Fan Fest News

News for Fans, By Fans!

‘The 100’ Recap: ‘Fallen’

The dust has yet to settle in regards
to the continuing controversy
surrounding
The 100,
but in the words of
Queen,
“the show must go on.” And it effortlessly brought it’s A-game with this

week’s episode titled “Fallen.”
Número nueve
was written by
Charmaine
DeGraté and Javier Grillo-Marxuach, and as
much as I
(generally) enjoy the
overall writing of the show, I have to admit that this was
probably the best
written episode this season thus
far, and had a whole lot of
revelations jam-packed into its snug little
timeslot.

Let’s just say that we were subjected to one of the

most grueling installments
(yet), one that dealt with pushing these characters
to their breaking point
both mentally and physically. If
there was a cliff,
these characters were catapulted off of it. If there was
a way to completely and

utterly dismantle any semblance of hope– this episode pretty much put the
nail
in the coffin by doing
just that. The
100
has
always promised that it would
get dark… like, really dark. But this was
something else entirely, not to say I

didn’t enjoy it– because believe me, I did. But the younger viewers, which
The
CW has been geared
towards in the past, weren’t quite prepared for what they’ve
been seeing in
season 3.

Overall,
I truly feel like we’re finally getting to
see these actors chomp down on
some
challenging and intricate scenes, most have been teetering the line,
and to see
it evolve throughout
recent episodes has been interesting and exhilarating.
We’ve been craving
continuity for this season since
the whole Pike/Arkadia
storyline was introduced, and I go on record
officially saying that this episode

felt extremely well-balanced between snippets of Polis, ALIE’s rise to power
in
Arkadia and tying up
loose ends with Bellamy and his dumbfounded involvement
with Pike. One theme
that the show has struggled with
this entire season, which
is balance, was managed impeccably between these
two writers, like an epic round

of seesaw, in which its riders were perfectly matched and never lingered for
too
long up nor down. It was
great, not for one second did I feel like one plotline
was sidelined for the
development of the other and
that’s a victory for this
show, for sure.

That’s so

Raven…

This episode was the defining
moment for Lindsey Morgan that I’ve been
itching to see since she showed
up on
my TV screen in season 1. This episode was made for her, it was her
character’s
shining moment, her
rise and heartbreaking fall within this new world order and
holy shit did it
give me chills. The events that
transpired were both
enlightening and difficult to watch, but extremely
important to continuing this

complicated AI storyline that’s been presented to us.

From
the very beginning of “Fallen,” we see Raven
fighting the force inside of
her head with something equally as
strong: her free
will. Her diligence in keeping ALIE from taking control of
her was one that made
ALIE
quake in her stylish yet holographic red dress. Since they needed Raven to

complete whatever Jaha and ALIE
have been cooking up in the City of Light, it
was imperative that they keep
Raven from breaking the AI’s hold
on her mind. If
that were even possible. Oh, and yes, it’s apparently
possible! Thank goodness
for
loopholes, people! During a much needed revelation, we find out that perhaps

a jolt to Raven’s brain (from
the wristbands used when the delinquents were
first sent down to Earth)
might just do the trick. ALIE’s
demeanor went from
cocky to scared shitless in ten seconds flat. Yah, bitch,
Raven has outsmarted
you.
Take that, motherfloater!

Our

former goggle wearing pal Jasper
is out to help Raven, and digs up the
wristbands from within Arkadia’s
storage units. But it seems that
formerly chill
Jaha has turned into smashing bracelets angrily Jaha and
we’re left with zero
wristbands
to help Raven snap outta this world ALIE has created. Sounds like a
really
long, and confusing math problem
you are given in grade school, doesn’t
it? Brief intermission to say
that I’m
ready for Niylah to show up again– because, Jessica Harmon is
like, my favorite
grounder, and
that girl has a bracelet (remember right before sexy times with
berry
stained Clarke) and we’re gonna need
her to hand it over, stat.
And,
we’re back! In order to stop

Raven from continuing to find a way out of ALIE’s world, we see Abby trying
to
talk some sense into Jaha…
which, is clearly not a thing, because the man is
batshit. Anywho, in a ploy
to teach Raven a harsh lesson
and to get her back on
Team COL, ALIE restores all of her memories– at
once. This means every painful,

gut wrenching, torture-inducing moment that Raven has had to suffer through,
she
is forced to endure
those hardships again… all at the same time.

