The 100: Stealing Fire
April 4, 2016 1:06 AM - Season 3, Episode 9 - Subscribe
While Polis prepares to pass the flame, Arkadia deals with its traitors.
Also great: every last scene with Murphy in it
Murphy is so great in this. The bit where he is knocked down the stairs and just says, "She's here!" about killed me.
Hm. Other stuff:
* Pike's execution of Lincoln was visually striking, and letting Octavia see it is a big plot point, but it still felt a little baffling from an in-universe standpoint. They're short on ammunition, presently surrounded and Pike is trying to solidify his position as The Guy Who Gets Shit Done. A hanging in the public square felt more appropriate than a bullet outside the walls.
I also do not, for one moment, buy Pike's promise to Lincoln. I'm sure he meant it right then, but he'll do whatever he thinks he 'has' to later on. Those prisoners are *so* screwed.
* Indra is the best. I want the spinoff show where she and Octavia travel from village to village righting wrongs every week.
* I had to pause and check to make sure Rhiannon Fish wasn't related to Lucy Lawless when she showed up this time. She looked like a Teen Xena *so* much in this episode. Also, her over the top awfulness seems in keeping with the former Ice Queen. I was pleasantly surprised the show would go there. I keep thinking of The 100 as 'Game of Thrones, except I'm looking forward to it,' and... yeah. That was totally in that vein.
* I'm so glad Clarke got the Flamekeeper gig, rather than becoming the next Commander. Until the whole Nightblood thing, I was pretty sure they were angling for that, and... nopenopenope. This is much better.
posted by mordax at 5:11 AM on April 4, 2016 [1 favorite]
Murphy is so great in this. The bit where he is knocked down the stairs and just says, "She's here!" about killed me.
Hm. Other stuff:
* Pike's execution of Lincoln was visually striking, and letting Octavia see it is a big plot point, but it still felt a little baffling from an in-universe standpoint. They're short on ammunition, presently surrounded and Pike is trying to solidify his position as The Guy Who Gets Shit Done. A hanging in the public square felt more appropriate than a bullet outside the walls.
I also do not, for one moment, buy Pike's promise to Lincoln. I'm sure he meant it right then, but he'll do whatever he thinks he 'has' to later on. Those prisoners are *so* screwed.
* Indra is the best. I want the spinoff show where she and Octavia travel from village to village righting wrongs every week.
* I had to pause and check to make sure Rhiannon Fish wasn't related to Lucy Lawless when she showed up this time. She looked like a Teen Xena *so* much in this episode. Also, her over the top awfulness seems in keeping with the former Ice Queen. I was pleasantly surprised the show would go there. I keep thinking of The 100 as 'Game of Thrones, except I'm looking forward to it,' and... yeah. That was totally in that vein.
* I'm so glad Clarke got the Flamekeeper gig, rather than becoming the next Commander. Until the whole Nightblood thing, I was pretty sure they were angling for that, and... nopenopenope. This is much better.
posted by mordax at 5:11 AM on April 4, 2016 [1 favorite]
Also: so glad nobody trusted Bellamy at all, or Monte without solid proof. I would've been pretty unhappy with other characters skipping past their stupidity and betrayal.
posted by mordax at 5:13 AM on April 4, 2016
posted by mordax at 5:13 AM on April 4, 2016
Octavia's face...... Pike's days are numbered.
posted by Pendragon at 6:42 AM on April 4, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by Pendragon at 6:42 AM on April 4, 2016 [1 favorite]
* Pike's execution of Lincoln was visually striking, and letting Octavia see it is a big plot point, but it still felt a little baffling from an in-universe standpoint. They're short on ammunition, presently surrounded and Pike is trying to solidify his position as The Guy Who Gets Shit Done. A hanging in the public square felt more appropriate than a bullet outside the walls.
Executing someone with a bullet is the ultimate indication of how serious Pike is about what he's doing. Likewise, were spacings on the station a major public affair? (I honestly can't recall the one or two we were shown). I think part of Pike's problem is that he's a major pragmatist (except when it comes to Grounders and security - where the logical nature of not antagonizing the vast army of people who surround you is missed on him - based on a belief they will kill them anyways, true), but he's not a leader for spectacle. He's a leader, as you say, to get crap done. He says he's taking out the trash, he takes it out, he doesn't call out the band to play music, make a holiday of it, etc. He just does it.
