Same, Raven. Same.
Right, so, I fucking loved last night’s episode.
The 100 has always been a show that’s been unafraid to go there and by there I mean dark. Really dark. One of the truly crafty things it’s always done is teed up these horrific scenarios, told us they’re going to happen, let us convince ourselves that there’s no way they’ll actually follow through and then sat back and laughed at our shock when they do. This episode was a brutal reminder of that.
How many of us thought the Ark would see the rockets at the last minute and call off the culling? How many of us thought for sure Clarke would at least refuse to abandon her people in TonDC before the missile hit? How many of us never imagined Clarke and Bellamy would actually commit what was basically genocide on the Mount Weather population? How many of us never imagined they would take a fan favorite with a beautifully done redemption arc and drive him to the point where he would, imo completely in characterly (shut up this is a word), slaughter an army and visibly force himself to commit to such a horrifying cause?
Obviously my heart breaks for these characters but I can’t help but love that the show has once again reminded us (in their usual most painful way possible) that there are no good guys here. Everyone has blood on their hands. No matter who your fav is, your fav is a murderer. None of them are innocent. I see Hakeldama as a re-commitment to this core premise of the show and personally, it was a harsh reminder that this is one of the things that enthralled me in the first place. I love dark storytelling. I love antiheroes. I love grey morality. I love when a thing can pull me in and force me to rationalize some truly horrible shit that I would never condone outside the context of this story and pummel me into emotional pulp while doing it. How often does a TV show make you feel such a visceral level of disgust? Yes, the pacing of this season has been all over the place but this episode reminded me that the things I love about this show are still there and reaffirmed that it’s worth it (to me) to wait this season out and see how it all comes together.
ANYWAY. A lot went down this week. Let’s talk about it.
Let me just get Jaha out of the way so I can focus on the things that matter. Weirdly enough, I actually had a lot of fun with Jaha in this ep? Possibly because I am so emotionally disengaged from him I was able to sit back and kind of enjoy his presence and laugh at the way he worked literally every conversation he had back around to his cult within three sentences or less and everyone was kind of like oooooooookay.
Jaha: Gather round everyone
Jaha: Let me tell you about my cult#The100— meg (@megsaysthings) February 19, 2016
More or less Jaha, this entire episode.
We open with Clarke and Lexa on their way back to Arkadia with the Ice Queen’s body patting themselves on the back for wrapping up the conflict and bringing peace to the clans.
LOL. JOKE’S ON THEM. Back at Arkadia Pike is really leaning into the whole THE POLICE STATE IS FOR YOUR OWN GOOD thing and wow does this guy fucking suck. Massive kudos to Michael Beach, as much as I hate Pike, he sells the fuck out of this character and brings a level of SCARY AS FUCK to the proceedings. I was already stressed beyond relief when this episode started and his whole ‘I will lock you up if you disagree/I don’t like your face’ speech’ pushed me over the edge into collapse.
Look at this face. This is the face of a man who says ‘Trust me, I have your best interests at heart and you know what? I don’t actually care, I’ll just throw you in jail if you dissent.’
I think that deciding to not depict the massacre was a really good move on the writers’ part. Not only do I think they would’ve traumatized a large their audience but it allowed the fallout and aftermath to take center stage. Here is the tension and emotional resonance that has been missing from the previous episodes. We don’t need to see the massacre, we know it was bad. By centering the episode around what happens after, we’re pulled immediately into the rising terror and hysteria sweeping Arkadia. This was the lacking character > plot from the previous episodes and it was glorious in the worst possible way. This was the real world state of fear political parallels the writers have said they’re trying to portray in full force and I don’t know about you, but I felt it on a visceral level. This is the powerful writing I love the show for. This is what I’ve been missing.
Speaking of actors that deserve the highest of fives, Adina Porter was absolutely amazing in this episode. I got goosebumps at her delivery of Pike’s message to the commander and sobbed at the disgust in her tone when she spat ‘you’re one of them’ at Clarke. I’m so fucked up over Indra you guys. She comes from a society that believes in a glorious death in battle and I can’t even wrap my head around what it must be like for her having to live after watching all of her people die, knowing there was nothing she could do to save them.
Anyone saying Bellamy showed no remorse for his actions is flat out fucking wrong and not paying attention. Yes, he has committed to Pike’s cause. Yes, he had multiple opportunities to break away when every non-Pike character threw in his face how ass-backwards and stupid he’s being. Yes, he rejected every opening. However, you cannot tell me that this is sitting easy with him. Bob Morley’s face was a character in its own right, depicting a visible struggle with every line he crossed before shuttering as he doubled down and committed to his current (CURRENT) course.
You cannot tell me this isn’t the face of a person who regrets pretty much every single one of his choices.
Bellamy absolutely knows that what he’s doing is wrong but, as evidenced in a line from his scene to Clarke that I will melt the fuck down over in a bit, he thinks that this horrible person who does horrible things is WHO HE ULTIMATELY IS and he is willing to sacrifice his goodness to protect his people because he thinks this is all he’s good for. Flashback to Day Trip and “all I do is hurt people” and Bellamy’s clearly decided that if that’s true he might as well do what needs to be done to achieve the ultimate greater good of keeping his people safe. Bellamy Blake will be the death of me, I swear.
Side note, I can’t actually talk about Bellamy and Lincoln’s “They?” “You know what I meant” “I used to” exchange (or any of their scenes in this episode) without crying so hard I choke so just know that I am in deep mourning for the brotp that could’ve been and also Lincoln because as much as it physically pains me to type these words, he is not long for this world.
