The 100 - Season 3
Apr. 24th, 2016 10:48 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shadowkatWell, I'm all caught up on The 100 now. And...this shows writers really like to kill off characters in sadistic ways. Granted it is a dark post-apocalyptic series, so sort of goes with the territory. Star Trek, it ain't. More similar to Walking Dead, sans the zombies and horror show gore.
It's gory, just in a different way. What I don't understand is why I have no difficulty binge-watching this series, but the violence in The Americans, American Horror Story, The Walking Dead and the Blacklist bothers me?
At any rate, there were a lot of character deaths in the last six episodes. I think someone died, sometimes two people, in each episode. It got to the point in which, I was starting to yell at the tv. "Noooo, don't kill off that character, I like that character, you dimwit, kill off that other character instead. Stop it with the killing of the characters already...seriously this is getting annoying. Okay, are you going to kill off all the characters, because than we'll have no tv show?"
I think they killed off ten characters. I lost count. Actually, maybe not ten. Anyhow, we're back down to a small rag-tag team of fairly young traumatized heroes. (Seriously, who wouldn't be?). I do find it interesting that they only kill off the supporting characters that the writers apparently have grown tired of, and whose death seemingly serves to further the other characters arcs and plot better than their continued existence. It makes it easier for me to predict their deaths.
I'm hoping last week's episode wasn't the season finale. I don't think it was. I think that's in MAY.
I'll be annoyed if it was the Season Finale. [It's not, I checked, theres at least four more episodes to go. Next one is entitled Join or Die. Yay!]
I actually liked the last six episodes more than I expected.
1. LEXA's DEATH: It's worth to keep in mind that I was not emotionally invested in the character of LEXA and knew they were going to kill her off. Bellamy/Clark is clearly the end game. So Lexa pretty much had to die. Just as Gina had to die. Also, her death was foreshadowed by Gina's death. The writers were killing off, systematically, the lover or person each of the main characters loved the most. I figured out they were going to do that, when the tone was set with Jasper's grief over Maia. Also, Lexa's death shakes everything up. Note - that's how you can figure out a character death - who will shake things up the most? And who is the most mature and doesn't require more story? I actually was surprised by how they killed her off -- that was well done. She dies by accident. Her advisor accidentally kills her attempting to kill Clark. And it reveals Ali 2, and what Bettany had down with the second AI device.
2. LINCOLN's DEATH: Wasn't surprised by Lincoln's death either. That worked within the plot arc. Actually, I've been waiting for them to kill Lincoln off for two seasons -- surprised he survived this long. How they killed him off worked -- because it pissed a couple of key characters off, and flipped the switch on Octavia and Bellamy. And ...well, Pike had been aiming for it for a while.
So those worked.
3. THE OTHER DEATHS - MONTY's Mom, PIKE, and The Advisor/Flame-keeper (none of which I cared about and was sort of hoping they'd kill off eventually): Monty's mother's death also worked, saw that coming a mile away. He was clearly going to end up killing his mother. And I knew Lexa's advisor would kill himself and make Clarke the new keeper of the flame. I thought Bellamy was going to be the one who killed Pike, but instead he just gives him over to the Grounders, who shoot him in the chest with arrows -- so sort of the same thing.
4. SINCLAIRE's DEATH: Did not expect them to kill off Sinclair. Okay, not true. I did. I just kept hoping they wouldn't. I liked Sinclair and felt that the character hadn't gotten enough exploration. Also, we needed at least one older Arcadian with the twenty-thirtysomethings (sorry teenagers being portrayed by twenty-thirtysomethings. I wish they would stop casting teens with twenty-somethings, and twenty-somethings with thirty-somethings...it confuses me.) So, I don't see why they had to kill him off. His death didn't forward the action all that much. Also, it seemed sort of anti-climatic. I know they were trying to heighten the tension, but considering I thought they'd already killed Jasper, Harper, and the homosexual guard couple whose names I can't remember...
At the time, I thought I can't believe they just killed off Jasper, Harper and the homosexual guard couple (who I adored but can't remember their names). In fact, I thought, whoa, that's a lot of characters you killed off all at once, show. WTF? Please stop. I like these characters. No, not Sinclair too. Wait, are we killing off all the characters? Ugh.
I guess I shouldn't have been surprised that Emerson had popped up again. He was the nasty Mount Weather Guard who plotted the attack on the Arcadians in Mount Weather at the beginning of the season in retribution for what Monty, Bellamy and Clarke had done, or really just Clark, they merely followed her call. Lexa had caught him and was going to kill him for Mount Weather, but Clarke plead to have him live and banished him. Big mistake. In this world, you don't let people like that live.
