THE 100 RECAP: Cheap Hair Dye and Bad Ideas
Episode 302 “Wanheda: Part Two”
Written by Aaron Ginsburg & Wade McIntyre, directed by Mairzee Almas
If you thought Bob Morley taking over the intro was a one-time deal, well, guess again! Once again Bellamy leads us into the recap, and pumps us up for the adventure and emotional turmoil of “Wanheda pt. 2”.
Starting off in the forest. It’s been three hours and no one has picked up Bellamonty & Co. from their trap. Bellamy (Bob Morley) decides it to make a break for it, which, surprise surprise, turns out to be a bad idea as they are literally immediately ambushed. Kane (Henry Ian Cusick) seems to have a special concern for keeping Bellamy alive (I’ve never given much credence to the “Kane is secretly Bellamy’s dad” fan theories, but you never know), so the rest of the crew surrenders. However, instead of being Asgeda warriors, the ambushers turn out to be the missing Sky people from Farm Station, who were alive after all. This crew includes — wait for it — Monty’s mom!! You guys have no idea what a big deal this is for me. I have literally written a letter to the CW begging to know more about Monty. This is my dream. You are watching my dream.
Speaking of dreams, A.L.I.E. and Jaha (Isaiah Washington) are in the City of Light, which is apparently a modern art museum overlooking a river or something. It genuinely does not matter. The point is that it’s real, and Jaha is marginally less crazy then we thought. A.L.I.E. promises Jaha that here there will be “No more suffering” and “together they’ll save the human race” or whatever else holographic AI cult leaders promise. Outside in the “real” world, Emori (Luisa D’Oliveira) and Murphy (Richard Harmon) — Memurphy?? — partake in some banter, Richard Harmon makes a face that I am not really a fan of, they flirt some more, and then they’re off on another hike.
Back in the forest, the Green family reunion gets under way. Monty cries, I cry harder. The farm station survivors stand down, and Kane and Bellamy discover one of the survivors is an old friend, Pike (Michael Beach), who taught Earth Skills back on the Ark. Out of the 63 survivors in the group, none of them are Monty’s dad, because I haven’t cried enough in the last five minutes. They profess themselves to be “Grounder Killers”, which does not go over well with Indra (Adina Porter) for some odd reason.
Bellamy interrupts the happy reunion to remind Kane that they still have to find Clarke (Eliza Taylor), whom Pike also knows from his class. Bellamy asks Monty if he’s OK, and Monty replies with something awesome and badass, I think; I really couldn’t hear over my own sobs. Kane introduces the not-too-fond-of-Grounders Pike to Indra, whom he’s not too fond of. But it’s all business with Skaikru, and they’re in the business of saving Clarke.
Clarke is currently the captive of Khal Drogo over here; I’m sure he has a real name but I don’t know it (Roan, played by Zach McGowan – ed.), but this is Clarke 2.0 and she is not having any of it. She drops to the ground in an obvious trap, you idiot, and attempts to drown him in the river. Unfortunately Drogo’s time on this earth is not yet finished, and he turns the tables to attempt to drown Clarke instead. All he ends up doing is washing out her new red ‘do, which is shockingly easy. This is why you don’t use Manic Panic, Clarke, but she couldn’t possibly know that. Turns out Drogo is Ice Nation, big surprise.
Lincoln (Ricky Whittle) and Octavia (Marie Avgeropoulos) are getting frisky right outside the gates of Arkadia when someone arrives on horseback, as Grounders are wont to do. It’s not an enemy however, but instead Lincoln’s friend Nyko (Ty Olsson), who’s been gravely injured by the Ice Nation. Nyko demands to see Abby (Paige Turco), the most beautiful doctor in the world. Abby is currently dealing with Jasper (Devon Bostick), being a mouthy little so-and-so as she dresses his wounds.
There’s a Finn name-drop in there somewhere, but they’re interrupted by Octavia and Lincoln carrying in the injured Nyko. Nyko, unfortunately, turns out to be a different blood type than the rest of them, and can only be treated at Mount Weather with the blood gathered through the reapings. Guess how this resonates with Jasper! Spoiler alert: I don’t care.
