TV Review: THE 100: Episode 2.15: Blood Must Have Blood, Pt. 1 [The CW]

The CW’s The 100 Blood Must Have Blood, Pt. 1 TV Show Review. The 100: Season 2, Episode 15: ‘Blood Must Have Blood,’ saw the Horizon Coalition finally march on Mordor Mt. Weather, Mt. Weather’s Grounder captives freed, its conscientious objectors making a stand, its defenses breached by multiple all-star team-ups, and the Clarke-Lexa (Eliza Taylor, Alycia Debnam-Carey) relationship tested by the culmination to all their planning/ scheming. Here’s why that all went wrong.

For one thing, it was only the first part, to a two-part finale, so unless you were expecting an epic seesaw battle, stretched across at least one full episode, you might have missed where this show has been coming from. The 100 has had its fair share of big moments, sure; but I think the show places more stock in conflict & resolution, than cauterizing climaxes. Call me jaded, but I’m usually good about knowing when I’m being taken for a ride; and when everything leads to the kind of set-up, presented for ‘Blood Must Have Blood,’ I wait for the other shoe to drop. Granted, I don’t get shocked & amazed as often as I’d like, but it does make for degrees of satisfaction. ‘Blood Must Have Blood, Pt. 1’ was kind of satisfying, in that regard.

The set up made for a mess in the making. Were we supposed to expect a Weatherman massacre? Of course not. The show gave us a reason to not want genocide, and Lexa acknowledged as much – so something had to hold the vengeful masses in check. Imperialists & policy hawks have little tolerance for the hippy-dippy, peaceful coexistence crowd; so the commitment made by Maya’s (Eve Harlow) father, Vincent (Ian Tracey), and the other objectors, was a line crossed that nothing short of a full pardon – by a restored Dante Wallace (Raymond J. Barry), or a victorious Horizon Coalition – could redeem them of. Cage (Johnny Whitworth) has been made aware that he has stepped into shoes that were still too big; so does he play it smart, or play it proud? Octavia (Marie Avgeropoulos) has enjoyed the second most drastic social climb of the season (can’t beat the Clarke coronation), but that had come at the expense of her Exile identity, and (given his rogue/ Reaper pariah problem) put some distance between her Grounder status, and Lincoln’s (Ricky Whittle) – which would have been an awkward place to leave the two. Bellamy (Bob Morley) has had pretty much the run of Mt. Weather, and Jasper’s (Devon Bostick) Donor Party had taken ground – surely the home team had a contingency for a ‘Cows with Guns’ scenario. A kiss is not always a kiss… just ask Fredo….

The follow through simply addressed all of those potential issues, and maybe a few more. Unfortunately, it leaves the show in something of a lag. Unless the resolution, to the Weather War, produces a more drastic outcome than the climax, Mt. Weather will remain a thorn in the side, with loved ones still trapped inside; Octavia & Lincoln go back to being outcasts in love; Clarke goes back to wallowing in/ acting out of self-pity; and even Raven (Lindsey Morgan) resets to the helpless state she started the season in. If not for the prospects of a City of Light, I’d say the show was actually regressing.

On something of a side note, I appreciate that the parallel fortunes, of Prince Cage & Princess Clarke, took a slight detour through Braveheart territory – with both would-be Warlords getting a final lesson in what it takes to be an effective leader. I suppose Clarke got the worst of it, in terms of experiencing being abandoned, on the field, then getting the “now you’ve learned to hate” gut punch, at the end; but the real question is where politic craft leaves the key players, when the season closes on a drastic re-alignment of teams.

Even if The 100 does seem to be headed for a second season end via retread, by my own twisted logic, that just gives the show one more opportunity to poke at another precariously perched shoe. Here’s to hoping that they’re lowering expectations, ahead of a game changer. The Mountain Men twist, that closed out season one, was a bit telegraphed; so let’s see what they come up with, to make this whole bait-and-switch worthwhile.

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