Oh The 100: Season 3, the more episodes I watch of you, the more frustrated I get. Episode 5: Hakeldama, was full of headaches, heartaches, and disbelief. Unless things start to really turn around, I think Season 3 might turn out to be my least favorite season. Now before you get your torches and pitchforks out, I still love the show. I mean, I wouldn't watch it every week if I wasn't so invested with the storyline and characters. This Season is just hurting my heart so far. It's promoting some storyline and characters that I really don't care about, while at the same time turning characters I love into pretty miserable human beings. I don't like the direction it's taking some of my favorite characters. And I won't lie, I'm getting pretty fed up with the Clarke and Lexa show. Polis has got to be my least favorite part of every episode it is in. And again, before you get your pitchforks and torches, I'm entitled to my own opinions. I'm allowed to like what I like and not like what I don't. If you want a review that's full of praise for Lexa, the fair and gentle leader (heavy on the sarcasm there), this isn't it. If you want a review that gushes about all the romantic Clexa moments, you won't get them here. Anyway, onto the highlights and what I thought of them from Episode 5: Hakeldama.
So, I guess there was a battle?
My first point of annoyance came right here, right here! Since Pike has been elected Chancellor, he carries out his plan to annihilate the Grounder army outside the Ark walls. Because all Grounders are evil, blah blah blah. We must kill them before they kill us, blah blah blah. This plan will definitely work because somehow someway we can get unlimited numbers of bullets and guns and the Grounders won't fight back. Pike is an idiot. Not just because his idea of killing a whole race of people is so wrong, but it's also not plausible. Once again, Pike and the Arkers are the invader species, it's not surprising that the Grounders tried to kill them when they first came down. Pike needs to get it into his head that the land doesn't belong to him, he's just being granted a chance to stay there.
So our episode starts with our 10 warrior Arkers coming park inside after just massacring the 300 Grounders outside.
You honestly expect me to believe that? After everything I've seen of the Grounders, I'm supposed to believe that 10, not especially skilled warriors, killed 300 Grounders and suffered no causalities of their own. Balderdash. No matter how many guns and bullets they had, I know that Grounders know how to fight. Grounders have lived in this dangerous world for years, they aren't all going to be taken out by 10 Grounders. I don't care if they were asleep, they would have woken up and speared all 10 of the Arkers to death. I'm not buying it. They also didn't show the battle at all. They just showed Bellamy and the others trudging back into camp. Why wouldn't they show the battle? If it's supposed to be this pivotal, gasp inducing direction to the plot, why wouldn't they show it? They've shown battles before. Think Season 1 where it was Arkers against Grounders. In that battle, Arkers had guns too, but the Grounders were able to pretty easily take them out with swords, spears, and arrows. It was only Raven's rocket fuel bomb that killed them. Then think Season 2, where we saw a whole army of Grounders and a little bit of the battle between the Mountain Men. Also think Season 2 where Finn went crazy and killed a whole bunch of villagers while searching for Clarke. They've shown battles and killings before, why not show it this time? So when they show the aftermath of Clarke, Lexa, and Octavia walking around in a whole field of dead corpses, it doesn't even register with me because I don't believe it. And this scene is supposed to further my bad feelings for Bellamy, it's just not happening. Just such a bad idea to not show any visual of the battle. Makes no sense to me. And not one of the 10 Arkers die? Show writers, do you think that makes any sort of sense?
Yes, I skipped over the whole Clarke and Lexa scene riding on horses because I don't care. And why are the Arkers going to care if the Ice Queen is dead? Why would they just take Lexa's word that she's solved the problem of the Mount Weather Massacre for them? I wouldn't. You know why, because I don't trust Lexa.
Meanwhile over in the forest...
We get a little bit of John and Emori living in the forest and stealing from people. Do I like their relationship? Kind of. Do I think it will last? I'm not exactly sure. If there's one thing I know about Murphy, he doesn't have very good luck and he can make some pretty bad choices. It's still weird for me to think of how I kind of like him. I'm mean in the first season, he was a straight up murderer, but he's just so sassy that I can't help it.
But at the end of this episode, Murphy ends up being captured. So, bad luck again I guess.
Bring on Mr. Crazypants
Jaha has made his way back to Arkadia with the mission to convert people into believing in the City of Light. It amused me how everyone thought he was just plain crazy. Been living out in the woods too long. He reminded me of one of those preachers you sometimes see outside college campuses, talking doomsday and the only way to salvation is through him. And it only added to the crazy once you find out that only Jaha can see ALIE. She was like his imaginary friend, that sure didn't help in convincing anyone to join the City of Light. Jaha is soooo off his rocker. And out of the two people he's managed to convert to the City of Light, well they are both dead. That doesn't seem to bother Jaha, but with those odds, who'd want to be a member?
