Saturday, January 30, 2016
The 100, Season Three, Episode Two: Wanheda: Part 2
Lexa is back. I for one am not overly excited about this given that the last time we saw her, she was breaking her agreement with Clarke, thus forcing Clarke to make an impossible decision. Yeah, I'm old fashioned and want Clarke to settle down with a nice girl. I'm totally team Niylah. Don't mind me, I know I'm in the minority. I really should have seen this coming, particularly given that when Roan had the chance to hand Clarke over to the Ice Nation, he chose to hide her.
Okay let's start back at the beginning. The crew is out searching for Clarke having learned from Indra that Clarke is in danger. They follow the trail but end up in an ambush and are quickly over powered by you guessed it, their own people. It seems that the ark people that they were looking for have not only landed on earth, but had made quite a go of surviving. What I want to know is why team rescue Clakre were ambushed in the first place given that the Grounders don't have the kind of technology to run that vehicle. It's a bittersweet moment for Monty, who is reunited with his mother, only to learn that his father died in an attack by the Ice Nation. We also got a new character of colour in the form of Pike. I absolutely love Michael Beach and think he's an awesome actor. I do however wonder how long he will live given how much he hates the Grounders and refuses to make any distinction between the various factions?
An injured Nyko makes his way to Arkadia. Despite Abbie's best efforts, she is unable to save Nyko without the advanced technology of Mount Weather. It's a risk to take a Grounder to the mountain given their history with it but with the only option being allowing Nyko to die, Lincoln makes the call. Abbie for some reason decides to take Jasper along for the ride. I suppose this is meant to be a confront your demons sort of moment.
Jasper has more manpain over the loss of Maya. The whole thing is well acted by Deven Bostick but I'm not really sympathetic. Jasper has known Maya for a New York minute and as a viewer, I was never particularly attached to this character. Abby takes the opportunity to warn Jasper that if he doesn't get a grip, he is going to end up like Finn. Jasper however counters that Clarke killed Finn as well. Ooooh mega mega burn; however let's all remember, Finn was responsible for a mass murder and by killing him, Clarke saved him a shit ton of pain.
Then we have Jaha, who has totally embraced the City of Light where there's no pain and no death. I love that Murphy wants no part of the kool aid. Murphy makes his escape with Emori, who I expect will betray him again at some point, even if she is momentarily thankful that Murphy saved her life when she tried to steal ALIE's tech. My big guess right now is that all humans are going to become avatars and that will finally solve ALIE's Malthusian obsession with the over population of the world. That Jaha has bought into this shows how far gone he is. When he finally arrives back at Arkadia, Jaha is going to be a problem.
I don't think Wanheda Part 2 was nearly as polished as the first episode of this season. The point seemed to be the big reveal that not only is Lexa still alive, she wants something from Clarke. It's clear that Lexa needs Clarke's help because the Ice Nation is on the move. It's also clear that as much as Clarke doesn't want to help Lexa, she will have no choice because the Ice Nation will pose a threat to Arkadia. Clarke didn't kill three hundred Mt. Weather people to turn around allow the Ice Nation to kill off her people.
I was very disappointed to see Indra standing next to Lexa. Adina Porter is an excellent actress and is being completely underutilized in this role. The first episode briefly gave me hope that Indra was in charge and calling the shots. Unfortunately, Indra will but shunted to the side to deal with the emotional relationship between Lexa and Clarke. If they are not going to do anything with Indra at this point, I'm on the side of seeing her killed off. I hate seeing characters of colour playing sidekicks in this manner. I do however have the smallest hope because Alycia Debnam-Carey has a role on Fear The Walking Dead and therefore what is going on with Clarke and her might have to be resolved quickly. It's rare to see an actress play major roles on two series at once.
The 100 needs to hurry up and reunite Jaha with the other characters. Each time he appears, it feels as though I am being ripped out of the story and sent to something completely different. I get that The 100 has to set up Jaha's role but it is taking far too long as far as I am concerned. Just bring Jaha together with the people of Arkadia and get to the killing of him already. Jaha is a completely pointless character and hasn't been relevant for quite some time.
A final word on Jasper and his manpain after the death of Maya. How long are the going to draw this out? No matter how well acted his scenes are, it makes absolutely no sense to me. At most, he knew Maya for a few weeks and that should not involve the level of manpain he is currently engaging in. It's hard for me not to roll my eyes every time he starts up.
With Abbie realising just how much they are giving up not living on the mountain, I wonder if she will move her people there? It makes sense, espeicially given that she comes from a culture which values recycling everything. I know that strategically it would be a problem with the Grounders but why let all of that tech go to waste? It will be interesting to see what Abbie chooses in this regard.