“May We Meet Again.”

I have been meaning to write about a show where the statement above usually ends in doom.  I don’t know why I haven’t when I find myself constantly pondering about my way of thinking and ours as humans after every episode.  You’re probably thinking I’m talking about some huge success story of a show like that of Scandal, The Blacklist or Fox’s latest success Empire but nope.  I’m talking about this powerhouse of a show on the little network that could and constantly does come up with enthralling television, The CW Network.  The 100!

You may flip over to The CW and see The 100 and first think; wow those people are really dirty.  The 100 is based on a post-apocalyptic young adult novel by Kass Morgan and developed for TV by Jason Rothenberg. Yes, post-apocalyptic is very in right now and I bloody love it! I love that so many readers are having the opportunity to see their beloved favorites come to life on the big and little screens.  Okay off soap box and back to the show…

What would you do if you had to pick between saving one person over one hundred? What if that person was your mother, lover, or best friend?  These are the decisions the kids of The 100 are making weekly, more specifically the heroine, Clarke.  Since the beginning of the show we have watched Clarke go from a peace-loving leader to a fierce woman willing to do whatever it takes to save her people even sacrifice someone she loves dearly.  Her people being The Hundred who were sent to earth from The Arc in the first episode of Season 1.  Basically, they were guinea pigs for the leaders of the Arc. They were disposable, used to see if the Earth was viable for human life. Good thing it was, since these sacrifiable young people are all that’s keeping the adults alive now that they are on the ground as we head towards the end of Season 2. If you want to catch up on all the events of season 1 head over to Netflix Streaming. For now, I’m skipping all the incredible heart-rending stuff that’s happened and focusing on the last two episodes: Rubicon and Resurrection.

I find myself inspired to write this after watching the last two episodes on Hulu Plus.   It’s 2:50am and all I can think about are the choices the characters were forced to make in the episodes!

Spoilers below.    .     .

Clarke learns from her friend and smoking hot partner-in-crime Bellamy (who is undercover at Mt. Weather or Mount Doom as I like to call it) that Mt. Weather’s President Wallace (Junior as I call him, played incredibly evil by Johnny Whitworth) is getting ready to bomb the meeting between the Grounders tribal leaders and the Sky People (aka The Hundred and Arc survivors).  First instinct is to run and warn the people at the meeting but when she gets there she calls Grounder Commander Lexa away to tell her.  Lexa’s first instinct is to get away. Clarke is horrified that she suggests leaving the people there to die!

However, if they save everyone it will likely blow Bellamy’s cover inside Mt. Weather just as he is making way in his goal to save their imprisoned friends(who btw are being carved up to heal the Mountain people, making it so they can leave the mountain without dying of radiation poisoning.) Plus, this disaster would fuel the survivors and their people to take up arms against Mt. Weather, which was the goal of the meeting.  So Clarke goes with Lexa leaving behind Marcus, Indra, Lincoln and Octavia (Bellamy’s little sister).  And as a viewer I’m thinking, oh nothing can happen to Octavia or Lincoln because they are basically the only romance on the show.  You could count Jasper and Mia but I’ve never seen a romance more ill-fated than this one. Therefore, I try not to get attached to this adorable twosome!  There is a spark between Bellamy and Clarke but the likelihood they will live long enough to reach their happy ending is debatable (but I really, really want them to.)

On their way out of camp Clarke spots her mom entering and grabs her begging her to come with her. Her mom wants to know what is going on and as they are fighting the missile flies overhead.  After the bomb hits Abby, Clarke’s mother, confronts her about knowing the missile was coming.  Harsh words are said, Abby can’t believe her brave peace loving daughter would let this happen.  They end things badly as Dr. Abby goes to help the wounded and Clarke is on the hunt for the spotter/sniper who is a Mt. Weather soldier.  The sniper is taking shots at the survivors but Abby finds Marcus pinned under massive rubble.  The rubble moves trapping them both giving them time for a come to Jesus conversation that apparently we are all going to have right before we bite it; since that’s the way things seem to unfold on Television these days.  This is the part that made me cry like a baby! You would think the scenes of death, of people killing people for blood, land, religion or love would do it.  But NO it is the quite confessions told in a dark pit of death that shake my emotional core.

Abby tells Marcus how Clarke knew before the missile struck and left with Lexa instead of warning the people there. Marcus who seems to be clinging to life, bleeding out or internally because of his wounds whispers to Abby after she apologizes to him because her daughter Clarke put them in this position.

Abby is in tears asking, “How could she do something like this?”

Marcus says “because she grew up on the Arc, she learned what to do from us.”

Abby says, “She let this happen. She could have stopped it”

“She made a choice,” says Marcus “I’ve executed people for stealing medicine and food…like sucking the air from the lungs of 300 parents so they could save their children.”

“Like floating the man you love to save your people.” Abby relents.

Marcus strains to whisper, “Yes. We have to answer for our sins Abby.”

A solemn Abby reflects, “After everything we’ve done, do we even deserve to survive?”

Abby and Marcus are talking about the things they did to survive on the oxygen deprived Arc.  Horrible things that shocked Clarke and turned her against her mother for a while. Well, now Clarke and Abby are walking in the others’ shoes and both are taking different roads to survive.  Which one is right? Who will survive? I want all of my favorite Sky People to survive, some grounders are equally likable but on The 100 you never know who will survive. I’ve already been shocked once this season as a hero fell into ruin and with only four episodes left I’m expecting to need some tissues in the future.

I’ve realized that we as humans will do whatever it takes to survive.  We will get dirty like The 100 when it comes down to the life or death decisions. The real issue is making sure you are on the side of right.  How can we make sure that our decisions no matter how small are the right ones?  A good foundation of right and wrong goes a long way.  The survivors of the Arc are fighting to survive as that is all they have ever done.  The grounders have been fighting other grounders forever as well.  Is a peaceful society possible when you’ve only known fighting?  I know there wouldn’t be a show if these people stop fighting.  What would the earth be like if everyone stopped fighting? While I know this is not an option in my lifetime or the next people have and will always fight; whether the issue is land, love, blood or religion, people will take up arms to defend any or all.  Some of the fights are just and some not so much.

The closing statement is a quiet and powerful whisper from Mother to Daughter…

“Don’t forget that we are the good guys.” 
A pause for emphasis, “May we meet again.”  Abby says.
 

Clarke goes in a direction to win the war while her mother goes the other as a doctor to heal the injured.  Each live to be tested another day, but will they meet again?  I hope so because I enjoy watching their relationship change, grow and sometimes fracture as the show progresses.

So what do you think? Do you enjoy shows that make you think or would you prefer escapist television?  Anyone out there enjoy The 100 as much as I do?  I look forward to reading any comments.  In the meantime…

“May We Meet Again.”

Xoxo,

Miranda