Welcome back from hiatus, guys! It’s been FOREVER. Or 3 weeks. Whatever. After the last couple of heartbreaking episodes, did you think that maybe they’d ease us into the back half of the season? NOPE. More heartbreak…utter heartbreak.

What goes great with heartbreak? Alcohol! This review is powered by: Old Pulteney 12. If you’re a scotch noob, this is a great “baby’s first single malt scotch.” Surprisingly smooth, very affordable, nice and sweet, with a little bit of salty brine. Trust me, it’s a winner. So smooth I can see myself getting LIT. (amendment: it’s a couple hours later on, and I’m LIT)

So, this weekend is jam packed with things to do. NXT Takeover, the Final Four here in Houston, Wrestlemania…

…and most importantly, double XP AND double weapon XP on Black Ops 3, but instead I’m going to drink and write. For you, my 3-4 faithful readers. Thank you. I love you.

Let’s get into it!

Preamble. Because Who Doesn’t Love A Good Preamble?

I gotta be honest with y’all. This episode didn’t land as squarely with me as I thought it would. Yeah, I knew Ontari was going to go murder a bunch of kids and Lincoln was likely to die and the flame would be stolen, but for some reason, it didn’t all come together as a great episode of The 100. It was still better than most of the other schlock on TV, but this show sets a high bar.

It could be that I’m a bit fatigued from all the death and misery. This show has been heavy and dark, and while “heavy and dark” pretty much describes my life’s mood board, The 100 has been absolutely unrelenting. And to think I’m going to swing from this vine onto Game of Thrones when it comes back…I’m going to have to steel my soul, because I’m starting to feel it, man. Like, for reals.

That’s the danger with getting emotionally invested in a show and its characters. You can get sucked in and start hardcore caring about these characters (still not over Lexa, btw), and hopefully you have enough emotional and mental maturity to get the fuck over it at some point. I feel like The 100 is one huge “survival of the fittest” experiment to see who of us can put our big girl panties on and hang in there and at the end of the series, those of us who still have a sliver of life left get taken up to the Ark to ensure the survival of the human race, because we’re not going to survive Trump here on earth.

I think another issue with this episode is that both story lines are very high stakes and they take a little shine off of one another. I know it’s weird. Instead of combining to create more tension and urgency, the two narratives somehow detracted from each other. Just my take. I’m sure many people found this to be an excellent episode, and my score doesn’t necessarily reflect the import of the events that took place within.

Preamble over, let’s get on to ambling.

Guess Who’s Back, Back Again, Shady’s Back, Tell A Friend

If you’re like me and have a black soul, you were anxiously awaiting our Murder Princess, Ontari. And guess what, we got her!

And boy, is she back. Ontari, upon seeing Clarke, went straight up Murder Princessy and tried to kill Clarke for her part in Queen Nia’s death, which resulted in Roan taking the throne. Neither event pleases Ontari in the least. She tells Clarke that when she’s Commander, Skaikru is toast.

Ontari decides to fast-track herself to the throne and completely ignores the rules of succession, which involve a Conclave, a spelling bee, and a staring contest (which Lexa nailed in her Conclave, obvs). She just up and kills all the Nightblood children in their sleep, continuing the theme of killing innocents in their sleep firmly established by Pike and his horrible followers earlier this season.

So, Ontari joins the ranks of Pike and, uh, weirdly enough Leslie Knope, in the bloodthirsty hall of fame.

Now, as part of an early theory about the Nightbloods having black blood posited on Reddit before we learned about it in “Watch the Thrones,” we quickly surmised that the scene in the season 3 trailer that introduced us to Ontari was not her in a forest covered in mud, but rather her on the throne covered in black blood. From that point on, a number of us, including myself, were positively giddy at the thought of Ontari slaughtering the Nightbloods to steal the Commander title from them. I know, that’s horrific. What can I say?

Ontari gives zero fucks when it comes to taking what she wants.

Yet that leads me to ask: why does she want the throne? And this brings me to my issue with Ontari. Murder Princess is going to need some good character development moving forward to ensure she doesn’t fall prey to the same issue many people have with Pike and Hannah: one-dimensional villains who exist only to create conflict and serve as foils to the heroes, but not much else. It’s still early yet and we’ve not had much time with her at all. But given that much of the writing has been rushed and character development has been playing second fiddle to plot development, I’m not altogether certain we’ll get what we need.