Leave me here to die.
Really quick sidebar, SHOUT OUT TO MILLER FOR BEING TEAM GOOD GUYS. I AM SO HAPPY.
Okay, back to things that give me very real and physical pain, Raven’s arc is in motion and Lindsey Morgan is selling the fuck out of it. She depicts her pain and anguish so clearly it’s basically impossible not to feel it. Do not tell me it wasn’t a punch in the gut when Abby flat out tells her that her leg will never heal. I don’t have a lot to say about her stuff because this episode was a (brilliantly done) intro to what’s going to take off next episode. I’m not actually surprised she ultimately took Jaha’s cult cookie, Natalie Crown and I predicted weeks ago that this is where her story was going to go. For anyone who feels let down and thinks Raven is giving up or being sucked into Jaha’s story, never fear! We also predict that she will ultimately reject the illusion of the City of Light, own Jaha’s story and take him/the CoL down with it. We also think she is going to ultimately accept that just because she’s fucked up, that doesn’t mean she’s broken and will choose to live with who she’s become and HOW FUCKING POWERFUL IS THAT? WHAT KIND OF FLAWLESS REPRESENTATION OF A PERSON ACCEPTING AND LIVING WITH THEIR DISABILITIES. I think Raven’s storyline is one of the places it becomes absolutely apparent that the writers really are listening to feedback and working to do better.
RAAAAVEEEEEEEEEEEN
Oh right, Murphy was in this episode. Again, not too much to say, this was also a lot of set up. Murphy and Emori’s entire storyline here can more or less be summed up with:
Murphy: WHOOOOO LIVING THE LIFE FREE OF THE MAIN PLOT
Emori: okay but I kind of want to go plot what if we did that?
Murphy: up until now you were the perfect woman
Emori: there will be sex in it for you if we plot
Murphy: I’m listening
Can we all just agree that everything Octavia did in this episode was fucking flawless and leave it at that? I could go into it more but it would basically be just me shouting YES OCTAVIA YES at you over and over. Special mention to her calling Clarke out for not knowing shit about what life has been like in Arkadia. Don’t get me wrong, I will go to the fucking wall for Clarke but that doesn’t mean she hasn’t earned being called out by the people she left behind.
Ditto Octavia calling Bellamy THE FUCK OUT. “What’s the matter? You’re not proud of massacring an army that was here to help us?” Kill me. It’s extra tragic that Bellamy is, in an incredibly twisted way, trying to protect her. It is not safe to be openly anti-Pike right now and Octavia’s never been good at keeping her feelings on the down low. And then add another layer of tragedy on top because we all know things are going to get much, much worse between the Blake siblings. I, for one, am fully expecting a rift that may not have started to heal by the season finale and add it to the list of things I’m already in mourning over.
*hysterical weeping*
I don’t have too much to say about Clarke and Lexa’s stuff this episode, mainly because it wasn’t really the focus. I will say that I absolutely did not expect Lexa to agree to stand down and leave the Sky People be. I really really REALLY love that she’s clearly trying on love is strength and please god please let this not go horribly wrong for her.
Shout out to how extremely unimpressed Lexa is with democracy.
I also love the parallels between Clarke successfully slytherin-ing Lexa (you KNOW she ABSOLUTELY intentionally played on Lexa’s feelings for her to save her people, this doesn’t mean Clarke doesn’t have feelings for Lexa but this was, arguably I suppose, her taking advantage of their personal relationship to accomplish her goal) and Clarke not only failing to slytherin Bellamy but being left completely speechless in the face of his anger. When is the last time we saw Clarke Griffin completely unable to handle another person? I mean really.
SPEAKING OF. HERE WE GO. THE SCENE. THE SCENE TO END ALL SCENES. TEAM BELLARKE YOU KNOW WHAT I’M TALKING ABOUT. STRAP IN GUYS I’M GOING OFF THE RAILS.
This was, without a doubt, the most significant scene in terms of Bellamy and Clarke’s relationship development since Day Trip. Do not fucking tell me I’m wrong or being dramatic, I will come to your house and scream at you until you cave. Blah blah blah standard disclaimer that I mean relationship in a platonic sense because they are not canon romantic (YET).
Let’s look at how this started. Clarke walked in there fully expecting to be able to tell Bellamy what she needed him to do and for him to fall in line AND HE DIDN’T. This is so important guys, so, so important. I love the fuck out of their dynamic and I love that Bellamy has, up until 3×04, more or less completely supported every move she’s made since realizing she was more than the Ark’s perfect princess, BUT. You can’t deny that their relationship dynamic has been shifting over the course of season two away from partners to Clarke leads, Bellamy follows. This isn’t necessarily the worst thing but Bellamy has been putting aside a LOT of personal feelings about Clarke’s decisions for the sake of supporting her and I believe he has fully earned the right to say ENOUGH and get some shit off his chest.
And he did and it was literally every single thing I have wanted. Yes this fight, this scene, this episode left them in a bad place but it was also the first step in them regaining their equal footing in terms of each other and they needed that. You know what, fuck it, I’m just going to break this down by quote. Every single line here was so incredibly significant but I’ll stick to the highlights.
“We?” I’d say the disbelief in his voice broke me but the rest of the scene gave me a new definition of broken.
