”May we meet aga… Hey, love the new hair, Clarke!”
By Eric Goldman
Warning: Full spoilers for The 100: Season 3 premiere below.
Welcome back, The 100! After going to some unimaginably dark places by the end of Season 2, the Season 3 premiere of the show took a (slight) breather, picking up a few months later and showing where everyone was in the aftermath of what happened in Mount Weather.
Of course, a couple of characters – Jaha and Murphy – never set foot in Mount Weather last year. And it was a clever way to show the passage of time by opening the premiere with Murphy’s descent into madness, finding himself trapped in that room. I don’t think the execution quite worked as far as the montage and some of the awkward slow-mo we saw of Murphy, but Richard Harmon was great when we then jumped to Murphy at his lowest, most suicidal point after all that time… only for that damn door to just open up. It continues to be impressive how multi-faceted Murphy has become, considering where he was when the show began.
We want to hear it.
The whole “City of Light” situation is a very trippy, ethereal element of the show right now. Jaha telling Murphy there was “no pain, no hate, no envy” instantly put it in cult-like terms, along with a touch of The Matrix has he offered that (freaking huge!) chip to Murphy to take. And on a show that’s had echoes of Battlestar Galactica in the past, I’m enjoying Erica Cerra as the holographic, eerily calm, red-dressed Alie, who is a bit reminiscent of Number Six from BSG.
“Wanheda: Part One” really impressed as far as showing how much The 100 has succeeded in world building at this point. The image of Octavia on horseback, riding alongside that new RV (wonder what it was like for Raven, and anyone else, learning to drive when no one from the Ark ever had??), with the sun behind them, was gorgeous and one of many moments that underlined that this show has continued to expand and grow.
Oh, and I loved the big Violent Femmes/”Add it Up” RV scene! I imagine it might be a bit polarizing, because it was so uncharacteristic for the show, but that’s why it felt so cathartic. These kids have been through hell, multiple times, and here was a rare opportunity to just have fun, singing along to a song… before horrible things began to happen once again, naturally.
As for the other “Add it Up” scene, with Special Guest Star Shawn Mendes, first of all, I’d never heard of Special Guest Star Shawn Mendes prior to seeing some people freak out (in both good and bad ways) on Twitter about him appearing on The 100. In and of itself, I thought the scene worked fine and liked how it led into a big moment for Jasper, attacking him for being a Mount Weather “grave robber.” The only thing that was bizarre was Mendes performing “Add it Up” after we’d already heard that song earlier in the episode. Why not another song? Was it just a cosmic coincidence he chose to do that song? We don’t know much about what pop culture survived or didn’t on the Ark, so for now, I’m just going to assume “Add it Up” is a deeply important, spiritual hymm to these people. Which I’m cool with. Because the Violent Femmes are rad.
And now it’s open to debate whether The 100 or My So-Called Life had the best “Characters sing along to a Violent Femmes song scene.”
Seeing just how broken Jasper has become was done very well. This guy is just broken and self-destructive and it’s another example of The 100 showing a character utterly transforming from what we once knew him to be.
Meanwhile, Raven is in a very bad place, with her leg seemingly getting worse. Despite that, it was nice to see her and Abby’s moments together (even as Raven was very stubborn about the situation), given the connection between the two goes back to the start of the show.
Holding off on seeing Clarke for about half the episode was a compelling move, building up to her big entrance, as we learned that she’s being hunted (“by everyone!”) and caught up with her in a very feral, guarded place – and killing a freaking panther, no less! I love seeing Clarke as the strong, albeit damaged, silent type, essentially walking into a Grounder bar (okay, it’s a trade post, but let’s go with it), seducing the girl behind the counter (iZombie’s Jessica Harmon – Richard Harmon’s real-life sister) and then sneaking out in the dead of night… which then took a turn when she was nabbed by Roan (Black Sails’ Zach McGowan), one of the bounty hunters on her trail. And considering we know the Ice Queen wants to kill Clarke, believing that will give her Clarke’s strength, that’s certainly not a good thing.
Of course, Roan should watch out too, considering Clarke didn’t become known as the “Commander of Death” (so that’s what Wanheda means!) for no reason.
Marie Avgeropoulos as Octavia and Devon Bostick as Jasper in The 100: Season 3.
Ricky Whittle as Lincoln and Marie Avgeropoulos as Octavia in The 100: Season 3.
Eliza Taylor as Clarke in The 100: Season 3.
Marie Avgeropoulos as Octavia in The 100: Season 3.
Eliza Taylor as Clarke in The 100: Season 3.
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Lindsey Morgan as Raven in The 100: Season 3.
Paige Turco as Abby in The 100: Season 3.
Ricky Whittle as Lincoln in The 100: Season 3.
Richard Harmon as Murphy in The 100: Season 3.
Eliza Taylor as Clarke in The 100: Season 3.
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Paige Turco as Abby in The 100: Season 3.
Zach McGowan as Roan in The 100: Season 3.
Jessica Harmon as Niylah in The 100: Season 3.
Eliza Taylor as Clarke and Jessica Harmon as Niylah in The 100: Season 3.
A lot of the premiere built up the danger of the Ice Nation, as we began to see their members and get more of an idea of just how fearsome they are. The 100 continues to get a lot of mileage out of the Grounders society and expanding our knowledge of all facets of it.
A few bullet points to end on:
-“That’s Indra?” was an amusing line for Monty, again reminding us of how split up the characters have been over the past two seasons.
-Interesting to see both Bellamy and Lincoln acting as valued members of the Arkadia guard. Bellamy and Kane certainly have mended fences since Kane first arrived on Earth, though it’s notable to see Bellamy now more of a squad leader than one of those actually calling the shots, as he was with the original 100.
-Poor Octavia. Still a girl without a country and now finding herself in a bit of a role reversal with Lincoln… but damn, she sure can throw a sword!
We want to hear it.
-Nice, quick little line about “contraceptive implant removals” from Jackson, reminding us of the population limits on the Ark. Looks like it’s baby-making time!
-The RV, with the gun on the front, reminds me of the Dreadnok Thunder Machine from G.I. Joe, which was an awesome vehicle/toy. And now I once more want some The 100 action figures and playsets.
The 100 returned with a strong season premiere that showed us the citizens of the re-named “Arkadia” sorta/kinda functioning – and, it was good to see, actively searching for more survivors of the Ark – while also giving us a look at the very different situations Jaha & Murphy and Clarke are in. The continued expansion of the Grounder world offers a lot of intrigue and I’m, as always, excited to see what happens next.
