The 100 (Season 2) (1 Viewer)

"The 100" began its 16-episode second season tonight with a strong premiere.I love the world building going on with Mount Weather, and the way an entire culture built up inside the facility. The little details, like everyone wearing nice but old and ragged clothing, really helped sell it. Casting a 75-year-old as a new main character is almost a revolutionary act on the CW, but Raymond J. Barry was as good as you'd expect given his past work. He made President Dante Wallace an interesting protagonist: a man who is patient and understanding, but coming from a completely different world view. Like Clarke, he is a leader. And like Clarke, he will do what he thinks is best for his people, no matter what that does to everybody else.Interesting explanation for how the earth is survivable so much sooner than expected: it actually isn't, but natural selection has changed the parameters of what is survivable. All of the people with lower radiation tolerances, both on the ground and in space, died out pretty early on. That is if President Wallace's explanation isn't just a means of keeping his people isolated and under his control.I really hope Kane and the other adults get knocked down a few pegs for dismissing what Bellamy and Finn have to say. Survival in this world is earned, and Bellamy and Finn understand the facts on the ground.Very cool Logan's Run-esque reveal that Lincoln's village is located where the National Mall used to be. Given the central importance of the Lincoln Memorial to village life, my guess is that Lincoln isn't just any villager. It must be a great honor to be named Lincoln.What language was he teaching Octavia? Is it a real language that I just didn't recognize, or was it a pidgin tongue that developed in the aftermath of the nuclear armageddon?I'm beginning to think that we'll never see Clark wear a top that covers up her cleavage. It's getting to the point where it's almost bizarre.

My one beef. Their are some very large mountains outside of Washington DC. It's only been a 100yrs.

It's funny how Maryland looks like Vancouver in the future, isn't it?

Wow...clearly my head wasn't where it needed to be for The 100 tonight. I was bored by the premiere...well, maybe not bored...but it lacked the "oomph" the second half of last year had for me. I'm sticking with the show because I enjoyed most of season 1 a lot.

And I'll remember not to watch the next episode when my mind is distracted by every little thing around me.

So they had a new title sequence. Bit of a mix between "Person of Interest" and "Game of Thrones".

todd s said:

So they had a new title sequence. Bit of a mix between "Person of Interest" and "Game of Thrones".

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I liked it. Very slick by CW standards. That said, the fact that Lindsey Morgan and Isaiah Washington were listed in the main cast didn't exactly leave a lot of doubt about the fates of Raven and Jaha. Quite a horrific little secret Mount Weather is hiding in its walls. But like the best horrific secrets, it makes a cruel sort of practical sense. They're not being evil for the sake of evil, they're being evil to meet a very specific need. They're basically doing the same thing to treat Ebola patients right now, though of course those blood donors are volunteers.

You have to wonder if the Mt.Weather people are holding the 100 to use for blood or to increase the gene pool...who are resistant to the radiation.

Given that the people in Mt. Weather and the people up on the space station were both descendants of the ruling elites when the bombs dropped, the Mt. Weather people probably identify the 48 as good upstanding people like them, whereas the grounders that they're blood farming are just brutal savages.

The Murphy character continues to irritate me, as does the writers allowing his taunts to make usually rational characters do unrational things.Otherwise, a strong episode. I like that the show's taking the time to grapple philosophically with the idea of how much the rules of the ark should apply, given that they not in that situation anymore. I like seeing Kane deliberate and adjust based on how things play out. I liked that Abbie took her punishment as just, without any second thoughts about her decision making.I also enjoy some of unexpected pairings up of characters. The Clarke/Anya dynamic is particularly potent, since both characters will unhesitatingly do whatever they need to do accomplish their goals.Octavia has come the farthest since the show started. She started as this relatively glammed up spoiled little party girl. Given that, it's amazing how successfully the show has handled her transformation into someone who has essentially gone native. I liked that she was able to track them, and I liked that she was still so amateurish at it that they knew she was tracking them. And then she agrees to be the bait and makes a meaningful contribution to the battle. Her relationship with Lincoln is intense and deep and the adult kind of love that you so seldom see on the CW. She has lost someone she was ready to make a life with. And I like how all of that was handled. Marie Avgeropoulos has really surprised and impressed me with the places she's gone as an actress with this character, and how apparently game she's been to completely change her appearance.You just know Maya is in on the conspiracy.Wonder what the special program they're taking Lincoln to is all about.

What really works for The 100 right now is that there are so many unknown issues and the show is not forcing situations to give us the answers. We find out what is going on as the characters do, leaving everyone guessing.

Did the people in Mt. Weather really become too sensitive to external radiation, whereas the people who went into space became used to it? Could other factors be at play?

I'm really enjoying Season 2, which has managed to twist the plot from the first season and still deal me in.

I want to be into The 100 now like I was in season 1. The dynamic has completely changed--that's not necessarily a bad thing. Here's my problem as of right now: the way the "kids" are being treated. In S1, they were humanity's only hope and the adults had to rely on them. The 100 were doing everything for themselves and finding their way through Earth. Now, it seems like it's Clarke trying to figure out Mt. Weather and the adults taking over camp.

That show was unsustainable; I get that. It would have turned into LOST or some version very quickly. There are now more possibilities for stories and interactions. I'm just not warm and fuzzy with having a bulk of the characters we came to know (and like...?) in S1 being this marginalized right now.

Alright, caught up with last week's episode tonight. I don't yell at the TV much anymore...too old, I think...but "Repercussions" had me yelling the entire time.

My biggest problem in the episode was Kane's treatmet of Abby. Now, I understand she broke the rules and had to be punished. However, as Kane pointed out, she used to be a member of the council, she is widely respected AND she is humanity's best doctor. What would have happened if she died from the lashing? Where would that have left this group of people? Up the creek, IMHO. Luckily nothing happened she didn't recover from. If it had, I could see Kane facing a full scale rebellion. No one watching the lashing was enjoying it, let alone Kane.