So, jury’s out on Ontari. I want to love her, I do, but I need a bit more of the “why’s” of her character and some subtlety to convey she’s more than just a heartless Murder Princess.

I think we’ll also need to see how her not caring about ascending properly and just claiming the title of Commander plays out. She’s the last remaining Nightblood (heh), so to her, the title is rightfully hers and no one can really oppose her, despite me thinking she’s a fraud. Titus committing suicide by Roan doesn’t affect the outcome at all, just removes a voice of dissent. Ontari is cunning, I’ll give her that. It’s interesting how unimportant the flame is to her, especially considering no one aside from Titus, Clarke, and Murphy understand what it does…and Titus’ understanding is rather limited, since it’s based in tradition and superstition. She doesn’t know that it could make her more powerful, more Murder Princessy, more formidable.

Clarke And Murphy, My One True Pairing

I don’t think I’ve run into anyone who doesn’t like Clarke and Murphy interacting. They don’t exactly have the warmest relationship stemming all the way back to season 1, where Murphy was a prick and not adverse to killing anyone who pissed him off, and Clarke, well, she was season 1 Clarke back then.

But both characters have drastically evolved and their circumstances brought them back together in the unlikeliest of places: trapped in Clarke’s room in Polis. Clarke is obviously heartbroken over Lexa and Murphy does something un-Murphy like. Expresses empathy for Clarke’s loss.

Yas yas yas yas yas! BFFs now, right?

Later on, when Clarke and Murphy forego escaping to go get the flame, Murphy stands watch while Clarke goes for the briefcase with the AI chip. Murphy has every opportunity to run here, leave Clarke behind, and go do Murphy things, but he sticks around! Only to be kicked down the stairs by Ontari, who’s looking to get her ascension on.

Murphy then goes along with Titus’ ruse, pretending to be his apprentice (or whatever a Flamekeeper has) to get Ontari out of Titus’ sex dungeon, away from the flame, and to protect a hiding Clarke. Murphy has the truly unfortunate (wink wink) duty of having to sit around while Ontari’s bathes and he totally doesn’t sneak a very obvious peak at her when she gets out of the bath. Okay, he full on stares at her and she stares back and we’re all like “uh, this could be awkward, but are they in love now? Is that how it works?”

We’ve all been loving Murphy’s journey this season because he is slowly going from zero to hero and has sass for days, but with him now left behind in Polis by Clarke (nice one, Clarke!), I’m guessing the One True Pairing of Clarke and Murphy is at a (temporary) end. I refuse to believe this is it for these two. I think that Murphy would respect Clarke’s decision to leave without him – remember, Titus said he would get Murphy out – because that’s what Murphy would do. If anything, he has a keen sense of self-preservation and like Clarke, is both resourceful and smart. These two may be platonic soul mates.

But now that he’s essentially stranded in Polis, what is Murphy’s play here? Obviously, he’s going to do what Murphy does and fight to survive, but will his (shaky, somewhat unproven) loyalties be with Clarke and Skaikru, or will he pick who he perceives to be the future winner of this fight and ally with Ontari? He’s feeding her everything she wants to hear, and of course some of it is true according to the show’s ethos – do whatever it takes to survive – but I wonder if he’s also setting her up for a long con.

Remember, Emori is still out there and we have to wait and see how she and Murphy find each other again. I believe she showed him that he’s really not alone in the world and may have softened him up a bit…or just accessed a part of him that wasn’t readily available in the first two seasons.

Murphy somehow finds himself in the absolute worst situations and yet manages to survive, so he’ll come out on top, I have no doubt. But on what side of the fight he lands on…that remains to be seen. But I want more Clurphy in the future. These two have more in common than they even know. I can just imagine Murphy learning about how Clarke earned her Wanheda title and just saying “that’s pretty hardcore, Clarke. I like it.”

When it comes to Ontari and Murphy, we’ll have to wait and see. If Murphy goes all in on Ontari, hold onto your butts people, because they’ll dance on the corpses of their enemies while the world burns around them.

Roan Spills The Tea

I would remiss if I didn’t at least mention that Roan is back on our TV screens and he’s beeee-ooooo-tiful. He tries to help Clarke and Murphy escape, but that’s it as far as their uneasy alliance is concerned. Now that Ontari is the Commander-ish (I refuse to acknowledge her as full-fledged Commander), Roan’s loyalty is to her and Ice Nation. Or so he says.