“We’ve been at war since we landed”
It’s very important to note, for anyone still not on board with where Bellamy is at, that as far as he’s concerned they haven’t stopped fighting since they hit the ground. When you think about it, how tragic does this make the three month break between seasons? We’ve seen so many signs that everyone’s been rebuilding and committing to peace and with this line Bellamy reveals that he hasn’t once in those three months been able to relax and hope for the future (personally I’ve thought that’s been pretty obvious but for anyone who doesn’t spend like 85% of their life analyzing the show, I hope this helped get some of that across).
“This isn’t who you are.”
“You’re wrong. This is who I’ve always been.”
FUCKING. HELL.
He believes this guys. I’ve said it over and over and over that Bellamy was never able to accept the heroic version of himself that other people tried to tell him was real and I think that’s never been more apparent than it is here. It all goes back to Day Trip and him brokenly telling Clarke that all he does is hurt people and if that is all he is, than at least he’s taking control over who he hurts and directing it in a way that he believes will keep his people safe.
Maybe it’s because I’ve hit my own rock bottom and committed to being the worst version of myself because I believed I was no better than that, maybe it’s because I have what appears to be an unusually high tolerance for people’s bullshit, but I find myself generally on team forgiveness and understanding when it comes to the people and characters I love. I also do not believe for a second that this is who Bellamy is or who he’s going to continue to be in the long run. This is a clearly broken man making horrible decisions because he thinks this is what his people need from him.
Yes, we can call it a regression to season 1 Bellamy but I think it works when it’s an absolutely intentional character decision. He wanted to believe all of the things Clarke told him, that he was good, that he helped people, that she needed him. But this line, this scene, drove home that he never truly believed it and that breaks my heart.
“I need you. And we don’t have much time”
“You need me?”
“Yes. I do. I need the guy who wouldn’t let me pull that lever in Mt Weather by myself.”
“You left me. You left everyone.”
*rolls around on the ground* *wails* *rends garments* *tears out hair* WHY Did I WANT THIS WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH ME. HOW IS THIS SO PERFECT AND SO EXQUISITELY PAINFUL AT THE SAME TIME.
Oh god, guys, I lied, I can’t break this down by quite, there is so much in this scene to unpack. He called her out for TonDC, he called her out for trusting Lexa, he brought up the fact that there were people in the mountain that trusted him. Are all of these things fair to lay entirely at Clarke’s feet? No, absolutely not. But tell me, when you finally hit your breaking point and unload a bunch of pent up shit at another person after sitting on it for months, months, how fair are you? I know that I lash out like an untamed forest fire and burn down everything around me and regret the fuck out of it afterwards. It may not be fair, but you can’t tell me this scene wasn’t real.
And they’re both crying and Clarke is utterly deflated, sincerely apologizing for leaving (which, guys, I get that she had to leave but she also needed to apologize for that because her needs aren’t more important than everyone else’s. I love Clarke and I completely get it and why, but she broke so many people by taking care of herself and while that doesn’t mean she was wrong, it is something she needed to face) and THEN THE VIOLINS KICK IN AND SHE SAYS “BUT I KNEW I COULD. BECAUSE THEY HAD YOU.” and I utterly fucking lost it. I’m crying while I type this up. I cannot tell you how much everything said in this scene means to me. It is canon validation of so much meta and headcanoning and I’m not going to lie, I never expected it to every be laid out like this.
So anyway Clarke’s crying and Bellamy’s crying and I’m crying and everything is so beautiful and terrible and perfect (AND THE MUSIC THE FUCKING MUSIC THIS SCORE I’M JUST I CAN’T) and he sits down and holds her hand and tells her he’s sorry too and soaks in her smile and I should’ve known something horrible was about to happen because this show does not give us emotional catharsis like this without making us pay for it and sure enough, Bellamy braces himself and pulverized all of our hearts as he snaps the handcuffs on her wrist.
*keening*
Related, I swear to god, Bob Morley should be illegal, he is just not fair, the layers he brought to this scene, hell, brings to every scene are astounding. Shout out to Eliza Taylor who brought her A game to match his and together they reminded us all why people have been going off on their chemistry since the beginning of the show.
Here just watch the fucking scene again and join me in this perfect hell.
To be clear, nonconsensual handcuffing? Not okay. I have fully embraced that dark Bellamy is back but one of my least favorite things about him was always the way he would shut down and act in what he thought was the people he loves best interests even if he was doing it against their will and refuse to listen to reason. It is not my favorite but it is absolutely in line with who we know he is. I think it’s also to reasonable to say that if Bellamy had let Clarke go do what she set out to do (ie bring Pike to Lexa), there’s a very good chance she would have failed. Pike has a significant portion of Arkadia on his side at this point and I think it’s fair to say that Bellamy realized if she had gone after him, there’s a preeeeetty decent chance the best case scenario would’ve landed Clarke in jail and the worst case would’ve have ended up with her dead. I truly believe he did think he was doing the best thing for her. Cut him some slack, it’s hard to see things clearly when your head is that far up your ass. Also, she tazed him, she wasn’t taking any of this lying down. Maybe I’m just fundamentally fucked up but honestly, I thought it was great.
I feel like I should say something about Octavia and Clarke off to have adventure times (OH HOW I HAVE WANTED THAT) and Clarke running to hug Abby (FINALLY) and Clarke, Abby, Kane and Octavia agreeing that democracy fucking sucks sometimes (FOR REAL THOUGH) but honestly I don’t have any feelings left over right now.