The Bellarke Confrontation! Dun DuN DUN!!!
This was probably the most interesting scene for me in the whole episode. Not because it was a potential Bellarke scene though. Again, this was supposed to be a scene that further convinced me of how bad Bellamy is, but it didn't. A lot of people were going to twitter and the internet after, claiming how much they hate Bellamy now. But I actually agreed with Bellamy more than I disagreed with him. I mean the war thing, not on board with that, it's a bad idea teaming up with Pike.
So the backstory for this is that Clarke convinced Lexa to let her talk to Bellamy in order to fix this mess and hopefully not bring war to the Arkers. I felt like Clarke was very manipulative in this scene. She kind of knows the power that she has over Bellamy. She thinks that if she tells him she needs him, he'll just drop everything to help her. So when Bellamy gave her what for, I was cheering for him. He's right. She abandoned her people and most importantly she abandoned Bellamy. She left him to deal with all the guilt over Mount Weather. He was the one having to see Jasper drink himself into a stupor everyday. He was the one who actually remembered the faces of the people that helped him in Mount Weather that he then had to kill. And then when Bellamy went to Polis and asked Clarke to come back to her people, she denied him again. It's not fair for Bellamy to have to shoulder everything alone. Clarke was the one that he could always talk to, and she left him.
This scene also brought back the feels of Bellamy from Season 1, the Bellamy who thought he was a monster. He still thinks he's a monster, which makes me so sad.
People have also been arguing that this season further cements the idea that Bellamy is not a leader, but just a follower. I have to disagree with that. I feel like everything Bellamy's accomplished while on the ground was taken away once the adults landed. Once again, he's just a lowly guard following orders. Same goes with Raven, who is such an important problem solver, she's been regulated to sorting scrap metal. I think the politics of the camp have failed to recognize who the real important people are. It's just been sad seeing Bellamy, Raven, Jasper, Monty, Miller, Harper, Monroe; being relegated to kids who aren't important anymore.
Also, I just want to say that Bob Morley's acting was spot on in this scene. Ahh the feels.
And then I guess I have to mention the Clarke and Lexa scene, where Clarke somehow convinces Lexa that Blood Must Not Have Blood. Umm I call Baloney on that one. I'm supposed to believe that Lexa has magically turned softer and will not seek vengeance for the Traikru just because Clarke batted her puppy dog eyes. You must think I'm stupid in order to believe that.
Leave Raven out of this storyline please.
The last headache from this episode concerns the direction they've decided to take Raven. She goes and swallows Jaha's dumb City of Light pill. Suddenly her leg starts to feel better(?) and she can see ALIE. Now, I've seen the promo for Season 3, and I know it's not all rainbows and butterflies for Raven. Abby also mentions in the promo for Episode 6 how this pill has some unintended side effects. My best guess is that this pill, this City of Light, somehow dulls your nerves and messes with the senses in your brain. Raven's not cured, but this pill gives her a false sense of hope. I kind of don't want Raven in the City of Light storyline though, just because I haven't been liking this City of Light stuff. Raven is one of my favorites and I want her to be happy. I also don't want her getting any type of way involved with Jaha and his crazy train. Especially since the majority of people that join up with Jaha usually die.
My only other gripe is not from this episode, but from Jason Rothenberg. For those that don't know, he's the executive producer of this show. I love him for creating the show, but sometimes I get tired of what he has to tweet.
In one tweet he's condemning the ship wars for being too mean and hateful. And then in the next tweet he's just milking the #Clexa ship as much as he can. Now I think people being mean to people over ships is just stupid. I've been on the receiving end of some #Bellarke hate myself and it didn't feel too good having 7 people gang up on me and say that #Bellarke is a non-ship. Me personally, I think some of the Clexa shippers are mean. Notice I didn't say all, but some. Just as I'm sure that there are some mean Bellarke shippers out there.
But here's what irks me, I feel like Jason is team #Clexa just because the whole Clexa issue is getting more media attention and publicity for the show. And it's not getting more attention because it's the best relationship ever, but just because it's a gay relationship. I'll just say that I won't take Rothenberg seriously on his ship comments until he himself stops stirring the pot.
I can't even grade this episode because of all the frustration it caused me. Still Team Bellamy. Lexa annoys me. Clarke annoys me. I call baloney on that battle.
The 100, you're hurting me here. I'll keep watching, but you're hurting me.