Before Roan and Clarke part ways, he drops this delicious bit of truth on Clarke:

Clarke: “There’s no way that he’ll [Titus] will support someone who hacked the heads off children while they slept.”
Roan: “Yeah. Those children were marked for death, anyway.”
Clarke: “You’ll support her too.”
Roan: “She’s Ice Nation.”
Clarke: “Whatever’s best for your people, is that it?”
Roan: “That’s it, kind of like killing every man, woman, and child in Mount Weather was best for yours.”
Murphy: “That’s not a bad point.”
Clarke: “Shut up Murphy.”

That, ladies and gentlemen, was epic shade, punctuated by the Sultan of Sass, Murphy.

People are not afraid to call Clarke out for her hypocrisy at all this season, and I don’t mind. I think it’s necessary to remind her that she’s not on the moral high ground when it comes to doing whatever it takes to save her people or survive. These are lessons, while perhaps harsh, that need to be repeated in order to give the viewers insight into someone else’s perspective other than Clarke’s.

I have no idea how integral Roan will be to the rest of the season, but I really hope we get to see more of him because right now he’s the most fully developed Azgeda character we have, and it’s obvious that he’s not at all happy with taking orders from Ontari. He’s been Clarke’s ally in the past, but does he have any incentive moving forward to work with her now that the Ice Nation is in charge of everything?

Plus, dem abs. We need more of dem abs. Uh oh…I feel a plea to CW’s merch department for a Roan body pillow emanating from my soul. Just for admiring, I swear. No funny business.

Okay, maybe a little funny business.

(Sidebar discussion: did y’all notice that Roan got a haircut somewhere along the line? Like between 3×02 and 3×03? Did he not think he was sexy enough? Because he was sexy enough, but that hair cut ramped up his sexiness by 13 fold percent to the 11th power. Is that proper math? I don’t know. Fuck math. Just put down for Roan: “a whole fuckload of sexiness and then some, I mean LOOK at the man.”)

……………I’m sorry, I fainted a bit from the vapors. LOOK AT THE MAN.

Pike Is A Shitbird, Chapter 502

Is there no end to the absolute fuckery that is Pike?

He condemns EEEEEERYBODY in lockup to death until Lincoln pleads for the life of the other Grounders. So Pike decides just to execute Kane, Sinclair, and Lincoln. It must be Christmas, because Pike is feeling generous. How kind.

Bellamy, who is also a shitbird until I declare otherwise, decides to try and break the rebels out because he finally grew a conscious? I don’t know. Fuck that guy. But when he and Monty go to Harper and Miller (who are the best people on earth), they pretend they have no idea about any sort of plan to break Kane and the others out. Because they’re smart and don’t trust Bellamy or Monty. Bellamy finally tells them to get a message to Octavia to meet him at the dropship if she wants to save Lincoln, and leaves Monty to try and convince Miller and Harper that he’s there to help. Then Harper drops this one on him:

“Does your mom know you’re here, Monty?”

ALL TEA, ALL SHADE, ALL PRAISE BE TO HARPER!

I need a moment. The shade. The glorious shade. (Yes, you can pretty much source all your shade .gif needs from Ru Paul’s Drag Race.)

Octavia does meet Bellamy at the dropship, but turns what would have been a brother-sister hug into her tranqing him so she can drag his unconscious ass to the Rebel Cave, which I’m sure will serve as the base of operations for all Rebel doings, since I’ve already given it the title of “Rebel Cave.”

Back in Arkadia, a plan is set in motion to free Kane, Sinclair, and Lincoln, but in order to do so, they need a distraction, which Pike and his men are all too eager to believe. Pike and Pricks, Inc. stash their prisoners away in a side room and run off like cats going after a laser pointer, leaving Bryan and another guard on the door. Remember Bryan, Miller’s boyfriend, who was on Pike’s side and planted a bug on Miller? Well, Bryan turns out to be the best, because he chooses Miller over Pike and helps create a ruse by knocking out his fellow guard and playing possum. Pike and Pricks, Inc. go off in search of the escaped prisoners, who are actually hiding under the floor with Octavia in the room they left them in.

