”Sounds like a terrible idea. I’m in.”
By Eric Goldman
Warning: Full spoilers for the episode below.
Is it still hard to believe that Bellamy ever sided with Pike, considering Pike’s “Let’s go kill everyone, even people here to help us” approach? Yep. Are Pike’s plans, which are pretty much guaranteed to lead to everyone’s death, insane? Yep. Was this episode really cool and exciting? Yep.
As hateable as Pike is, it was bizarre and disconcerting a couple of times to see him as the relative voice of reason – including being the one who didn’t want to provoke the Grounders at the top of the episode, until Bellamy just went and shot them. Then, Hannah just straight up wanted to execute Sinclair and Pike stopped her. (Monty, dude, your mom really sucks!)
But no worries, Pike did plenty to make us still detest him. Though at least Kane was there to vocalize just how bats**t crazy everything Pike was doing was. How their limited ammo meant they could not overcome the numbers the Grounders had – and how Pike’s plan to massacre yet another Grounder army would simply unleash the full might of all those now surrounding them and lead to their doom. I loved Kane telling Bellamy that Pike’s plan is always the same one, because… exactly!
In general, it was great to see Kane, Sinclair, Miller and Harper working together against Pike. Both because it was people standing by Kane against Pike, but also because it allowed so many of the show’s likable recurring characters to rise up into the spotlight. I will say that Abby’s absence from this episode was really weird though, as I’d like to see if she’s as involved as the others in Kane’s resistance.
Alessandro Juliani as Sinclair and Ricky Whittle as Lincoln on The 100
Bob Morley as Bellamy and Alessandro Juliani as Sinclair on The 100
Ricky Whittle as Lincoln on The 100
Bob Morley as Bellamy and Ricky Whittle as Lincoln on The 100
Henry Ian Cusick as Kane and Michael Beach as Pike on The 100
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Bob Morley as Bellamy on The 100
Henry Ian Cusick as Kane on The 100
Henry Ian Cusick as Kane and Michael Beach as Pike on The 100
Henry Ian Cusick as Kane on The 100
Henry Ian Cusick as Kane on The 100
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Lindsey Morgan as Raven and Devon Bostick as Jasper on The 100
Lindsey Morgan as Raven on The 100
That aside, I loved how this episode showed all the different factions in Arkadia, from those militantly standing by Pike, to those working against him, to Jaha’s City of Light followers to how a wild card like Jasper played into things, as Raven recruited him to help her and Alie find Alie 2… even as we now know exactly where it is and that the ocean is not the correct answer.
Raven and Jasper’s mission for Jaha led to a fun scene for them too, as Raven, with Alie’s help (unbeknownst to Jasper, of course), pushed Jasper to figure out Monty’s combination… before things got messier for Raven.
We already knew that something was off with Alie’s followers when Jaha seemed to not react to hearing Wells mentioned, but here it occurred with Raven in a big way, as she not only couldn’t remember Finn’s death, but realized she couldn’t really remember him at all. The big difference between Raven and Jaha’s reaction though is Raven fought against this, quickly turning on Alie. As Jaha observed, Raven is strong… And awesome. (Well that second part is my observation) And it’s really gratifying to see something innate within her fight against the City of Light “no pain” vibes, and the memories they’re taking from her.
The episode got increasingly intense, as Kane’s risky plan involved Sinclair purposely getting arrested and more friends and loved ones were turning on each other – well-illustrated by Bryan planting a bug on Miller, and how bad that made him feel, along with Monty’s conflict over what was happening (which took too long to see, but was good to finally get onscreen, after an earlier Monty scene was cut a couple weeks back).
After more Anakin-isms from Bellamy (it especially came to mind when he was backing Pike to Kane by referring to him as “Chancellor” so firmly), he finally began to come out of his own Pike-led stupor in the episode’s closing moments. I don’t know if I can ever fully reconcile Bellamy saying “Sure” to being asked to go kill 300 Grounders a few episodes back, but at least this episode gave him a bit more of a specific, if arguably skewed, perspective when it came to his people. One that almost reminded me of Dante last season – Dante, who was doing despicable things to the Grounders, but had his own code and idea on who should be protected, not wanting to forcibly use anyone from the Ark for their blood.
Bellamy here seemed to be incredibly willing and able to kill anyone from outside Arkadia, but when it came to those who actually were “his people,” things got more difficult. The fact that Kane basically spared Bellamy’s life, by not driving into him to get out of camp, also helped set the stage for Bellamy wanting to save Kane’s life in turn. All of which is to say, it took you long enough, Bellamy and Monty, but having them not turn in Miller and Harper to Hannah at least is a step in the right direction.
By the time Sinclair and Lincoln staged their fight, leading into a prison break attempt, while Kane was knocking out Pike (yesssssss!) and Harper’s message was overheard by Monty, who contacted Bellamy to warn him, well, damn… There was a lot going on, and it was all really exciting! Now we have Kane sentenced to an execution, with Bellamy at last seeming like he may turn on Kane. Add on Raven fighting against Alie, and Jaha ominously telling Alie he can help her battle past her programming stopping her from needing free will and consent and you have a ton of compelling material.
