After spending weeks snuggled under mountainous blankets watching Christmas made-for-TV-movies, I almost forgot what my real TV priorities are: tense, nail-biting teen violence. The Adventure Squad is back! More importantly, so is Dark Clarke. Remember when Dark Clarke showed up in Season 1 as she slowly and silently slit a Grounder’s throat? Oh, the good ol’ days when she could murder someone and NOT hallucinate them lurking in the bushes like a creepy vagabond.
As I have now come to expect from each episode, so much happened! Clarke and Abby had it out, Magnificent Monty is in a CAGE, the Grounder version of Kevin Costner was killed, and our beloved Raven got CUT UP. Oh yeah, and Adventure B-Squad sent out a radio transmission.
If I were going to nit-pick, (brace yourselves, I AM going to nit-pick) I would point out that the mission to get the transmission out was a touch redundant. I see why it had to happen. Adventure B-Squad doesn’t know that Clarke made it. They don’t know there’s already a plan in place to rescue them. So yes, it was good they were taking initiative. The thing is, WE know. We know the transmission is unnecessary, so the mission felt a bit stake-less. It did, however, lead to Monty getting captured, Maya proving her awesomeness and Miller tossing out attitude. Like I said, this is simply a nit-pick, a small quibble, a passionless grumble, because THIS EPISODE WAS AWESOME.
It began with a great Lady Macbeth moment by Clarke. Sorry kiddo, it doesn’t matter how hard you scrub, that blood will always be on your hands. She had about 3.2 seconds to grieve, because it was time for a hang-out sesh with Lexa.
Lexa demanded Finn’s body be given to the peaceful village he massacred so they can spit on it or something. Abby and Kane were all, “no way Jose!”, but Clarke just sighed and was like, “ugh, fine, whatever.”
She found Raven and treated her like a personal assistant, showing JUST enough sympathy to stay out of trouble with HR.
Then Clarke got a fun surprise.
BAH! Finn’s eyes opened and stared at her with a look that said, “Cold, Boo.” I love this development for a myriad of reasons. It is genuinely very creepy, and it’s also a great way to force Clarke to deal with what she did. She never got to have a think about her actions, so her brain is all, “nuh uh, girl, we gonna deal with this shit.”
Back at Mountain Manor, the Adventure B-Squad was coming up with a plan.
Something about wires and hammers. I don’t know. Monty’s the coolest, though, right?
Bellamy decided that he was sick of dead-Finn getting all the attention, so he tried to put himself in danger.
Behind them a very forshaddowy conversation was taking place.
Gustus (great name) had qualms about the alliance with our teen heroes, but Lexa was all, “maybe just do your job properly and it won’t be an issue.” I dig her, you guys.
Meanwhile, the Mountain Prince was doing what he does best – being creepy. Turns out they spy on the goings-on of the outside world like weirdo reality TV producers.
Just a chip off the ol’ block! This was a great misdirect. Anyone who saw the promo knew this episode involved poison. COULD IT BE THEM??
We were treated to a delightful campfire scene where Lincoln and Octavia got it on not ten feet away from the rest of the group. I was passionately hoping the camera would pan to Bellamy rocking back and forth, awkwardly trying not to listen.
Over the sounds of lips smacking, Kane had a nice chat with Abby.
Yes please!
AND THEN THIS HAPPENED
Goodness gracious mother of pearl, you guys, that was a very scary, uncomfortable moment. Finn! Stop being such a ghost-weirdo! She doesn’t want to spoon with you, so go towards the light!
After disarming at Grounder Grove, they were met with a luke-warm reception.
Lexa made it very clear to her people that Clarke is her new best friend, and everyone should just relax.
She also gave Clarke the distinct honour of setting her love’s body aflame.
Then Finn showed up to help her burn his body like some sort of pyro-ghost.
Back at the manor, our heroes were squabbling.
Miller’s sass makes everything in life worth it. Is he my new favourite? MAYBE.
