WiC Watches: The 100 season 7
By Zac Giaimo
The 100 — “Anaconda” — Image Number: HU713b_0153r.jpg — Pictured: Iola Evans as Callie — Photo: Jack Rowand/The CW — © 2020 The CW Network, LLC. All rights reserved.
Episode 708: “Anaconda”
With the news of Bellamy’s death still fresh, Clarke must face the Shepard, or as he would like to be called, Bill. This begins an episode-long flashback to the origins of Nightbloods and the Flame that is a used as a backdoor pilot for a spinoff prequel series.
To put it frankly, it failed. I’ve watched it twice now and I’m having trouble even remembering the main character’s name; it’s only said, like, twice. I’ll remember it eventually.
The episode follows Bill’s family as they experience the world being destroyed by nuclear war. It turns out that Bill was the founder and leader of the cult that built the shelter that saved OneCrew years back. The title of the episode, “Anaconda,” was the phrase Bill used to signal to his wife to gather their family and head to the bunker. It irked me that, directly after using the phrase, the mother immediately tells her daughter, the supposed main character — I think her name is Cali, probably spelled Kali (huh, actually it’s Callie) — what it means. Doesn’t it defeat the purpose of the code word if the true meaning is instantly revealed to the only person it was meant to be confusing for?
But that’s not too big a deal. The real problem with this potential series is the characters: Bill, his daughter Callie, and her brother. See, the series is about how the grounders came to be the society we met back in season one, and the origin of Nightbloods. And at first that sounds kinda interesting. It’s a bit of world-building for this universe and a chance to tell new stories in a familiar setting. But the main characters completely ruin it, protagonists and antagonists both.
Let’s start with Bill, since it’s his flashback. Bill is a wealthy man who somehow founded and leads a very powerful cult bent on preparing for the end of the world. He and his son live in an underground bunker working on the Traveling Stone. How they received this incredible device is yet unexplained.
Once the world actually does end, two years pass before we see what life is like for those underground. And in those two years, Bill has lost his sense of morality and humanity, and revels in being worshiped. When he is presented with a way to make all his people immune to radiation, he forbids it, instead focusing on getting the Traveling Stone to work, as he believes that is the only way to save humanity.
We’re never given any hint at how Bill becomes this person, or even how he starts to. He’s just a person with power, so he’s the bad guy. Just don’t think about it and it’ll all make sense.
His son is the most underdeveloped main character I’ve seen in any pilot. He is a one-dimensional soldier for his father. His entire contribution to the episode was an obstacle for Callie to casually walk over. Since he’s her brother and supposed leader of the guards, it’s supposed to mean something when she defeat him, but it doesn’t.
And finally, we have Calli. It’s easy to tell straight away that the writers want us to like this girl, but it’s impossible to connect with a perfect being. This character has no faults. She’s a genius, an incredible combatant, beautiful, perfect under pressure, understands 40 languages (and invented her own before she was 12), and never makes any poor choices. She only makes one real choice at the end, and it’s not one many would disagree with.
How can an audience relate to this paragon of perfection? How does she grow? What challenges is she supposed to overcome? I mean she literally starts the grounder culture and language one her own, escapes the bunker, gives Nightblood its name, learns from Becca, of all people, how to use and maintain the Flame, and sets in motion the first successful use of the Traveling Stone all in the episode where we meet her. And somehow the episode still gives us no idea of what her personality is like, or her hobbies or interests or really anything that makes her human. Not to mention the acting is very amateur-ish, but that can be overlooked as I’m sure it came down to budgeting; great actors probably aren’t in great support for a backdoor pilot.
Its safe to say I have very little interest in checking out this new prequel series if it gets picked up. There was a chance here to build upon an already solid base and expand a world that really does have more stories to tell. Well, hopefully they’ll consider telling them with relatable characters resembling real people next time, if there even is one.