The 100 is just 20 episodes old.
Let that sink in for a moment. It really is staggering that a series this accomplished, and producing consistently incredible hours of television each week, hasn't event reached what would be considered a bog standard number of episodes for a single season on one of the big four networks.
In its freshman season, The 100's seventh episode was the one where those on board the Ark finally received confirmation from the ground that the 100 were alive. In this season, the seventh episode gave us a real sense of direction as to where the remaining nine episodes of this Jason Rothenberg developed masterpiece are headed.
Last night's episode, titled "Long Into an Abyss" was written by James Thorpe and directed by Antonio Negret, who are both first timers in those roles on this series. The hour began inside Mount Weather, with the infamously experimental Dr. Tsing and Mount Weather President Dante Wallace's son Cage watching one of their own perish at the hands of the outdoor radiation that they have been trying to cure through the blood from caged Grounders firstly, and now with the captured members of the 47.
At Camp Jaha, an increasingly worried population were addressed by their current and former Chancellors as the colony learned that a Grounder army were approaching, with the race being on to either get the hell out of there, which meant abandoning the incarcerated Kane, along with the 47 inside the mountain. Clarke was a busy girl throughout the hour, with Eliza Taylor taking it in her stride alongside excellent performances from Paige Turco and Isiah Washington. The elder Griffin put all of her her faith in her daughter for the first time in the series as Abby left it to Clarke to negotiate the colony's survival.Meanwhile, fresh from discovering a heavily corrupted, incredibly violent Lincoln in last week's installment, Bellamy and Octavia, with help from Finn, rallied Clarke to help keep him alive, with a handy cattle prod to the chest from Abby saving the sky people from slaughter at the hands of the revenge seeking Grounders. Thumbs up to Ricky Whittle who was superb as Lincoln too.
Inside the mountain, it wasn't just the medical experiments that were occurring - Monty and Jasper finally made the call to get off their backsides and do something about their situation. Tired of buying time that may only be playing into the hands of the Mount Weather population, the duo with help from a couple of others, went snooping, and hit the jackpot with Monty managing to nab the engineering schematics for their place of residence. Their presumed next move may be too late for Harper, who became the first guinea pig for the next set of off the record experiments at the hands of Dr. Tsing, this time involving bone marrow. Cage was unsuccessful in convincing his Presidential father to authorize said experiments, but what moral compass he does have looks like it only needs the weight of a flower to break it.
It doesn't take a rocket scientist to work out that a hell of a lot went down in this episode. It really is incredible how the creative team manage to pull this off without the hour feeling rushed or crammed. I've already highlighted a few outstanding actors in earlier paragraphs, but the special effects and cosmetics teams did another wonderful job. This series is worth watching for the beautiful set design and makeup regardless of whether you like the story or cast.
There are two scenes in last night's episode which will change the course of the series and have helped set up what looks to be an incredible midseason finale, due next week, in addition details from the promo and press release. Both scenes feature Clarke and Grounder Commander Lexa, with their first interaction giving Clarke the chance to pass on her experiences with the late Anya, who was killed in episode 4. It was great to see Anya's death finally proven valuable, as her final mission with Clarke was to negotiate a truce. We learned of the relationship Anya and Lexa had, and Clarke offered a lock of Anya's hair to Lexa as proof of their time together.
But it was the hour's final moments that muddied the waters between the two young leaders, as Lexa demanded Finn be handed over for execution following the massacre by his hand at a Grounder camp a couple of weeks ago, that really rocked the boat for me. Ironically Lexa's demands make sense, but I wonder if Anya would have opted for the same course of action had she been alive.
Online debate has been weighted heavily against Finn, but last night's episode showed he has genuine remorse and regret, but more importantly in the long term, sparing his life will make the fledgling bond between the sky people and the Grounders much stronger, as every ounce of strength will be needed to win the impending war against the Mountain Men, with both parties having stakes to play for in terms of lives to be saved. Needless to say I'm siding with Clarke on this one - she is willing to see the best in the guy, while taking into account his good intentions. It's also worth remembering that manpower is very hard to come by, and Finn has proved invaluable, especially last season, with his discovery of the doomsday shelter continuing to pay dividends. The guy has earned a chance to redeem himself. Have a little faith.But don't forget there's now a power struggle at Camp Jaha that will undoubtedly cause some disruption. We saw Abby win the war of words over her former Chancellor Jaha, and she ordered his incarceration after he wouldn't sideline his preference for immediate evacuation while she chose to attempt to negotiate. With Kane absent last night, could he be the one who would have the last word upon his return, or will the contenders opt for a democratic election?
Either way, Long Into an Abyss was absolutely outstanding, and I'm already counting down to next week's midseason finale, and final episode of 2014, titled "Spacewalker. As usual, thanks so much for reading, and please do share your own thoughts and theories in the comments below! Don't forget to follow The 100's ratings on my TV ratings website, www.seriesmonitor.com/the100.
Jimmy.