Which brings me to point #2: Kane had to be talked into the lashing. He didn't want to do it. Kane, as chancellor, could have stopped it at any time or made the decision the remnants of humanity didn't have to adhere to rules which were created in a different time and place. It's like American society: rules which worked back in the 1960's don't necessarily work now. We evolved and changed the rules as circumstances dictated. All Kane showed in that moment is he had no backbone to stand up to someone under his command and he has no leadership quality. If Abby had been jailed for a certain number of days, he would have shown compassion, empathy and a willingness to do something "different" to everyone else in camp. And he would have gained some respect-and undoubtedly lost some, too.

And then point #3: Kane relinquishing the chancellorship to Abby. Hallelujah, about time. Kane has no leadership qualities. He's been shown from the beginning of the series to be an opportunist and someone more concerned with himself than the people around him. On the other hand, Abby has evolved over time to someone I respect...she began to mend her relationship with Clarke, for instance.

Abby won't be easily maniuplated in camp as chancellor. It'll be interesting to see what happens now that she's in charge and who the first person to challenge her will be.

Very strong episode tonight. That ending captured the show's philosophy in a single moment; after more than a season trying to win over Anya and bring their people together, an episode full of trials that pushed their personal dynamic to the limit, Clarke's own people's fear and ignorance throw it all away in an instant. I real hope the captain of the security force meets a terrible end.I really enjoyed the storyline with Jaha in the desert. It was a complete story with a beginning, middle and end, and it spoke volumes about who Jaha is now as a person. I particularly liked that when he realized that the family had traded him for a bounty, he held absolutely no judgment toward them. He understands what life is now, and he is totally at peace with that. One gets the impression that if he were to do it all again, he would have chosen his son above all else and damn the consequences.Given that, presumably, at least a couple days had passed since the pieces of the Ark made landfall, I'm not sure I bought the girl from the doomed landing still clinging to the cliff. But I liked the plot for the moral choices that entailed.

Is it me or has Bellamy and Finn switched personalities this season? Last season Bellamy would have killed the prisoner and left the girl and Finn would have saved her and fought not to kill the prisoner. Now its reversed.

todd s said:

Is it me or has Bellamy and Finn switched personalities this season? Last season Bellamy would have killed the prisoner and left the girl and Finn would have saved her and fought not to kill the prisoner. Now its reversed.

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There's some of that. In Bellamy's case, I think it's legitimate growth; he's gone down the uncompromising path and seen the consequences. In Finn's case, he's so desperate to rescue Clarke and the others that he'll do anything.I buy it in Bellamy's case, it feels a bit artifical in Finn's case.

The biggest surprise for me in tonight's episode is that President Wallace's intentions toward the 48 apparently were genuine and honorable, however barbarically Mt. Weather treats the grounders. But like anything in this hard-scrabble world, it's hard to make arguments against the utilitarian choice.

There was a brilliant sense of suspense as the episode crosscut between Clarke, Bellamy and Octavia's journey to the village, and Finn's deteriorating mental state. The tension came not from an existential threat to the lives of any of our characters, but the sense that Finn was on the verge of an unspeakable act that he could not step back from. The result, with the obvious allusions to the My Lai Massacre during the Vietnam War and the Panjwai massacre during the current war in Afghanistan, was as horrifying as it needed to be. One thing this show is starting to do well is portray the psychology of war; what it does to people and what it leads them to do. Obviously Finn's response was an aberration, but hardly one without historical precedence. On the other hand, Murphy -- who has demonstrated a sadistic streak on more than one occasion -- had a much clearer understanding of the situation. I don't think he cared much about the villagers, but he understood that there was no utility in killing them. It didn't benefit him to do so, and it introduced undesirable variables into the equation. Murphy has figured out how to operate in this world. Finn has not.

A little disappointed in the Jaha reveal in this episode. Given that he made landfall in an entirely different environment than the rest, I was hoping Jaha would have more of a stand alone journey before he was reunited with anybody, a change to explore a wider swath of this post-apocolyptic world than just the mountainous jungles of the former Washington, D.C. greater metropolitan area.

Crazy that Bellamy and the the formerly crazy guy are the sane ones compared to Finn.

Adam Lenhardt said:

There's some of that. In Bellamy's case, I think it's legitimate growth; he's gone down the uncompromising path and seen the consequences. In Finn's case, he's so desperate to rescue Clarke and the others that he'll do anything.I buy it in Bellamy's case, it feels a bit artifical in Finn's case.

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My biggest problem with this season so far -So Finn went from somewhat of a passive moral compass to a mass murderer? Really? Very weak writing in my opinion.

Season 2 is constantly surprising. I have some difficulties with some of the character choices, but I'm trying to accept them; I give the show credit for pushing hard for a challenging story.

I've been most surprised by Finn's complete reversal. I don't know if I completely buy it. But even in Season 1, Clarke moved significantly in her tolerance for violence and torture. Finn has become a man broken by an unrequited -- and somewhat inexpressible -- love for Clarke. Further tormented by guilt over turning away from the now crippled Raven.

But now he may be damned. Can Finn be redeemed? I don't know where the show goes from here.


As for Mt Weather: It seems revealed they view the 100 as basically transfusion supply for their own. I'm disappointed by this. While a TV series demands its villains and plot-twists, given Clarke's paranoia, the a great twist would have been for Mt Weather to actually be an oasis that had fully and openly taken in the ark children.

This show has lost nothing for me in season two and, if anything, may actually be better, at least so far. Most of the time the characters don't do stupid things, and they still manage to sustain drama. Very refreshing.