Now, watching
Morgan play this
character writhing in agony, basically dying from the
stress on her body, while
she’s
trying her best to fight the suffering and not succumb to a technological

tyrant was traumatizing to watch,
and man did she NAIL IT. In order to stop
Raven’s pain, and she’s feeling an
awful lot of it right now, Raven
ultimately
gives up her free will and gives into ALIE to stop the torment.
And lord knows
this character
has been through enough of it for more than one lifetime. We’re
treated to
an exorcism like revelation that
ALIE has now gained total access to
Raven’s body and is sporting it like a
dress she’d wear to cocktail hour
at the
mansion. Anyone else miss when ALIE couldn’t leave the house? I know
I’m not the
only one! In an
attempt to save possessed Raven (legit could barely tell the
difference
between Raven and ALIE at this point,
which is a testament to
Morgan’s acting chops), a now tied up Abby (way to
go Jackson… who said you
could
drug your boo thang!) is presented with an ultimatum. Take the City of
Light
chip… or Raven dies. Yep. They
went there, ALIE in Raven’s body slit her
wrists and Abby sat there helpless
unable to save her friend.
What’s it gonna be
Abby? Join the pod people, or watch Raven bleed out on
the floor in front of
you. She
clearly chose to take the pill in order to save Raven from death. Which
is
going to come back to bite us all
in the ass in the end, I’m sure. With ALIE
in the driver’s seat of Raven’s
mind, Abby on board, and Clarke
still nowhere to
be found unaware of her mom’s recent fate– I’m left
thinking DAMN, THIS AIN’T
GOOD.
Luckily Jasper sees Raven in the medical wing, drugs possessed Raven and

basically kidnaps her to get her
far, far away from ALIE and Jaha. Quick
thinking there,
bud.

It
has become
more and more apparent that although Pike and Jaha are logical
contenders, ALIE
has become the
dominant force in Arkadia, and the imminent danger to the human
race has
jumped from ‘meh, we’ll deal with
Jaha and his crazy pills soon,’ to
‘we better read the AI manual… and fast
before we’re all dead, and having
tea
time with ALIE in the City of Light.’ One thing’s for sure, ALIE ain’t
messing
around, and bitch is
running this town now.

Ontari’s in over her
head… big
time!

Credit: The
CW

Back in Polis, Ontari is
proving to be a crappy leader

and can’t make any moves without the OK from Roan. Murphy is still there,

chained up like an animal
planting doubt in Ontari’s fragile current state. I
see what you’re doing
Murphy, you are trying to get her
to challenge Roan’s
authority and get her on your side, aren’t you? You
glorious creature, you! It
seems
to be a common theme lately that the Ambassador’s don’t see their

Commander(s) fit to rule. And, sure, Ontari
is far from a Commander, she has no
flame, no real Nightblood training and
she’s impulsive, which is a
terrible
combination for all involved. But man, they’re really putting her
through the
ringer and her
first response is with death. No honey, that’s not how this
leadership thing
works. Good try,
though.

We did however get to
find out a little bit more about
how Ontari
was raised. The Ice Queen ripped her from her family and raised
her as her own.
But, instead
of being a loving mother, she was a total bitch. Like we had any
doubt. She
apparently tortured and belittled
Ontari to the point where she did
everything that she told her. Including
turning to violence as a logical
method
of dealing with things. Now, this makes perfect sense… why Ontari
isn’t much of
a leader and
Murphy seems to be doing a better job coaching her than the Ice
Queen or
Roan ever did. She was never meant
to actually rule. She was a pawn in
a bigger game between Lexa and Nia and
the poor girl never stood a chance
at
being a leader who could rise to the occasion. That’s not to say that she
can’t
learn. That Murphy
won’t be an impeccable teacher and we’ll get Ontari on the
side of the Sky
people, but chances are unlikely.