We learned the signal is jammed and the only way to un-jam it is to go to head office and lodge a complaint… or something. Oh, also, the guards were coming, and Jasper used a very classic way to get out of a pickle.
They done kissed! Look at Maya’s adorable little smile!
Because this show loves brutal juxtapositions, in the same episode where we got to witness this precious romance, we also got to be privy to the beheading of Lexa’s girlfriend.
Lexa was basically like, “you need to be Dark Clarke pronto.” Apparently loving people makes you weak. This isn’t a new concept in genre shows, but regardless of whether or not the notion is fresh, it’s still an inevitable step in Clarke’s journey. I’m just glad it took this long to get here.
After this pep talk, they fellowshipped around a table and Kane instantly busted out the hooch.
Here we go! The ol’ blame game got rolling when Gustus “found” the poison on Raven. I get why he chose the angriest looking chick in the bunch, but how DARE YOU SLANDER MY PRECIOUS GODDESS.
Clarke asked Raven if her drycleaning was back yet, and got punched in the face! Then she did that thing in TV and movies that always makes me cringe and hold a pillow over my face out of embarrassment for the character… she talked OUT LOUD to a hallucination. I mean, there is no better way to brand yourself a Grade A Lunatic, then talking to no one.
It’s true. Remember when Abby ignored scientific evidence and risked everyone’s lives because she “had a feeling”. Oh Abby! Anyway, then Clarke had a realization that every human woman dreads:
The Grounders tied Raven to a tree (AW HELL NO) and then cut into her like she was a shawarma.
Then Finn showed up to help Clarke figure out it was the CUP that was poisoned. Is this the birth of a spin-off?
Clarke proved the bottle wasn’t poisoned by getting a bit buzzed, then Bellamy figured out it was Gustus the whole time!
So Lexa had no choice but to kill him because, you know, Grounders.
Is it weird that I found this SUPER sad? Also, I bet Lexa is going to think twice about saying her theory about having to lose the people you care about out loud, because it IMMEDIATELY came true. Way to illustrate your point, Lexa!
Monty the Magnificent played dress-up to get into head-office and did a thing to the doo-dad, and then all of our hearts melted because of this:
But then the guard got hip to the wise and tackled him!
Monty’s radio show came through and Clarke decided Bellamy SHOULD risk his life, afterall.
Daaaaaaaaaamn! That is COLD, Clarke! I loved the look on Bellamy’s face when he was like, “I could die,” and she was all, “and?” I LOVE THIS SHOW. Clarke even told Ghost Detective to hit the road.
AND THEN…
BAAAAAAHHHH holy shit Monty! This is bad news, you guys. Although on the bright side, hey Harper! I’m impressed at her attention to detail. I don’t think if I were locked in a cage I would count the number of cages they built. I’m also not sure I wouldn’t get hung up on the fact that they made an odd number off cages. Who just makes 47 cages, you know? Round up, Mountain Men!
WELL. There we have it. The 100 is back in full force.
You guys, I could not be more pumped to see where Dark Clarke takes us. It’s the logical next step in her character development, and with the way The 100 operates, this phase is going to be a DOOZY.
SOME STUFF
- This episode had so many great lines, it’s impossible to narrow down the best ones. “They’re being lead by a child.” – “So are we.” KANE! Calling it like it is! Oh, oh, and also: “When you plunged a knife into the heart of the boy you loved, did you not wish that it was me?” Just top drawer writing, Ms. Fortenberry.
- Do you think Lexa found some old Batman comic books and decided she liked his look?
- Speaking of Lexa – our first gay character! (That we know of) More please!
- Raven is on her way to forgiving Clarke. Do you think Dark Clarke will care?
- Is it going to get awkward when Lincoln runs into some of his old Reaper buddies?
- What do you think the Mountain King is doing? Sculpting wax figurines of the 47? Watching people sleep? Smelling the floor? I’d like to see that delightful weirdo again soon.
- How do they go to the bathroom in the cage?
That’s it from me! See all you lovable nut-bars next week!
