The 100: Wanheda: Part One
January 21, 2016 11:34 PM - Season 3, Episode 1 - Subscribe

Three months after the events of last season, Bellamy leads a patrol on the border of Azgeda territory; Jaha has good news about the City of Light to share with Bellamy; and a familiar face has news about Clarke...
posted by vibratory manner of working (8 comments total)
 
I like the decision to jump three months forward. There's also an increased amount of Trigedasleng in general this episode, which I'm totally on board for. The creator of the language, David Peterson, often points out that it's just a really mutant form of english, and I enjoy seeing how much of that I can pick out. (answer: not much, but a few words here and there)

Bellamy and the increasing crazy-seeming Jaha: Bellamy gets locked in a bunker for 86 days, and it takes a toll. Strange that there didn't seem to be a bed in the radiation bunker? Anyway, he gets out after running out of food, and goes to find Jaha. I didn't assume that Jaha had trapped him there, deliberately or otherwise, but Bellamy does and I guess that's what happened.

In the meantime, Jaha's found the City of Light and gotten religion. Bellamy is unconvinced, but decides to tag along to catch up with a girl he apparently knows. Not much really happens here, except that the AI definitely ended the world, and Jaha's okay with that.

Bellamy's expedition: Jasper is doing very poorly. Maya's death did a number on him, and he's not getting better. Bellamy agrees to bring him along on the expedition, but he seems like more of a liability than a help, and that quickly proves to be the case.

They pick up a signal from the farm station Ark module, where apparently Monty and this other guy are from. Unfortunately, it's being worn as a trophy by an Azgeda warrior. They ask about "Wanheda". Jasper confronts the warrior and forces Bellamy to break the truce and kill the warriors. That won't at all have repercussions later.

Back at the newly rechristened "Arkadia": Bellamy has a new girlfriend, but Wick appears to have left the show. Raven's injury is acting up, but she doesn't want to tell anyone. Abby is working herself hard as both chancellor and head doctor, apparently not sleeping much. She wants Raven to get some kind of surgery.

They'd been making expeditions to Mount Weather for food, supplies, art, and whatever else, but Lincoln warns against any appearance that they might be taking up residence there as it could break the truce. Speaking of Lincoln, he's given a uniform, which he has mixed feelings about. Octavia has the zeal of the convert, and no mixed feelings about the issue.

Kane gets a message from Indra: Clarke's in trouble. She's become famous since taking out Mount Weather, and the Azgeda queen wants to kill her and take her power. She's "Wanheda" to them: commander of death. Kane leads a group out to look for her without telling anyone back at camp, and they drive right into a trap.

Finally, Clarke: she's living on her own, hunting and trading the meat for supplies as needed. While at the trading post, men come looking for her, but the woman running the place lies about it. Turns out she's known who Clarke was all along, and regards her as a folk hero: "You ended the reaping". She cleans Clarke's wounds and they sleep together, but when Clarke slips out during the night, she's captured by the Azgeda warrior who was asking after her earlier. (I recognized the actor from the Starz show Black Sails, where he plays the very scary Captain Vane. He's a good pick to be a Grounder.)
posted by vibratory manner of working at 12:22 AM on January 22, 2016


Good first episode. Of course a lot off setup for the rest of the season.
posted by Pendragon at 9:44 AM on January 22, 2016


Very good introduction and start to Season 3. My two quibbles involve Jasper and Jaha, yeah, the J's of the show. For Jaha, I suppose this is the natural evolution of his character - who led a number of folks to their death with an almost religious faith in the existence of the City of Light. Moses made it to the top of the mount, now he's getting ready to come back down with the Commandments to start preaching the word. That said, I like Jaha's character and would like a chance for him to just kind of not be either A) The authoritarian leader of the Ark or B) Religious dude. I don't know if there's a place on the show, though, without him in one of those two roles.

Then we have Jasper. Poor teenage Jasper, loses his 30 day girlfriend and now has sunk into alcohol induced or alleviated misery. First, is there no one in charge with the nerve to simply order Jasper cut off? Second, that boy needs counseling or meds or both. With so few 'Sky People' running around, why isn't there more concern about every individual life? My biggest fear is that a lot of the time when you have characters fall into some kind of despondency, it just ends up cheapening the character. Jasper was great last season and it just kind of sucks that they went this way. They could have had him depressed, but making him a fall over nearly dead alcoholic is a little over the top.

