Did The 100’s Season 3 Finale Live Up to the Hype?

Regardless of everything that happened this season on The 100, from the controversies to the major plot-holes to the horrible, insensitive character deaths, I was actually pretty excited for this season finale. Ever since January 21, after seeing pictures of Eliza Taylor and Alycia Debnam-Carey filming in downtown Vancouver, I couldn’t wait. But now I can honestly say that I have never been this disappointed, bored, and unimpressed by a finale before.

Firstly, let me start by discussing the Vancouver shoot from January. By allowing fans to watch the filming, not only did they bait Clexa fans, tricking them into believing that Lexa would survive until the finale, but they essentially ruined the entire season from 3×08 on. Once we saw Lexa die in episode seven, most fans had pretty much predicted the outcome of the entire season: Clarke would have to enter the City of Light, would have to put the Flame in her own neck, and would reunite with Lexa who would sacrifice herself to allow Clarke to destroy ALIE and the City of Light. Ultimately, there was no mystery to the finale, nothing that was unpredictable.

Though I would argue that Clarke and Lexa’s reunion was the best part of the episode, even Lexa’s role in the finale left me a little disappointed. Their scenes were beautiful and emotional and I enjoyed them, but we already knew everything that would happen because of the Vancouver shoot. We even knew some of their lines! Instead of shrouding Lexa’s return with some secrecy, they allowed fans to see all of her scenes being filmed. I’m really upset about that because while it was great to see Lexa again, I was expecting there to be at least ONE scene that we didn’t see being filmed months before.

Secondly, I still don’t understand the City of Light at all. It’s either just a confusing plot or it’s a very underdeveloped story that is treated as if it is extremely well-written and well-developed. (I’m pretty sure it’s the latter.) The City of Light isn’t all that interesting and I still don’t understand the significance of it, especially when it seems that ALIE wasn’t as evil as she was made out to be. Half of the season was focused on a storyline that didn’t really make sense and everything else was undermined. I would have loved to see more of the tension between the Grounders and the Skaikru from the first half of the season instead of the heroes fighting against the City of Light. The show disregarded the most intriguing elements of the storyline in favor of a plot that never really made sense.

When I wasn’t confused or disappointed, I was actually laughing. I think Kane and the other chipped characters climbing the Polis tower was one of the most amusing things I’ve ever seen on the show. But it was supposed to be threatening and menacing, right? I loved how they were all taking turns trying to break down the door by running into it too. It was very hard to take that whole storyline seriously, especially when Kane just pops up from the balcony.

I thought this finale was supposed to be dark and heartbreaking with a major character death. To me, a major character death usually includes a character that is loved by many or all fans, not one of the most hated characters of the season. I wasn’t even surprised or affected by Pike’s death but it did seem a little out of place. And what was the cliffhanger? Octavia walking away from Pike’s body? The season didn’t even end in an interesting way that leads to questions for next season. It just sort of ended with a random death that appeared impulsive and unjust.

Given the finales of both season one and season two, I expected this finale to be exciting and epic. The way it was promoted and praised, I expected so much more. While most of the episode was predictable, other parts left me confused and underwhelmed. How did Lexa even know what a firewall is? And how was she seemingly more aware of the City of Light and ALIE’s plans than Clarke? And why has every finale thus far included Clarke pulling a lever to save her people?

I wanted the finale to do well, I really did. I hoped it would make up for the underwhelming second half of season 3 and somehow draw me back into the story. But it didn’t. If anything it pushed me farther away. There was no cliffhanger that set up season 4 and if there was, it was extremely unimpressive.