And that was the episode. I’m fucking dead. I’m hollowed out. I don’t think I’ve ever felt so many completely opposing emotions with this kind of intensity and I really do think I broke something.
As per usual I direct you to check out Natalie’s break down of the episode and the bellarke scene because SHE KNOWS WHATS UP and covered somethings that I missed.
How are you guys? Is anyone still alive? Who needs a hug?
Claudia
this is the best thing I’ve seen… I CRIED WHEN YOU STARTED TALKING ABOUT BELLAMY AND CLARKE AND HAVEN’T STOPPED CRYING SINCE!
Meg Morley
I KIND OF THINK I’M GOING TO BE CRYING FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE?
Claudia
I’m STILL CRYING RIGHT NOW!.. I SWEAR I WILL FORGET WHAT IS LIKE TO NOT BE CRYING!
Meg Morley
DO YOU THINK WE’LL EVER STOP CRYING? I’M STARTING TO THINK NO
Danni
Great review, and you’re right, this episode was everything The 100 does so well, in spades. I’ve enjoyed all your reviews of this season, and I think you’re spot on with both the issues and the goodness of season three so far. Now that they’ve committed to it, and gone some way to showing us Bellamy’s state of mind, I am 100% on board with them taking Bellamy into the darkness this season. It shows they are committed to him as a main character, and not just a supporting act for Clarke. I still think they needed to ‘earn’ it a bit more, perhaps an episode showing the election would have done that, but what’s done is done.
I am totally on board with Bellamy’s motivation and were I in the same position as him, I think I’d have made the same mistakes. To quote Kane, how many times can Skaikru put up with being ‘collateral damage’ in grounder politics before they just throw up a big fence and say ‘enough is enough, grounders have shown they can’t be trusted too many times, we need to look out for ourselves and we need to prove we are strong enough not to mess with’? What’s the other option? Put their faith in the peace process and trust that this time, unlike several other times, the grounders mean it?
And, introducing this level of conflict and breakdown in Bellamy and Clarke’s dynamic will, I hope, lead to absolute epicness later on. Those two light up the screen when they are together, and the show is quite right to ramp up and carefully parcel out that chemistry. Too much too soon would spoil it.
Danni
Oh, as a side theory, I have a creeping suspicion that at some point in this season, they are absolutely going to put Clarke in the position of having to choose between Lexa and Bellamy… not in a romantic way, but in a saving one over the other kind of way :/
Meg Morley
I SUPER AGREE WITH THIS SUSPICION (though I think it’s not going to be directly Lexa vs Bellamy, I ABSOLUTELY believe they’re going to be key components in Clarke’s culminating season conflict and I would LOVE to compare notes)
Meg Morley
” It shows they are committed to him as a main character, and not just a supporting act for Clarke.” Thiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiis. I’m not going to lie, for as much as I loved it, I had some hesitations in the back of my mind about what their relationship was morphing into. I love Bellamy supporting Clarke but my true love is the equal footing co-leader dynamic of season one and I feel like this is a step back in that direction (NOT ALL REGRESSING IS BAD, THIS IS REGRESSING THROUGH TRAUMA AND PROGRESS)
“I still think they needed to ‘earn’ it a bit more, perhaps an episode showing the election would have done that, but what’s done is done.” I also super agree with this but I hit a point the other day where I was like you know what, the pacing has been critiqued to death and Jason has acknowledged it several times, the message has been received and I’m tired of talking about it.
“To quote Kane, how many times can Skaikru put up with being ‘collateral damage’ in grounder politics before they just throw up a big fence and say ‘enough is enough, grounders have shown they can’t be trusted too many times, we need to look out for ourselves and we need to prove we are strong enough not to mess with’? What’s the other option? Put their faith in the peace process and trust that this time, unlike several other times, the grounders mean it?” THIIIIIIIIIIIIIIS. Natalie (tumblr linked above) did a REALLY excellent meta on Bellamy’s experience with the grounders and how it has been very different and much more limited than not only the other characters, but the audience’s and I think that’s crucial to understand (but also see how it’s very easy to forget).
“And, introducing this level of conflict and breakdown in Bellamy and Clarke’s dynamic will, I hope, lead to absolute epicness later on. ” I absolutely, 100% believe it will. There is no doubt in my mind that while they’re relationship might not take an epic turn soon, it very definitely will happen before the show ends.
(I’m so glad you like the reviews! I’ve been writing them functioning under the assumption I’m venting into the void so hearing that people are into them and want to discuss is A++++++ <333)
Danni
I do like the reviews! I enjoy the level of analysis, because I think the show demands it, and like you I adore the Bellarke dynamic and all the amazing eye acting, and I don’t think the writers are in any way planning to waste that.
My feeling (or suspicion, I may be wrong) is that Clarke is going to have to decide how much of her own self she’s really willing/able to give up this season in order to secure peace. The theme of this season, as I understand it, is how does humanity begin to work together again and rebuild, after everything they’ve done to each other? More importantly, what kind of world do they WANT to build? And unlike last season, I believe, Clarke is going to have to consider this question on a more personal level.
I see it in the way Bellamy and Lexa, between them, are already starting to pull her apart. I saw it in the desperate way she said ‘no’ when Bellamy handcuffed her, because that, to me, was her complete terror that she won’t be able to save him or the people of Arkadia. Bellamy, in a sense, is asking her to go with her heart, to stick with her people and him not because it’s necessarily the right thing to do, but out of loyalty and yes, love (standard disclaimer, etc etc, lol). Lexa is asking her to go with her head, to choose the course that is most likely to bring long-term results, even if it means that those she cares most about cannot be saved. Interestingly, she will have to make this decision while both of THEM are starting to act with the opposite motivation… Lexa with her heart, and Bellamy with his head, and it’s likely going to come back to bite both of them on the ass, because neither of them are necessarily the best strategic decisions right now.
