TV Review: THE 100: Season 3, Episode 3: Ye Who Enter Here [The CW]

The CW’s The 100, Ye Who Enter Here TV Show Review. The 100: Season 3, Episode 3: ‘Ye Who Enter Here’ might have been the gut punch series re-entry that the premier wasn’t. On the other hand, it did elevate the ‘Wanheda’ two-parter to a great set up, for this ep’s follow-through.

First things first, however, last ep’s closing reveal (that Roan’s (Zach McGowan) plan, to get back into the Ice Nation, had been to get Clarke (Eliza Taylor) to Lexa (Alycia Debnam-Carey), not the Ice Nation Queen) was followed up with a reveal on Roan’s full identity (well, rank/station, really), and the terms of his dealings with the coalition Commander. That left more to work with, regarding Roan; but that will clearly be for later. ‘Ye Who Enter Here’ was Clexa time; and with both Roan & Clarke left feeling deeply… disappointed from their dealings with her, Lexa had her work cut out for her.

Given her initial reaction, Clarke did a pretty good job of keeping her Lexa resentment a matter of principle, while calling her out on her true motives. Alycia Debnam-Carey has done a good job of keeping her character relatively inscrutable; so it remains to be seen whether there is any real redemption for Lexa to be had (and if so, for how long). In the meantime, however, the Ice Nation boogeyman rolled on, with an emissary opting to publicly diss the Commander in her own (very high) seat of power. Clearly no one on The 100 ever saw 300.

The Roan reveal had left him sidelined, for the time being; but McGowan does a pretty convincing impression of a caged animal (this was the Shameless shmo?). He was on the bench, but definitely still in the game.

Thanks to Abby’s (Paige Turco) previous medical crisis, Mt. Weather was back in play. Turning it into a symbolic no-man’s-land seemed kind of impractical, to me; but Pike (Michael Beach) & his surviving crew were more than happy to fill the void. Too happy, for Octavia’s (Marie Avgeropoulos) liking, as her distaste for Skaikru living reared up again – leading to an unwitting revelation, of her intent to bail, to Bellamy (Bob Morley). Oops.

When Echo (Tasya Teles) – a familiar face from Bellamy’s Mountain Man adventure – showed up, bearing urgent warnings, Pike was quick to put Mt. Weather back to ‘good’ use; but with he, Bellamy, and Octavia taking most of the muscle to the Grounder coalition-Arkadia summit, the task fell on Raven (Lindsey Morgan), Gina (Leah Gibson), and… Sinclair (Alessandro Juliani)? Insert BSG resurrection reference here, but the last time I remember seeing him was front & center, in Thelonius’ party, for the great T-Moses exodus announcement. I guess he turned back, after all. While he provided Raven with the push she needed, as they worked on getting the Mt. Weather war machine prepped for ‘good’ use, Echo’s dire appraisals to the situation were intercut with scenes of an Ice Nation assassin’s prep ritual. The gig was up the moment he started paying tribute to loved ones.

At the capital, Kane (Henry Ian Cusick) & Abby had a moment to acknowledge their adversarial relations as so much history, while postponing talk about who deserves the Chancellor pin. Just as well, since the summit saw Clarke bringing Lexa’s new terms to them (sorry, Abby, mother-daughter time had to wait), and Kane stepping up to it. Who needs a trinket when you got a hot iron brand to make a leadership role official?

Was it just me, or did Wanheda becoming an official extension of Lexa’s rule come across as a wedding ceremony? Heck, they even got Adele (no, not really) to sing for it – swanky. Just as well, since after all that raging, and a moment of remorse (thanks, in part, to Roan scheming – although he had intended a different outcome), Clexa had more than enough chemistry to light a thousand Bellarkies’ hair on fire (I really don’t care – I just like taunting shippers). Well, what’s a wedding, on a show like The 100, without a good (meaning bad) crashing. In this case, it was in the form of Pike, Bellamy, and Octavia finally getting to the church in time, while trouble echoed elsewhere.

Up or not, when the gig got going, it went fast, (what should now be typically) brutal, and ultimately devastating. If anyone thought there’d be a last second pull out from the crash – you’re an optimist (don’t ever change). The effort, however, earned Sinclair some heroics (not sure why he was even given the opportunity); but it was Raven that saved the day… for all of a few seconds, anyway. At least their combined effort made for the outcome not being a total loss.

Just as I was wondering if Gina would contribute anything to the show, other than fawning over Bellamy: boom – aren’t I the jerk, all of a sudden.

While we’re at it, did the ramifications of Raven’s survivor list even register with Bellamy? He seemed more concerned with getting Clarke out – again, leaving me to wonder if Bellarke fanservice has become a go-to thing. I expect his personal loss will factor into Pike’s inevitable reaction, then. It’s not entirely impossible that Echo set out to save Bellamy from the grand scheme; but after Murphy, there may be room for more redeem-the-monster melodrama-rama. Besides, Echo & Bellamy have history; so he may have his own love-hate thing to work on, parallel to Clarke’s (albeit, Bellecho would be a pretty heavy lift). This was part of the reason I held off on taking Echo at face value. That, and the fact that I’ve been waiting for the Ice Nation to earn its boogeyman status; so the Mt. Weather twist seemed like a good way of getting that cred. I wasn’t disappointed.

Telegraphed or not, I gotta admire the scale of the show’s pragmatic ruthlessness. Anyone shocked by such turns of events just hasn’t been paying attention. One clear legacy of the Mountain Slayer: the show now having to live up to genocidal standards.

The Second Mountain Slaying was also an expedient way of jarring Arkadia out of its post-season two comfort zone, while also getting Octavia – and I presume Lincoln (Ricky Whittle) – off the bench. It was also a good place to intro the Ice Nation Queen, Nia (Brenda Strong), all done up to intimidate in ways Lexa never really has been able to. The show has to either elevate Lexa beyond this aesthetic discrepancy, or make her out to be a potential victim of it – it could go either way, at this point. The identity of the Mt. Weather inside man came sooner than I expected; but was as expected. I imagine many a fan thinking along similar lines, watching the event’s three faces sharing the same space: ah, to be a Predator drone operator, right now.

Three episodes in, and the show has already resorted to season (two) finale material. This much, this early should indicate that viewers are either being distracted from what the showrunners really have in mind, or that we should expect much grander things – hopefully, both. With the Ice Nation now having not one, but three faces to its menace, it remains to be seen if it will serve as the principle threat, or as a smokescreen (the Red Priestess is still out there). Clearly a powder trail has been lit under the Arkadians, as well, as Pike is very likely going to want a war over the Mt. Weather incident – with likely support from the likes of Bellamy (and maybe even Jasper… dammit). If Pike survives the inevitable power struggle, he may settle into the role of the resident Cold Warrior Hawk – Kane having since left the position void, filling in Jaha’s place as optimist dream builder.

An army of Ice Grounders moving south, and an emissary-in-red, wielding a certain kind of fire breathing tech, working her mojo in the background. I’ve managed to keep my hopes from getting up, regarding this series – which may be why its disappointments seem to keep waning, as it rolls on – but the ambition on display does get the speculation juices going. I’m going to work on that; but is it too soon to start thinking about songs of fire & ice?

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