The 100 s6?? Haven’t seen your take yet
hhhhhhhhh oKay saddle up kids I had A Time with this
DISCLAIMER: THESE ARE ALL MY OPINIONS. ANYONE ATTACKING ME FOR THESE (and pls note that “attacking” and “respectfully disagreeing in the name of discourse or putting your two cents in” are different and I will definitely entertain the second one) WILL BE BLOCKED AND DELETED
it’s all under the cut bc Spoilers
Here's the thing: I'm glad they're taking advantage of the new setting to introduce a creepy-cool sci-fi element that I lowkey missed in this show. It's less teen-drama-y and more post-apocalyptic-moral-dilemma-y, and I like that a lot.
HOWEVER, I would like it a lot more if we had some quality character development to go along with this healthy main course of plot. I don't like storytelling where the plot happens to the characters; I like seeing the characters both react to the circumstances of Life as the plot dictates, but also making decisions that impact the plot. Like real life, these actions and events go both ways.
I feel as though we're watching many of our characters kind of waste away in the background for the sake of what is a really good plot and premise on its face, but needs a strong set of emotional performances to keep it going. I'm disappointed at the lack of character interaction, especially when it comes to dealing with the host of sins that were committed before everyone went into cryo. I understand that the characters may not have even had time to process everything given the intensity of the current conflict, but SHOW ME THAT!
On that vein, they've done a really poor job of internal conflict continuity. Murphy has one (1) crisis about dying and apparently being shown hell, and that's it. That's not something that leaves you easily, especially not for someone like Murphy who already carries around a lot of guilt. However, we're not shown that - we see him manipulating Josephine to get the immortality chips, but his actions don't seem to be motivated by that Fear Of Hell - they just seem to be happening because the script wills it so.
I'm not taking shots at Richard or any of the other actors - I think they're all doing an awesome job with what they're given. I just feel like, unlike previous seasons, we were thrust straight into the action instead of letting it build slowly. I think they could've done incredible things with both character development and plot if they had stretched all this out over one and a half or two seasons. In past seasons, we've always started off on the heels of a rising conflict from the previous season, but this time, we're starting fresh, and I don't think that was handled well.
On a final (negative) note, (and then I have some positive stuff), I'm a little tired of the endless trope of "let's have one episode per season that feeds Clarke's martyr complex and endears Poor Little Her to the audience." This is the thing: I don't particularly care for Clarke. It's not because I'm a Becho shipper (although I am). It's because - IN MY OPINION DONT NO ONE COME FOR ME OK - Clarke has been taken from a moral character Trying Her Best to do the right thing as a child-slash-new adult thrust into a world of harsh extremes with no guidance whatsoever to someone with a savior complex who uses the same excuse over and over to justify acting alone even though, at this point, help is RIGHT THERE. I was happy when she apologized to Raven at the beginning of s6, but I wasn't happy that she and the narrative both then turned around and tried to justify why Poor Baby Isn't Actually Such A Bad Person After All.
Clarke has done bad things. Periodt. No ifs, ands or buts. She, like Octavia, Abby, Indra, Lexa, Bellamy, Kane, Miller, etc. has messed up. Periodt. No ifs, ands or buts. That's part of what this show is about, and it's why I love it - I love moral greyness and that endless battle between our better angels and what we feel we need to do to stay alive. It's why I love this genre.
HOWEVER, while the narrative continuously gives Clarke a pass because she justifies that she was doing it all "for her people," Octavia, Indra, Lexa, Titus, Luna, heck, even Lincoln and Monty, don't get those same passes. They're left to carry their own guilt while also getting half-hearted reassurances from the people around then and the narrative. Meanwhile, we're all expected by the storytellers to feel sorry for Clarke because she gives insincere apologies and keeps coming back to "I did it for my people oh poor me I'm carrying your sins for you." No one asked her to do that.
Okay, rant over. I also want to give a positive nod to Marie and Ivana's acting; those two are playing off one another so well and, while I don't like Marie as a person, she is really embodying the role of a traumatized former leader who believes she's so far gone death is the only way to save her soul. Likewise, Ivana is doing a great job of taking her tough-as-nails, untouchable, snarky character and showing a softer side that doesn't detract from her power in a situation, but rather adds to her dynamic with Octavia. Last season, there's no way I could've seen her as a mother. Now I can.
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