TV Review: THE 100: Season 2, Episode 6: Fog of War [The CW]

The CW’s The 100 Fog of War TV Show Review. The 100: Season 2, Episode 6: ‘Fog of War,’ hedged its bets, with a literal spin on its title, at one point; but still managed to get enough figurative mileage off the phrase.

First & foremost, Finn (Thomas McDonell), was exonerated for the Grounder massacre; something about purity of motive, meeting the threadbare garrison having other priorities. Of course, to Finn, the silent looks that narrowly avoided him, from his peers – Clarke (Eliza Taylor), most of all – was just about all the damnation he could handle. Despite some sentiment to the contrary, the real question wasn’t whether he’d ever clear himself, it was how would the Grounders react to his reaction. No, the real impact of the massacre was felt elsewhere.

After both experiencing betrayal, at the hands of Grounder companions, Chancellors Kane (Henry Ian Cusick) & Jaha (Isaiah Washington) had been finally reunited as cell mates. Given Jaha’s starting point, I assume imprisonment came after a very long journey; suggesting a unifying element to overall Grounder culture. Despite their best “we come in peace” efforts, the massacre demanded some reprisal. As “blood calls for blood,” their massive host’s solution was to turn their cell into the Thunderdome – the survivor getting an audience with the Commander. A servant girl was left to attend to them, in preparation for the duel; but much of their remaining time was spent waxing on the prospects of salvaging peace, and the nature of any necessary sacrifice, to that end.

The Thunderdome thread was my favorite, of the episode; but largely because the sub-plot was given away, from the get go, so it was just a matter of watching the payoff unfold. Savage don’t mean dumb. Condemning two prisoners of war – whom you consider monsters, but were clearly good friends – to fight each other to the death, fosters a pretty desperate scenario. You don’t lock in some hapless servant girl with such men. The other tip-off came from the quality of previous lower tier Grounder leaders, setting up a pretty clear precedent for the Thunderdome reveal. This thread may have been a nod to the usefulness of deception, in compelling a potential threat to reveal its true intentions; but the showrunners will have to do better, to cloud the mind of this evil thinker.

The garrison got its marching orders, when it was discovered that Mt. Weather had been jamming all efforts to contact other crash sites. The resulting expedition, to find & destroy/ get around the source of the disruption, allowed Raven (Lindsey Morgan) & Abby (Paige Turco) some semblance of the relationship they had, back on the Ark; provided Octavia (Marie Avgeropoulos) with an excuse to go after Lincoln (Ricky Whittle), with help from Bellamy (Bob Morley), and a small contingent of baby-sitters Ark security; and gave Finn an opportunity to get back in the saddle. The small tantrum he threw, when brandishing a gun got him more ‘looks,’ was disruptive enough; but the extended expedition ran into real trouble, when that troublesome acid cloud sent them to ground.

Rude cloud, considering that it actually served a purpose. This was where things got literal.

Hunkered down, at the Weathermen broadcast tower, Raven & Abby were able to listen in on Mt. Weather radio traffic. That traffic betrayed the true, titular nature of the cloud, and left Raven advocating the tower be spared, as an invaluable source of intel. Abby, however, had their original dilemma to consider. They needed all the survivors they could muster, to bolster the garrison’s defenses against Grounder attack. That required contacting the other sites, and that meant the tower had to be knocked out.

So Finn threw a hissy fit, because people worry when he starts playing with guns, then took Clarke back to the bunker, where the body of his first execution victim was still lying on the floor. Oops. This got him Clarke’s full attention (plus the whole just the two of them locked in a bunker/ tomb, thing); and sure enough, he didn’t want it. If Finn’s turn, during the the 48 arc, was too sudden, then this turn, in the Finn-Clarke relationship, may be an opportunity to balance things out. I just hope they don’t rush through this rough patch, for the sake of Finn’s redemption.

Octavia’s time in the wild allowed her, alone, to appreciate how stampeding critters should be paid some heed, sparing almost all of them from the cloud. For supposed trained professionals, there seems to be quite a few Red Shirts, in the Ark security ranks. Once their party was moved to an underground parking garage, they didn’t last long. Thanks for the ironic zombie Xmas music, but natural selection was not your friend.

The true nature of Mt. Weather’s ongoing ‘Cerberus project’ was also revealed, when Lincoln (Ricky Wittle) emerged from the ranks of some Red Shirt weeding Reapers. Despite showing some reservation, about his retro-fitting (or maybe his taste for man-flesh hadn’t been fully acquired), Lincoln would neither acknowledge the siblings, nor to be taken peaceably. Between his capture, and the incriminating radio traffic, however, things were not looking good, for Mt. Weather’s place at the bullpen table.

Pres. Dante Wallace (Raymond J. Barry) had something of a dilemma of his own, at Mt. Weather. His son, Cage (Johnny Whitworth), and resident Mengele, Dr. Tsing (Rekha Sharma), were of a single mind, when it came to utilizing the 47 Exiles, under their care, as a miracle resource. The kind of miracle resource that would liberate them from the life support measures they had grown reliant on. Dante disapproved, however, and while this placed him squarely in their sights, as a public welfare problem, in need of a solution, Dante was more concerned with the particulars of Maya’s (Eve Harlow) sudden radiation poisoning. More specifically, he wanted assurance that Cage didn’t orchestrate her condition, in order to force Jasper (Devon Bostick) into volunteering a transfusion – revealing the 47 as a miracle cure, in the first place.

Either Dante’s pretty spry, for an elderly gent, or the First Son’s just that underdeveloped – in both body & character. If a coupe is in the making, it may not likely be a direct one.

As for the 47, the Maya scheme may have backfired, in their favor. Maya came clean, with what she was able to figure out on her own, to Jasper & Monty (Christopher Larkin). With eyes on the Grounder Farm, as proof, the pair set about snapping the other 45 out of their collective complacency. Things are likely to get worse, at Mt. Weather, before they get better; but this development, at least, should serve as a counter to whatever comes of a Tsing & Cage alliance (not a pun, referencing the 47 having to resort to music, in order to speak freely. I promise).

On a ridiculous note: Mt. Weather fashion seems to be stuck in the 21st Century, and the 47 have been at the mercy of its stylists. Poor Monty’s been sporting an early Bieber. Those Weathermen bastards.

By the time the Fog of W acid cloud lifted, the garrison had one more very important take away, from the expedition. The newly revealed Grounder Commander was preparing to move on the garrison, and sent a familiar face to deliver that message. Sometimes two men enter, two men are then sent separate ways.

‘Fog of War’ revolved around the confusion, exploitation, outright deception, and, above all, the moral ambiguity of conflict, once survival becomes the primary motivator. In some areas, it was quite successful (the Maya gambit, the Reaper reveal); while a little more subtlety was needed in others (the Finn pardon, the Thunderdome scenario, the acid cloud). There is something familiar, to the current course of the season, that seems reminiscent of last season’s finale; but I’m hoping that’s just a little bit of fogging, intended for know-it-all viewers.

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