On the D/L – The 100
Season 1 Episode 3 – “Reapercussions”
Thankfully this episode of The 100 is significantly better than the horrific pun that makes up the title. The various character stories are furthered as Clarke discovers the truth of Mount Weather, Abigail suffers consequences of prior actions and Octavia really shows what she’s capable of among other things.
One thing The 100 is really good at is juggling a lot of characters in different locations facing a variety of challenges. Very rarely do things feel out of place or unnecessary and all of the characters are very worth watching with stories that hold my interest more or less equally. This format lends the show some instant urgency as we wait for the characters to reunite and enjoy the ride that will get us to that.
Clarke’s discovery of what really goes on in Mount Weather is pretty horrifying to say the least. Using the blood of Grounders to heal themselves before feeding their used up carcass to Reapers. We don’t yet know how such a partnership began but it’s a really twisted revelation and works really well in showing a complex side to the Mount Weather story. It’s the classic case of idyllic on the surface but with a dark foundation which creates so many storytelling possibilities. Is this well known among the residents? If so, how do they live with themselves and if not, what will they do when they learn the truth?
I also really liked the escape sequence where Clarke and Anya were forced to reluctantly work together. These scenes were really effective in ramping up the intensity of the situation by organically making the situation worse as things went on. A moment involving piles of dead bodies showing this effectively among other notable events.
Anya and Clarke’s reluctant partnership was great to watch with particular attention given to Anya’s skills as a leader. Seeing her mercy kill someone she cared about was really moving and highlights Anya’s willingness to do what she feels needs to be done. It’s easy to see why she was so respected and people were willing to follow her lead in her own community. Moments like this really highlight how similar Anya and Clarke are when it really comes down to it. I hope to see more of their reluctant partnership and see where that goes for both of them. It is an uneasy alliance for sure and shouldn’t really take much to have them at each other’s throats. There were hints of that here so I’m sure more will be made of it.
I found the Kane and Abigail elements of this episode to be pretty confusing by the end. I get that according to their laws Abigail needs to be punished for her act of defiance and her strength when she was receiving her lashes was nicely portrayed but the ensuing scenes made no real sense. Kane exhibiting leadership skills in planning to take a more diplomatic tact with The Grounders instead of going on the offensive is a good enough idea but I don’t see why he chose to leave Abigail in charge as Chancellor. Given her very public punishment just prior to this what makes him think that anyone will respect this decision or recognise her authority after that. It doesn’t fit Kane’s character to choose her for this role either. It all seemed so clumsily executed and really lifted me from the plot.
Monty and Jasper really aren’t doing much to add anything interesting to the overall story. There’s a very obvious disagreement between them where Monty sees Clarke’s concerns as something worth considering and Jasper holds the opposite position. His scenes with Maya indicate that he’s not thinking with his brain but I guess they are still teenagers.
Thankfully Finn and Bellamy are providing supreme amounts of entertainment this season with Finn’s change in character being particularly impressive. He’s becoming a lot more badass which suits him but it’s come along a little quickly with much of this development seemingly happening off screen. Still seeing him aim a gun at Bellamy was really cool. I also liked Bellamy’s position on killing where he’s fine with killing in a battle but murder is a line he won’t cross. I’m sure this was established before but it’s good to see this informing the core of his character consistently.
Octavia played damsel in distress nicely this week. I liked that she was willing to do so in order to gain Indra’s trust but was more than capable of handling herself. Seeing her battle that Reaper with lots of bravery and using her wits was awesome. The Reaper battle itself reminded me a little of Boromir’s final moments from Fellowship of the Ring a little too much but it was still a cool scene. Cutting her off from any level of familiar support is working wonders for her.
Overall
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7.5/10
Summary
A really good episode with lots of interesting situations for our characters. The separation of the core characters is working well for this show and building in an innate sense of urgency as we wait for them to someday reunite.
Clarke and Anya work really well together despite their inherent mistrust of one another and Anya is given some really great moments that solidify her strength as a character. Having her paired with Clarke is a great decision and this story looks set to become really interesting. I wonder how this reluctant pairing will come to fall apart over the subsequent episodes.
Kane and Abigail’s contribution to this episode starts out very well but ends in a head scratching decision that must only exist to further along a plan that they have while still establishing Kane as being morally conflicted. It doesn’t work and just makes this story feel clumsy in comparison to everything that’s going on.
I really like what they’re doing with Octavia so far, I like that she’s finding an inner and outer strength that she didn’t know existed and how she’s completely separated from any familiar support. She is rising to the challenge and really growing as a result.
I wasn’t all that enthusiastic about Monty and Jasper having something of a typical disagreement about Clarke’s views on Mount Weather. There’s something awkward about how these characters have been written so far which impacts the overall quality of the show somewhat.