[Originally Posted January 2015 on tv.com]
Toni Watches 
ORIGINAL POST COMMENTS:
AcornArmy
Dec 05, 2015
“— How do they go to the bathroom in the cage?”
I don’t know, but none of the options seem pleasant. And I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t want to be stuck in one of the cages on the bottom row.
bxdgers
Mar 03, 2015
By the way, “Silence, stupids, I’m nerding over here,” is going to be something I say a bit too often now, because it’s basically what I do a bit too often 🙂
bxdgers
Mar 03, 2015
OH THIS EPISODE BURNS LIKE FINN’S BODY, LIKE, A DAGGER TO THE HEART EVEN
I WAS COCOONED IN MY BLANKET THE WHOLE TIME AND AT THE END I EXITED MY LIVING ROOM, HEAD HELD HIGH…PROUD THAT I WASN’T CRYING.
…MY MOTHER, WHO SEEMS TO ALWAYS WAIT FOR ME OR SOMETHING, SAYS IT’S PROGRESS…
(I have mixed feelings about Maya still?!? Not sure why, ’cause she seems kinda nice?!)
charblasaur
Feb 05, 2015
hihi, puns. and really funny puns at that. well done sir. or maam?
Toni_watches Feb 09, 2015
Imma lady. You can’t tell by my potato shaped body and unisex name???
charblasaur
Feb 11, 2015
yes it was the “i” that made my mind think lady parts were involved
amberjolynn
Jan 27, 2015
Only one thing bothered me about this episode. And it’s driving me insane.
I just can’t believe the Mountain Men would build 47 cages. It makes zero percent sense for stacking purposes. I’m going to assume that Harper miscounted and there are really 48. I know they only have 47 people to FILL those cages. But I can’t for the life of me envision a world where they make a two nice rows of shanty cages, stacked two high…and just leave one spot with an empty space.
sarahrmerriman
Feb 16, 2015
Yes me too, makes zero sense. I wanted the camera to pan out and show the one lonely cage, just so I could be marginally less irritated by this.
aussiejade
Feb 01, 2015
100% yes! I had the same thought!
gnomeless
Jan 26, 2015
Forgot to ask earlier…are the 47 kennels Mt. King approved? Do we know?
Tummelisa
Feb 04, 2015
We don’t know!
gnomeless
Feb 04, 2015
Guuurl! (I don’t know if you are a girl, so just think of gurl as gender neutral) We gonna find out tonight!!
Tummelisa
Feb 05, 2015
Tummelisa means Thumbelina!
(Haven’t watched the new episode yet, don’t give anything away!! 🙂 )
gnomeless
Jan 26, 2015
Bah-hahahahahaha! Take a stab at it Clarke. I had to read it out loud, it was so funny.
i think the term you are looking for, when Raven was set up, is Murphied. Raven got Murphied. I can use it in a sentence..for instance….Raven Murphied the beautiful creepster when she tried to give him to the grounders in Finn’s place. Something like that.
#bellarkewillsurvive. I mean, c’mon! It has to survive. Bellamy will teach Clarke to feel again. I demand it! Please.
Harper has had a lot of time to count cages….js. Not a lot to do in that room.
I loved, loved, loved Kane’s response to Abby. So are we. SO. ARE. WE. Right on. we knew this. Glad everybody is on the same page.
Also, it does seem that the road to #Clavenbff4ever is wide open…I just don’t think Raven is the type to let the mercy killing of the love of her life (thus far) go so easily.
One last thing: kudos to Eliza. She cries well. It is hard to cry well. As far as emotional impact, it ranked right up there with Raven’s cry when Finn died and Harper’s scream.
Toni_watches Jan 26, 2015
“Murphied” = perfect.
The Beautiful Creepster got Murphied when they wrongly strung him up for Well’s death.
gnomeless
Jan 26, 2015
He is ALWAYS gettin Murphied!
ChristineBruc2
Jan 26, 2015
I defo think you called it: Lincoln is obvi going to be Bellamy’s new bffl.
