The 100: Survival of the Fittest
January 30, 2015 2:38 PM - Season 2, Episode 10 - Subscribe
Clarke and Lexa encounter a new enemy. Bellamy and Lincoln agree to work together to break into Mount Weather. Murphy helps Jaha confront his past. Octavia won't take no for an answer.
Also: "Camp You is that way"
That might have been my favorite line of the episode.
I'm actually glad that they separated Jaha from the Ark again, dressing him up as a Mose-figure, who's going to lead his people to the promise land City of Light. I really enjoyed his time alone out in the no man land and look forward to him and Murphy revealing the wider world beyond the suburbs of Washington, D.C..
When they killed the gorilla, my first thought was, "What if that's the last gorilla on the planet?!" Incidentally, the second the leader of the Grounders realized what was upon them, she immediately sliced the hamstring of the dude who had tried to kill Clarke, I just had to think, "She just made every joke on how to survive a bear real. COLD." One problem I did find with it was it just seemed to mirror too much of Clarke's escapades with the other Grounder Leader (Clarke has to survive with Grounder Leader and gain their respect!).
I really find it weird that the society of Grounders, so wrapped up on the practicality of war and killing, are getting hung up on the deaths caused by the 100 when they lit the fuel and lit everyone on fire. Was it a dishonorable way to fight? As Clarke pointed out, the grounders were attacking them, so it's not like the village massacre of earlier. The same dissonance kind of popped up with the complaint about Murphy. Somehow I feel as if the situation was reversed, nothing would be expected of a grounder watching his buddy kill innocents.
Lincoln giving up to get the shot was a nice surprise and touch. I don't think he's gone back to being a Reiver, though. Once he recovers from his fix, he'll return to being Lincoln. Bellamy will conveniently end up with one of the few 47 inside Mt. Weather who knows where everything is. Cage or not.
posted by Atreides at 8:47 AM on January 31, 2015 [1 favorite]
That might have been my favorite line of the episode.
I'm actually glad that they separated Jaha from the Ark again, dressing him up as a Mose-figure, who's going to lead his people to the
When they killed the gorilla, my first thought was, "What if that's the last gorilla on the planet?!" Incidentally, the second the leader of the Grounders realized what was upon them, she immediately sliced the hamstring of the dude who had tried to kill Clarke, I just had to think, "She just made every joke on how to survive a bear real. COLD." One problem I did find with it was it just seemed to mirror too much of Clarke's escapades with the other Grounder Leader (Clarke has to survive with Grounder Leader and gain their respect!).
I really find it weird that the society of Grounders, so wrapped up on the practicality of war and killing, are getting hung up on the deaths caused by the 100 when they lit the fuel and lit everyone on fire. Was it a dishonorable way to fight? As Clarke pointed out, the grounders were attacking them, so it's not like the village massacre of earlier. The same dissonance kind of popped up with the complaint about Murphy. Somehow I feel as if the situation was reversed, nothing would be expected of a grounder watching his buddy kill innocents.
Lincoln giving up to get the shot was a nice surprise and touch. I don't think he's gone back to being a Reiver, though. Once he recovers from his fix, he'll return to being Lincoln. Bellamy will conveniently end up with one of the few 47 inside Mt. Weather who knows where everything is. Cage or not.
posted by Atreides at 8:47 AM on January 31, 2015 [1 favorite]
Clarke and Lexa: Plotting the attack on Mount Weather was a neat scene, but then the bits in the woods had me off-balance
I found the lack of backup pretty baffling. Lexa's *important* - I'm surprised she can go to the bathroom without at least a small squad of guards, much less wander off after a treacherous Sky Person with just the one redshirt.
Also, agreed about Byrne: she's one of the few adult Arkies I found remotely interesting. Shame to see her gone.
I was kind of hoping for a dinosaur?
I kind of expected a reptile too, after the river beast. And man, they needed to make more Terra Nova. :(
"Camp You is that way"
Everyone keeps citing that line, and it was good, but my favorite was:
Jaha: How well did you know my son?
Murphy: Well enough to be hung for his murder.
I could've busted a gut.