Shout out to hiding them in the floor, which is an obvious call back to Octavia hiding under the floor of the Ark her whole life because her existence was illegal according to asshole Arker rules.

Oh, and did I mention Abby is also behind this whole break out? Because she totally is. ABBY! You better stop being so awesome girl, because you are THIS CLOSE to getting on my body pillow list.

Monty also gets a shout out by me as he FINALLY pulls his head out of his ass and misdirects Pike and Pricks, Inc. AGAIN to save the escape plan just as it looks precariously close to falling apart. Pike is really just not smart when it comes to falling for shenanigans.

You guys. How many times is Pike going to fall for some scheme or misdirection? Really? How does this keep happening to him? Remember, people voted this asshole into office, and so far the only thing he seems good at is assholing. The man has a PhD in assholing.

So, with Monty’s deception – done in front of his mom, so you know he’s going to bed without dinner – is successful and Miller, Bryan, Harper, Sinclair, Octavia, Kane, Lincoln, and Abby get to their escape route.

Abby decides to stay behind, and we’ll get to Kane and Abby a bit later because OH MY GOD, but Lincoln also has to stay behind because Pike threatens to kill the remaining Grounders in lockup if he does’t get his execution on, and we’ll get to Lincoln a bit later because OH MY GOD.

Sidebar: Can I just ask: where the FUCK are Raven and Jasper in all of this? I know they’re knee-deep in the ALIE story line, but I don’t understand why the Arkadia political story line and the ALIE story line are totally not acknowledging either other’s existence. This feels a bit forced to me. I can’t believe that neither Raven or Jasper are concerned about what’s going on right under their noses, since people are condemned to DEATH.

Clarke Griffin Kom Skaikru, Commander Of Death, Slayer Of The Mountain, Keeper Of The Flame

So, Clarke really knows how to pad her resume, no? She has a ways to go to match this, however:

Daenerys Targaryen, the First of Her Name, blah blah blah, something, something, something, Mother of Dragons, et al., esquire, shamalamadingdong, LLC.

Since the title of the episode is “Stealing Fire,” it was pretty certain that Clarke would end up with the ALIE v2.0 chip, aka “the flame,” and light out of Polis for parts unknown. What I didn’t foresee happening is Titus giving her the flame and making her the Fleimkepa.

Look, I know that Titus’ journey to this point was a little problematic, with him flip-flopping between hating Clarke, then protecting Clarke, then blaming Clarke for Lexa’s death, then completely forgoing all his sacred traditions to make her the Flamekeeper, but Titus is a fucking wreck, so keep that in mind when dissecting his motivations.

I don’t think we’ll ever forgive Titus for killing Lexa, but what we can do is at least give him a little recognition for seeing that Ontari is the absolute worst choice for Commander.

Clarke calls out how crazy bonkers dumb their plan of succession is, with all the Nightbloods killing each other off and leaving no alternatives, but smartly remembers that there’s one novitiate unaccounted for from Lexa’s conclave. And in a completely unsurprising revelation, it’s Luna. She was a “coward” according to Titus when she ran, abandoning her duty as a Nightblood. Why, we don’t know. I think people are quick to romanticize it, thinking she was BFFs with Lexa and neither woman wanted to kill each other, but I think it’s simpler than that: Luna just didn’t want the responsibility to do the things a Commander is forced to do. Given that Lincoln knows her, I suspect she’s a peacenik, like him.

Luna as the other last Nightblood has been telegraphed for a long time now, and with writers on the show eliminating other candidates, like Costia, Luna seemed the obvious choice. Now, that’s not to say we’re not hype as fuck to meet Luna, I just wanted to let y’all know…we totally knew.

Problem is, Lincoln is the only person who knows where Luna is and well…we’ll get to that later.

Now Clarke is on her Epic Quest to find Luna and protect the flame with her life. As if she didn’t have enough shit to deal with, she takes on this responsibility. Ontari, being the new Commander-ish, will utterly decimate her people, and Clarke needs someone who isn’t a complete Murder Princess to vie for power in Polis.

The thing is, will Luna be up for the job or will she decline? I suspect that Clarke isn’t going to exactly find what she’s looking for when she meets Luna. Luna will probably be reluctant, if not outright reject any effort to get her to assume command. But knowing Clarke, who has an effect on people, she’ll likely convince Luna to do something.