The rest of the show, I had a grand time with. I'd like more examples of how Abbie is being a terrible doctor and leader, as we only have Raven's word on it. And well, Clarke and the Trading Post lady. Oooooh boy, I was not expecting that to happen when it did. I'd read the showrunner decided to have the scene happen explicitly to show that Clarke is bisexual, as he'd noticed online a lot of arguments that her kiss last season wasn't "sufficient proof" or that she'd been kissed, and hadn't initiated the kiss, etc...etc. I would have loved if we had gotten a back to back episode premiere, as I can't wait to see them establish the rest of the stories for this season.
posted by Atreides at 10:22 AM on January 23, 2016


I admit that at the end of last season, I was more worried about Monty than Jasper: I think Monty has to feel pretty guilty about his involvement in the genocide. But he seems to have come through relatively well, by comparison with Clarke and Jasper.

I'm having questions about logistics. I guess we can assume the trucks and iPods came from the Mountain, but while they've been scavenging there, did they actually, you know, bury the dead? And I would not have minded seeing the argument about whether to move into the Mountain or stay with the Ark remnants.

Can't help but wonder who made that nice smooth road for them through the woods. And hope that Octavia knows you can't gallop a horse for miles and miles. And where are all the overgrown homes? Sure, it's 100 years, but they're in the mid-Atlantic, there must be houses and farms everywhere. (I know the Doylist explanation, but still...)

Clarke's wilderness survival skills are fairly impressive, but apparently butchering isn't one of them?

Octavia's commitment to the Grounder lifestyle is both annoying and believable, given how poorly she was treated on the Ark. But she's not wrong to be skeptical of how the Skycrew are treating Lincoln.
posted by suelac at 11:03 AM on January 23, 2016 [1 favorite]


Clarke and the Trading Post lady

Yeah, I wasn't entirely sure how to feel about that scene, but I appreciate a good oblivious fan stomping so that's pretty delightful to hear.

AfterEllen has an interview with Eliza Taylor where they touch briefly on that scene.
posted by vibratory manner of working at 11:10 AM on January 23, 2016


I'm having questions about logistics. I guess we can assume the trucks and iPods came from the Mountain, but while they've been scavenging there, did they actually, you know, bury the dead? And I would not have minded seeing the argument about whether to move into the Mountain or stay with the Ark remnants.

Can't help but wonder who made that nice smooth road for them through the woods. And hope that Octavia knows you can't gallop a horse for miles and miles. And where are all the overgrown homes? Sure, it's 100 years, but they're in the mid-Atlantic, there must be houses and farms everywhere. (I know the Doylist explanation, but still...)


These questions, I also have them!

Yeah, I wasn't entirely sure how to feel about that scene, but I appreciate a good oblivious fan stomping so that's pretty delightful to hear.

I was in the same boat, feeling it might have been a little too fan servicey and exploitative (Hey, young attractive women passionately making out and taking their tops off! Ratings Gold!). Though, on reflection, I've seen the same amount of camera doting on scenes of two young attractive heterosexual couples, too, as of late. Replace Clark or the Trading Shop lady (I'm sorry, I can't remember your name!) with a guy and it doesn't seem so beyond the norm. I like how the show is definitely not afraid casually reference gay relationships, such as what's his name in the jeep having a boyfriend. It's a long way in television when the only 'acceptable' way to introduce a gay character often involved comedy and over the top personalities.

One thing to note, it looked like her partner had a perfectly fine number of kill marks tattooed on her back. The question is: is that normal? Does it relate to how she got her bracelet?

Who thinks she's going to help Clarke escape from her predicament at the end of the episode?
posted by Atreides at 12:49 PM on January 23, 2016


it looked like her partner had a perfectly fine number of kill marks tattooed on her back. The question is: is that normal? Does it relate to how she got her bracelet?

Kill marks are scars, not tattoos. Here's a picture of a grounder showing Clarke his kill marks back in season 1, episode 11.
posted by vibratory manner of working at 3:56 PM on January 23, 2016 [1 favorite]


Oh lord, Jasper with a haircut and a schmuckstashe is not a good look for him.

Where did Clarke get red hair dye? Also looks like she got those white girl dreads that come from not washing pretty quick. On the other hand, you go, girl.

Who the hell is Ice Nation? What ice? They're in woods.

I'm pretty sure the first "Bellamy" with Jaha up top is Murphy. Way to go Phil Miller when left alone by yourself, bub. I'm pretty sure you had to have access to a shower and better clothes in that posh hole you were in.

Oh, Jaha, you're making me sad with your delusion.
posted by jenfullmoon at 9:22 PM on February 22, 2016


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