Kane wants Octavia to be his "eyes and ears" among the Grounders, which she calls spying but honestly I don't think it needs to be anything underhanded
I'm assuming it was underhanded just because Kane was involved. I like the character: he cares about his people, he wants to be a good leader... but his skill set is pretty unpleasant, and the contrast makes him fun. (I wish there was a little more screen time with him, particularly in connection with Lexa.)
Somehow I feel as if the situation was reversed, nothing would be expected of a grounder watching his buddy kill innocents.
Actually, I'm really glad this is how that went down. It's hypocritical, but it's completely expected: in war, you hate the enemy for what they've done... even if you've done things that might look worse to a third party observer. To the Grounders, the Arkies aren't perfectly reasonable folks: they're dangerous, dishonorable interlopers who have burned down villages, shot women and children and interfered with the lawful punishments... plus have more in common with the Mountain Men than anybody. Rank and file Grounders should be reacting to them with anger, fear and disgust, and I'm glad that's an ongoing issue.
Lincoln giving up to get the shot was a nice surprise and touch.
I'm glad the show was willing to go there. It's dark, but he really hasn't had enough time to deal with what happened to him. (I'm really loving how dark this show is.)
Other observations:
* I really like Indra, and am looking forward to her teaching Octavia. That is definitely the only way to permanent peace.
posted by mordax at 12:16 PM on January 31, 2015 [1 favorite]
I found the lack of backup pretty baffling. Lexa's *important* - I'm surprised she can go to the bathroom without at least a small squad of guards, much less wander off after a treacherous Sky Person with just the one redshirt.
Also, agreed about Byrne: she's one of the few adult Arkies I found remotely interesting. Shame to see her gone.
I was kind of hoping for a dinosaur?
I kind of expected a reptile too, after the river beast. And man, they needed to make more Terra Nova. :(
"Camp You is that way"
Everyone keeps citing that line, and it was good, but my favorite was:
Jaha: How well did you know my son?
Murphy: Well enough to be hung for his murder.
I could've busted a gut.
Kane wants Octavia to be his "eyes and ears" among the Grounders, which she calls spying but honestly I don't think it needs to be anything underhanded
I'm assuming it was underhanded just because Kane was involved. I like the character: he cares about his people, he wants to be a good leader... but his skill set is pretty unpleasant, and the contrast makes him fun. (I wish there was a little more screen time with him, particularly in connection with Lexa.)
Somehow I feel as if the situation was reversed, nothing would be expected of a grounder watching his buddy kill innocents.
Actually, I'm really glad this is how that went down. It's hypocritical, but it's completely expected: in war, you hate the enemy for what they've done... even if you've done things that might look worse to a third party observer. To the Grounders, the Arkies aren't perfectly reasonable folks: they're dangerous, dishonorable interlopers who have burned down villages, shot women and children and interfered with the lawful punishments... plus have more in common with the Mountain Men than anybody. Rank and file Grounders should be reacting to them with anger, fear and disgust, and I'm glad that's an ongoing issue.
Lincoln giving up to get the shot was a nice surprise and touch.
I'm glad the show was willing to go there. It's dark, but he really hasn't had enough time to deal with what happened to him. (I'm really loving how dark this show is.)
Other observations:
* I really like Indra, and am looking forward to her teaching Octavia. That is definitely the only way to permanent peace.
posted by mordax at 12:16 PM on January 31, 2015 [1 favorite]
Darn, hit Post too fast. Other stuff:
* I really liked Octavia not winning her challenge. I was worried they'd let her get some good licks in or something, but the utter beatdown kept the whole thing a lot more real.
* Poor Bellamy.
* I was a little disappointed that Clarke's plan never got more sophisticated than 'Hope Bellamy finds Mount Weather's thermal exhaust vent.' It seems like they should have been able to technobabble something too - a distraction, some signal jamming, even just tarps to help with the acid fog. I found it remiss that they didn't have any adult Arkies present to offer that sort of advice during their planning phase. (Again with 'Kane is underused on this show.')
* I too am interested to see where they go with Jaha's journey. (Having at least a few people go scout out his idea? Smart. Him just rounding up some people with no plan and limited supplies? Incredibly stupid. Even so, I guess doing it the smart way wouldn't have flown with Abby in charge - she has no reason to back any play of his right now, and it's contrary to Ark culture to split up, it seems.)
posted by mordax at 12:23 PM on January 31, 2015 [1 favorite]
* I really liked Octavia not winning her challenge. I was worried they'd let her get some good licks in or something, but the utter beatdown kept the whole thing a lot more real.
