For awhile now, The 100 has been beating a drum about changes to earth making it uninhabitable for humanity. Each episode has been filled with dire warnings but thus far, we really haven't seen it impact the cast. They've been like bears preparing for a long winter, stock piling water and food while droning on about how desperate the situation is. The problem with this is that we know that unless The 100 is suddenly canceled, whatever problem the writers throw in front of their characters, will be solved, it's always only a matter of how. For the first time, rather being told how dire the situation is, Gimme Shelter began to show us how desperate the world had become.
Raven has warning everyone about the dangers of black rain and it turns out that it's even more dangerous than she thought and will force our merry band of survivors to make some tough decisions. For some, they will find themselves morally in a grey place with no easy answers.
After denying her desire to kill Ilian, Octavia has decided that it's time to get the hell out of dodge. It's not long before Octavia notices that Ilian is following her and she decides to confront him and send him on his merry way. Ilian believes that wherever Octavia is going that she's going to need help. They don't get to argue about it for long because the black rain starts to fall and they are forced to seek shelter. Octavia and Ilian make it to a cave and are forced to rapidly rinse off in a stream because the rain burns. After they're cleaned up, Octavia tells Ilian to make a fire because he's good at that, while she cleans off her horse.
After they are settled in, Octavia is still not trying to hear a damn thing that Ilian has to say. Ilian talks about how he has no place to go and that he cannot go home because it is filled with memories of him killing his family. I'd have to say that's a pretty fair assessment. Ilian then tries to encourage Octavia to talk about her demons but Octavia is not in a sharing mood. Ilian tries to suggest that there's still good in Octavia based in the fact that she didn't kill him but this simply triggers Octavia. When she cannot take it anymore, Octavia tries to run out into the rain, causing Ilian to chase her and haul her ass back into the cave. Ilian basically has to hold Octavia down to stop her weak ass suicide attempt. Octavia responds by kissing Ilian much to his surprise. It's only when Octavia tells Ilian that she needs to feel something different that he finally consents and they have sex. On a side note here, I'll take more shirtless Ilian please.
The next morning, Ilian decides that he's going to return home and tells Octavia how to get there should she decide to join him. It doesn't take long for Octavia to hop on her horse and decide to join Ilian.
At Arkadia, when the rain hits, the people panic as they run for cover. One young man is run over in the rush, even as he reaches out to Harper for a helping hand. Harper looks back but she keeps rushing. Once inside, everyone rinses off as quickly as they possibly can. Am I the only one that things that this is just a ploy by the writers to get their actors as close to undress and wet as possible? Luckily for the kid, Bellamy is still on the redemption train and so with Kane's help, he rushes out to bring him inside the shelter. Bellamy and Kane close the shelter door but Bellamy cannot stop worrying about Octavia who's out in this weather. Kane tries to assure Bellamy that Octavia is smart enough to seek shelter in a storm like this.
The people at Arkadia start to settle in and wait out the storm. The calm doesn't last long because Kane gets contacted by radio by someone named Mark, who's stranded. Bellamy goes into redemption train mode again and suits up, falsely believing that duct tape will protect him. What the hell is it with men thinking that duct tape will fix everything? I know that it was meant to be serious but when the rain started burning his ass through the duct tape, I for one couldn't stop laughing my ass off. Dear menfolk, duct tape is not the answer for everything that plagues you in life. How are you going to stroll slowly through black rain like you are taking a walk in the park because of duct tape?
Okay, despite being warned by Kane that this isn't a good idea, Bellamy has decided to go and play hero because Octavia isn't around to be saved and Mark is one of the original 100.
Inside Arkadia, Harper is distraught that the kid she left behind in the mud isn't doing well. Harper turns to Kane but he's adamant that there's nothing to be done but sit and hold his hand as he dies. It's a great example of the reality of this new world. Harper at this point is absolutely riddled with guilt because she's realised that if she'd just helped him, he might have survived this.
Bellamy almost gets to the stranded Arkadians but his vehicle gets stuck in the mud. Because it's still piss pouring rain out, this means he cannot get out of the vehicle to dig out the mud, having now realised that duct tape isn't good protection against black rain. Yep, I'm not letting go of the duct tape thing. Bellamy contacts Kane to update him about his situation and is told that if he goes out into the rain, two people will die instead of three. With no options left, Bellamy finally contacts Mark to let him know that he's going to have to find a way to hang on until the rain stops. Mark starts to beg because this is a death sentence for his son but there's nothing more that Bellamy can do. Shortly afterwards, Mark stops responding to Bellamy's hails, making it clear that he and his son are dead.
When Bellamy makes it back to Arkadia, Kane is waiting for him. With a sad look on his face, Kane reports that he hasn't heard anything from Octavia. This normally would have twisted Bellamy into a knot but instead, Bellamy simply says, "you cannot save someone who doesn't want to be saved". Bellamy makes his way into Arkadia, leaving a speechless Kane standing alone in the mud.