I’m not going to lie, I did
see a spark or at least

interest there between Ontari and Murphy in last week’s episode. I think
that
these two might be the
perfect duo and who would have thought that Murphy would
be the one teaching
morals to someone else. How far
we’ve come, right? But, I do
understand the concern surrounding what
transpired between the two of them in

“Fallen.” Some say it was rape. While I don’t agree wholeheartedly with that

statement, I do think it was
dubious consent. Whether or not the writers
intended it to seem a tad bit
rapey is up for discussion, but my
gut is saying
that they were not going for that. Perhaps an older, more
kinky take on intimacy
between
two people. But I don’t know about rape. Yes, Ontari is in a position of

power, and she used that power to
coerce Murphy into sleeping with her, as it
seems. Yes, she threatened his
life, even rejected his denial
when he told her
that he basically had a girlfriend. Do I think she would
have hurt him if he
didn’t
comply? I don’t think so. I see a bond there, one that I hope other
people
see too. Do I think that perhaps
lines should have been clearer? Yes. I
think that blurring the lines on this
particular topic, if you’re not
going to
address it later on (which they very well might) is a bit risky.
But, again…
dubious consent,
easily misinterpreted intentions and coercion is what I think
is at play
here. I hope so, anyways. Murphy has
always been known to do what he
has to survive, and I think this is another
moment that we should add to his

long list of deeds in order to gain the upper hand in this world. He’s not a

stupid guy, he has a plan.
And in this case, it involves staying in the good
graces of a wannabe
Commander.

All
of that aside, I have to say that Rhiannon Fish
is still great to watch. Sure,

the character stumbles a bit when it comes to being a leader– but, Fish
seems
to be doing a fine job
bringing this character to life and peeling back some
layers so we can root
for this character instead of
just hating her stinking
guts like a couple of elementary school kids on the
playground. I’m thinking

she’ll meet her untimely fate by the end of the season, because that’s just
how
things work around here…
but, I’m kind of hoping for a redemption arc for this
character. A girl can
dream, can’t she?

Bellamy Blake takes a
beating

Credit: The
CW

Now, I am aware that many of the fans consider Octavia beating
the crap out
of her
completely dimwitted (as of late) brother, an act of domestic violence.
And
while, I don’t agree with the
fact that Octavia abused her brother, I do
believe that in this world that
The 100
has created–
this is how people are

forced to deal with their problems now. Not saying it’s right, but, his

misguided actions did lead to the
execution of someone she loved dearly and as
his sister she had every right
to confront him about his clear
misstep. Now,
first and foremost Bob Morley and Marie Avgeropoulos delivered
some gritty and
emotion
evoking performances and we really need to take a moment to acknowledge
the
phenomenal performance these two
gave during that cave scene. Now, secondly-
– Bellamy took the beating. Yes,
he was chained up, yes, “my
sister, my
responsibility,” but I think that statement is why Bellamy
allowed
Octavia to beat him
senseless. He could have given
verbal permission to everyone
else eager to step in and hold his irate
sister back… but he didn’t. In a way,
I
looked at this scene as Bellamy guilt ridden over causing his sister
immense
pain and knowing nothing
he said would take back the fact that Lincoln was dead.
The love of his baby
sister’s life was dead, and he
contributed to that outcome.
Bellamy isn’t the victim, he’s trying to right
his wrong, and he let her take

her aggression out on him. Release the pain she’s clearly feeling. Sure,
that’s
not a healthy way to deal
with your problems. I’m more of a glass of vodka,
shout at each other while
visiting therapy twice a month
kinda gal– but you do
you Blake siblings. You do you.

Pike’s Incompetence

Credit: The
CW

Can we all agree that he’s literally the worst. The
worst
leader. The worst human. Just, the
worst. You know who else is the worst?
Monty’s mom. We find out that that
biddie is the one who turned her
son in and
the reason why he had to run in the first place. Oh, and don’t
even get me
started on the fact
that I don’t for one second believe that Monty’s dad died
saving some kids
from an Ice Nation attack. I think
that he wasn’t compliant
with his station’s methods once they landed on
Earth and Pike and Hannah had to

take him out. For the good of their people, right?