And Clarke is going to have to decide, possibly, whether the greater good is WORTH fighting for if it means that the people she is fighting for have to be sacrificed for it. Or something like that.
Having said that, we still don’t know how the CoL storyline will play out. Maybe it will force them all to work together, or maybe it will in some way frame this choice for her. Who knows? But I’m really enjoying the morality dynamic that is being set up between these three, in any case.
KT
I’ve never read a review that so ACCURATELY captured my feelings during an episode. Wow. And I’m talking about THAT SCENE. You hit the nail on the head with this one. It was beautiful and heartbreaking and absolutely right for these characters and their dynamic, and I love how you didn’t shy away from the parts that ripped us apart. You understood the emotional gravity of this scene, instead of boiling it down to surface-level analysis or “shipper” tunnel vision. I’m crying and I applaud you.
Meg Morley
Hahahahaahaha thank you! That’s awesome to hear about the analysis! I am totally comfortable owning and celebrating my absolute, unwavering allegiance to team bellarke and haven’t been sure about how much that’s interfering with my recaps (though, tbh, it’s my blog, I’ll be biased if I want too) so YAY!!
OH MY GOD THAT SCENE THAT SCENE THAT SCENE IT’S EVERYTHING I’vE WANTED AND HURT SO FUCKING MUCH I’M SO BIZARRELY HAPPY RIGHT NOW????? IDK I THINK I’M BROKEN
gradybridges
You are underselling the Murphy storyline. They are going to take him to Polis to torture him. And guess who will be there – Clarke. They will team up to defeat the evil Jaha and A.L.I.E. as he knows about the backpack, the house, and that A.L.I.E. started the nuke war.
Meg Morley
Oh, oh, oh, do not get me wrong, I am very excited to see where Murphy is going and I think it’s going to be huge (apologies for not making that clear, I’ve said previously that Richard is amazing and I’m really into watching him/what he’s brought to this character). I just meant that in the context of this specific episode, he was kind of a sidebar story, you know? But I think Memori is super adorable and spend a lot of my time sitting around like HOW DID THIS SHOW GET ME TO LIKE MURPHY? HOW???
Megan
“Does she know that we bleed the same?”
Ugghhh I was holding my feelings in pretty good until I watched this MV. Bellamy…oh Bellamy…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h90Go6K8j2Q
(Amazing review as per usual, thank you for being my The 100 therapist!)
Meg Morley
OH GOD OH GOD VIDEOS OH MAN HERE WE GO THANK YOU FOR THE LINK AND THE INEVITABLE MELTDOWN
(thank you!!!! i’m glad my slow collapse into whatever I’m turning into is working for you :D) (i don’t know if i’m going to make it through the season tbh) (i might legit short circuit)
Fogh
Thumbs up from me. Great insight and what I’ve been trying to tell people all over the internet today.
Meg Morley
thank you!!! high five team this ep was awesome! I’m so glad I’ve seen so many people reacting positively to it. I was so so so nervous that the fandom was going to burn down after that ep given how on edge people have been but so far i’m seeing a lot of love/understanding/AMAZING analysis
Fogh
What I really wanted Bellamy to ask Clarke was: “Tell me why I should trust the grounders?”
I think Clarke would’ve been a loss for words.
Meg Morley
oh my GOD. OH MAN. I HADN’T EVEN THOUGHT OF THAT. honestly what could her answer have been? I think you’re probably right with further speechlessness, I mean what justification can she really give him? Although I could also see her maybe MAYBE saying ‘because I do’ and I think that would’ve have really fucked bellamy up given where he’s at with clarke. Like oh. OH. OKAY. TRUST YOU? THE YOU THAT IS A WE WITH LEXA NOW? and then it would’ve all gone even further into hell.
sonya
I think Bellamy is torn up by doing what he’s doing and Pike is going to finally do something that pushed Bellamy too far and make him realize he has to walk away from Pike. I think he will do his best at redemption, but will be so broken, he will forever be done with guns and fighting. Maybe even do something like Jon Snow from GOT and exhile himself from Arkadia. Thinking he is unworthy of being there…
Meg Morley
I definitely agree that Pike is going to do something that will push Bellamy too far. I’ve been talking to a couple of people about it and the obvious answer is Lincoln but how much do you want to bet they do decide to clear that village?
While I see what you’re saying about him being done with guns and fighting (and I absolutely believe he would want that), I can’t see the show letting him have that, you know? At least, not in any kind of lasting way until the end of the show is in sight.
HONESTLY THOUGH IF HE EXILES HIMSELF AFTER CLARKE EXILING HERSELF I WILL FLIP A FUCKING TABLE CAN WE END ONE. DAMN. SEASON. WITH THEM IN THE SAME PLACE???? Hahahahahahahahahaha no probably not *weeps*
Fogh
My theory is that Pike decides to kill Lincoln and the sick grounders. He removed them sick bay so they wouldn’t use any of their limited medial supply. Moving them to a jail is only a temporary solution to that problem.
He could keep them as prisoners of war but why?
He also can’t just release them. That is a sign of weakness to his enemies.