The other consideration here is the chip goes into Clarke’s neck as a last resort, not to become Commander, but to destroy ALIE v1.0 and the City of Light. Titus, in what might be foreshadowing, mentions that only a Nightblood can accept the flame, and it will take the life of someone without the black blood. But is death immediate, or gradual? I can make some assumptions based on spoilers from the season finale, but I’ll just let the thought linger for a bit.

I’m rather excited to see who they’ve cast as Luna. Rumors are it’s someone from the Divergent film series, so my guess is Maggie Q, who was the star of CW’s Nikita (a great show, btw, WATCH IT) and familiar face on the network. And since Maggie Q is awesome, seeing her on The 100 would be awesome. FACT.

Can We Talk About Clarke Again For A Minute?

I have two heroes in life. Well, maybe more than that, because I just remembered Leslie Knope and Ron Swanson, but for the sake of contrivance, let’s say I have two heroes in life: Clarke Griffin and Justin James Watt.

This guy is a beast:

This girl is a beast:

But you guys, our Clarke hasn’t been very beastly this season, has she? Sure, she’s been playing the long game, trying to use politics and leverage relationships to protect her people and establish a peace along with Lexa, but as of 3×09, all of that has gone to complete and utter shit.

This past football season, JJ Watt played a couple games with a club cast on a broken hand, and guess what, his stats suffered for it. He was hamstrung by only having one hand to deal with double/triple teams while attempting to decimate O-lines and get to the QB. He just wasn’t himself out there. While he still had to be accounted for, being the best damn player in the NFL after all, he wasn’t completely effective.

Clarke has reached that point for me. She’s lacked the agency she had in the first two seasons, and I’m ready for Clarke to get back into the action and freakin’ move forward. Playing back room politics was interesting for awhile, but half of the season has gone by and we’ve watched everything she’s worked for be completely destroyed by forces out of her control. I get that we’re supposed to see how things can go horribly wrong and that the weight of the world is yet again on her shoulders, but I’m done with this stagnation.

Clarke has also been in relative isolation during her stay in Polis, not fully experiencing or witnessing just how bad things have gotten in Arkadia. She’s completely unaware of the fraction between her friends caused by Pike’s policies, and certainly has no idea that Pike is willing to execute people she cares about. Jaha and ALIE v1.0 are also lurking out there, preying on her friends and soon, it looks like, her mom.

What’s more…and this is my particular peccadillo…I really NEED everyone to get back together and share information and get on the same fucking page. I need Clarke to know about Arkadia and ALIE v1.0, and I need Octavia, Kane, et al. to know how sideways things have gone in Polis. We’re heading into episode 10 and all of the different narratives are moving along on their separate tracks, none of them really converging, no one seeing the bigger picture of what’s really going on or taking stock of all the threats that face Arkadia and Grounder alike. 

This causes me anxiety. I’m weird that way. I hated Three’s Company because one of the show’s main plot devices was the Big Misunderstanding that caused wackiness to ensue. Someone would misconstrue something and the comedy was derived from the misunderstanding and reactions to the situation. As a little kid, this angered me because if people would just TALK and LISTEN to one another, all this idiocy could be avoided.

I’m a person who wants everyone on the same page, working towards a common goal. That’s just who I am, and with The 100, I’m ready for this to happen. So ready. The show has never felt this segmented to me before and it’s driving me batty.

AND ANOTHER DAMN THING. I think I speak for eeeeeerbody in existence when I say this:

We are all ready for the fucking Adventure Squad to be back together and back in action. 

I know Clarke has been eschewing leadership pretty much this whole season because of what Mount Weather did to her, but she needs to get back in the game and face her demons. JJ Watt plays injured all the time, but he rubs some Windex on it, tapes it up, and gets out there without complaint (throwing some shady side eye at you, Jadeveon Clowney). That’s what leaders do. Clarke needs to put her Dark Clarke big girl panties on and get rolling with the Adventure Squad and be a BOSS.

I suspect this is going to happen, but it’s been a long time coming. Clarke + the delinquents has always been great, and we all miss the interaction between the gang. I’m not saying her first half narrative was a mistake, because we got a lot of good stuff out of it, and some great sadness, but I think accelerating her move back to Arkadia would have served the plot better. Clarke not being in the center of the action for this long feels off.

