The 100 Season 4 Episode 10
If you didn’t watch the previews, this very Hunger Games episode started off with two quick surprise contenders in the Conclave to up the ante, and it didn’t let up from there, giving us perhaps the best fight scenes of the season so far.
The Blake siblings warm up
Octavia and Bellamy had some tense moments, but I take her willingness to say, “May we meet again,” as a good sign. Even better, the expression on her face when she overheard him talking about her to Roan, and the fact that he was the first person she looked for after the Conclave, mean the Blake siblings are finally headed towards peace, if not forgiveness. In fact, it was Bellamy who gave Octavia her winning strategy of hiding and being “the girl underneath the floorboards,” like she was back on the Ark. It’s a good strategy, and a good sign that O was willing to listen to it. She not only trusts her brother again, it sounds like she’s interested in living after all. Ilean’s death came at just the right time, from a plot perspective. He helped Octavia heal and essentially died by teaching her to trust again, but his time is done. Does anyone else have doubts about Roan’s death? His felt like it had the least amount of closure and finality, so I kept expecting to see him get up out of the water. It also seems strange to have him and Clarke have so much chemistry and tension and never do anything with it.
Octavia turns a corner
I loved every minute of this Octavia-heavy episode, particularly the moments focused on family. Octavia’s story has always been about not belonging, and learning to accept love from the people who matter, regardless of what anyone else thinks. Family, both found and biological, was on full display with Gaia mourning for her mother when TriKru’s champion died, and Indra’s unabashed show of love and support for Octavia. I’m glad to see Octavia learning that while she will always love Lincoln, she still has her people and her family without him. Octavia’s decision to divide up the bunker evenly felt a bit hollow since it was the most obvious direction for the show to take, but at least her personal development feels earned. Perhaps she will now be seen as a leader, even a content against Clarke if the Grounders back her for having better policy and being more like them. After all, Ogeda, the word for unity that the Grounders were chanting, sounds an awful lot like Heda, Commander.
Clarke screws everyone
Jaha was in this episode for like two minutes but he still managed to screw everyone over, per usual. All the good will and unity that Octavia just generated is going to go through the tubes since Clarke has SkaiKru locked themselves in the bunker. Not only that, they used gas like the Mountain Men, making this the millionth time this season that Clarke & co. have behaved like everyone’s least favorite underground cult. I think I’m most disappointed that Clarke finally articulated to Roan that her desire to save everyone sets her apart, only to completely go back on that.
