The 100 "Inclement Weather" Review: Seeing Is Believing

The 100 S02E02: "Inclement Weather"

For a road that's been traveled many times before, The 100 continues to find new ways to break ground and surprise even the most vigilant viewers. "Inclement Weather" did everything it could to make Clarke doubt her instincts about the people of Mount Weather, and it nearly worked—she crumpled up her map of the base and everything!—but the Mountain Men made a mistake and the carefully crafted facade they've been trying very hard to sell to Clarke slipped in the episode's final moments. Her discovery of the secret room with people (including Anya!) locked in cages was actually the least surprising thing in an episode that included a phantom baby, a crucifixion, and a storyline involving Octavia somehow besting a man easily three times her size. But that doesn't mean it was any less shocking.

If there's one thing The 100 has taught us, it's that underestimating Clarke will only lead to more problems. The Mountain Men easily fooled Jasper and the rest of the 48 by providing them with warm beds to sleep in and new clothes to wear, but that was never going to be enough for Clarke, who becomes far less trusting the longer she's on the ground. After two members of a surface patrol returned with wounds not consistent with a Grounder attack, Clarke asked to see the body of the deceased. President Wallace told her, "Sometimes we feel so strongly about our people, we see things that aren't there," and Clarke began to doubt her instincts after being presented with evidence that seemed to prove the man actually died from an arrow wound. But now, because the Mountain Men were careless, the truth about their dialysis valves and how they've managed to survive all these years has been exposed.

You would think the people of Mouth Weather would be more strict about things that could give Clarke reason to believe they might be, I don't know, draining the blood from young, able-bodied men and women to save the adults. There could be a perfectly good reason for what's happening at Mount Weather and I'm jumping to conclusions, but when there are people being held captive in cages and drained of blood, it's going to take a lot to convince me that these are sympathetic characters.

Could it be possible that someone, like say the doctor (played by another Battlestar Galactica alum, Rekha Sharma), purposefully released the second man from the surface patrol, whose body was covered with serious burns just hours before, back into the general population before being completely healed because she wanted Clarke to find out the truth? Is it possible they wanted Clarke to find out so that she's sound even crazier when she tried to warn her friends? "Right now the biggest threat to us is you," Jasper told her after she once again voiced her concern about their so-called saviors. It was harsh, but it was also true. The biggest threat to the Hundred's continued existence at Mount Weather is Clarke, but remaining at Mount Weather could also be a death sentence for the Hundred. At least now we know why the Grounders feared the Mountain Men.

Elsewhere, the survivors of the Ark were attempting to settle Camp Jaha and protect themselves from the Grounders, the Reapers, and whatever else was lurking in the woods (the Mountain Men surface patrol, perhaps?). After yanking control away from Bellamy last week in an annoying display of dominance, Kane appeared a bit more sympathetic and like the character we came to know in Season 1 as he attempted to gather information and formulate a plan to rescue the missing members of Hundred. The power struggle between the survivors of the Ark and the Hundred is a great source of conflict for the series, and one that I hope will continue to drive stories throughout the season, but it was admittedly very refreshing to see Kane agree with Bellamy when he told him the Hundred were his people, too. In all actuality, it looks like a conflict between Kane and Abby is more likely to exist than anything else at the moment.

Desperate to find Clarke, Abby helped Finn, Bellamy, and Murphy (because he knows where the Grounders' prison camp is located) escape on a midnight rescue mission. Unfortunately, they're still operating under the assumption that the Hundred were captured by Grounders, which we know to be untrue, and which means they're running right towards the enemy for no reason. Whoops? Abby's rash decision making reminds me of Bellamy when he first landed on the Ground, and it only proves that the adults aren't necessarily more equipped to make better decisions simply because they're adults. And now that Jaha is on the ground (albeit somewhere that resembles a desert a.k.a. nowhere near where everyone else is), I expect even more power struggles down the line. Jaha's phantom baby this week was obvious pretty early on, and although I can appreciate that it was memories of his dead son and a lack of oxygen that ultimately gave him the strength and determination to find a way to the ground, I think the show would have been better off killing Jaha so that his sacrifice meant something. But I don't write the show.

Which finally brings me to the show's weakest link: Octavia and Lincoln. To be fair, if it weren't for Octavia, the world of the Grounders would be even more mysterious than it currently is. Unfortunately, in order to achieve this important world-building, the show has separated Octavia and Lincoln from the central action, and now Lincoln's been captured by Reapers and his clan isn't likely to want to help Octavia rescue him after the stunt she pulled with their healer Nyko. Right now Octavia is mostly defined by her relationship and love for Lincoln, and while I think their relationship can be an asset and help forge future alliances, right now she's mostly just making more enemies for her people. I like that she's seemingly fearless in the face of the danger these Grounders pose, but I'd much rather see her reintegrated back into the rest of the show's storylines or think before acting.

Even Raven, who just went through surgery without anesthesia was able to see it was more important for Finn to rescue the rest of the Hundred than waste time sitting next to her bedside while she healed. And kudos to the writers of The 100 for once again writing a character like Raven who can see the big picture and who places importance on surviving over personal feelings. There's a time and place for romance, but when people are still in danger, I much prefer that our protagonists not be preoccupied by their hormonal urges.

It would have been easy for the show to take this storyline about Finn being there for Raven throughout her surgery and spin it as a purely romantic gesture with Finn realizing he couldn't possibly lose his first love. But the show handled the storyline maturely and instead focused on their life-long friendship. They clearly mean a lot to one another, and it was important for Finn to be there for Raven, but once she was through the surgery, it also made sense to focus on the rescue mission and not the possibility of heartbreak and future suffering. There's nothing I like more than seeing a female character who doesn't make everything all about her personal emotional pain.

The 100 offers several role models to root for, and even manages to make former enemies sympathetic. It takes familiar storylines and molds them in such a way that they feel new and surprising. I can't wait to see how Clarke handles this newest obstacle that's been put in her path, but more importantly, I can't wait to see how President Wallace attempts to talk his way out of this one.

VITAL STATS

– Current population of the Hundred: 54 (I think?)

– How awesome are The 100's new opening credits? They remind me slightly of BSG's credits, and apparently the opening and closing images will change with each episode. Since The CW (and most networks) have largely done away with title sequences, it's nice to see one so perfectly fit to a show's theme.

– I'd like to see Clarke find an ally on the inside now that it's clear Jasper and the rest of the Hundred are out. I have a feeling the closest person will be Maya, but right now she has no reason to work with Clarke. Finding out she's been lied to her entire life might be enough to change her mind though (given that she doesn't know the true nature of what's happening at Mount Weather).