I didn’t enjoy episode 4 as much as I was expecting to. The storyline about finding ALIE’s lab was just a lot of running around. Oh, and Nyko died, and that was sad. The Polis storyline had a couple of good moments, but that’s all it had. The Arkadia storyline was the one I was really looking forward to. In some ways, it didn’t disappoint, but I did have a few problems with it.
Here are my thoughts.
– Jasper is getting more annoying each episode. Yet, everyone continues to indulge him. This season, they’ve cast him as the archetypal trickster; he’s constantly up to some trick but also voices some inconvenient truths. Now, someone absolutely needs to take on the narrative function of being the antagonist to Chancellor! Clarke. But not Jasper. He’s gotten so annoying that I find myself automatically siding with Clarke every time he questions her, even if his point is reasonable. I mean, when everyone is working around the clock for their lives, he spends his time pulling pranks and breaking into the chancellor’s office. And yet, he gets treated like some tragic hero. It rankled me when Clarke apologised to HIM. Jasper needs to be taught a harsh lesson or he needs to go.
– When Jaha suggested the idea of the lottery, I suspected right away that he (and maybe the whole leadership group) is planning to mislead people, only to betray them at the very end by choosing exactly whom he wants.
– It’s starting to bug me the way everyone keeps questioning Clarke’s decisions in a really aggressive way. She’s saved them over and over again. Sure, she’s made mistakes and might still be making them. But it’s not like anyone else is the epitome of perfection. Take Harper for example. She was outraged at not being on the list. But wasn’t she the one who voted to save the 25 farm station survivors at the expense of the hydrogenerator? If she had voted differently, the list would have been a lot longer and she’d likely have been on it. Bellamy, Brian and Harper never got called out for sacrificing the hydrogenerator – a decision which will potentially cost 300 lives. Yet when Clarke tries to deal with the fallout, her decisions are picked at, and challenged and criticised to high heaven. Perhaps they’re trying to show the difficulties of leadership, but I find myself getting increasingly annoyed on Clarke’s behalf. Next time someone challenges her, I REALLY want to see Clarke snap and give them a piece of her mind.
– The most dramatic scene of the episode was Bellamy and Kane being told of Octavia’s death. I loved the tension in this scene. I loved Bellamy’s reaction. It was also interesting how long Roan and Echo hesitated before delivering the news. They might have some compassion after all.