I thought the execution, which I wasn't aware of, was done well.
And...we can now give Olivia the pre-title of Checkov, i.e., she's now Checkov's Olivia, cause she will be killing someone by the end of the season.
Murphy's "She's here," was also one of my favorite moments from the episode. I was not a major fan of his in the beginning, but he's quickly become one of my favorite characters on the show.
The kiss....finally. Geez.
posted by Atreides at 7:14 AM on April 4, 2016
Executing someone with a bullet is the ultimate indication of how serious Pike is about what he's doing. Likewise, were spacings on the station a major public affair? (I honestly can't recall the one or two we were shown). I think part of Pike's problem is that he's a major pragmatist (except when it comes to Grounders and security - where the logical nature of not antagonizing the vast army of people who surround you is missed on him - based on a belief they will kill them anyways, true), but he's not a leader for spectacle. He's a leader, as you say, to get crap done. He says he's taking out the trash, he takes it out, he doesn't call out the band to play music, make a holiday of it, etc. He just does it.
I thought the execution, which I wasn't aware of, was done well.
And...we can now give Olivia the pre-title of Checkov, i.e., she's now Checkov's Olivia, cause she will be killing someone by the end of the season.
Murphy's "She's here," was also one of my favorite moments from the episode. I was not a major fan of his in the beginning, but he's quickly become one of my favorite characters on the show.
The kiss....finally. Geez.
posted by Atreides at 7:14 AM on April 4, 2016
Likewise, were spacings on the station a major public affair?
The one I can recall, I don't think it was. Those were an even more ridiculous waste of resources than using up a bullet while low on ammunition though. I'm sorry, you're in space with no new physical material coming in, you need the organics for fertilizer. And you put them in space wearing perfectly good clothes? Clothes that are now gone forever? What is wrong with you.
posted by vibratory manner of working at 10:20 AM on April 4, 2016 [4 favorites]
The one I can recall, I don't think it was. Those were an even more ridiculous waste of resources than using up a bullet while low on ammunition though. I'm sorry, you're in space with no new physical material coming in, you need the organics for fertilizer. And you put them in space wearing perfectly good clothes? Clothes that are now gone forever? What is wrong with you.
posted by vibratory manner of working at 10:20 AM on April 4, 2016 [4 favorites]
You guys, I lost it and sobbed when Lincoln died. Total. Sobbing. Mess. (Word on the comments is that he's a lead in another show.) But ahhh, so sad.
I too have been loving Murphey more and more, I'm glad they dropped his "bad kid" season 1 thing.
I'm fascinated by Clarke becoming the firekeeper (it's firekeeper right?) Because it seems she's conflicted about the whole right-of-passage-let's-put-an-implant-in-your-brain thing. I love that it's all spiraling together from the original "commander" though with the saved uniform patch as the box covering.
But wow, took me a minute to recover from that execution though. Brutal.
posted by Crystalinne at 1:17 PM on April 4, 2016 [1 favorite]
I too have been loving Murphey more and more, I'm glad they dropped his "bad kid" season 1 thing.
I'm fascinated by Clarke becoming the firekeeper (it's firekeeper right?) Because it seems she's conflicted about the whole right-of-passage-let's-put-an-implant-in-your-brain thing. I love that it's all spiraling together from the original "commander" though with the saved uniform patch as the box covering.
But wow, took me a minute to recover from that execution though. Brutal.
posted by Crystalinne at 1:17 PM on April 4, 2016 [1 favorite]
But wow, took me a minute to recover from that execution though. Brutal.
I was too stunned to really react any other way. As I stated, I was caught completely unawares. I did think, "Well, this is The 100 and they kill off prominent characters...." I also thought, "...but Lincoln? Aw, man!"
I'm fascinated by Clarke becoming the firekeeper (it's firekeeper right?) Because it seems she's conflicted about the whole right-of-passage-let's-put-an-implant-in-your-brain thing. I love that it's all spiraling together from the original "commander" though with the saved uniform patch as the box covering.