Back at Clarke’s old trading post, her girlfriend is getting whipped around by another bounty hunter demanding to know where Wanheda is. Unfortunately for him, he is immediately shot by Bellamy, who has a boner for saving people, and wants to know the same thing. She tells them only after realizing they’re Skaikru, subtly hints that they banged, and gives them what she believes to be Clarke’s location. They have to go on foot however, so Skaikru gets booking.
The Worst Road Trip Ever continues with Drogo trying to hide Clarke from Asgeda scouts, which fails when she starts shrieking to get their attention. Drogo tries to tell them that Wanheda is a present for their queen, which was a bad call as the scouts decide to kill Drogo and collect Wanheda’s reward for themselves. This is another bad idea. It’s just a bad idea day all around. Drogo kills all the scouts, and corners down Clarke as she tries to escape in the chaos, but not before she gets a good stab in. Clarke 2.0 doesn’t screw around and I can’t even describe how much I love it.
There’s a brief interlude as Linctavia and the med team (plus Jasper for some reason) take Nyko into Mt. Weather for treatment. The only thing that really happens in this scene is Octavia warns Jasper not to do anything stupid; which seems pointless, because you know he will.
Nearby where Clarke and Drogo are not forming a beautiful new friendship, Monty and his mom catch up. He tries to find out how his dad died, but his mother evades the subject. Pike also tries to get info from Bellamy about how the Grounder alliance happened, but they’re interrupted by Ice Nation war drums. As soon as they look around, Bellamy spots a bound and gagged Clarke and instantly switches into Best Friends Forever mode to bolt after her. He’s stopped by Pike and Monty, much to his great despair. The group splits up as Indra goes to tell Lexa (Alycia Debnam-Carey) that the Ice Nation has crossed the border, and the Sky People hide in a convenient cave until the Ice Nation passes.
Jaha and Murphy’s hiking trip is punctuated by Jaha’s “trips” to the City of Light. Emori’s companion with the jacked up face is interested in hearing more about it (again, this seems to be the day for really bad ideas), but Murphy only wants to know why Emori, the scavenger, is helping them out. Emori was apparently recruited by A.L.I.E. to steal tech and bring it back to the island. What A.L.I.E. apparently didn’t compute is that when you hire a thief, they steal. From you. So Emori tries to snatch Jaha’s friend’s expensive-looking whatever case while he meditates, but is thwarted by him waking up and strangling her. In an extremely uncharacteristic moment of heroics, Murphy tries to save her but to no avail. Turns out Emori can save her damn self, thank you very much, and slashes his throat. This girl is way too good for Murphy.
Down in a pre-war bunker, Clarke and Drogo’s Worst Road Trip ever is still not going so hot, on account of her stabbing him. He taunts her for not being able to kill him despite being the “Commander of Death”, a title she doesn’t even want. She points out they’re in the same boat (hiding from their people, covered in dirt, etc.), but Drogo, with a shockingly correct point, says that he was banished from his people, while Clarke chose to run away from hers. Clarke tries to bargain with him with no effect; the only way Drogo can become un-banished from the Ice Nation is to bring Clarke to his queen.
Back in the Cave of Convenience, Bellamy is still mad that no one will let him save Clarke, dammit. But not everything is freaking about you, Bellamy, as Monty finally gets his mom to tell him the story of how his dad died. Through tears, Mrs. Green (Donna Yamamoto) explains that Mr. Green did survive the crash, but was killed trying to save Ark children from Ice Nation warriors. So Monty’s dad died a hero, and would you look at that, I’m crying again. Pike explains that this was the beginning of their war with the grounders. Kane, however, tells him that not all grounders are created equal, and Asgeda and Trikru are not the same. Remember, it wasn’t too long ago Kane hated the grounders, but he’s wised up since then. Let’s hope Mr. Pike follows his lead.