MaschaC91
Jan 25, 2015
This show started out… weird. Not too interesting. Not too well acted.
And look at it now :O This episode (and many before this one) was seriously damn well acted ánd written. Not something I was expecting at the start of the first season. 🙂
(And awesome photo recap, as usual!).
donatos
Jan 25, 2015
The best thing about this show is your recaps!
The second best thing is that it’s so fast paced that hopefully this “dark Clarke” thing (really not loving it) and the Mt. Weather situation will be over and done with in a couple of episodes.
I really hope that they won’t drag that over the rest of the season. Much more interesting stories to tell…
Welcome back Toni!
6rar
Jan 24, 2015
I &3 your recaps before I even read them because I know my love is a forgone conclusion
cosminmoise13
Jan 24, 2015
This ”dark Clarke” is unnecessary in my opinion… I not saying she should jump into Bellamy’s arms but come on… it’s not TVD… also very excited about the ”Suicide Squad” if you know of who I’m talking about..
ArkhamNative
Jan 24, 2015
So glad to see your recaps again! ROFL “Dr. Meows-a-lot”. And I learned what a shawarma is.
As for Lexa and Batman: Back when dinosaurs roamed the Earth, mascara wasn’t waterproof. Many a movie star looked not unlike Lexa, black dripping down their cheeks, usually after heavy crying scene. I try not to think about it, but so far I’m reminded of it every episode. :-}
As for Lexarke… Lexa may be fond of Clarke, and now that the show pointed this out, I expect her to at least try eventually (and Clarke to politely decline). But of course both women are sworn off love at the moment.
As for “Bellarke”: They’ve been so good as co-leaders, I see any romance between them as a subtraction of their combined greatness. I loved Bellamy’s matter of fact comment: “Since I don’t take orders from you…” See? Great co-leaders.
But I don’t deny any ships. It’s all in fun. From earlier prolonged looks from the women, I was even wondering about Lexane and Bellabby. :-O
sincerelyspar
Jan 24, 2015
I feel bad for Bellamy. When Clarke said that she couldn’t lose him too, it was all awww! and then she took it back like “so I turned off my feels so now it’s cool if you die and all that” and he was like “umm… ouch, okay…that’s not really what I was going for”
I liked (and was terrified by) the parallels they drew between Lexa & Gustus and Clarke & Bellamy. Bellamy could figure out that it was Gustus doing the poisoning because Bellamy would do that for Clarke. ……and then Lexa killed Gustus :0 (Don’t do it, Clarke!)
gnomeless
Jan 26, 2015
After Clarke did take-backsies with her affection, I was like: ok, Clarke, how bout we kick some puppies next. She was just mean.
HaydeeTangoDelta
Jan 25, 2015
I think a huge part of the show is Bellamy and Clarke learning from their own and everyone else’s mistakes in their road to becoming leaders. So while they were paralleling Gustus and Lexa I think the huge difference is that Bellamy would never go behind Clarke’s back like Gustus did. Bellamy would straight up tell her whenever he thinks she’s doing something dumb but he’ll always let her do it…and more importantly Clarke would never kill Bellamy just for trying to look out for her. That whole scene just showed how flawed Grounder society is just like Ark society was and Clarke and Bellamy are carving out the third way.
gnomeless
Jan 26, 2015
Both of you have very good points. I think Bellamy would do whatever it takes to keep Clarke safe in most situations. But when it comes down to it, they are both responsible for a lot of lives and that requires personal sacrifices. Hayden, I love the way you phrased the last bit: that whole scene just showed how flawed Grounder society is just like Ark society was and Clarke and Bellamy are carving out the third way. Very insightful my friend.
3
floppingduck
Jan 23, 2015
They could not have done that episode any better. Not at all. MONTEY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
They are going to kill all of my favorite characters right in order. Wells, Finn, Montey.
