Test your might.
By Eric Goldman
Warning: Full spoilers for the episode below.
Man, I have mixed feelings on this episode. It contained some of the most exciting, satisfying and emotional moments of the season so far… but it also had some very messy storytelling involving some really huge and important plot points.
So let’s talk about the notable problems in this episode – first and foremost, Bellamy siding with Pike. Not just siding with Pike, but going along with a plan to take some guns and outright massacre 300 Grounders who were there to help Arkadia. This was a huge move to make with Bellamy, and, in the big picture, I again admire The 100 for not playing it safe with its characters and daring to take Bellamy to such a dark and villainous place.
But… why did he do this?
Okay, I get why in the grand scheme of things, as far as how you could say, hey, he was just betrayed by a Grounder he trusted and vouched for (after battling other Grounders to the death in the past) – and in the process, not only saw many people from the Ark die, but his girlfriend specifically. But still, we needed to really feel that for it to sell in the midst of the story. We needed to see how this loss would hollow Bellamy out to his core and make him this willing to turn on and attack and kill all Grounders, not just the Ice Nation. Bellamy was right there when everyone, Lexa included, found out what happened in the last episode and how they all instantly were united against the Ice Nation. He knows who is actually responsible. But now he’s willing to indiscriminately massacre every single Grounder out there?
The 100: “Watch the Thrones” Photos
The 100: “Watch the Thrones” Photos
The 100: “Watch the Thrones” Photos
The 100: “Watch the Thrones” Photos
The 100: “Watch the Thrones” Photos
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The 100: “Watch the Thrones” Photos
The 100: “Watch the Thrones” Photos
The 100: “Watch the Thrones” Photos
The 100: “Watch the Thrones” Photos
The 100: “Watch the Thrones” Photos
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The 100: “Watch the Thrones” Photos
The 100: “Watch the Thrones” Photos
It also feels weak dramatically because we barely knew Gina and had no investment in her and Bellamy as a couple. They were hardly onscreen together and in her very limited time on the show, she had more notable interaction away from Bellamy in the last episode then with him. If you’re going to have one of your main characters do something this drastic, it has to be because of something we can share in the impact of, and that just isn’t the case here.
On top of that, it felt like too much was happening off-screen regarding Pike’s new position in Arkadia. He was elected the new Chancellor? The majority went along with what he wanted to do? If we’d seen him back in Season 1 and understood he was a respected person among the Ark, maybe. But we’d never heard about him before and to have the majority fall under his away off camera — we saw groups of people in a couple of his scenes, as he made big speeches, but certainly not the brunt of everyone who lives there — with just a couple of lines of dialogue to explain it, felt incredibly rushed.
The 100’s fast pace is in its DNA and usually is one of the show’s strengths, but it just feels like in this case, some really giant plot turns were occurring without the motivation needed to sell them.
My last complaint about this episode is killing Nia, the Ice Queen, right after we met her. This was a character who’d been built up for quite awhile, since Lexa revealed her former love, Costia, was killed by her. And that’s it? She’s introduced and then dies. It just seems like a waste, especially given the history between her and Lexa they could have used to fuel their conflict. Yes, Lexa got to kill her, but it would have been great to see them spar (either verbally, physically or both) more beforehand, beyond that one scene at the top of the episode and to have Costia evoked again.
We want to hear it.
So all of that complaining out of the way… I’m still giving this episode a 7.3. Why? Because there was so much awesome in it as well.
We finally got to see Lexa fight! And it was so great. Seeing her and Roan battle in a gladiator-style setting was really exciting and shows how The 100 has evolved and turned into such a cool series – one that can really deliver in terms of sci-fi/action thrills. Honestly, I can’t imagine someone seeing the pilot or just the first few episodes and then jumping to this episode without being amazed at how things have changed, in really impressive ways.
While I may have wanted more between Lexa and Nia in the long run, their initial power play was strong and compelling, as Nia made a big political move, complete with the backing of the other Clan ambassadors. It was also intriguing to see how Nia’s right-hand woman, Ontari (Rhiannon Fish) was someone she’d already positioned to replace Lexa, once she was dead.
Also fascinating was Clarke’s (and by extension, Lexa’s) evolving dynamic with Roan, as we learned he had no love for his mother, but still wished to return home and do right by his people. Clarke’s attempted assassination of Nia was a notable sequence as well, giving Ontari a big moment to show her skills, as she saw through the ruse. And of course, the bigger payoff to this was that, while I do think Nia was taken out too quickly, it should be quite interesting to see how things go for Lexa with Roan now the Ice King, given he seems far more reasonable – which is impressive, considering he was just in a fight to the death with Lexa.
There was more strong material for Jasper as well here, with a really emotional scene between him and Monty. It was great to see Christopher Larkin get such a big scene (in some ways, even bigger than when he found his Grounder-hating mom, Hannah) as he got to stress that yes, he feels the weight of what happened in Mount Weather too, but is fighting to not wallow in it, like Jasper has.
Jasper actually spilling (accidentally) Finn’s ashes was the dark icing on the sad cake, and the question now is whether Jasper has hit bottom yet.
“Watch the Thrones” was a huge episode, that’s for sure, but some moments felt much better motivated than others. Bellamy is essentially in villain mode at this point, but it’s a huge turn that just didn’t feel earned, dramatically, and isn’t helped by how Pike has so quickly been elevated out of nowhere. On the other hand, Jasper and Monty’s subplot included some strong dramatic material, while the events in Polis were thrilling, both from an action and political intrigue standpoint.
Oh, and damn, how about all the vibes between Clarke and Lexa in their last scene together? It’s quite fun how The 100 writers are holding off on actually having anything happen between them, even a second kiss, even as it seems inevitable they’ll succumb to their (and many fans’) desires…