Now, Clarke is headed back to the vicinity of Arkadia and Indra is headed back to Polis, which I guess is her duty as leader of Trikru, and I bet you these two will run into each other and fill each other in on what’s going on to start merging story lines. There’s no other reason to bring Indra all the way to Arkadia just to make her leave again, and Clarke has nowhere to really go, with Arkadia being unsafe. Indra will lead her back to Rebel Cave and knowledge gaps will start to get filled. Thank god.

Kabby!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!*breathe*!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So Kabby FINALLY happened. Let’s go to the Oval Office for an official response:

Oh my god you guys.

Kane and Abby first get a moment together when we THINK the kiss is going to happen. Abby wants to help Kane and the others escape, but Kane won’t hear of it. He doesn’t want her in any danger. He tells her that she’s needed in Arkadia, to help show their people a way out of the dark. And then she says “I can’t do this again.”

SHE’S TALKING ABOUT JAKE, YOU GUYS. SHE’S TALKING ABOUT JAKE!

She can’t lose someone else that she loves. She totally loves Kane! And no one can blame her because we all love Kane. So much. A kiss is about to happen, but somehow Kane cockblocks himself and tells her not to make this harder than it already is. And Kane is returned to his cell.

Y’all. I can’t.

Later on, as the escape plan is put in motion and everyone is ready to get the hell out of Dodge, Abby decides to stay behind and be the one that shows their people the way out of the dark. But Kane isn’t about to let her go without this:

If you didn’t immediately leap off your couch, scream “YAS QUEEN!” and run around your house like a crazy person, fist pumping like you just won the Powerball lottery, then there’s something wrong with you. Seriously. Get your soul checked out by your doctor.

How far have these two come? While not exactly enemies, these two were often at odds in season 1. And in season 2, we can’t forget the scene were Kane had Abby shocklashed for breaking Exodus laws. Kane blindly applying the Exodus charter eventually horrified him because of the things it made him do. On the other hand, Pike’s use of the charter to enforce law and order is merely a way to solidify his power and control over Arkadia. Pike’s myopia brought them all to this point, where treason is necessary and Arkadia’s two brightest souls, Kane and Abby, are forced to work against Pike to save Skaikru.

And now we’re at this point where the two of them share a crazy passionate kiss. I can’t tell you how great this moment, although fleeting, was for me since this show is often mired in misery. These two people have both gone through some shit, and also gone through some pretty significant character growth, and finally express how much they care for each other. I LOVE Kabby. They just work. This moment felt earned.

I’ve made it absolutely no secret that I am completely and totally in love with sexy beardy Rebel Leader Kane. He’s at the top of my body pillow want list.

Kane and Abby deserve a little happiness. And Abby, while problematic at times before, has absolutely shined in season 3. You’ll notice that she elects to stay behind and be there for her people, even though she could be in danger, because she knows that both Pike and Jaha pose very different threats to Skaikru. She also likely stays behind because she knows Raven needs her. Goddammit Abby, I fucking love you.

Contrast this with Clarke’s actions since the end of season 2. Clarke has been running away to avoid her people and her demons, and now Abby is stepping up to do what Clarke at some point would have done: get in the thick of things to help her friends and her people. I cannot tell you how much I appreciate the way this show compares and contrasts the Griffin women.

Will we get more Kabby moments in the future? I fucking hope so. Please. We need this.

And Now, Onto That Horrible Thing That Happened

Lincoln is dead, executed by Pike for treason. It was sad and tragic and maddening all at once.

I knew this was going to happen as its been telegraphed all over social media, but I was not altogether prepared for it. Lincoln surrenders to Pike to save the other Grounders in lock up and to allow Kane and the others to escape. He says goodbye to Octavia with a kiss and tranq darts her to stop her from coming with him to a certain death.

I have to confess, Lincoln was never in my inner circle of favorite characters, but he served a huge role on this show to bridge the gap between Skaikru and Grounders. He and Finn tried to broker a peace in season one. In season two, he further cemented his importance as a friend to Octavia, Clarke, and the rest of Skaikru, and he often suffered for it, eventually finding himself at odds with his own people.

Lincoln was supposed to be the example of what a Grounder could be and show how Grounders and Skaikru could co-exist peacefully and help one another. But circumstances and other forces seemed to always shatter whatever foundation Lincoln or Clarke or Lexa or Kane built towards an alliance.