Keeper of the Flame, I think. It introduces Clarke into being this nice advisory to a leader than always emerging as the leader (unless she ends up having the AI put in her neck...and it doesn't kill her).
My only real problem with a lot of the Grounder world and story building is that it's been only about a century. There are Grounders today who should remember their grandparents talking about the world that was, spaceships and everything else, etc...etc. Society, regardless of how pulverized it was by the nuclear bombs shouldn't have digressed that much unless there was an almost perfect severing of human knowledge of the past. I mean, it's been less than 97 years since the first 'Commander' appeared to start saving humanity. There could potentially be an extremely old person who met her as a child, or at least passed on their meeting with her to their children who would be old, but not ancient. That a whole theology and everything else has developed so quickly has always been a lingering problem in my head. I would have loved to have the show take place much more distant than just a century. Even 150 years or so would make more sense.
posted by Atreides at 2:07 PM on April 4, 2016 [1 favorite]
I was too stunned to really react any other way. As I stated, I was caught completely unawares. I did think, "Well, this is The 100 and they kill off prominent characters...." I also thought, "...but Lincoln? Aw, man!"
I'm fascinated by Clarke becoming the firekeeper (it's firekeeper right?) Because it seems she's conflicted about the whole right-of-passage-let's-put-an-implant-in-your-brain thing. I love that it's all spiraling together from the original "commander" though with the saved uniform patch as the box covering.
Keeper of the Flame, I think. It introduces Clarke into being this nice advisory to a leader than always emerging as the leader (unless she ends up having the AI put in her neck...and it doesn't kill her).
My only real problem with a lot of the Grounder world and story building is that it's been only about a century. There are Grounders today who should remember their grandparents talking about the world that was, spaceships and everything else, etc...etc. Society, regardless of how pulverized it was by the nuclear bombs shouldn't have digressed that much unless there was an almost perfect severing of human knowledge of the past. I mean, it's been less than 97 years since the first 'Commander' appeared to start saving humanity. There could potentially be an extremely old person who met her as a child, or at least passed on their meeting with her to their children who would be old, but not ancient. That a whole theology and everything else has developed so quickly has always been a lingering problem in my head. I would have loved to have the show take place much more distant than just a century. Even 150 years or so would make more sense.
posted by Atreides at 2:07 PM on April 4, 2016 [1 favorite]
Even though I knew Lincoln's death was coming, I found his execution to be extremely disturbing. Nobody else found it horrific that they chose to kill the black guy while he was shackled, on his knees in the mud? Should i be glad they didn't string him up from the nearest tree lynch mob style while Pike whistled Dixie? And the extreme graphic nature, jfc, I really didn't need to see the hole in his head. And this was in the same episode that 10(?) Innocent children are murdered, one beheaded, and then we see Titus commit suicide by slitting his own throat and drowning in a bathtub while blood gushes from his jugular. And I have no idea why he thought he needed to do that really. Unless Luna is Lexa's identical twin sister I am so done with this show. Shipping Clarke + the Chip will not sustain me.
posted by pjsky at 2:26 PM on April 4, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by pjsky at 2:26 PM on April 4, 2016 [2 favorites]
Even though I knew Lincoln's death was coming, I found his execution to be extremely disturbing. Nobody else found it horrific that they chose to kill the black guy while he was shackled, on his knees in the mud?
I never have really identified Lincoln as being black, myself (though the actor identifies personally as black). While the shackling might suggestive (he wasn't the only one in shackles in the episode), being executed on his knees doesn't really convey any racial overtones to me at all, unlike hanging the character from a tree as mentioned. I think popular culture depicts a lot executions of people on their knees, not just subject to any one race or identifiable group. Lynchings, after all, were almost always about public spectacle, and as we've already discussed, there was virtually no spectacle at all in this killing.
