Last time on The 100, Raven made it to earth, but Bellamy destroyed her radio, meaning The 100's attempt to contact the Ark came too late - 300-odd people volunteered to be killed to prolong the survival of the others in space in a highly emotional episode. Meanwhile, Octavia ran off after arguing with Bellamy, and knocked herself unconscious, only to wake up in the cave of a grounder.
Earth-bound
Bellamy's on the hunt for Octavia, but Clarke is intent on making him feel guilty for destroying the radio which could have saved hundreds of people on the Ark. Much as I love Bellamy, I'm glad it's not been forgotten that he broke the one thing that could have allowed easy communication between The 100 and the Ark. Clarke soon becomes concerned about Octavia, but still manages to be mean to Bellamy, telling him she's only helping because of Octavia, not because of him.
Octavia wakes up in the Grounder's cave and discovers her leg is hurt. The Grounder comes in with a burning hot sword, and uses it to suture her leg. Yikes.
At camp, Bellamy sends out search parties for Octavia, and Jasper, who hasn't been out since Grounders shot a spear at him, is determined to go. Bellamy also wants Finn as tracker. In this time of emergency, Finn is getting his hair cut by Raven. On the one hand, it's a really silly thing to be doing, on the other, while it makes him look a little less like Prince Caspian, the haircut does make him hotter. Finn doesn't look very enthusiastic, but he's clearly trying to keep on Raven's good side ahead of confessing to her about his tryst with Clarke (who he tells he has feelings for).
Just before the search parties head out, the group spot what looks like a gorgeous meteor shower. Raven says it means the Ark didn't get The 100's rocket-fuelled message. Bellamy doesn't understand, until Clarke points out that the beautiful lights are actually a funeral - the bodies of the Ark's dead being released into space. Raven stays behind to try and fix the radio to communicate with the Ark, and Clarke stays to take her to the "art supply store" to see if they can find parts. Uh oh, Clarke taking Finn's girlfriend to the scene of Clarke and Finn's crime. Not good.
Octavia wakes up again (hopefully she'll get something more exciting to do this episode) and discovers her leg is mended (I think, it's hard to tell, the cave scenes are super dark). She tries to climb/crawl her way out of the space, while Bellamy and the search party come across a ripped bit of her clothing on a branch (I think, this bit is really dark too). And then they find signs of blood, and see footprints that definitely aren't Octavia's.
Although Bellamy doesn't know it, Octavia is far from dead, still trying to figure out a way out of the cave. She manages to find a really narrow, horrible tunnel and drags herself through it. The search party, meanwhile, finds a warning from the Grounders to stay away - skeletons strung up in the trees. The younger Blake is making her way through the tiny tunnel - obviously having flashbacks to her time spent hiding under floors while on the Ark (which has a one-child policy, it seems).
Clarke and Raven fail to bond while on their way to the art supply store, especially when Raven talks about how Finn used to help her on the Ark. Still, it's not as bad as what's happening with Bellamy and co, who are being picked off one by one. The group start running off, although first we get a scene where Raven finds the necklace Finn made for Clarke, and realises that her boyfriend slept with Clarke. While I'm enjoying the drama of the love triangle, the most interesting part is obviously the battle between the Grounders and The 100, so to move away from that is annoying.
Octavia makes it out of the cave, and is promptly faced with the Grounder who captured her again (hello, guy from Hollyoaks). He sweeps her off her feet (actual sweeping off of feet) and heads back to the cave with her. She tries talking to him, but his lack of response leads her to believe he can't understand her. This time, when they return to the cave, the Grounder ties her up so she can't escape.
At least she's only dealing with one Grounder - Bellamy and the rest are being chased down by lots, all armed with weapons and intent on killing them. And then suddenly, a horn rings out, the warning that acid fog is approaching. The gang hide, but the acid fog doesn't appear - could someone have blown the warning horn to help them?