His only option is to kill them. He knows Lincoln has friends inside Arkedia, among them Bellamy and Octavia. He might be able to get away with killing the others with the excuse of resources but Lincoln is another matter.
Octavia will somehow find out that they killed Lincoln. Actually, I think she will witness it and she will think Bellamy was a part of it. Maybe Pike tricks Bellamy into talking to/distracting Octavia while escorting the prisoners out of the camp. Octavia will blame Bellamy and he will feel responsible even if he wasn’t directly and that will be the turning point for him.
Meg Morley
I am actually kicking myself for not considering that his ultimate plan is to kill the prisoners because omg he would, he’s the fucking WORST. He’s been saying over and over no survivors, we don’t have the resources, etc, etc.
Oh god, this is so plausible and so terrible and this is going to be so bad. I like to think that if Bellamy catches wind of his plan, that’s going to be his line and he’s going to try and stop it but honestly who knows at this point.
Elinix
Amazing review! You are so right about absolutely everything!
Thank you for posting, and clearing some things up for me, primarily regarding Bellamy. I also spend an unhealthy amount of time analyzing this show, but tend to focus on the supporting characters (Murphy in my heart!), so I didn’t quite get where Bellamy has been at emotionally these last two weeks, actually this entire season. And to be fair, I do think they were to quick last week, they hadn’t given us enough Bellamy screen time to earn his turn emotionally with WHAT THEY SHOWED, even though the reasons were there if you thought about them. I felt that last week didn’t add up, and this week somehow made everything better, but I did not understand how, or why (I mean The Scene was obviously amazing, but you know, exactly why?), and then I came here and read this and NOW EVERYTHING HAS BECOME CLEAR!! It all makes so much sense now!! And it BREAKS MY HEART! Thanks again! And congrats on the retweet from Jason 😉
Meg Morley
Thank you!!
I fully agree, and have gone on and on about in previous posts, that the pacing has been super rushed. I think the writers relied a lot on people reasoning out character stuff on their own/through social media and that’s a suuuuuuuuper risky move considering not everyone that watches is neck deep in fandom (but Jason has acknowledged the criticism in several interviews, so he’s heard it and I was honestly tired of complaining about it, so I’ve more or less let it go) (it also helped that this ep contained so much of the emotional fallout that was missing from the first few eps so I’ll accept that they were rushing things to get the plot in place and it seems like it’s evening out now). That said, I do spend WAY TOO MUCH of my life thinking about this show and character analysis has always been something I’m super into. This is my rambling way of saying I’m glad that my obsessive nature has benefitted you 😀
IT IS ALL SO HEARTBREAKING. Also, if you didn’t click through, I highly, HIGHLY recommend reading Natalie’s breakdown of the scene because she went so much more in depth than I did and did so in her usual brilliantly eloquent fashion.
(OMG THAT TWEET I LEGIT BLACKED OUT FOR A SECOND)
Holly J
Everything about this review is just straight-up YAAAASSSS. And for this comment, I’m leaving off Jaha, Murphy, and even Clexa because I don’t think they were that important (well, except for when Lexa listened to Clarke about ‘blood must not have blood’ which was very important for them both, and I really like their relationship at this moment) and I don’t have anything to say about Pike. So yeah, here goes.
RAVEN. Ahhhh. Freaking Lindsey Morgan is amazingggg and I loved everything about Raven in this episode. I get why she took the Jaha pill, but damn if I didn’t want her to! But I do agree with you guys that she’ll eventually reject it completely. She may be filled with euphoria now, but that won’t last, and I would just love to see her accept her disability and see that she’s not broken and that she is so strong and smart and capable and that nothing will hold her back. And omg Octavia was so flawless, as she always is. I freaking loved that she called out both Clarke AND Bellamy, and that she did it in the most impactful way. I know Bellamy holds her opinion in high regard, and I think Clarke does too. And gah, I love it when she and Octavia work together. Also Lincoln was pretty flawless here too, and I loved that all he had to do was basically give Bellamy his Angry, Brooding Stare and that was enough to shame him (poor B, I love you, but you needed to be called out for shit).
Okay, so I had a REALLY hard time with Bellamy’s characterization. I think the fast pace of the last two episodes had fucked things over for the audience in that regard (or maybe just me) because I needed more time to find him letting Pike influence him to be natural (and I also truly believe that even at his lowest, Bellamy would not turn his back on Lincoln, because of his trust he’d placed in L to take care of Octavia and keep her safe in season one [I sure hope I’m remembering this right] when he didn’t have any reason to and then of course they became the brotp of the ages). BUT with that being said, I absolutely loved everything about how the writers showed Bellamy’s character in this one. I’m a big fan of character regression, because people aren’t perfect, so I can’t expect my favorite characters to be. We all continuously make mistakes and burn bridges in life, but we grow from all of that. And so Bellamy needs to stumble and fall and hit rock bottom so that he can finally start to see what others do when they look at him; a good, kind, and protective leader who does whatever he can to keep the people he cares about safe. I also recognize that he’s always been an emotionally-driven person, and that he’s never quite believed himself to be a good person, and that he still carries around regrets from season one (so basically I agree with everything you’ve said about him above, and you also brought up things I hadn’t considered). And that he needed that fight with Clarke, so their relationship (whether that is going to be romantic or not [I refuse to believe Bellarke isn’t endgame though]) can get stronger and, like you said, regain equal footing. Also I think it was just needed in general because they had a lot to talk about (well, Bellamy did), and they couldn’t keep it in anymore. And God that scene just absolutely destroyed me and I totally cried too. It was hard, and painful, and beautiful, and so intense and filled with so much depth and GAH. Why does it hurt so much??
