TV Review: THE 100: Episode 2.16: Blood Must Have Blood, Pt. 2 [The CW]

The CW’s The 100 Blood Must Have Blood, Pt. 2 TV Show Review. The 100: Season 2, Episode 16: ‘Blood Must Have Blood, Pt. 2′ wasn’t necessarily the resolution that season two deserved, but it was the resolution most likely to leave a lasting impact.

I’ve always said that The 100’s greatest weakness was telegraphing its blows. The funny thing is, whenever it does, it usually goes about following through with some pretty killer blows, at that. After repeatedly making the case, for at least some kind of coexistence with Weathermen, the second season finale actually delivered on that bad end, of epic proportions.

If you let us see the blow coming, it better be a doozy. This has been one of The 100’s greatest strengths.

Without going into too much detail – oh, fair warning: it’s gonna be a long review – the final parallel, between Clarke (Eliza Taylor) & Cage (Johnny Whitworth) de-evolved into a series of underhanded tactics, designed to make each other pay as heavy a personal price as possible. In effect, it was terrorism. Without Grounder support, and only an insurgent crew (that briefly gave the civilians of Mt. Weather a taste of the terror to come), Clarke found the simplest means by which to exact the most damage. I’d consider her access a matter of extreme carelessness, on Cage’s part, but the man was preoccupied with replenishing his stock of Transplant Troops – all but Emerson (Toby Levins) were lost, while retrieving more Sky people (another telegraphed moment) – from donors that now included Abby (Paige Turco), Kane (Henry Ian Cusick), Miller’s (Jarod Joseph) dad (Chris Shields), and Monroe (Katie Stuart).

For her part, Clarke started with Dante Wallace (Raymond J. Barry). Never mind the fact that he had likely grown used to having a gun pointed at him, Dante made it clear that the Weathermen, the Grounders, and the Sky People were now in a zero sum game. The Grounders got what they wanted, so whoever blinked, between the remaining two parties, possibly faced extinction. In the face of Dante’s resolve, Clarke steeled her own; and in the face of her resolve, Cage sought to return the favor.

To the show’s credit, there was an ongoing effort to actually find an out, to the worst case scenario. This revolved around Jasper (Devon Bostick), Octavia (Marie Avgeropoulos), Maya (Eve Harlow), and the very last of Mt. Weather’s conscientious objectors.

I might have been the only one to see it as such, but another telling moment came from the Abby & Kane reveal. Kane’s first concern was over what Cage’s people were doing to his; Abby was more concerned about Clarke. With the stakes as high as ever, the ultimate decision boiled down to personal feelings. Consider that Bellamy (Bob Morley) – who had been advising against the most drastic action – had a change of heart, once Octavia went under the gun. Neither Dante, nor Cage would budge, due to their responsibilities to their people; Abby’s group had placed itself in harm’s way out of parental obligations (that included Sgt. Miller, who was out to retrieve his son, as well); and Bellamy was now boiling the very complex matter down to just protecting his little sister. I’d say Clarke’s ultimate decision was carried by quite a few others (‘cause now, there may be no good guys, after all, according to dear Abby).

The run up to that decision could have easily amounted to a cast purge (Fox didn’t make it, after all); but that would have been too obvious, I guess. This was made into a zero-sum game, and under those stakes, winner takes all. Unfortunately, not all of Clarke’s insurgents got to walk away with winnings. Jasper’s contingency assumed that Cage was the be-all-end-all of the conflict. He wasn’t; but Jasper will likely maintain that notion, in light of his cost. The freed donors, however, were too happy to concern themselves with the ends that meant their deliverance – even Monroe made it (time to termination still ticking, Monroe. Either make with the role expansion, or embrace your figurative shirt’s destiny, already).