Poor Clarke, she pleads for the guy's life, tries to do the right thing -- only to have it come back and bite her. Oh well, he died horribly. Ali 2 is really nasty if you aren't genetically compatible and have black blood.
Anyhow, it was a nice mislead, and I was relieved they all survived. Still annoyed by Sinclair's death, a waste of a character.
5. As an aside? Are the writers afraid of showing sex? We don't really see much of it. Okay, we did see Clark and Lexa, and Clark and the innkeeper, sort of. So, not afraid of Lesbian sex scenes. Also Bellamy and Raven, sort of, in S1. But that's it. We do however get the violence up close and personal. I personally would prefer watching people have sex to watching them torture each other, but that's just me. Maybe the writers find sex scenes to be boring? They are admittedly boring. Not a lot happens. Also uncomfortable for actors. But at least I don't cringe through them and want to leave the room. (I want a Abby/Kane sex scene. Also the homosexual couple. If we get lesbian sex, it's only fair to get homosexual and heterosexual sex too, and with the adults not just the alleged teens.)
6. Overall, though? I liked the episodes. Yes, it's uneven in places but..the pacing was great. Held my attention. And it's rather clever in places. The episode where they guard Raven, prior to removing her chip, and she attacks each of them - was well written. It was an opportunity for the writers to explore in depth various characters emotional baggage and guilt. Both Bellamy and Clarke are carrying a lot of guilt for past decisions.
Neither is blameless.
As Bellamy states to Clark: "What do you do when you realize that maybe you aren't the good guy?"
Clarke: "I don't think there are any good guys."
Both have lost their innocence and their sense of righteousness. That was a good episode. As was the one that followed it, Demons. Both dug deep into Clark and Bellamy's demons, along with the other members of the troop. Who have been paired off in an interesting manner. Clark and Bellamy, Octavia and Jasper, Monty and Raven. They've killed off the significants for each. Disappointing that, but predictable.
7. I rather like the Abby/Kane relationship. Not at all pleased with Abby being forced to take the key. That was a brutal episode. The whole key/chip storyline reminds me a little of Angel's Shiny Happy People and HAL in 2001. It's very 1980s. Also reminds me a bit of Battlestar Galatica v.2. Why do sci-fi writers repeat old themes? Maybe because there are no new ones?
Abby/Kane parallels Clark/Bellamy...so curious if the writers will go that route. Could get some major fandom backlash if they do. Fans aren't accepting of bisexuality, they have a tendency to think you are either gay or straight, when the reality is that most people are bisexual or there's a spectrum. Why people don't get that, I've no clue. Seems sort of obvious to me. I'm hoping the writers are smart and brave enough to go the bisexual route with Clarke, considering Clarke loved Finn and Lexa, and doesn't seem to define herself one way or another. That's one thing I love about the series - the characters and world have evolved past things like sexual orientation and sexual identity. They are too busy surviving, so just don't care. First sci-fi series I've seen that embraced that. Actually, that was a weakness of Battlestar Galatica and Star Trek, both of those series should have embraced it.
8. The anti-vengeance theme impresses me. It goes hand in hand with the anti-violence theme. That solving your problems with violence, gets you nowhere. Except dead. And removing pain along with all memories of pain -- doesn't resolve anything either. As Abby put it - the death of one man's mother motivated him to become a doctor. Pain can motivate us to survive, to learn, to change. Sometimes in a good way. You can't just bury it or forget it.
9. And...the AI key as a pain-reliever that makes you numb to pain, and anything that causes it -- with the afterlife being a painless safe existence with no anger, no feelings...reminds me actually of the film "Firefly" and Joss Whedon's Dollhouse. Although I like how they are exploring it here a tad better.
So, yes, all in all, The 100 continues to be the best science fiction series on at the moment. Or the only one who seems to have much to say. And its themes, overall, are relevant to our own political climate. Just do yourselves a favor and don't ship any of the supporting characters. The only one's guaranteed to survive are Clark, Bellamy, Octavia, Raven, Monty, Jasper, Murphy (I've decided he's unkillable), Joha, Abby, and Kane. Everyone else...is disposable.
It's gory, just in a different way. What I don't understand is why I have no difficulty binge-watching this series, but the violence in The Americans, American Horror Story, The Walking Dead and the Blacklist bothers me?
At any rate, there were a lot of character deaths in the last six episodes. I think someone died, sometimes two people, in each episode. It got to the point in which, I was starting to yell at the tv. "Noooo, don't kill off that character, I like that character, you dimwit, kill off that other character instead. Stop it with the killing of the characters already...seriously this is getting annoying. Okay, are you going to kill off all the characters, because than we'll have no tv show?"