* Poor Bellamy.
* I was a little disappointed that Clarke's plan never got more sophisticated than 'Hope Bellamy finds Mount Weather's thermal exhaust vent.' It seems like they should have been able to technobabble something too - a distraction, some signal jamming, even just tarps to help with the acid fog. I found it remiss that they didn't have any adult Arkies present to offer that sort of advice during their planning phase. (Again with 'Kane is underused on this show.')
* I too am interested to see where they go with Jaha's journey. (Having at least a few people go scout out his idea? Smart. Him just rounding up some people with no plan and limited supplies? Incredibly stupid. Even so, I guess doing it the smart way wouldn't have flown with Abby in charge - she has no reason to back any play of his right now, and it's contrary to Ark culture to split up, it seems.)
posted by mordax at 12:23 PM on January 31, 2015 [1 favorite]
Jaha has decided to go on a vision quest for the City of Light and wants to recruit Murphy? Amazing.
I really liked the nuanced motivations between the two of them, and how even though Jaha and Murphy hadn’t even spoken to each other before they were both able to bring out such interesting reactions to each other. From a storytelling perspective, I’m also glad to have another group splitting off — The 100 is best when it’s jugging several stories at once. And I have a hunch that Camp Jaha is not long for this world, and that the show’s geography will open up in season 3.
I’m also glad that some things didn’t happen this week: Two (relatively) petite women were threatened by burly men, but it wasn’t rapey. And a macho guy hung out with his little sister’s older boyfriend, and they didn’t fight over her. Lesser shows would have gone to both of those places.
In other thoughts:
posted by Banknote of the year at 1:43 PM on February 1, 2015 [3 favorites]
I really liked the nuanced motivations between the two of them, and how even though Jaha and Murphy hadn’t even spoken to each other before they were both able to bring out such interesting reactions to each other. From a storytelling perspective, I’m also glad to have another group splitting off — The 100 is best when it’s jugging several stories at once. And I have a hunch that Camp Jaha is not long for this world, and that the show’s geography will open up in season 3.
I’m also glad that some things didn’t happen this week: Two (relatively) petite women were threatened by burly men, but it wasn’t rapey. And a macho guy hung out with his little sister’s older boyfriend, and they didn’t fight over her. Lesser shows would have gone to both of those places.
In other thoughts:
- So Clarke is going to be the next Grounder leader, right?
- I’m so rooting for Clarke/Lexa (Clexa? Larke?) to become a thing.
- It had always bugged me that the Sky People were able to find the weapons caches so easily, whereas the Grounders — who are otherwise intimately connected to the land — apparently overlooked them for a century. So I was glad to the the backstory about the Grounders’ superstitions about the guns to add a bit of explanation there. (Although you’d still think the Grounders would be better at using the underground storage to hide from the fog.)
posted by Banknote of the year at 1:43 PM on February 1, 2015 [3 favorites]
I had pretty much given up on the show, but then my wife watched this episode and I didn't get up to leave the room.
There are still things that bother me, but it seems to be getting better. Not great television but a good, fun diversion from the shit side of life.
I hate the topographical changes that happened to the DC area over such a short period of time. Bothers me every episode.
I am bothered by how this "warrior culture" always seems to be concerned by deaths in battle. Yeah, the sky people were your enemies, but now you made an alliance. Your leaders shouldn't have to convince every warrior individually to just let it go.
The City of Lights. Really, did the sky people never look at the ground the entire time they were up there? A city of lights would have been pretty damn noticeable AND evidence of the survival of humanity down below.
posted by Seamus at 9:21 AM on February 26, 2015 [1 favorite]
There are still things that bother me, but it seems to be getting better. Not great television but a good, fun diversion from the shit side of life.
I hate the topographical changes that happened to the DC area over such a short period of time. Bothers me every episode.
I am bothered by how this "warrior culture" always seems to be concerned by deaths in battle. Yeah, the sky people were your enemies, but now you made an alliance. Your leaders shouldn't have to convince every warrior individually to just let it go.
