“Wanheda: Part One” a review of 3×01 of The 100

You guys, my favorite show is back on TV and I couldn’t be more excited about it. I mean, I’m sure you could tell my love for The 100 knows no limits, since I even wrote an extensive post about the reasons why you should be watching this gem. But yeah, The 100 has finally aired their season 3 premier and let me tell you, it was absolutely brilliant. Before I start rambling about all the goodness, however, I must warn you that this post includes LOTS OF SPOILERS for “Wanheda: Part One”.

You’re still here? Yeah? Okay, let’s proceed.

Murphy + the City of Light

“Wanheda: Part One” starts with an absolutely mind-blowing time passing sequence that features stellar work by Richard Harmon, who plays Murphy. We had already been warned a time jump would happen between season 2 and 3, but to actually let us witness this jump in such a way is a brilliant move by The 100. Not only do we witness Murphy’s struggle trying to break free of the bunker, trying to not lose his mind, but we also discover that the nuclear war was caused by A.L.I.E. -the artificial intelligence we saw at the end of season 2-, in a misguided attempt to make life better.

Murphy’s journey has been definitely interesting, and I’m actually glad we get to explore all this mysterious yet exciting City of Light stuff through his eyes, more than anyone else’s. He was there when he made the journey with Jaha and he was there to witness what A.L.I.E. actually did. Murphy will not be fooled by Jaha’s prophetic yet deceitful words; he will not be fooled by A.L.I.E’s seem-to-be-good intentions and he will certainly not fall for promises of experiencing a perfect life in a perfect city because he knows that going there would only mean that he willingly gives away the very essence of what makes him.

All this City of Light storyline is weird, but I trust the writers of this show a lot so I know it will pay off. I also think that when Jaha reaches Arkadia a lot of people will jump at the opportunity of experiencing a life without hate or pain -because honestly the Sky people aren’t the smartest bunch, but also because what Jaha will offer is the absolute peace they have sought ever since they landed on Earth. Will morally ambiguous Murphy turn out of be the hero of this season? Will he try to stop them from making a huge mistake by trusting Jaha and A.L.I.E? I honestly cannot wait to find out. This season seems to be too good already.

Bellamy and the Sky People

Three months after the events at Mount Weather, Bellamy is seen in charge of Arkadia’s guard. He’s training the remaining kids of the original 100 alongside Lincoln -they have a shirtless, sparring scene that leaves many people very, very pleased- and he’s also patrolling several zones outside the camp’s wall, desperately looking for Clarke and the remaining stations that came down from the Ark. Bellamy seems to have finally found his footing, working as hard as he can to protect the peace the people of Arkadia seem to be enjoying -Lexa betrayed Clarke, but she also ordered a “cease fire” when it comes to the Sky People and they haven’t had any trouble with the grounders ever since. He’s not as haunted as Clarke is by their decision to kill all the inhabitants inside Mount Weather, even though his relationship with Jasper is still severely strained. Bellamy seems almost happy; he jokes around with the rest of the kids, he mended fences with Kane and now looks up to him and he’s even smitten with Gina, his girlfriend.

But Bellamy is also struggling to understand Octavia’s motivation to stay outside the Ark. He’s trying really hard to still maintain the level of leadership he had before the rest of the arkers came down and most of all, he’s still desperately seeking Clarke. Bellamy loves Clarke a lot -platonic or not, that’s for you to believe in- and his fierce loyalty won’t make him stop looking for her anytime soon, that much, we know. Will Bellamy keep screwing things up even though Kane told him not to? Watch the next episode and find out

Carpool Karaoke

This was honestly my favorite part of the premier because we so rarely see all these kids having fun and just being happy. Jasper is still clearly grieving Maya and here, he tries to escape from his pain by listening to music. However, Monty forces him to share what he’s listening to and what ensues is a karaoke scene so adorable that it will warm your heart but it will also break it. It’s hard to remember that these characters are still kids because of how much they have endured; but they are still young, and their singing along to a song without a care in the world reflects this in an incredible way. Miller playfully shoving Monty, Jasper’s euphoric and liberating scream as he throws his hands in the air, Octavia feeling as free as the wind as she rides besides them, Raven’s soft laughter and her huge, bright and blinding smile and even Bellamy’s pleased smirk is an indicator that these kids are just craving some peace and happiness.

This is The 100, though, and no one ever gets what they want.

Clarke Griffin: Wanheda

Oh God. I could talk until forever about every single Clarke moment of this episode. She’s my favorite heroine. My haunted angel. My brave princess. My Commander of Death. Clarke Griffin is the pillar of this story and this premier only reinforces that in a great way.

First of all, I absolutely loved the fact that the first scene we saw of Clarke was just her, alone in the woods, slaying a panther with only a knife and then paying her respects to the animal right after she killed it; letting us know that even after all that’s happened, Clarke still values life. Her own, and others’. She’s a teenager that has killed over 900 people out of forced necessity and she carries with her -every day- the burden of taking the life of each and every single one of them. She’s been surviving in the woods for three months, blaming herself for killing innocent people, hating herself for pulling the lever and hiding from anyone that will remind her of what she’s done.

But then she meets Niylah, a woman that has been helping Clarke survive for a while. A woman that lies to dangerous-looking men in order to protect Clarke. A woman that offers physical comfort and quiet understanding; but more importantly, Niylah is a woman that shows Clarke a different point of view when it comes to the consequences of her actions at Mount Weather. Niylah isn’t haunted by the thought of innocent people dying, instead, she’s grateful for the fall of Mount Weather -their greatest enemies- and she’s thankful that the people that took her mother away from her won’t ever be able to hurt anyone again. I think this was another side to the story that Clarke needed to face. I think this was also why Clarke decided that she would seek some form of solace in Niylah and that feeling anything other than pain was actually okay. It was a powerful moment, Clarke letting someone else take care of her for once, letting someone else make her feel good. Specially because later, when Clarke wakes up startled from a nightmare, we realize that no matter how many different consequences of her actions she faces, the guilt of what she’s done will probably chase her for a long time; even in her sleep.

