The 100 is back and season two kicked off like it never left. Picking up where the carnage from the big battle with the grounders left off, “The 48” is a well paced (and often exciting) narrative, driving the complex plot forward while filling us in on all our favorite characters. It does look like everyone’s got their hands full. So what happened to our dwindling explorers?


First, let’s get everyone’s fates out of the way. Bellamy, Finn, and Raven are all alive. No one we’ve grown attached to dies. Heck, even Murphy is alive, so the guy we love to hate is keeping us enamored too. All the dead were a bunch of extras we call “the expendables” aka red shirts. Bellamy happened to find two of them in the woods and they were hot of the trail of Finn, who was captured by Tristan the hot headed warrior grounder. There was another red shirt too, but his throat was quickly sliced and that’s all we need to know about him.

Raven is still wounded back at the drop ship, but alive, so a wounded Murphy shows up to keep her company. She keeps him at bay with a gun that doesn’t work, but Murphy doesn’t look like he’s in a killing mood right now. He’s in a lot of pain himself. He does have a tender moment with her explaining why he’s such a psycho killer while his parents were normal, and I think something of a bond forms there. Could Raven be the answer to taming the beast? Nah, he’ll probably kill everyone in their sleep.

Lincoln and Octavia were going through the woods frantically because Octavia had a poison dart in her neck, but Lincoln had a plan to save her that strangely ends up at the ruins of the Lincoln Memorial! Could that be where Lincoln got his name? This pretty much establishes that the story takes place in the ruins of old Washington D.C. Cool. I guess that does make sense, the old military installments they found last season fits the setting. While Lincoln tries to get Octavia help he’s making her learn the grounder’s language. She does need to know these things in case she has to meet Lincoln’s family one day (or as Lincoln said, for her own protection). The things one does for love. BTW, Lincoln and Octavia are being tracked by one ugly ass mutant reaper. Not good!

201promo002

Clarke, Monty, and Jasper are all at Mount Weather, and most of the others that we’ll call “not appearing in this film.” Clarke isn’t happy at all because it’s too good to be true and she can’t leave on her own free will. She’s kind of taking that as imprisonment, but strangely she’s the only one. Just shut up Clarke and eat your chocolate cake like Monty and Jasper. No, they can’t get enough of that chocolate cake. Her repeated attempts to escape reinforce her extreme trust issues, but once we get to know these people, her instincts are probably dead on. Something ain’t right. 

I mean, how can an underground community where it’s residents haven’t been able to go to the surface because their immunities can’t take it, have such luscious food? It maybe 97 years in the future, but they probably don’t have a set of food replicators a la Star Trek. Hydroponics? There’s a giant barn downstairs with cattle, pigs, and chickens? Genetic cloning? Or, are we looking at Soylent Green here? Also, what sort of happy pills are going into the food to make all the others so compliant? Or perhaps it’s in the air? Or are they just truly happy there given the horrors of the outside world they just experienced?

201promo013

The biggest burning question is what does this president, who BTW seems to know that Clarke is an artist and has the tools to exploit encourage that gift, want with these 48? Wouldn’t taking on a lot this size be detrimental to their delicate balance? Do they need other people for transfusions (a la Maya), body parts, breeding, food, etc?  If they want people, why not take the Grounders? The interest in just these 48 is quite curious. For us anyway. I think it’s really going to start sucking for most of the 48 eventually.

Meanwhile, back on the ground, Bellamy has this screwed up plan to jump in and save Finn warrior style which goes sideways when the two red shirts chicken out. Bellamy gets a beating and his own leash aside Finn, and THEN one of the others stupidly gets brave. Luckily, Kane in true badass fashion shows up just in time to take out Tristan for good, saving Finn, Bellamy, and something of a rarity in sci-fi, the two red shirts. Mark my words, they’ll be dead by next week.

Yes, adults and criminal teenagers finally meet! Do you think Bellamy, Finn and others got a huge hug, a “nice to see you” and a pat on the back for bravely surviving this long? Oh, that’s a good one. Nope, they got a “we’re here now” and a “go back to being our useless criminal outcasts” cold shoulder. Thanks for nothing! Even the tender Abby showed up only demanding to know where Clarke was, totally forgetting she’s the only doctor while Bellamy and Finn both look like they could use some medical attention. No time for that, they’ve got to go to the camp and find Clarke, I mean everyone! Yep, disappointments were pretty high when it was only Murphy and Raven.

It just continues not to be Bellamy’s day. They show up at the camp, he sees a wounded Murphy and proceeds to kick the crap out of him. Kane and his security goons step in, save Murphy and arrest Bellamy. Looks like Kane is establishing Martial Law right off the bat. Yay, this week super dick Kane showed up. Haven’t seen him in a while. So much for all that character growth! I suppose restoring order is important given the crazy situation, but I hope he’s kind enough like Jaha to hear to the other side of the story eventually, aka Murphy killed people and betrayed everyone, not to mention he tried to kill Bellamy. In the meantime, how about cleaning up the poor guy and giving him some of that medical attention? Nah, I get it, Raven needs it more. After all, there is only one doctor. Except she’s taking precious time to scratch out a message to Clarke on the drop ship when Raven is on a stretcher dying.

201promo005

So, they go from camp A, the ruins of the drop ship, to camp B, the ruins of the piece of the Ark that actually had survivors. They’ve named the camp after Jaha, who’s still alive but not able to reach them. This makes Kane is the new Chancellor. Chancellor of what? A bunch of people camped out in a burned out heap that could really use a shower and some medical attention?

Speaking of Jaha, he is still in charge of a space station of one with little oxygen. Yep, no one up there except him and, a crying baby? More to come on that next week. I’m dying to know how this is going to get Jaha out of his jam. Or maybe it won’t. It was good to see they did have time in the episode for him though.

All in all, we got an ideal setup of what’s to come and enough seeds were planted. From what we learned in the episode, 48 people were taken to Mount Weather, so counting Octavia, Bellamy, Finn, Murphy, and the two extras with Bellamy, that’s at least 54 of the 100 still alive. That we know of. Remember, Raven came to earth in her own ship, so she’s technically 101. Unless they were counting some of the Grounders like Anya in that 48 which would screw up the equations a bit. Until I’m told otherwise, it’s 54 remaining. That concludes the math portion of our review.

These adults are a piece of work, aren’t they? How long before this condescending bunch learns that their authority doesn’t mean crap to these kids? Think about it, these kids were rebels BEFORE they went to earth. They aren’t going to listen now that they survived on their own for a bit and did a bang up job (literately, bang!) Can we see a Kane/Bellamy in a knock ‘em down drag ‘em out fight? Please? Both can smack sense into one another. Better yet, Finn can watch and look distressed, then give a tender line like, “Can’t we all get along?”

This whole Mountain Men thing is a head scratcher. So because they chose to live underground for 97 years, unlike the Ark which was in space, they aren’t immune to radiation but the Ark survivors are. All because of sunlight exposure up in space? Hey, I won’t knock it unless a scientist can prove it to me otherwise. Where are they getting this really good food? Last I looked all the Costcos were destroyed in the apocalypse. Very curious indeed. Very creepy too.

Things are off to a rousing start! I’m dying to see what little nuggets are fed to us next week. I’d especially like to know the fate of Anya (Dichen Lachman), who was one of the few mysteries from the season ender left unanswered. Regardless, this opener gave us enough reasons to tune in next week. “The 48” can claim mission accomplished.

Similar Posts

tvfortherestofus