understand if we'd seen a lot of Grounders (probably Trikru) wandering around and helping before this because then they'd be used to seeing Grounders walking around. But it appears only Niylah is working with them. Also only weeks/months ago they elected Pike because of their fear and hatred of Grounders.
• Actually speaking of - how did Ilian get the materials to blow up the ship anyway? Did they have that stuff just sitting around unguarded for anyone to take? That seems very unlikely considering Raven's in charge of the supplies.
• Why wouldn't Octavia and Niylah put out the alarm and have more people looking for Ilian? Actually where the hell were all the people? Neither Ilian nor Octavia/Niylah ran into anyone else.
• I'm happy to accept it but I call bullshit on Octavia and Niylah surviving that initial explosion.
• Why was everyone standing around literally right outside the burning ship? I spent the end of the episode mentally screaming at them all. Get the fuck out of Arkadia! You can see it burning and blowing up into pieces just as easily from the treeline! You know, where the falling debris, exploding shrapnel and falling giant ship won't kill you! Dear god. Ugh. It was an emotional moment otherwise really well done but half ruined for me because I just could not stop thinking of them all being killed. We kept getting distance shots of the mayhem and then close-ups of everyone's reactions but they were right there! In the blast/debris zone! Maybe I didn't understand where exactly everyone was? They're fleeing Arkadia proper and the server room is right behind it in the large arcing piece of ship? But even if the 'main' bit of Arkadia is between the 'courtyard' and the exploding part they're not actually safe. Am I insane? It bothered me so much.
• Not a negative but I wonder how many people are going to end up dying from this? It has to be pretty large, right? I feel like someone has to die. I wonder if they'll use this opportunity to kill Bryan who's actor was apparently cast in another show.
I caught the preview for the next episode and I am so excited.