What ever happened to Murphey?
davidbergfors
Jan 23, 2015
Toni, your puns made me ROFL! Great to have the 100 back, and great to have you back 🙂
bstokeling91
Jan 23, 2015
every fandom deserves its very own toni_watches!!
the lexa/clarke, and the raven/clarke scenes were on point but that abby/clarke scene really stole the episode for me.
and kane deserves all the kudos for that line. can you imagine how badass lexa must really be to have men and women so much older than her following her orders?
i thought i was the only one who hid behind pillows when characters visit dead friends public in crazyville on screen. i muted the tv and just watched their faces and it was still awful.
im not gonna lie. my bellarke heart broke a little when clarke just dismissed him at the end there. i was hoping it was just me then i saw his face and was like well damn. i kind of thought octavia was gonna say something.
Savvytvfan91
Jan 23, 2015
I live for these recaps!!!!
nickmoose
Jan 23, 2015
Who else thinks Lexa is a lil’ bit into Clarke? She does seem pretty eager to make this -(ahem) “alliance” work out.
I don’t know where everyone else here stands on this, but if Bellarke isn’t gonna happen anytime soon, personally I wouldn’t mind seeing some Larke action!!
Loralee_jk
Jan 23, 2015
Uhh! Octaria made out & got ON TOP of her boyfriend w adults right beside her, & her BROTHER like 10 feet away! What if he looked over!
GO INTO THE WOODS FOR THAT!
Anonymous_A
Jan 23, 2015
You know what’s the best thing to come out of The 100’s return? Your photo recaps! Anyways, I was wondering what was happening in Mt. Weather since we didn’t see the 47 last ep. Now I’m dreading it. I don’t want to see Monty have his bone marrow forcibly removed. Seeing Harper suffer that was enough! Bellamy and Lincoln better hurry their asses before all of the 47 are trapped in cages.
gnomeless
Jan 26, 2015
I don’t think I can take it if they torture Monty.
Anonymous_A
Jan 27, 2015
My heart would break if they put him through ANY sort of pain!
jjtigs
Jan 22, 2015
Dark Clarke is giving me life. I loved her before but I love this storyline for her!!
Monty and Miller are my baes. Jasper and Maya can go.
Ooh Dark Clarke hurt Bellamy’s heart a little bit there. I could see the second his heart got crushed, lol.
Bring on the duo of Queens Lexa and Clarke! I’m so obsessed when they have scenes together.
amandaclarke107
Jan 22, 2015
Yeees !! the recaps are back !
By the way, has anyone noticed that Bellamy (one of the central characters) is getting the least amount of screen time? Especially when you compare it to season 1. I think that season 2 is amazing but I do miss the atmosphere of season 1 where the young people had to deal with all the problems. For example I don’t think we are going to get the old “adventure squad” any time soon. Anyway, thanks for the recap Toni !! really appreciate you doing these 😉 makes my day.
gnomeless
Jan 26, 2015
I like the slow pace of bellarke romantic development. It makes sense with the craziness that they deal with everyday. It’s the fault in our stars approach “I fell in love the way you fall asleep:slowly, and then all at once.” One day, after building a society on the ground for their people (or a bit sooner, I’m okay with a bit sooner), it will just happen. That’s my hope anyway.
falafelfalifulfalafol
Jan 23, 2015
I think it’s just because they focused the first half of the season in Finn for making his death interesting, Bellamy should return to the center of the stage from now on. I also agree with MACYLIGHTFOOT with them wanting to slow down the Bellarke thing. Shows lose interest when wanted couples actually happen and I think they are being smart with their management of this one.
Anonymous_A
Jan 23, 2015
They’re pulling a Bash with Bellamy. I hope these next eps have him taking charge and commanding the situation like a boss!
MACYLIGHTFOOT
Jan 22, 2015
It’s possible they’re trying to limit the “Bellarke” pandemonium that took over the world in Season 1. I don’t know if it was always their intention to go their eventually and have it be a really slow burn but I don’t think they meant for people to latch onto it quite so soon. Maybe they thought the only way they could maintain the slow burn was to literally keep them apart for most of Season 2.
LikeLike