Quick Take review – The 100 2×16: ‘Blood Must Have Blood Pt. 2’

It’s finale time for The CW’s dystopian teen-murder drama. Can the group escape from Mount Weather alive?

Let’s bitch it out…

“I tried to be good.” -Clarke

“I’m not sure there are good people anymore” -Abby

This paraphrased (because my laptop died) exchange happens near the very end of the hour, after Clarke (Eliza Taylor) and Bellamy (Bob Morley) have committed genocide on the inhabitants of Mount Weather. The quote is meant to encompass the terrible decision that Clarke has just made, but Abbi’s (Paige Turco) suggestion that there isn’t any good anymore could be a tagline for the series as a whole. In just two seasons we’ve encountered three different societies – the totalitarian Ark of the Sky People, the brutal warrior society of the Grounders and the marrow-sucking civilized society of Mount Weather – and they’ve all proven entirely devoid of “good” and “bad” people. The world of The 100 is indeed solely populated with characters who are constantly reframing their approach to surviving in the world. There’s a lot of grey in that process.

‘Blood Must Have Blood Pt. 2’ is the end of the road for the radiation-plagued inhabitants of the dam after a season-long conflict that brought Clarke to her breaking point. In her original plan with Lexa (an unseen Alycia Debnam Carey), Clarke was the pacifist, determined to restrict human casualties only to members of the military and the leadership. The moment that Lexa and the Grounders cut a deal with former President Dante (Raymond J Barry) and his snivelling weasel of a son, Cage (Johnny Whitworth) to walk away, however, the game changed. It seems that everyone but Clarke knew how this would end. Hell, Dante himself told Cage last week (and said it again this week to Clarke) that these actions doomed them. But what of his question moments before she shoots him calmly in the chest: what would she have done if they had of just let her people go?

We will never know, of course, but the suggestion is that this conflict always only really had one outcome. The second season of The 100 has been nothing but uneasy alliances and thinly veiled death threats. As the stakes increased and Clarke was forced to make increasingly complicated moral and ethical life and death decisions, everything was inevitably leading to this moment: the time that Clarke has to decide the cost she’s prepared to pay to free her people. In one sense, Cage makes the decision for her. By putting Abbi on the table and threatening to kill all of her friends, he only strengthens Clarke’s willingness to use lethal measures to resolve the conflict.

If anything, Clarke’s decision to radiate Level 5 is only surprising because of who was (and wasn’t involved). The move bonds her with Bellamy more than ever before, but also makes Monty (Christopher Larkin) complicit in the “murder” of Maya (Eve Harlow), which will surely test his friendship with Jasper (Devon Bostick) next season. It may have also rescued Clarke in Octavia’s (Marie Avgeropoulos) eyes. The dark haired girl has truly embraced her warrior leanings this season and Clarke’s cutthroat willingness to get the job done feels partially like a response to Octavia’s critique in the tunnels about Clarke’s leadership abilities.

All that remains to be seen is how this impacts the show moving forward. Will the Sky People forgive and forget or will they seek vengeance on the Grounders for abandoning them? How long will Clarke stay in self-imposed exile (especially considering how ripe the chemistry is between Taylor and Morley)? Will Jasper and Monty rekindle their friendship or did it die alongside Jasper’s first true love? SO. MANY. QUESTIONS! Leave it to The 100 to keep us wanting more.

Other Observations:

• While I understand the satisfaction in seeing Cage meet his doom (after abandoning his people, no less!) I still would have rather he survived to return some day. I supposed it is more realistic to have him die considering how ill-suited he is for life outside the mountain. Plus the murder offers Lincoln (Ricky Whittle) an opportunity for redemption after succumbing to his cowardice and drug lust earlier this season.
• Not to toot my own horn, but I totally called Maya’s death last week. I get some kind of prize for guessing the obvious, right?
• The other obvious death – Dante – is exceedingly well done to me, and nicely foreshadows the larger mass murder to come. It is clear from the moment that Clarke makes her threat that she will have to follow through, but the inevitability of the act (gunning a man down in cold blood) drives the conflict.
• I also love that Cage tries to call her bluff that she won’t shoot. Guess he really doesn’t know her.
• The cliffhanger comes courtesy of Jaha (Isaiah Washington) and Murphy (Richard Harmon). After surviving a midnight animal (?) attack on the ocean (my notes read “is that a water version of the creature from Tremors?!”), the sole remaining “City of Light” expedition crew discover strange mysteries ashore. Twitter immediately exploded with jokes about Murphy setting up shop as the new Desmond from Lost in the basement of the lighthouse. Jaha, meanwhile, encounters an intelligent AI hologram that reveals it has been waiting for him with his “gift”: nuclear warheads from the Ark! Aack – that’s not good news.

Your turn: were you surprised that Clarke made the decision to kill everyone in Mount Weather? Hopefully to see her and Bellamy hook up? Will Jasper forgive Monty? Glad to see Cage dead? Happy the Mount Weather storyline is over? And do you have any theories about Jaha and Murphy’s adventures across the ocean? Sound off below.

The 100 has now finished its second season. It has already been renewed for a third. For more intel on the finale, check out this interview with series creator executive producer Jason Rothenberg