It was only natural that the survivors of Mt. Weather worried about Cage slipping away – he was the Santa Anna of this struggle, after all. Their concerns would’ve been better spent on Emerson; the episode underscoring that fact, by proving that Cage had no ‘Earth Skills’ outside the mountain. Some might argue that Cage’s fate was undeserving; but, hey, Lincoln (Ricky Whittle) deserved more than sharing non-person status, with Octavia – and frankly, it seemed like a pretty good way for him to finally get the Mountain Monkey off his back. Lincoln also provided something of a backdoor for Indra (Adina Porter), come next season, and their interaction had to lead up to something important.

Here’s to hoping that The 100 brought more nuance, to younger views on terrorism, as BSG once did for slightly older views on insurgency.

Definitively ending the Weathermen story could get The 100 back on track, regarding its Manifest Destiny potential. With Mt. Weather likely becoming a resource (and off limits to Grounders), the Sky Fallen can now use the great Grounder betrayal as a pretext to… less than considerate consolidation & expansion. Think Colonist-Native relations, after the French-Indian Wars.

The real question is who will be the major players, for stage three. Indra was left as a wild card, among the Grounders; Lincoln & Octavia are free agents; both Abby & Kane can make a claim to Chancellorship; Bellamy has certainly earned the respect of all involved; leaving the survivors of Mt. Weather, including Raven (Lindsey Morgan), Jasper, and Monty (Christopher Larkin), as unknown quantities (i.e. damaged goods). Suffice to say, the list of Exiles not entirely fond of Clarke now includes Jasper – and he hadn’t even heard about Finn, yet.

I wasn’t sure if any of this weighed in on Clarke’s decision to not join her delivered people, or if she was just settling for her own self-doubt/ loathing; but with only Bellamy taking note, her final decision will inevitably inspire, for better or worse.

Where is Clarke going to go, Bellamy? Why, into history, silly. Get writing.

I’d say something about Moses not getting to see the Promised Land; but the role of Moses had already been taken.

It was nice to see more of the series’ wildlife in evidence, but let’s not take things too far out of context. Thelonious ‘Monk’ Jaha (Isaiah Washington) had been assuming the roles of multiple religious figures, on his pilgrimage; and unfortunately for “the fools who followed him,” it was now Jonah. I assumed that training to navigate bodies of water was part of the Ark’s prep, for reclaiming the Earth; but apparently, not everyone in Jaha’s party was up for it. Sucks to be a diva, in the presence of a missionary – particularly when the mission delegates power over life & death. Divas wear red, in this party.

It would be easy to claim that the Monk had gone off the deep end; but this had been a case of extreme circumstance, tapping into the extreme messianic pragmatist that Jaha had always been. How was his stance on sacrificing the few, to save the many, any different here, than it was on the Ark? Well, okay, there was the open admission to being messianic about it, I guess – crossing the line between hardliner & zealot.

One of the zealot’s expendables was lost due to carelessness, but the other was not-yet-dead weight. No, Jonah, that last Red Shirt was actually in better shape than Murphy (Richard Harmon) – you just liked Murphy’s attitude better. The far shore marked the definitive fork in the road, for Murphy & Jaha, as the drone made it clear that they were being led, and Murphy’s survival instinct officially pegged Jaha as bad for his health. Murphy was content to let Jaha go chasing the robo-rabbit, while he settled for bleeding on the beach.

A productive decision by both, as it turned out. Having survived the night, Murphy stumbled & scored his way into a doomsday bachelor bunker. After a brief “suck it, I’m still alive” binge, Murphy then stumbled upon the first half of what will likely be the central story for the next season, even as the second half was presenting itself to Jaha.

“Curiouser, and curiouser” muttered Jaha, entering the swanky rabbit hole of a digital Queen, in red, named Alie (Erica Cerra, from Eureka – didn’t even recognize her). If the Wonderland allusions weren’t laid on thick enough, for you, allow me to offer an entry from my ‘Better Questions to Given Answers’ series.

What if Wells (as hallucinated by Thelonious, prior to him riding a missile into Alie’s waiting hands) was neither Wells, nor a hallucination?

To that end, I present Season 3: ‘Gender bend-Age of Ultron,’ or ‘SkyNet Wears Prada.’

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