I wasn’t a fan of not being shown the massacre at first, but I get why they did. And I do agree with the points you made about why it wasn’t. Indra’s words, Octavia’s devastated face, Lincoln’s anger, and Bellamy’s thinly veiled struggle over what they’d done was ENOUGH. I still think they’re moving a bit too fast for me to really be okay with all that they’re doing on the show, but I will keep my faith in it. This episode just reminded me of what the show does well and why I became obsessed with it in the first place, and I’m hoping the the poor decision-making with plot/pace in the two episodes before this won’t be repeated. But after this incredibly satisfying episode, I’m feeling confident!
I’m gonna watch the fight again now and cry.
Meg Morley
Thank you!!
“except for when Lexa listened to Clarke about ‘blood must not have blood’ which was very important for them both, and I really like their relationship at this moment” same, though I’m still really wary of how that’s all going to work out.
“I get why she took the Jaha pill, but damn if I didn’t want her to” i’m honestly kind of glad? both because of what I think her arc is going to be but also because it’ll be interesting to get a non-jaha POV of the city of light.
OCTAVIA WAS SO PERFECT. SO SO PERFECT. Also, side note, I have legit asked people to write Octavia locking Bellamy and Clarke in a room to hash out their issues, I never ever thought canon would actually give that to us. I can’t talk about Lincoln without getting unreasonably upset but yeeesssss he was perfect, as usual.
I absolutely get why so many people had a hard time with Bellamy and you are so not alone. The pacing has definitely been rushed and a lot of the show in regards to his motivation up until this point was a casualty of that. It’s also really hard to watch so I think there’s also a lot of rejection just because noooooooo bellamy! you’re better than this! Tbh, I don’t think he’s turned his back on Lincoln (the whole they/you know what I meant thing indicated that Natalie was 100% right in her 3×04 Bellamy meta, Bellamy is thinking of Lincoln as an exception, he’s separated him from the rest of the trikru in his head), he seemed to have tried/intended to keep Lincoln away from the med bay when they were removing the sick grounders. He could barely look Kane and Lincoln in the eye, he knows what he’s doing is wrong and I think recognizes and accepts that they have every right to be mad at him, but it’s being overridden by his belief that in the long run this’ll be worth it? Idk, this got long.
Anyway, I love everything you’re said about character regression, especially this “And so Bellamy needs to stumble and fall and hit rock bottom so that he can finally start to see what others do when they look at him; a good, kind, and protective leader who does whatever he can to keep the people he cares about safe” because YES.
This is one of the reasons I’m actually really excited about his arc? One of my favorite parts of this show has been watching Bellamy evolve from who he was to who he became and now they’ve pulled the rug out from under us because it turns out that the amazing growth we watched? He doesn’t believe it was real. All of the good that he’s done? To the extent that he thinks about it (and I headcanon that Bellamy probably rarely thinks about all the things he’s done right and instead hyper-focuses on all of the ways he’s failed), he seems to see them as the result of other people pushing him, not who he actually is inside. How awesome is it that it looks like we get to watch that beautiful arc happen all over again, but this time more for real because Bellamy is rebuilding himself? How amazing is it going to be when he realizes that the person he is on his own is ultimately the same person that everyone else saw in him before? I think it’s hugely important that Bellamy and Clarke are rebuilding themselves independently of each other. I think that when they’ve done that, they’ll be back on the same level they were on in season one but even deeper because they’ll have truly gone through some shit and learned some things about themselves and each other and how they are together and apart. AND AGAIN THIS GOT REALLY LONG, SORRY.
(bellarke is totally endgame)
AcornArmy
Even though I’m a Clexa shipper, I found myself agreeing with most of this review. I thought about why and tried to reconcile it in my own mind, and I finally figured it out. Then I wrote this post on my blog page about The 100. And I figured I should paste it here, since this review is what inspired me to consider this in the first place:
Dear Bellarkers,
I’m writing this so that some of you will have a glimpse into the mind of a Clexa shipper, and realize that some of us love seeing Clarke and Bellamy together just as much as some of you do.
And look, I get it; I saw that scene in 3×05 of The 100, I recognize all of that emotion between Clarke and Bellamy. Those two people love each other. It was obvious in that scene, and there have been times when one of them has had love in their eyes when they looked at the other one, or like, when Bellamy touched Clarke’s hair in 3×02 like he couldn’t believe she was really still alive and okay.
And the way the two of them talked to each other in 3×05, there was obviously a deep, strong connection between them. There was a closeness, a willingness to open their hearts to each other as they talked that is rare with Clarke and almost non-existent with Bellamy. Those two clearly have a special place in each other’s hearts.
The thing is, whenever I’ve tried to mentally take that further in my mind, imagine them kissing each other or sleeping together, it always immediately squigged me out(I know that’s not a word, but that’s what happened). I was immediately like, “Ew, ew, ew, NO.” Like watching your parents make out or something; it’s not something that should be endured, much less celebrated.
And this didn’t make sense to me at first, so I kept thinking about it, trying to analyze it and understand what the problem was. I mean, they do clearly love each other. They obviously work better when leading as a team, or at least Bellamy definitely needs Clarke with him if he’s going to be a leader. She keeps his head on straight when no one else can.