If we want to go toward more problematic depictions of Lincoln, I would reflect back to Season One when they had him chained up and white actors were torturing him.
posted by Atreides at 2:50 PM on April 4, 2016 [2 favorites]
I never have really identified Lincoln as being black, myself (though the actor identifies personally as black). While the shackling might suggestive (he wasn't the only one in shackles in the episode), being executed on his knees doesn't really convey any racial overtones to me at all, unlike hanging the character from a tree as mentioned. I think popular culture depicts a lot executions of people on their knees, not just subject to any one race or identifiable group. Lynchings, after all, were almost always about public spectacle, and as we've already discussed, there was virtually no spectacle at all in this killing.
If we want to go toward more problematic depictions of Lincoln, I would reflect back to Season One when they had him chained up and white actors were torturing him.
posted by Atreides at 2:50 PM on April 4, 2016 [2 favorites]
I too have been loving Murphey more and more, I'm glad they dropped his "bad kid" season 1 thing.
I maintain Murphy is probably a sociopath, and his characterization has never really changed - he's just learning to adapt better. (I don't really mind this. There are a lot of characters I love to watch on TV that I couldn't personally associate with.)
Nobody else found it horrific that they chose to kill the black guy while he was shackled, on his knees in the mud?
I think I'm with Atreides about that one: the shackled/knees thing didn't feel very racially charged to me beyond the overall dynamics of the show. (Overall, I've been thinking of Lincoln and the Grounders as Native Americans, ever since someone at Fanfare pointed out the parallels in an earlier season.)
He says he's taking out the trash, he takes it out, he doesn't call out the band to play music, make a holiday of it, etc. He just does it.
A hanging outside the walls still would've been smarter for the bullet - Arkadia's desperate, and while Pike is generally a pretty terrible leader, I imagine he's a decent logistician. (Really, I'm sure the writers just wanted a particularly striking visual and didn't mind it not making sense, but it took me outta the moment a bit.)
If we want to go toward more problematic depictions of Lincoln, I would reflect back to Season One when they had him chained up and white actors were torturing him.
Yeah, that was pretty rough to watch at the time, and has colored my expectations of the space guys ever since.
My only real problem with a lot of the Grounder world and story building is that it's been only about a century.
Likewise. I keep mentally just adding a factor of ten there to keep from going nuts listening to them talk about it.
posted by mordax at 6:39 PM on April 4, 2016
I maintain Murphy is probably a sociopath, and his characterization has never really changed - he's just learning to adapt better. (I don't really mind this. There are a lot of characters I love to watch on TV that I couldn't personally associate with.)
Nobody else found it horrific that they chose to kill the black guy while he was shackled, on his knees in the mud?
I think I'm with Atreides about that one: the shackled/knees thing didn't feel very racially charged to me beyond the overall dynamics of the show. (Overall, I've been thinking of Lincoln and the Grounders as Native Americans, ever since someone at Fanfare pointed out the parallels in an earlier season.)
He says he's taking out the trash, he takes it out, he doesn't call out the band to play music, make a holiday of it, etc. He just does it.
A hanging outside the walls still would've been smarter for the bullet - Arkadia's desperate, and while Pike is generally a pretty terrible leader, I imagine he's a decent logistician. (Really, I'm sure the writers just wanted a particularly striking visual and didn't mind it not making sense, but it took me outta the moment a bit.)
If we want to go toward more problematic depictions of Lincoln, I would reflect back to Season One when they had him chained up and white actors were torturing him.
Yeah, that was pretty rough to watch at the time, and has colored my expectations of the space guys ever since.
My only real problem with a lot of the Grounder world and story building is that it's been only about a century.
Likewise. I keep mentally just adding a factor of ten there to keep from going nuts listening to them talk about it.
posted by mordax at 6:39 PM on April 4, 2016
I keep mentally just adding a factor of ten there to keep from going nuts listening to them talk about it
Or even two, which would make them as distant from the apocalypse as we are from the War of 1812. With a mostly-oral cultural tradition and a lot of social disruption, that's far enough away to lose a lot of technology and history. And it supports the rise of the new dialect a bit better.
I'm bothered by Lincoln's death (although I knew it was coming because of American Gods), and by the fact that it means another man of color will be killed by the end of the season -- when Octavia cuts Pike's throat (not a spoiler, just a prediction).
