What aunt_zelda Thinks: The 100, Season 1, episodes 12&13: Thanks Space Obama

[aunt_zelda]

Episode 12
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Well this is awful and depressing. Life on the Arc will soon end, they have no way of escape or prolonging things. So they’re just gonna die. Space Obama makes a good speech but it’s really upsetting.

I CARE THE MOST ABOUT THESE CHARACTERS. I DO NOT CARE ABOUT THE TEENAGERS. EXCEPT MY OT3 AND RAVEN.

Just … no. No no no.

Also I’m pissed that Blond Politician Lady was so selfish and stupid that she decided to kill 2,000 people because of her own ambition. Like, congrats lady, you’re the queen of a smoking crater. How’s that working out for you? Oh, right, horribly. Also you doomed humanity. Well done. All that tech that could have come back to Earth, and it’s wrecked forever. Humanity will survive but technology will take hundreds of years to advance back to how it was before.
I just do not understand why she acted so irrationally. There was a better way for the plot to accomplish this scenario. There were many. For example, they prepare the dropship and people are so overeager to see their kids again and get to earth, some people forget to re-check some machinery. Or someone makes a mistake. Or people force their way onto the ship and overcrowd it just before it launches. Or hell, it’s just old and they have bad luck and it explodes. The people on the station are reluctant to send another ship and risk so many lives in the wake of that tragedy.
There’s a million smarter things they could have done, instead of making this woman TV-Insane (not to be confused with having an actual mental illness, no, this is a lazy writing tactic to make a character act so illogically that the only explanation is “they have gone insane” and nobody worries about how insulting that is or how lazy of a writer that makes you.)

I’m pretty sure Space Obama just offered to have We’re About To Die Sex with Space Desmond.
Since this is not an HBO or Showtime or Starz show, I know we won’t be getting to see that, but still, a girl can dream.
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Bellamy is talking sense. Good to see him finally being a good leader not out of selfishness, but out of a desire for the whole group to stay alive.
This guy has grown over the season. First he was a selfish, sadistic, asshole bellend. Now he’s still those things, but he’s smarter about it.
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Excuse me while I ship the fuck outta Anya/Blondie.

What? Now there’s a guy in charge of Anya’s forces, and there’s a higher-up in charge of them? D: Better be another lady. I was all excited for a matriarchal warrior culture here. Don’t disappoint me again, show, you already have some steep marks against you.
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OH NO GOGGLES IS BEING HELD HOSTAGE BY A VENGEANCE-SEEKING TEENAGE MURDERER!

See this show knows how to get me emotionally invested. Endangering any of the main characters up on the space station. Endangering Goggles, Asian Kid, Raven, or sometimes Octavia. Then I am SO IN.

Like, as much as I like the guy, I completely forgot I was supposed to be worried about Finn being dead. He was clearly not going to be dead, so why worry? Also, Love Triangle Bullshit. If he were dead, it would end. Maybe. Hopefully.
A girl can dream.
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Gross, mutated horsie-face.

Lincoln is back? That means he’s gonna die I bet. Face Heel Turns always die.
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I feel like singing one of the opening songs from Re-Animator: The Musical to the Mom right now. She’s dead Dan! Dead is dead Dan! A doctor should know when to quit Dan!

Mom’s doctor assistant gives her some great support and advice and comfort in a really emotional scene. This scene is good.

If they die I’m quitting.
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Bellamy offers to trade himself for Goggles. Which is … wow. Not something Bellamy in the early episodes would have done. I still do not like him and he is still not a good person, but he is trying to do the right things.

Oh, whoa. Murphy is trying to get Bellamy to hang himself.
Poetic justice. I like it. : DDDDDD
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Well this is depressing. Space Obama, while drinking booze labeled “to be opened on Earth” watches home videos of his son and Blondie when they were little kids.
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*starts blushing*
Love it when a show gives me VERY SPECIFIC FETISH FUEL.
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Oh, so are we finally getting cannibalism? I was waiting for that since episode one, I’m amazed it took them this long to show that. What with the radioactive animals running around, I’m not surprised some of the people are resorting to cannibalism.

So, there’s orcs in these mountains?

I do like that Finn is the damsel in distress for a while, and is uncomfortable with having had to kill someone. He’s not the standard Manly Man archetype. That’s good.

What’s less good is the love triangle bullshit. They just sit there and talk about how they’re in LOVE and omg you broke my HEART like calm down children you have known each other for a month maybe and had sex one time. (Speaking of, how come nobody’s having morning sickness yet? All that unprotected teenage sex has CONSEQUENCES y’know. Also STIs but I’m betting there’s no chance of the show actually depicting that as a problem of the week. Babies, yeah. STIs, no.)
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Awwwwww, Goggles hugged Bellamy.

Dunno if I’ll ship them now too. Bellamy just went through like three seasons’ worth of character development in the course of like five episodes. Do I like him now? I don’t even know.
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Finn and Blondie didn’t do a very good job of convincing the kids to pack shit up and leave, at first. Bellamy makes a very good speech galvanizing everyone to stay and fight. I mean, once you bring up “our dead are buried behind that wall” it’s gonna be tough to argue with that.