I remembered them in Season One, talking and interacting in “Unity Day” and “Day Trip,” and how they helped each other through to the end of S1. How Bellamy backed Clarke’s plays in Season Two. How the two of them looked and sounded with each other when they talked. Then I compared it to Kane and Abby talking, and to Clarke and Lexa talking or even standing in the same room with each other, and I finally figured it out.
There’s never been any sexual tension between Clarke and Bellamy. I’m serious, there’s nothing like that hanging between them when they talk. There’s chemistry of a sort, yes, an awful lot of it, but to me it feels like the connection made by love and openness and trust.
If you compare the feeling between Clarke and Bellamy to the feeling between Clarke and Lexa, it becomes obvious– to me, at least– that with Lexa and Clarke, it’s like a living creature of heat is constantly pouring out of their eyes and bodies, snaking toward each other and swirling around, moving back and forth between them. It’s insane, the sense of what passes between them. I honestly don’t know how they resist ripping each other’s clothes off and having at each other right there in the throne room. Angry or gentle or sweet or just urgent, it feels like something physical needs to happen between them, and just as soon as f***ing possible.
But that sense has never been there with Bellamy and Clarke. There’s never the sense that something physical needs to happen between them. It feels more– pure heart, if that makes sense, and doesn’t make me sound too much like a fucking Carebear.
And that is genuinely, honestly how I see it. I love that weird thing that Clarke has with Bellamy, because it gives them both so much opportunity to say things and do things that they wouldn’t do with most other people, and it gives them both someone to lean on completely, which they’re both badly in need of. And I don’t want that relationship to disappear from the show.
(That said, as of 3×05, I don’t forgive Bellamy for killing those 300 people and I very much feel like he needs to be punished for it, or the show will feel diminished to me. And yet, like I said, I don’t want Bellamy to NOT be on the show any longer. And yet, I also really, really don’t want the writers to wuss out on how they deal with that massacre. I have no idea how the writers can possibly reconcile these two seemingly conflicting needs, but I pretty much have faith that they’ll find a way. They’re like Clarke: they always seem to find a way. 🙂 )
Meg Morley
So, 1. thank you so much for commenting, I know that my recaps are pretty heavily biased so it’s really awesome to hear that they still somewhat resonate with people who aren’t me.
2. Thank you for sharing your post! I love that people are reacting/discussing these? I honestly started writing them like hey, I’m just going to vent into the void because I have too many emotions about this show to keep it in.
ANYWAY.
I really love hearing a Clexa shipper’s breakdown! I totally get where you’re coming from (I mean, not so much with this specific ship bc I’m all over Bellarke and I do see tons of sexual tension between them, but not everyone sees/feels the same stuff and ha, remember when Clarke and Finn were a thing? Never once got the appeal/saw the chemistry there, but to each their own). I also totally agree that Clarke and Lexa spark like WHOA. I would never deny that there isn’t a lot going on there, and I appreciate that it exists and is happening, I just don’t particularly feel it for reasons that basically boil down to it doesn’t hit my ship buttons (hence why I tend to sort of skim over their scenes, they don’t give me a lot of feelings and I don’t want to be a dick and rain on anyone’s parade).
If I’m being entirely honest, for as much as I’d love for Bellamy and Clarke to set sail as a canon romantic ship, I am so deeply in love with the connection between them that already exists, as long as that survives, I’m satisfied.
AcornArmy
This has been the most pleasant and sane exchange between a Clexa shipper and a Bellarke shipper that I have ever witnessed or been a part of. Usually one or both sides end up practically foaming at the mouth in agitation over differing views. I tried to make sure my comment was fair-minded and decent, and your reply was downright unbiased and pleasant. Thank you. 🙂
Meg Morley
RIGHT? I’m honestly grinning like a fool right now. I very much appreciate your fair-mindedness and tried very hard to do the same so yay communication! I mean honestly, for as much as people try to dress it up however, it all comes down to a difference in taste and opinion and that seems like such a pointless thing to fight over when we could be having in depth discussions and group hugging over how ridiculously twisted and painful this show is instead. Also, I kind of love discussing different opinions with people because I’m really fascinated by the way 5 different people can interpret the same thing 5 different ways and I like getting new perspectives? This is a long-winded way of saying I often quite like (non-hostile) discussions with people that disagree with me.
Carina Olsen
Hi lovely Meg. <3 I didn't see this episode until yesterday, ack, so I couldn't comment on it until now 🙂 I don't think I have too much to say about it, just wanted to say that your review is AWESOME 😀 And eeee, I LOVE that Jason tweets about your reviews 😀 SO AWESOME. Also, gosh yes, I love how dark this show is. It is the most awesome 😀
I still don't like Jaha, lol 😀 But now with Pike.. well. I don't think Jaha is all that bad anymore, lol 😀 Because Pike. Gosh damn. He is the very worst. I cannot. I'm not good with what he had Bellamy do and be a part of. Sigh. Not okay. Aaaalso. I am not okay with the hate I have been seeing from some people about Bellamy. Ugh. He is still the best. <3 And I don't approve of people saying otherwise, lol.
I looooved the Bellarke scene 😀 It was EVIL. Yet totally awesome. But ugh. I was very happy with Bellamy handcuffing her, hah. I get why he's angry with her. She left him. I'm not good with that at all. Hmph.
Anyway. <3 Sorry for not writing so much. I Just. I read all of your review, and it was awesome, and I agree with a lot f it 😀 You are the best Meg. <3