The 100 bounces back a bit after last week’s baffling twist ending, but there’s a vague sense that Clarke and friends may be fighting on the wrong side…
Having tricked Clarke and her friends, Bill drops them off on Old Earth, in the fallout bunker of all places, and sends himself back to Bardo. With nearly everyone she cares about now together but on Old Earth, Clarke hastily destroys the Golden Mask that was their way back to Sanctum. Although she does what she always does and chooses for everybody, this time it’s a bit more permanent, as there are still plenty of their own people back on Sanctum. It ends up not mattering as the Shepard still gets his hands on Maddie’s sketchbook, rendering Bellamy’s death a complete waste, and he sends Shedheda — who’s wearing a Disciple suit — to retrieve Maddie.
While he searches the bunker with the help of invisibility, he come across each of the other characters going through their own turmoil. It’s all shot from Shedheda’s point of view, giving the scenes a sense of intrusion. He is only after Maddie and doesn’t interfere or make his presence known until he discovers where she is.
While he searches, we get a lot of dialogue between characters who haven’t seen each other in years, and in some cases have never met before. Indra and Octavia face their demons together when they re-enter the bunker for the first time since the Reign of Blood Reina, and Hope gets to meet the people she’s only heard stories about, like the unkillable John Murphy. This feels like what the entire season has been missing: the core group, or what remains of them, together trying to survive but also trying to do better for the future of the entire human race.
Clarke baldly states that she will go to war just to save Maddie, and as endearing as that may sound, it creates more problems than it solves. Gabriel gives his life to save Maddie once Shedheda makes his move. His death is sudden and unexpected but also done well; it’s a good final send off for the character. Indra and her daughter swiftly subdue Shedheda, but he escapes with a device that sends him back with contact to the skin. After Maddie sees this, she decides she’s had enough and takes matters into her own hands by willingly going to Bardo. Bardo then responds by sending a bomb through the wormhole. It’s promptly handled and most of the crew is saved, except for those not in the locked off safe room.
As the story has progressed, I’m becoming more and more convinced that Clarke and her friends are fighting on the wrong side. They aren’t being forced to do all that much, and in return they’re either left alone or able to transcend, as the Shepard says. Its good to see Maddie doesn’t buy into the blind devotion and looks at this as a human problem that affects all humans, not just the ones she chooses. She is an unexpected voice of reason in a world that desperately needs it.
Grade: B
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