Octavia found her place with Lincoln, and instead of going the way of a tired trope of Lincoln rescuing the pretty damsel in distress, the show made them equals, often with Octavia fighting like mad to save Lincoln. Octavia didn’t develop in Lincoln’s shadow, but beside him in order to become the strong character we have today. Without Lincoln, I don’t know if Octavia moves in that direction at all.

It’s a tribute to Lincoln, his sense of honor, and his belief that there is no “us versus them” that he became such a critical component in helping Skaikru in season two. He went through his own journey, losing himself to addiction when he became a Reaper, but once again, found his strength through love and through Octavia. And one of my favorite moments of season two is when Clarke refuses to kill Lincoln to take out the Mountain Man using him as a shield. He tells Clarke that her people need her.

“You are my people.” I tear up just thinking about the significance of that declaration from Clarke.

Lincoln may not be Skaikru, but I think the original delinquents (and Raven and Bellamy) share a bond, and Lincoln quickly became part of that group and that bond because he showed loyalty, selflessness, and love to Octavia, Clarke, and the rest of them. In many ways, Lincoln was the heart that beat beneath Lexa’s declaration of “jus nou drein jus daun” – blood must not have blood. He was the embodiment of that hope for peace.

Lincoln ultimately sacrificed himself, in the end, for his people – Grounder and Skaikru alike – and died an honorable death. I don’t think any of us will ever forgive Pike. This has gone way too far now for any type of redemption. There has got to be retribution for those doing evil in the world. There have to be consequences because we see our heroes suffering the fallout of other’s actions all the time. I hate Pike with every fiber of my being and hope that Octavia kills him slowly.

Forget Omar, guys. Octavia comin’.

Yu gonplei ste odon, Lincoln kom Trikru. May we meet again.

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Miscellany

• My ship, Slarke (soap + Clarke) is floundering because a new competing ship just popped up: Sontari (soap + Ontari). Ontari gets to take a bath! A whole bath! The shipping wars between these two factions are about to get ugly.
• Aside from the instructions for ascension to the Commander, what to you suppose is in Becca’s journal?
• Are you all ready for Dark Octavia? Because that shift in Marie’s face at the end of the episode was amazing and I’m ready for her to step into the spotlight this season. She and Clarke have now suffered the loss of their loves at the hands of Pike, directly or indirectly, and I need these two women to fuck. shit. up.
• Hey y’all, what do you suppose Emerson is up to? Huddled up in a cave somewhere catching up on Friends reruns and totally not plotting his revenge on Clarke?
• You guys, the previews next week have me VERY worried for Abby. If Jaha forces her to take the City of Light chip, I will scowl angrily at my TV and yell at y’all about it next week.
• Does my love of JJ Watt confuse you? Are you tired of him being over-exposed? Well, in Houston he is a GOD. He could literally get caught with a dead hobo in his trunk and we’d all be like “eh, just don’t let it happen again, okay?” Oh lord, when is football back?
• Is it just me, or does Murphy have chemistry with anyone on the screen? You could pop some googly eyes on a twig, and Murphy would have chemistry with it.
• The song at the end of the episode was “Cloud” by Elias. I have added it to my Spotify playlist, which is music from and inspired by The 100. You can find it right here and marvel at my musical tastes.
• Thanks for sticking around and reading this review folks. I’m doing this for the love of the game, I’m just here so I don’t get fined, I’m just trying to be the best teammate I can be, I’m giving 110%, and defense wins championships.

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FINAL VERDICT!

“No Way Out”: 7.5 out of 10 severed Nightblood heads (yeah, I’m not right)

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There are some The 100 bloggers you should absolutely be reading, and I offer them up for your enjoyment; I have no affiliation with any of them, save for being a fan:

• Jo Garfein – doing some great intellectual lifting when analyzing the show, and check out her The 100 podcast with AJ Mass, also found on Scifi Mafia at this link.
• Erin Brown – unfairly beautiful writing. Like seriously, stop being so good.
• Toni_watches – piss your goddamn pants funny photo recaps.

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If you’re a fan of the show, join us on Reddit for deep discussions, wacky shenanigans, Trigedasleng lessons, and our almost daily prostrations before our gods, Sexy Beardy Kane and Murphy.