Back at camp, Raven is working on fixing the radio. Clarke tries to talk to her, and Raven confronts her about sleeping with Finn. Clarke confesses under very little pressure. Finn doesn't know it, but he's lucky he's in the forest being chased by Grounders. The girls have a minor fight, but it's refreshing that it doesn't end in bitch slaps. In fact, it's rather mournful - Raven's question of whether Clarke feels something for Finn is answered by Clarke's "I hardly know him".
Finally, finally, Bellamy and co find the cave Octavia is in, and free her. But that's not enough, they wait for the Grounder to come back and beat him up - what a way to make friends. In the kerfuffle, Finn is injured. Bellamy manages to get him back to camp, but it's not good. Clarke can only do so much, she needs to advice of her mother to get Finn through this.
The whole episode is predicated on Bellamy searching for his sister, but the pair end the episode fighting yet again. Octavia blames Bellamy for everything - Finn's injury, her imprisonment, their mum's death. I know Bellamy isn't a saint, but we've seen he cares deeply for his sister. He doesn't do himself any favours though, telling Octavia in anger that his life ended the day she was born. And so she runs off again. And we're right back where we started.
On the Ark
Flashbacks were at the centre of this episode, and finally gave us an insight into Bellamy's psyche, and his relationship with Octavia. The episode opened with Bellamy's mother giving birth to Octavia, and telling him Octavia is his responsibility. No pressure there for a young child (Bellamy looks to be aged around eight). It's clear from the off that Bellamy takes his mother's words to heart, and makes her a promise that he'll protect her and not let anything bad happen to her.
In more flashbacks we see Octavia (now about 10) and Bellamy (I'm guessing around 18 and played again by a clean-cut Bob Morley) hanging out, while their mother sews. A beeping noise leads their mum to say "it's time". Time for Octavia to hide under the floorboards while Bellamy and his mum pretend to the guards everything is okay. Mum's official job is seamstress, but it's clear from her interactions with the guard that she's also prostituting herself to save her family. Bellamy, noticing that Octavia isn't completely hidden, almost jeopardises his own future, acting rudely towards the guard who could possibly give him a job in the future. However important work is, Bellamy clearly sees his first job as protecting his sister.
Still, Bellamy makes it to a guard position (thanks to his mum). He heads back to his home to get an (older) Octavia, and tells her that she can leave the flat for the first time in her life to attend a masquerade ball. Obviously, nothing bad is going to happen here. In sweet scenes, we see Bellamy guiding Octavia out into the world, and Octavia in awe of the everything in the Ark and having fun dancing (cute moment where Jasper sees Octavia and immediately fancies her). And then it all goes to pot, as the guards discover Octavia, and arrest her, despite Bellamy begging his boss for mercy.
Octavia is imprisoned, her mother floated, and Bellamy is demoted to the position of cleaner. Returning home, he is visited by his former boss, who has been promoted. Turns out, the Commander wants Bellamy to kill Chancellor Jaha. Woah. Didn't see that coming. These flashbacks have brought us full circle. The Commander promises Bellamy that he'll get him a place on the ship if Bellamy shoots Jaha. Questions, questions - was the commander working alone? Who is his boss? Is it Kane?
Solid ground?
What an episode. This is the second time we've had a flashback heavy episode, and it worked a lot better this time round. I loved seeing a completely different side to Bellamy, and it was interesting and insightful to see how he became the person he is in the present. There's clearly a good guy underneath, but he's been betrayed many a time, and had to abandon his childhood once Octavia was born, and it's turned him into a dour older brother, from the fun-loving, caring guy we saw in the flashbacks.
While it was important for us to get that insight into Bellamy, what this episode was really about was setting up The 100 and the Grounders as enemies. Or was it? The one Grounder we saw properly was actually pretty nice (apart from the whole tying Octavia up in a cave thing). The others, well, they're probably just reacting to strangers being in their territory. It's not right, but could there be more to the Grounders? They seem pretty advanced, something The 100 would do well not to ignore.
With Finn injured, next week we're sure to get a heartstopper of an episode.
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