I was impressed that Hannah covered for Monty -- I really didn't expect that. And that wassname (Brian?) joined Miller & the rebels instead of turning on him.
Still waiting for Bellamy to fully acknowledge his responsibility for all of this: he's still dodging it. He needs to own it and try to make amends to the Grounders, not just try to protect his own people from the mess he helped create. We all know we'll get a redeemed Bellamy, but I don't think the writers get how much less justified his actions are, even in comparison with Clarke's at the end of S2.
I am amused that the refugees from Arkadia are now truly caught between Scylla and Charybdis, since they're surrounded by the Grounder blockade, which now answers to Ontari. Where, exactly, are they going to go?
Clarke looking for Luna inevitably means we get Clarke and Octavia on the road together, which should be good for some laughs.
posted by suelac at 9:46 PM on April 4, 2016 [3 favorites]
Or even two, which would make them as distant from the apocalypse as we are from the War of 1812. With a mostly-oral cultural tradition and a lot of social disruption, that's far enough away to lose a lot of technology and history. And it supports the rise of the new dialect a bit better.
I'm bothered by Lincoln's death (although I knew it was coming because of American Gods), and by the fact that it means another man of color will be killed by the end of the season -- when Octavia cuts Pike's throat (not a spoiler, just a prediction).
I was impressed that Hannah covered for Monty -- I really didn't expect that. And that wassname (Brian?) joined Miller & the rebels instead of turning on him.
Still waiting for Bellamy to fully acknowledge his responsibility for all of this: he's still dodging it. He needs to own it and try to make amends to the Grounders, not just try to protect his own people from the mess he helped create. We all know we'll get a redeemed Bellamy, but I don't think the writers get how much less justified his actions are, even in comparison with Clarke's at the end of S2.
I am amused that the refugees from Arkadia are now truly caught between Scylla and Charybdis, since they're surrounded by the Grounder blockade, which now answers to Ontari. Where, exactly, are they going to go?
Clarke looking for Luna inevitably means we get Clarke and Octavia on the road together, which should be good for some laughs.
posted by suelac at 9:46 PM on April 4, 2016 [3 favorites]
I'm bothered by Lincoln's death (although I knew it was coming because of American Gods), and by the fact that it means another man of color will be killed by the end of the season -- when Octavia cuts Pike's throat (not a spoiler, just a prediction).
That is one ramification that I hadn't thought about and that stinks. Hopefully they'll introduce more POC to balance out what they're doing now.
I was impressed that Hannah covered for Monty -- I really didn't expect that.
Neither did I, though, I guess she is his mom. She's already lost his father.
posted by Atreides at 7:34 AM on April 5, 2016
That is one ramification that I hadn't thought about and that stinks. Hopefully they'll introduce more POC to balance out what they're doing now.
I was impressed that Hannah covered for Monty -- I really didn't expect that.
Neither did I, though, I guess she is his mom. She's already lost his father.
posted by Atreides at 7:34 AM on April 5, 2016
Well, there's still a gay couple, one of whom is black. Let's hope they last!
I thought the resolution with Titus was well handled. He truly seemed to lose hope when Ontari killed the kids, so that was his natural instinct, to be done with his role in this whole thing, but the only way out is death.
I'm also glad Clarke will be the new Flamkeppa, instead of a commander or another leader.
posted by numaner at 1:30 PM on April 6, 2016 [1 favorite]
I thought the resolution with Titus was well handled. He truly seemed to lose hope when Ontari killed the kids, so that was his natural instinct, to be done with his role in this whole thing, but the only way out is death.
I'm also glad Clarke will be the new Flamkeppa, instead of a commander or another leader.
posted by numaner at 1:30 PM on April 6, 2016 [1 favorite]
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Also great: every last scene with Murphy in it, leading up to him becoming Ontari's new skaikru pet, apparently.
I'm not thrilled to see Lincoln go, but like the AV Club review says, it made sense for him to make that decision. Abby and Kane were a long time coming and it was nice to get their kiss. That plotline on the whole was not as engaging as the Polis one, but I'm not sure it could have been.
posted by vibratory manner of working at 1:11 AM on April 4, 2016 [2 favorites]