The
moment that Pike was duped by Bellamy was probably
the happiest moment of my
life. Well, add him taking an
arrow and getting hauled
off to Polis, where hopefully he’s tortured and
killed and you’ve got the icing

on the donut. First he tries to trade Monty for Bellamy, and then he forces

Bellamy to prove that he’s
still on his side and being held captive by Kane and
the rest of the escaped
Arkadian’s didn’t turn him back
to being a decent human
being. The horror! A redemption arc for the boy who
might as well be a pod

person, at least then he’d have an excuse for being a total turd. And of
course,
the moment Bellamy is
freed he returns to being a d-bag and tells Pike where he
can find the rest
of the people who fled Arkadia. I
knew he had a plan, but I
still didn’t quite trust him. Bellamy lead them
over the line, the blockade is

still in effect ya know, and offered “his leader” up to the grounders for
the
massacre that took place
not too long ago. Okay, you have my attention Bell.
But, any hope I had for
his road to redemption flickered
as Kane posed a
question to his student. Did he give Pike to the grounders
for his sister? Or
did he do
it because it was the right thing to do… a question we all are still

wondering the answer to. I’m going with
the first option– which makes Bellamy
still oblivious to the fact that he’s
still on the wrong side of
things. He just
doesn’t get it.

Kane leaves
Bellamy with
that question to ponder, and asks the grounders who captured Pike
to go with
them to Polis to talk to the new
Commander. Red flag, nope– don’t do
it Kane, Ontari is NOT someone you can
reason with right now and I don’t
want to
see your head chopped off and kicked to the curb. Do they have curbs
in Polis?
They must. Bellamy
tells Monty that he’ll work things out with his no good
snitching mother,
because hey that’s what families
do… which leads me to believe
that Octavia’s “you’re dead to me” statement
might waver in future episodes.
Who
knows. Can everyone work their issues out and live happily ever after?
Doubtful.
This is
The 100 after all. No one
gets happy endings unless you’re in
Titus’ sex dungeon.

Last
Minute
Clarke


Credit:
The
CW

One of the most hilarious

moments of this episode was
Jasper chaotically driving out of Arkadia, with a
passed out Raven in tow,
and almost plowing down Clarke…
who looked like a deer
caught in the headlights, btw. Legit, she doesn’t
know what the hell is going
on.
You don’t realize how much she’s truly missed while being in Polis until

she’s asking Jasper to take her to
see Lincoln because she needs to find Luna so
that she can protect the flame
from Ontari and homebody is like
“They done
killed him, gurl. IDGAF ‘bout your flame. Pod peeps are after us.
You’re the
worst, Grim
Reaper.” Getting Clarke caught up next episode is going to be
refreshing,
like the bath I hope she takes
soon. Soap and Clarke– I still ship
it!

FINAL
THOUGHTS

  • Sachin Sahel’s creeptastic smile, FTW.
  • When Lindsey Morgan delivered the line
    “because you
    stole my memories, you
    crazy bitch!”
    I immediately knew this

    episode was going to be gold.

  • The unison pod
    people freaked me the eff out. I legit had nightmares. Why
    you gotta do me
    like this,
    The 100
    writers? SCARY STUFF.
  • More Harper please,
    she’s finally
    getting some
    action (no, not THAT kind of action. RIP Monroe). The ass-kicking,
    on the
    right side of things action and I’m
    stoked to see more of Chelsey Reist.
    Just a thought.
  • Next week
    Bellarke reunion! Just kidding, I couldn’t care less about
    Bellamy and Clarke
    hugging it
    out– I’m more excited to see Clarke yelling at Raven, and that
    awkward
    conversation between Clarke and
    Niylah when they show up at the trading
    post and Clarke’s all like “no booty
    calls today, my girlfriend just
    died and I
    have a possessed friend on my hands.”
  • Emori mention during the Murphy/Ontari scene in the bedroom… is
    this a
    coincidence? The “Is she a
    Commander?” comment might suggest that Emori
    is Luna… the cowardice
    novitiate that fled Polis during Lexa’s
    conclave. We
    shall see. I’m still rooting for someone we haven’t met yet to
    be the luckily
    flame
    recipient. I’m available for Season 4 Jason Rothenberg and co., if you

    wanted a sassy, adorable twenty
    something year old who knows how to wield a
    knife added to the payroll.
    haha.

  • Did I mention Niylah is back next week, and she’s
    wielding a
    machete?
    Squeeeeee!
Credit: The
CW

 

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *