#(and then clark apparently forgot his own lesson in the later seasons because he started acting just like jonathan used to 🙃)

[fairyroses]

When did you get to be so wise?

— SMALLVILLE, “Obscura” (1.20)

[hithelleth]

The 100 4 x 11-13

Finally caught up, so putting down some notes for myself so I don’t forget everything over the hiatus.

4 x 11 “The Other Side” was the worst, I get what they were trying to do, but I’ve been fed up with this sort of BS mentality since S fucking 1, so.

And, yeah, apparently I can hate Jaha still more (though I hated him a little less in 4x13 later but hardly through any of Jaha’s own merit.) Clarke, Jaha is not a good role model for you.

Bellamy was breaking my heart by trying to get to open the door and hurting himself. I loved that Abby helped him – at least she seems to have learnt from the past. And I especially loved what he told her, repeating Marcus’s words that they need to earn back deserving to survive by doing better each day than the day before.

The being worthy of survival is the running question of the show, but I’d like people to finally learn a lesson from it instead of just repeating the same mistakes and questionable choices over and over. Although, of course, Clarke was right in 4 x 12 that there were no good choices – but so was Bellamy when he said that the current choice wasn’t comparable to the Dropship/Mt. Weather/ALIE situation.

Also fed up with the Arkadians superiority complex.

Jasper’s clique’s mass suicide was also a terrible story arc. Again, I get what they wanted to explore, but the execution was less than adequate and basically over the line (see, this actually was the romantisation antis like to scream about) – and while on one hand I could relate with Jasper’s mentality (giving up, going out the easy way, being tired of fighting and pain), I cannot approve with the superficial treatment of it as well as the outcome. Maybe it was realistic or edgy or whatever, but it was hella depressing. Not cool, show, not cool.

Raven’s part of the episode was the best, with alternating Becca and Sinclair hallucinations and reason and will to live winning, thanks goodness.

The science was of course BS, but on the other hand their ability to bluff their way through it is kinda admirable, lol.

I loved that Echo decided to trusting Bellamy’s will to open the door was the best option.

Anyway, with Abby’s help Bellamy got the door bunker open since Clarke was unable to shoot him and in

4 x 12 “The Chosen”

we were back to Octavia’s plan to share the bunker with everyone and Arkadians having to choose a 100 among them. (And boy do I love the poetic ‘justice’ of it.)

Fucking Jaha was, of course, inciting rebellion and some guy went on and on about how Skaikru deserved more spots because of their knowledge yada, yada.

Loved Octavia standing up to Jaha and throwing it back into his face how she is supposedly one of them. Loved Octavia feeling undeserving of being looked to by the grounders for leadership as the champion and at least mentioning Roan’s help. (I’m not over you-know-what.)

I also understood why she threw Echo out.

Also, continuing loving Indra’s mentorship and support and Octavia actually turning and listening to her.

At least stupid Jaha did the right thing at the end, although only thanks to Marcus’s quick thinking and convincing talk, so they gassed the mob and then used Clarke's list to pick who stayed + all the kids (although I assume the kids were already on Clarke’s list) while the Grounders took everyone else out of the bunker.  

How does Jaha get to stay in the bunker, though? I thought they need young fertile people and experts and Jaha is neither young not an expert in anything but being able to manipulate people (okay, he’s a man, so still fertile, but yuck, I don’t even want to go there).

By the rules, Jaha should’ve been out, except that of course the actor has a contract (and look, shitty person or not, I don’t wish anyone to lose a job) and so we’ll have another season of Jaha’s BS. (It won’t surprise me if he does more backstabbing, manipulating, and shitty deals with the prisoners next season.)

Abby renounced her spot in the bunker out of guilt, but then Marcus followed the list and had her stay – but unlike Jaha, even if I didn’t like her (but I do), Abby is actually necessary as the senior doctor.

I liked Marcus’s ‘that’s how we save our people’ – because yes, that’s the way to do it both physically and in terms of humanity. Though his frantic repeating of it was also heartbreaking.

Meanwhile, Bellamy, Clarke, Murphy, and Emori went to get Raven (since they would need her), but were jumped by some grounders who wanted their suits, but fortunately Echo saved them, but the attack damaged the truck and Emori’s suit in the process. (BTW, loved Murphy and Emori and ‘your home is with me’.)

Clarke gave Emori her suit, since she had nightblood that seemed to be working, but thee was no time to made more and immunise everyone (not to mention needing to convince the grounders to let extra people stay – and they couldn’t open the bunker anyway to let them out after a few days because that would let the radiation in.)

Monty and Harper detoured from their way to Polis and pick them up, but they ran out of time to return to the bunker.

So the new plan was to go to the ring left behind by the Ark, with leftover water filtration system and an algae farm and they would take an oxygenator from the island with them. 4 x 13 “Praimfaya” Bellamy said goodbye to Octavia. I loved comparing her to Prometheus (and she obviously knowing what he’s talking about) giving people hope.

Then radio died and Clarke couldn’t say goodbye to Abby, so we got Bellarke huggles. ;)

Apparently it’s 210 miles from Polis to the island. They forgot to count shitty roads instead of highways, so if you neglect that, it even kinda works out (5-hour drive in one direction.)

Then it was a rush to get everything together to launch before the radiation wave. Murhy helped Monty get the oxygenator and even managed to endear himself to Monty a little by choosing the equipment over him, lol. (Loved the ‘I don’t hate you anymore’ and Bellamy’s ‘give it time’. And hugs!)

Echo was about to kill herself, but Bellamy stopped her and I loved that and her remembering she betrayed them.

Communications failed, so someone had to go restore them and since everyone was busy with other things, Clarke did it, but the tech failed some more and she had to go align the satellite dish manually to make it possible for the power on the Ring turn on and so she ran out of time to return and the others launched without her, thinking she died. Ouch.

I loved the teamwork and sharing the oxygen and all, though.

In the end we saw a time jump of six years and seven days with Clarke trying to radio the Ring and telling Bellamy the bunker was buried under the rubble and silent, as well. She apparently lived in the truck with a young nightblood girl.

Cue a large fucking spaceship marked as ‘prison transport’ landing and Clarke telling Maddie to load all her guns. So, overall:

Despite me being fed up with the fucking endless fighting, it was kinda good season (at least until 4x10 – and a stubborn part of me still wants to believe Roan is not dead, grrr. That’s why AUs are for.)

It doesn’t look like they’ll change the show’s MO any time soon, so we’ll get more fighting for survival in S5. Can we at least hope that in 6+ years in the bunker Wankru got their shit together enough to stick together and work together? I know it’s too much to hope that these new arrivals would be more rational and prone to talk and negotiate rather than fight, but maybe? Pretty please? And Wankru learning from the umpteenth past mistakes and being able to do the same? Come on! (Yeah, I know, not gonna happen.)

I wonder how many of the new arrivals are there? The space ship looked hella big so I think maybe at least a 1000, or maybe even a couple thousand plus (an even more important factor) all the heavy machinery.) But in roughly 150+ years at least they managed to stick to English, so there’s that.

The show also managed to bluff its way through science plausibly enough that I can handwave it and let it be if I don’t think too much about it, so that was better than I expected before the season started, too.

I have mixed feelings about the ending. On one hand I love that Octavia found her place and that maybe Wankru can finally learn to live with each other in peace and I like how they spun the Clarke’s nightblood story to enable her survival and her helipng others to survive (also, it was the expectedly heroic story for the lead.) On the other hand, of course, it was white-saviourism galore. But, oh, well.

I will probably return for S5 because of characters, though I am so not looking forward to the potential of more of the same stories about fighting and such. But who knows, maybe the writers decide to do something new and surprise me in a more pleasant way.