I think they killed off ten characters. I lost count. Actually, maybe not ten. Anyhow, we're back down to a small rag-tag team of fairly young traumatized heroes. (Seriously, who wouldn't be?). I do find it interesting that they only kill off the supporting characters that the writers apparently have grown tired of, and whose death seemingly serves to further the other characters arcs and plot better than their continued existence. It makes it easier for me to predict their deaths.
I'm hoping last week's episode wasn't the season finale. I don't think it was. I think that's in MAY.
I'll be annoyed if it was the Season Finale. [It's not, I checked, theres at least four more episodes to go. Next one is entitled Join or Die. Yay!]
I actually liked the last six episodes more than I expected.
1. LEXA's DEATH: It's worth to keep in mind that I was not emotionally invested in the character of LEXA and knew they were going to kill her off. Bellamy/Clark is clearly the end game. So Lexa pretty much had to die. Just as Gina had to die. Also, her death was foreshadowed by Gina's death. The writers were killing off, systematically, the lover or person each of the main characters loved the most. I figured out they were going to do that, when the tone was set with Jasper's grief over Maia. Also, Lexa's death shakes everything up. Note - that's how you can figure out a character death - who will shake things up the most? And who is the most mature and doesn't require more story? I actually was surprised by how they killed her off -- that was well done. She dies by accident. Her advisor accidentally kills her attempting to kill Clark. And it reveals Ali 2, and what Bettany had down with the second AI device.
2. LINCOLN's DEATH: Wasn't surprised by Lincoln's death either. That worked within the plot arc. Actually, I've been waiting for them to kill Lincoln off for two seasons -- surprised he survived this long. How they killed him off worked -- because it pissed a couple of key characters off, and flipped the switch on Octavia and Bellamy. And ...well, Pike had been aiming for it for a while.
So those worked.
3. THE OTHER DEATHS - MONTY's Mom, PIKE, and The Advisor/Flame-keeper (none of which I cared about and was sort of hoping they'd kill off eventually): Monty's mother's death also worked, saw that coming a mile away. He was clearly going to end up killing his mother. And I knew Lexa's advisor would kill himself and make Clarke the new keeper of the flame. I thought Bellamy was going to be the one who killed Pike, but instead he just gives him over to the Grounders, who shoot him in the chest with arrows -- so sort of the same thing.
4. SINCLAIRE's DEATH: Did not expect them to kill off Sinclair. Okay, not true. I did. I just kept hoping they wouldn't. I liked Sinclair and felt that the character hadn't gotten enough exploration. Also, we needed at least one older Arcadian with the twenty-thirtysomethings (sorry teenagers being portrayed by twenty-thirtysomethings. I wish they would stop casting teens with twenty-somethings, and twenty-somethings with thirty-somethings...it confuses me.) So, I don't see why they had to kill him off. His death didn't forward the action all that much. Also, it seemed sort of anti-climatic. I know they were trying to heighten the tension, but considering I thought they'd already killed Jasper, Harper, and the homosexual guard couple whose names I can't remember...
At the time, I thought I can't believe they just killed off Jasper, Harper and the homosexual guard couple (who I adored but can't remember their names). In fact, I thought, whoa, that's a lot of characters you killed off all at once, show. WTF? Please stop. I like these characters. No, not Sinclair too. Wait, are we killing off all the characters? Ugh.
I guess I shouldn't have been surprised that Emerson had popped up again. He was the nasty Mount Weather Guard who plotted the attack on the Arcadians in Mount Weather at the beginning of the season in retribution for what Monty, Bellamy and Clarke had done, or really just Clark, they merely followed her call. Lexa had caught him and was going to kill him for Mount Weather, but Clarke plead to have him live and banished him. Big mistake. In this world, you don't let people like that live.
Poor Clarke, she pleads for the guy's life, tries to do the right thing -- only to have it come back and bite her. Oh well, he died horribly. Ali 2 is really nasty if you aren't genetically compatible and have black blood.
Anyhow, it was a nice mislead, and I was relieved they all survived. Still annoyed by Sinclair's death, a waste of a character.
5. As an aside? Are the writers afraid of showing sex? We don't really see much of it. Okay, we did see Clark and Lexa, and Clark and the innkeeper, sort of. So, not afraid of Lesbian sex scenes. Also Bellamy and Raven, sort of, in S1. But that's it. We do however get the violence up close and personal. I personally would prefer watching people have sex to watching them torture each other, but that's just me. Maybe the writers find sex scenes to be boring? They are admittedly boring. Not a lot happens. Also uncomfortable for actors. But at least I don't cringe through them and want to leave the room. (I want a Abby/Kane sex scene. Also the homosexual couple. If we get lesbian sex, it's only fair to get homosexual and heterosexual sex too, and with the adults not just the alleged teens.)
