The 100 Review: Episode 2.06, “The Fog of War”

For an episode where there wasn’t a lot of movement in the main story, “The Fog of War” sure felt like there was a ton of movement in the main story.  That’s because everything was slowed down a bit to focus on character dynamics and the result was nothing short of brilliant.  


“The Fog of War” did throw a few important nuggets at us, primarily what’s happening in Mount Weather.  These guys are just plain trouble makers.  They’re jamming the signals of Camp Jaha so other possible survivors can’t reach them.  The yellow acid fog of death?  It was created by the Mountain Men as protection or to divert intruders.  Reapers?  Those are also tragically a creation of the Mountain Men as well, part of the evil doctor’s experiments (as we saw with Lincoln last week), who just happens to be the president’s son.  The Grounders all seem to have their eyes set on the wrong enemy, but then again, Finn didn’t exactly help things in the matter.  

Let’s start with Finn, who we last left off as a total psychotic mess.  He and Murphy were cleared by the council members for his actions, when definitely sends the wrong message.  They believed his actions were in defense, but Clarke knows better and she didn’t let Finn forget it.  I only have one criticism of this episode and it’s how they didn’t address the severity of Finn’s actions.   Finn was showing a bit of remorse, but more over what he’s become rather than the acts he’s done.  He’s not taking any responsibility for his actions and others are clearly suffering for it.  Case in point, covering up the dead grounder with a shower curtain to Clarke didn’t have to look at him.  That’s hardly a show of respect and remorse over the cold blooded murder he committed.  I wonder if Clarke and/or Abby just decide it would be best to turn Finn over to the Grounders at this rate as a peace offering, but this show has never gone in quite the direction I anticipate!  

What I love about this show is even in the most desperate situations, along comes an unsung hero.  Maya isn’t the naive girl we all thought!  She knows exactly about the Grounders in the cage being used for blood replacement and wasn’t afraid to find a way to tell Jasper and Monte what was going on.  She knew the contamination leak was no accident and her total loyalty to Jasper now is really sweet.  Now I’m hoping that a real romance can develop between these two in this horrible environment of war.  After all, this world needs pro-creation, right?  Jasper was able to get people to volunteer for experiments to throw the evil doctors off from taking people against their will, which they know they will eventually.  It’s buying them time.  Good thing Clarke hasn’t forgotten about them. 

The other story that I really loved was Jaha and Kane, together in the cage, thrown into a catch 22 situation.  Kane isn’t the only one that’s hit a spiritual epiphany of sorts lately.  Jaha has as well.  He sees the writing on the wall.  He’s very calm and has Kane look at the totally strange and very improbable turn of events that reunited them.  They didn’t come this far just to be killed in that cage.  There’s a greater purpose for them.  So when the order is for one to kill the other out of retribution for the massacre (their surprise sending the message they didn’t know about that), Jaha isn’t playing ball.  This is not their way.  Kane has an answer, Jaha must kill him.  We know what Jaha’s answer to that was.  So Kane slashes himself, prepared to die.  The grounder that was left behind to observe them, she’s actually the commander.  I really love how all the commanders are turning out to be strong women.  It’s so refreshing.  Kane will stay behind and negotiate.  Jaha has to deliver a message. 

As for Bellamy, this week is a sign that he’s learning from some of his mistakes.  I’m not talking about defying orders, which he and Octavia did that by splitting from the group because of Clarke said there’s secret ways into Mount Weather.  No, I mean loyalty to other comrades.  That leads to the extraordinary scene in an old abandoned parking garage.  For one, how about those cars there still intact?  Two, how creepy was that toy playing that music?  The darkness of the garage, the stunning cinematography with the flashlights, that tinny music echoing creepily in the background, the Reapers lurking in the shadows ready to strike at any second…it took me a while to catch my breath.  I’ve seen a lot of scary scenes in my day and just the way the whole thing was shot offered something completely new to me.  Bravo to all involved in making that magic happen. 

Oh, but back to the loyalty thing.  How heartbreaking was it to see Lincoln in the darkness eating one of the black(aka red) shirt guards that was with Bellamy and Octavia?  Octavia was too stunned to see that Lincoln was a Reaper.  Bellamy could have easily put a bullet through his brain citing him as a lost cause but instead he had Octavia act as a decoy while he stunned Lincoln with the zapper baton thing.  They’re going to take him home.  Sure, a lot of his motivation for doing that was for Octavia’s sake, but I believe he holds an affinity to Lincoln for his loyalty and assistance so far.  The fact he considers Lincoln one of them now is endearing.  This is definitely not the same Bellamy that was mindlessly screwing girls and celebrating no rules when he landed.

That leaves Abby, Raven and group waiting out the fog, ready to blow up the Mountain Men’s tower that’s jamming their signal to the other arks.  Raven, being the genius she is, figured out how to listen in on their transmissions.  So do they blow up the tower to maybe reach people that may not be there, or keep it an listen in on their enemy?  Yes, I smiled when Raven wisely had the answer.  “What would Clarke do?”  The answer was pretty obvious.  They have 47 out there to save.  Judging by the happenings on Mount Weather, they need to act soon. 

But wait, they have another problem.  This is where the carefully woven stories blend together for the perfectly timed reveal, and suddenly the words that Jaha shared to Kane earlier in the episode ring very clear.  Anyone scream out in joy when it was Jaha who came out of the bushes to a very stunned Abby, Clarke and Raven?  Anyone get emotional when he saw in the brilliant light Camp Jaha for the first time as he fell to his knees?  This is the miracle he was looking for, the destiny he is supposed to fulfill.  He may have delivered the warning that the grounders will attack in two days, but I doubt for one minute they’re leaving.  After all, they didn’t come this far just to die.  

Bravo, bravo again to Jason Rothenburg and company for such complex characters than an audience can easily relate, intricate stories that all come together in perfect timing like a swiss watch.  There’s not a teen drama in sight.  Season two is far and away one of the best seasons on TV this fall season and The CW should be proud.  Everything is unfolding ideally.  All we have to do is see how it comes out for the mid season finale.  I honestly can’t predict, and I like that.