Like seriously, Finn and Blondie, why not mention “Lincoln killed one of his own tribe, saved both our lives three times, and sacrificed his own life to a cannibal tribe of orcs in the tunnels. Oh by the way there’s orcs living nearby maybe we should fuck off and leave just because of that. Screw this place.” They don’t provide very good arguments or proof. They just assume because they’re the good guys people will believe them and “do the right thing.” Ned Stark Syndrome strikes again.

Bellamy actually says “crowds make bad decisions, just ask Murphy” and WOWWWWWWWWWW that is some fine-ass character development. Learning from his mistakes. ACKNOWLEDGING HIS MISTAKES.
He’s like a completely different character now this is amazing.
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OH MY GODS.
They’re doing the thing I dismissed as impossible. They’re gonna fly the space station down to Earth! WOOT!
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Episode 13:
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I’m getting really anxious about all the stuff they’re leaving behind and all the stuff they can’t physically bring. This troubles me.
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First time I’ve seen people try and weaponize a rocket ship. AWESOME.
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Oh no. No no. No no no.
You are NOT gonna kill of the main WoC on the cast to remove the problem of the love triangle. You are NOT gonna do that. NO NO NO.

Seriously though, if the bullet’s in her spine and she’s bleeding internally, I don’t know how she’ll survive.
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This was smart, inventing a future religion to avoid the issue of multiple religious factions.

Well, smart and kind of lazy and cowardly. BUT WHATEVER.

I don’t like how the two main PoC characters with lines are in one shuttle, and the two main white characters with lines are in another. That does not bode well.

Also, how did I JUST NOTICE that Lt. Gaeta is on the cast!??!?!?!

“Someone will have to launch manually.”
DON’T YOU FUCKING DARE. NO SPACE OBAMA NO. DON’T DO IT. DON’T DO IT WRITERS.
(See I knew, as soon as they said that, that it’d be Space Obama who sacrificed himself. I have watched too much tv.)

“Salvation comes at a price.”
NOT THE PRICE OF MY FAVORITE CHARACTERS IT DOESN’T. STOP STOP STOP. THE BULLSHIT TEENAGE LOVE TRIANGLES LIVE AND THE INTERESTING COMPLEX ADLTS DIE!??!?!?! FUCK THIS SHOW.

Space Obama sacrifices himself to save everyone. FUCK THIS SHOW.
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I’m kind of annoyed that the kids were not also making bows and arrows and learning to throw spears while making bullets. Only like, two people could make the bullets. There’s 80 other people who could have been constructing more ranged weapons.
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“Hey, Raven? I’d pick you first.”
So … is the love triangle over because the ladies are hooking up?
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Wilhelm scream! Take a shot everybody!
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Oh, wow, Murphy’s getting tortured horribly.
I’m kind of sad about that. All he wanted was some sweet sweet vengeance. He got it, mostly. But because of this show’s morality code, now he must die.

Loving Anya’s battle crown.
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Finn is gonna make this a Battle of the Five Armies if he’s not careful.
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Wow, they really like quoting Aliens, don’t they? That’s the second time they’ve done it this season alone. I wonder if the writers are sad they’re writing a purely-humans-only sci-fi show.
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Then the grown-ups have a really badass fight and ignore the teenagers. Awesome!
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Let’s just ignore the whole, “passing Octavia off to another male character for protection” thing, ok?
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Gettin’ real sick of Blondie sitting there crying and going “NO! NOOoooooo!” while the boys do the fighting. Like, honey, you are capable. How about you take an active role in this instead of sitting there and crying. How about that.

Oh, good, Anya jumped in! So she’ll live. Thank the gods.

“We are NOT grounders.”
Make up your minds, kids. Are you grounders or not. Are you willing to kill or not. You keep flip-flopping.

Like if one of the Lordi cosplayers had jumped in, you’d have killed him.
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OH THANK GODS THE MOM AND SPACE DESMOND SURVIVED.

And Space Obama knows. So his sacrifice was not in vain. Well, I mean, the writers killed him off for no good reason. But he doesn’t like, die thinking everyone else died. He dies knowing his actions let hundreds live.

So that’s … good.

I’m crying. So much crying.
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“Mountain Men” meaning TF2 people. WHAAAAAAAAAA?!?!?!?! They throw smoke bombs and wear gas masks and have rifles with neon-green laser pointers for some reason. WHAAAAAAAAA?!?!?!?! I thought the Earth didn’t have technologically-advanced societies anymore?
Awesomesauce.

Maybe they’ll handcuff Anya and Blondie together next season and we’ll get a Chained Heat episode.

And then Blondie wakes up in a sterile white room that just looks … wrong. And it turns out there’s cameras. And they’re in the Mount Ward Quarantine Area.

AHAHAHAHA! RIGHT WHERE THEY WERE SUPPOSED TO GO IN EPISODE ONE! WOW!


So, Octavia and Lincoln and Bellamy and Finn are all out there. Possibly Murphy if he lives. Possibly a few others. And TEAM MOM AND SPACE DESMOND! And maybe more spaceship compartments.

I think things will be just fine.
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So that was a wild ride. Not as good as I'd hoped, but not nearly as bad as I'd feared. Some racist moments. Some very very good moments. A lot of boring time-wasting love triangle shenanigans. Some very interesting space political drama stuff (seriously I wish they still had a viable community up there, that was some good stuff.)
I'm hopeful for Season 2.