Clarke and Roan have made it successfully to the island but they are down one barrel of fuel which means that they cannot make nightblood in space anymore. Does anyone remember when this was the last hope for humanity? I swear that the writers keep creating situations which we are supposed to believe are life and death, only to write their way out of each and every corner. At any rate, Abby has come up with a backup plan. Admit it, you always knew there would be a backup plan.
So, Abby has taken a sample of Luna's bone marrow but this will only work if the recipient is then exposed to radiation. This could potentially kill the recipient. Abby is very resistant to this idea because it could potentially make her a murderer and so Clarke choosing to be an optimist reminds Abby that this could potentially save everyone. As both women talk about needing a volunteer for this ghastly experiment, what neither of them realise is that Emori is low key eavesdropping.
When Emori comes out of hiding, she pretends she didn't hear a damn thing and questions if anyone needs anything from the mansion because she's headed over there. Abby decides that Clarke should accompany Emori and take the opportunity to freshen up. That's a polite way of saying, Clarke you smell girl. On the way over, Emori is full of compliments for Clarke about how strong she is and how she is always willing to do anything for her people to survive. Obviously, Emori is already scheming. When they get to the mansion, Murphy is cooking up a storm, much to the surprise of Clarke. The food he's made even tastes good. Clarke decides to head to the shower and clean up. The moment Clarke leaves the room, Emori starts grabbing food and explaining to Murphy that they need to get the hell out of dodge. It seems that Emori has reasoned that since they need a guinea pig to test the latest solution to the radiation that she will be chosen because she's an outsider.
At the lab, Abby gets into contact with Kane. Abby is concerned that following through on the experiment will make her a murderer. Abby questions if it is still murder if it means that it will save everyone else. At this point, Kane is all out of answers for Abby.
Murphy decides to talk things out with Clarke but doesn't get to broach the subject because after finding a broken window, Clarke realises that they are not alone in the mansion. Emori, who's still in the kitchen, is packing food, clearly having decided that if Murphy isn't willing to leave, she'll hit the road without him. Emori's escape is cut short when she's attacked by the intruder. Emori calls out frantically for John. Murphy and Clarke burst into the kitchen and Murphy knocks out the assailant by knocking him over the head with a huge cutting board.
Emori is pissed right the hell off and kicks the assailant several times. Clarke has to tell her to back off and Murphy ties him up. A stunned Clarke listens as Emori talks about how she wants to kill the man because he is responsible for torturing her and her brother. Emori demands justice and claims that Clarke cannot know who she feels because Clarke grew up feeling loved while she (read: Emori) was tossed away by her family like refuse. Clarke comes up with a way to deal with the situation - the man can be the volunteer that they were looking for.
It's Roan who's tasked with bringing Emori's assailant into the lab. Abby begins to shake as she prepares to start the procedure. Clarke tries to comfort her mother by suggesting that they are all making this decision. Emori and Murphy watch the procedure from a distance and Murphy is shocked when Emori hopes that her assailant survives the procedure. It seems that Emori had never before laid eyes on the man and made up the story about him abusing her in order for Clarke to decide that experimenting on him medically was justified. Murphy is suitably impressed with Emori's cunning.
Octavia throwing down her knives and choosing to go and farm sheep with Ilian portends a great shift for her. I'm not sure that I'm down with this at all. I like the take no prisoners kick ass Octavia a lot. I understand that she's probably suffering form sort of PTSD after all that she's been through but does this have to come with depowering one of the consistently strongest female characters on The 100? I'm also not certain that I like Octavia and Ilian as a match. I really liked the chemistry between Roan and Octavia.
Bellamy has clearly decided that his bad acts require redemption. Unlike the time when he decided to blow up the device they needed to purify water, at least this attempt didn't endanger anyone but himself even if it was ridiculous. I'm not sure how I feel about him giving up on Octavia though. He's right, he shouldn't be running around trying to save people and that Octavia is her own person in her own right and highly capable; however, I don't believe that his thought processes were about the later. We'll just have to see how this develops.
The pressure is really down on Abby. The 100 has always been pretty good at giving its leaders impossible decisions to make for the survival of the whole and this is yet another example of this. Of course, this time, they are not sacrificing one of their own per say, but still another human being. I liked that Abby reached out to Kane for comfort and I like that he didn't have any pat answers because there weren't.
Emori tossing that guy under the bus is classic, Emori. The one thing that Emori and Murphy can be counted on is to act in their own self interest 100% of the time. I do have to wonder how willing Clarke would have been to accept Emori's version of events if they didn't need a guinea pig. Clarke decision was absolutely as self interested as Emori's accusations. I'm sure Clarke wouldn't see it that way because she's embraced the idea that "the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few". Yes, the Star Trek reference is obligatory here.