The City of Lights. Really, did the sky people never look at the ground the entire time they were up there? A city of lights would have been pretty damn noticeable AND evidence of the survival of humanity down below.
posted by Seamus at 9:21 AM on February 26, 2015 [1 favorite]
The City of Lights. Really, did the sky people never look at the ground the entire time they were up there? A city of lights would have been pretty damn noticeable AND evidence of the survival of humanity down below.
Heh, that's a really good point. If anything, it indicates that perhaps that's an obvious reason for us to expect something other than a city with....lights. Of course, the way the Mountain Men went, the City of Lights is probably the equivalent of the Morlocks.
posted by Atreides at 1:39 PM on February 26, 2015 [2 favorites]
Heh, that's a really good point. If anything, it indicates that perhaps that's an obvious reason for us to expect something other than a city with....lights. Of course, the way the Mountain Men went, the City of Lights is probably the equivalent of the Morlocks.
posted by Atreides at 1:39 PM on February 26, 2015 [2 favorites]
I liked how Lexa mentioned that reincarnation or her spirit or something picks the next leader and then was all, "How do you do it?" I wished I could have seen Clarke be all. "...uh, I just TOOK IT....."
Damn, that gorilla. DAMN.
Murphy and Jaha was surprising.
Go Octavia.
posted by jenfullmoon at 8:39 PM on February 20, 2016
Damn, that gorilla. DAMN.
Murphy and Jaha was surprising.
Go Octavia.
posted by jenfullmoon at 8:39 PM on February 20, 2016
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The gorilla: fine. I was kind of hoping for a dinosaur? Not like, a dinosaur dinosaur, but maybe a giant bird that's mutated into more of a raptor-ish thing? It would have been completely bonkers but for some reason that was the first place my mind went when they started teasing an unseen monster in the woods. I blame Terra Nova.
Some good Clarke and Lexa interactions while they were hiding from the gorilla. I loved Lexa's surprise that the skai kru don't use reincarnation to select their leaders.
Bellamy and Lincoln: Well, shit. That went badly, and Lincoln trying to turn back makes more sense in light of the ending. Not a lot really happens until the end, when the entire plan falls apart. Bellamy gets into Mount Weather, but will likely just be in a cage, and Lincoln is a Reaper again I guess. I feel like the intelligence and self-control of the Reapers went up a lot this episode versus past episodes. It's not necessarily inconsistent but it sort of feels like it. Partially the name and the fact that I have to try hard not to call them Reavers, but I imagined them more animalistic and just completely gone, like the Reavers in Firefly.
We do get a great conversation about why Lincoln helped Octavia before he knew her, and a story about young Lincoln finding an Ark person on the ground, trapped in their spaceship. Lincoln is a really interesting character with a lot of depth developing, and I'm sad to see him turn into a Reaper again. Hopefully we can rescue him from that quickly and he can go back to being an interesting outsider on both sides of the Grounder/Ark divide.
Murphy and Jaha: This was great. Jaha has decided to go on a vision quest for the City of Light and wants to recruit Murphy? Amazing. Jaha calls him John a bunch which is weird but appropriate. Murphy fills Jaha in on what exactly went down relating to his son, and Jaha takes it in stride. I don't know where this is going but I like it. I think I saw Sinclair/Gaeta in the group going with him? Nope, not him, nevermind.
Also: "Camp You is that way"
Camp Jaha: the alliance holds uneasily. Apparently grounders believe mount weather will come kill their whole village if they use a gun - probably true at least occasionally to keep the story going but here paired with apparently omniscient detection ability, giving it more an air of superstition. Octavia repeatedly asking to fight is great, and also the only plausible way to really cement the alliance. They need to train together, not just next to each other, and if the grounders won't touch guns then some people from the Ark will need to get in there and brawl.
Anyway Octavia gets her wish and her ass kicked, but gets up to ask for more enough that it catches Indra's eye, who offers her the chance to be Indra's second. Octavia rightfully jumps on that.
Kane wants Octavia to be his "eyes and ears" among the Grounders, which she calls spying but honestly I don't think it needs to be anything underhanded. Just hang out with them, talk with them, and use her cultural knowledge to advise him where they're concerned. Feels more ambassadorial than spying, he didn't ask her to steal documents or pretend to be someone she's not. He asks her to "look out for her people" but it's pretty clear that "her people" might not be the Ark people.
posted by vibratory manner of working at 3:17 PM on January 30, 2015