But then -as Clarke the player tries to sneak out from a one night stand so things don’t become awkward with the hot grounder- she’s captured by Roan. And oh boy, this dynamic in the next episode is brilliant. Clarke has finally fully adapted to her environment -three months living on the woods will definitely do that to you- she learned to hunt, she learned to speak fluent trigedasleng and she used berries to change the color of her hair. Once again, she’s gone through a lot, she has evolved and because of it I believe that she’s now fiercer and stronger than ever. Sure, Roan looks like a mean grounder warrior but Clarke is also a master at surviving who isn’t ready to be found yet, so you can be sure she won’t stop fighting for her freedom anytime soon.

Raven of Sunshine

I have seen the episode like a 100th times and I still can’t get over all the Raven smiles we got. Seriously. I was so happy that she was happy because she deserves all the happiness in the world -as does precious and future chancellor Monty- but we all know those scenes in the car is as far as those smiles will go, right? Right.

Raven has been in pain for about three months, after the explosion at the dam and the almost extraction of her bone marrow worsened her disability even more than it already was. She’s refusing to let anyone know that she needs help; she pushed Wick away -too bad, I actually liked them together- and she’s just rotting on her own pain for some unfathomable reason. It breaks my heart to see Raven punishing herself for something that we still don’t understand. It pains me even more, the fact that she’s putting a strong front for everyone even though she’s breaking down inside.

She refuses to let Abby fix her… is it because she thinks an operation wouldn’t truly work and she is scared of the disappointment? Or is it because she feels like her disability is already a part of herself and she doesn’t want anyone taking that away? I won’t pretend to understand Raven’s motivations when it comes to this, however, I do wish I could put her in my pocket and protect her from everyone and everything for the rest of the season. Sounds like solid plan to me, anyways.

Trikru: Octavia and Lincoln

Sometimes, finding your place in life is hard, no matter how vast the Earth is.

Octavia starts season 3 struggling to find a place to fit in. She’s not part of the trikru because she chose to save her brother and friends instead of abiding to Lexa’s order to retreat and she’s not part of the Skaikru, either, because the moment they learned about her existence they hid her away like she was some dirty piece of embarrassing clothing that no one should ever have to see. Octavia’s life started when she came to Earth -living under the floor and then in jail until your teenage years definitely doesn’t count as having a life- even more so, she truly felt like she belonged somewhere after she became a grounder warrior, Indra’s second.

To have that taken from you so suddenly, it’s hard to imagine. Octavia made a very difficult choice in the season 2 finale. She turned her back to the grounders -a group of people that accepted her, respected her and welcomed her as one of their own- in order to save his brother -the one person that’s ever loved her unconditionally. Now, she’s struggling with the consequences of that decision, and she’s having a hard time figuring out where home is.

She has never fit with the sky people and she doesn’t want to live inside Arkadia because of it. But she also can’t leave to join another grounder clan because Lexa put a kill order on Lincoln and if he steps out of Arkadia’s walls he’ll be killed on sight. She’s trapped between two groups that won’t accept her and the feeling of claustrophobia and frustration -so similar to the one she experienced every time she was forced to trap herself beneath the floor while she was on the Ark-  isn’t probably helping at all.

Then there’s Lincoln, still a pure soul even though his hands have taken many, many lives.

He’s been training the teenagers of Arkadia, teaching them how to fight. He’s advising Abby whenever she has doubts or concerns regarding the grounders. Mostly, though, he’s fighting really hard to achieve lasting peace between the grounders and the Sky People. Lincoln also stands between a Bellamy that wants him to be a part of the sky people and a Octavia that wants him to remember that he’s trikru and only trikru -even though all he wants is for everyone to realize that they can be both at once. That they can coexists. That the only way to achieve peace is if they put aside their prejudice and accept that life on the ground is completely different from what they used to have on the Ark.

Lincoln has always been one of my favorite characters -he’s definitely my favorite male character- and I’m glad that this season we see him keep on fighting, even though he isn’t using weapons this time. However, I‘m even more glad to know that no matter their differences, no matter where they stand or the battles they fight, Octavia will always chose Lincoln and Lincoln will always chose Octavia.

So, yeah, those are some of my thoughts regarding this episode, but before I leave you, here are some quick bullet points that I would like to add as bonus material:

• My favorite new character was definitely Niylah. Jess Harmon is incredible and I hope they keep her around forever.
• Abby’s struggle between being a doctor or being a leader is also something that I’m looking forward to, since she’s never know where is the line between them and where does she starts.
• Miller has a boyfriend, you guys! This show never stops amazing me with how inclusive and accurately representative they are. I love it too much.
• Harper and Monroe should date. You know… for science.
• Why is Luna hiding?????????
• Emori is back. Which is awesome, because I liked her a lot last season.
• Jackson’s line about “four contraceptive implant removals” means it is baby time for Arkadia, right? Right.
• Roan. That’s it. He gets just his name, because he was that awesome.

I hope you enjoyed reading my little review as much as I enjoyed writing it! Hit up the comments if you have something to say or hit me up on twitter, where I’m always willing to talk about The 100. See you all next week, and don’t forget to tune in for episode 3×02 next Thursday!