The 100: I Am Become Death Recap

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_hMwiEOUAm4]

The 100: I Am Become Death (1×10)

Synopsis: Murphy returns to the camp, claiming he was tortured by the Grounders. Meanwhile a mysterious fever hits the camp, causing horrible effects.

Rating: ★★★★☆

I feel like I shouldn’t preface this recap with this statement, because it seems outlandish even to me, but…

My god am I excited every week for The 100. Even more so than I am excited for any other show, yes, even Game of Thrones.

Maybe it’s because the cast is so brilliant I want to cry, maybe it’s because the story gets grittier and grittier with each episode, maybe it’s because the twitter action around this show is inspiring, maybe it’s just because I am too deep in the ‘Bellarke’ ship. But at this point, I’m counting my days towards hump day and I am not looking forward to the finale because that means I have to wait until Fall for more episodes!

Remember when I said you should only watch this show “if you can tolerate teenagers acting tremendously stupid” and that “it just seems unrealistic. Not that there wouldn’t be criminals, but it seems like they are mocking the protagonist for being a ‘princess’ when they all probably came from well educated backgrounds“? I eat my words. All of them. I recant!

I love TV shows that balance emotion with action really well. Too often a show can get drawn down by the emotional aspect, or flattened out by too many explosions. Shows like Breaking Bad and Game of Thrones do a precarious balance of emotion and action, especially as the seasons progress. Although it’s a new show, The 100 does a really good job of avoiding the pitfalls of other similar genre shows on The CW like The Vampire Diaries. Hell, even Arrow has a tendency to fall into the category of too much action.

This week’s The 100 episode was a perfect mixture of emotions with action, right until the very last moment. I have been waiting since the first episode to see some of the effects the planet can have on those from the Ark, Eliza Taylor gave me a few hints in our interview, but nothing that gave away too much. I definitely did not consider biological warfare. Not this early in the show, but they wasted no time.

So let’s start off with some of the great scenes in this week’s episode. The storyline with Murphy bringing in the sickness and the sudden but inevitable betrayal by him is some great work by Richard Harmon. I have missed him since Continuum, and I was really bummed that Murphy seemed to be written off so quickly, so I was glad to see him back!

Lindsey Morgan’s Raven Reyes, who took matters into her own hands after Finn hesitated in taking the bomb to the bridge. Raven has proven week after week to be more valuable than most of the other people at the camp, and definitely more valuable than Finn. Her skills as a genius mechanic and her willingness to help is something that continues to make me root for her. Is her romance with Finn annoying? Yes, but I blame Finn 100% for that and she deserves someone better.

It was also nice to see Monty and Jasper getting some development this episode. Monty was kind of pushed to the side during the big story arc of the Grounders and it’s nice to see Jasper’s character getting some deep dimensions. Not only does it remind us that they are in fact still kids, but that every character has room to grow and change.

Which brings me to Bellamy. Yeah, you knew with the ‘Bellarke’ comment that I would bring this in. I can’t help that I adore the relationship between Clarke and Bellamy. Yes, I totally hated Bellamy in the pilot, but this show has transformed his character into something I can’t help but love. My god, just look at his puppy dog face when he is speaking to Octavia. I am 100% done, and it doesn’t help that the show runner Jason Rothenberg constantly hints at the possibility of greater things with this ship.

Also, action. I am so glad to see the 100 gain some footing over the Grounders with the bomb, but it is also interesting to see what the kids’ reactions will be having seen a bomb mushroom like that in front of their eyes. They might not all be history buffs like Bellamy and Clarke, but come on, they’ve got to have heard stories. Though, as Lincoln mentioned the ‘Mountain Men’ are angry about this. It’s not exactly the most threatening name, but I have a feeling we’ll be in for more than just a whimsical name.

Let’s also talk about some of the negative things in this episode, though I guess they aren’t even really negative.

But come on, what is this lack of Dichen Lachman? I love her role as Anya, the leader of the tribe of Grounders. She was my favorite in Dollhouse and now to see her on The 100 I am totally enraptured by her! But seriously, I would love for her to get a larger role in the story and possibly a chance at series regular? It’d be great to see her have a conversation with Abby or even Diana???

Then there was the heartbreak of the episode, except there was more than one and the latter left me freaking out. So, Finn and Raven. That was inevitable. It was obvious the moment Raven caught up with what went down the day before she landed that Clarke was driving a wedge between the two whether she liked it or not. What I enjoyed was that they didn’t throw in the obvious cattiness that could have been written in. Raven was mature, Clarke was mature. I am annoyed at Finn mostly because I know that his character embodies peace and anti-conflict, but because of that he is sometimes too kind and wants to find a compromise where there is none. Loving two girls doesn’t work if they want to be monogamous, Finn.

And then there was Lincoln and Octavia. Kill me now. Lincoln was pretty easily the greatest addition to the show short of Dichen Lachman. If this is indeed Ricky Whittle’s bow out on The 100, I am in lament. Time to don the black and mourn for a fortnight.

The next episode sees Finn and Clarke being abducted by Anya and I’m excited to be getting more Grounder Princess versus Ark Princess conversations. I’m also hoping for more scenes of the situation with Exodus not to mention what the hell is going on on the Ark (by the way, I am so disappointed Kane didn’t get on the ship, I totally love Kane and Abby’s interesting dynamic). Anyways, maybe we’ll see some resolution to the whole Finn and Clarke thing, but who knows at this point? I mean we all know that I only want this so we can get on with the ‘Bellarke’, but we’ve got a long way to go. All I know is I am strapped in for the ride, and I am so sad we only have three episodes left!

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hc1rtx6hOIQ]