6. Overall, though? I liked the episodes. Yes, it's uneven in places but..the pacing was great. Held my attention. And it's rather clever in places. The episode where they guard Raven, prior to removing her chip, and she attacks each of them - was well written. It was an opportunity for the writers to explore in depth various characters emotional baggage and guilt. Both Bellamy and Clarke are carrying a lot of guilt for past decisions.
Neither is blameless.
As Bellamy states to Clark: "What do you do when you realize that maybe you aren't the good guy?"
Clarke: "I don't think there are any good guys."
Both have lost their innocence and their sense of righteousness. That was a good episode. As was the one that followed it, Demons. Both dug deep into Clark and Bellamy's demons, along with the other members of the troop. Who have been paired off in an interesting manner. Clark and Bellamy, Octavia and Jasper, Monty and Raven. They've killed off the significants for each. Disappointing that, but predictable.
7. I rather like the Abby/Kane relationship. Not at all pleased with Abby being forced to take the key. That was a brutal episode. The whole key/chip storyline reminds me a little of Angel's Shiny Happy People and HAL in 2001. It's very 1980s. Also reminds me a bit of Battlestar Galatica v.2. Why do sci-fi writers repeat old themes? Maybe because there are no new ones?
Abby/Kane parallels Clark/Bellamy...so curious if the writers will go that route. Could get some major fandom backlash if they do. Fans aren't accepting of bisexuality, they have a tendency to think you are either gay or straight, when the reality is that most people are bisexual or there's a spectrum. Why people don't get that, I've no clue. Seems sort of obvious to me. I'm hoping the writers are smart and brave enough to go the bisexual route with Clarke, considering Clarke loved Finn and Lexa, and doesn't seem to define herself one way or another. That's one thing I love about the series - the characters and world have evolved past things like sexual orientation and sexual identity. They are too busy surviving, so just don't care. First sci-fi series I've seen that embraced that. Actually, that was a weakness of Battlestar Galatica and Star Trek, both of those series should have embraced it.
8. The anti-vengeance theme impresses me. It goes hand in hand with the anti-violence theme. That solving your problems with violence, gets you nowhere. Except dead. And removing pain along with all memories of pain -- doesn't resolve anything either. As Abby put it - the death of one man's mother motivated him to become a doctor. Pain can motivate us to survive, to learn, to change. Sometimes in a good way. You can't just bury it or forget it.
9. And...the AI key as a pain-reliever that makes you numb to pain, and anything that causes it -- with the afterlife being a painless safe existence with no anger, no feelings...reminds me actually of the film "Firefly" and Joss Whedon's Dollhouse. Although I like how they are exploring it here a tad better.
So, yes, all in all, The 100 continues to be the best science fiction series on at the moment. Or the only one who seems to have much to say. And its themes, overall, are relevant to our own political climate. Just do yourselves a favor and don't ship any of the supporting characters. The only one's guaranteed to survive are Clark, Bellamy, Octavia, Raven, Monty, Jasper, Murphy (I've decided he's unkillable), Joha, Abby, and Kane. Everyone else...is disposable.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2016-04-25 09:07 am (UTC)According to some of the actors, it's even beyond that - there have been rumours that the showrunner bullies his actors, and kills their characters off if they complain. See Ricky Whittle's (Lincoln) comments here (http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/100-ricky-whittle-jason-rothenberg-881496), for instance.
Eh. Personally, I'm done with the show (http://beer-good-foamy.livejournal.com/252632.html).
no subject
Date: 2016-04-25 11:16 pm (UTC)Eh, unfortunately that's par for the course in the entertainment industry. The other industries that are notorious for bullying are publishing and high finance. Also academia...apparently, you really don't want to work on the business side of academia.
It's depressing how widespread it really is. I've been bullied far worse than this guy in various industries. At the publishing company that I worked for, I was so horribly bullied that I resigned without a job to go to, and went 23 months unemployed. (I was online at the time, and a good portion of the metas that I wrote referenced it.) Then it happened again for a Video Game Company. I've seen it at the Railroad as well. What this actor describes...is nothing compared to what I've experienced in the publishing industry. Also, it appears that he came out great in the end, with a lead role in another series.
As for the bit about Lexa? It was storyline dictated. Like Tara's death was. If she was male, they'd have killed her off.
Nothing to do with her being gay. There's lots of gay characters in the show.