Emori and Murphy wash up in the river while Emori promises him they’ll split the take equally. She gives him a (quite frankly adorable) kiss on the cheek for trying to save her, and they open up the case to find out what exactly they stole. As it turns out, they stole A.L.I.E. herself. This doesn’t go over well with Emori’s newly brainwashed companion, who holds her hostage in order to get Murphy to give Jaha the case. Murphy bargains for her life by threatening to drown A.L.I.E. Jaha, who, for the first time in two seasons, finally mentions losing his son (Remember Wells? Alive for four episodes, super awesome character, still makes me cry when I think about him sometimes… You know, Wells!) and how A.L.I.E. freed him from that pain. However, Murphy has never been the empathetic type. “You let her go now, or I’m gonna drown the bitch in the red dress,” he threatens, and Jaha acquiesces. Of course, Murphy being Murphy, he tosses the case anyway and steals their getaway boat. Against all odds, I am starting to like Murphy. Of course, A.L.I.E. is not dead, and neither is the guy Emori stabbed 10 minutes ago. They’re hanging with Jacked-Up Face Guy (whose face is magically un-jacked) in the MOMA — I mean the City of Light.
Back in Mt. Weather, Nyko seems to be taking to the blood treatment. He thanks Abby for her help (he’d be the first), and Lincoln warns them that they have to leave before Trikru finds out they took one of their own into the mountain. Jackson (Sachin Sahel), who has more lines in this episode than he did all last season, points out that re-opening Mt. Weather would be best for both Arkers and Grounders. Abby is beautiful, but not convinced.
In the end, it’s Lincoln who gets her to agree to opening Mt. Weather for habitation. Meanwhile, Jasper is breaking a bunch of priceless artwork because it was the one thing he was told not to do. Octavia arrives right as he’s admiring the late, great Maya’s favorite painting. It’s a good interaction since at this point I’ve forgotten Jasper and Octavia were ever friends. Octavia comforts him, which is odd since compassion for her fellow Arkers seems to have all but left Octavia completely. It’s a somber and emotional moment between two people who used to be closer than they are.
Meanwhile, Bellamy has once again decided to ignore everything that everyone else tells him and has sneaked out to rescue Clarke, dressed in Ice Nation garb he stole off one of the dead scouts. And for once in this godforsaken show, something actually goes semi-right, and he finds her! I feel like I am about to throw up my own heart at the sheer look of relief and joy in Bellamy’s eyes as he lays eyes on Clarke for the first time in three months.
One thing I’ve always loved about their scenes together is that Morley and Taylor always seem to bring out the best in each other, and this brief moment is no exception. The emotional yet wordless reunion is interrupted, of course, when Drogo steps in and catches Bellamy by surprise. A la Tangled, Clarke hoarsely begs Drogo to spare Bellamy’s life in exchange for her cooperation going forward. “I”ll do anything, I’ll stop fighting, just please don’t kill him!” she screams, and at this point my soul has left my physical body. After a suspicious look Drogo seemingly concedes, but not before stabbing Bellamy in the leg and warning him not to follow them.
Bellamy, who of course didn’t listen, labors through the forest on his wounded leg before Monty, Kane and the others find him. Kane demands that they retreat and treat his injury, causing Bellamy to promptly tell them all to screw off before they lose Clarke again. It seems no one can talk sense into him, until Monty, possibly the only one in the group who cares about Clarke as much as Bellamy does, assures him that they’ll find a way to get her back, but he won’t let Bellamy die in the process. Only then does he agree to go with them. I could spent twenty-two years talking about Monty and his character development despite the woeful lack of screen time he gets, but I’ll save that for another day.
The episode ends with Drogo presenting Clarke to (who we presume to be) the Ice Nation queen, but, in a non-shocking-if-you-read-the-guest-star-list plot twist, it’s not the Ice Queen, it’s Lexa! (Remember Lexa? Crazy cool commander, Anya’s second, was super into Clarke before betraying her and everyone she loves… You know, Lexa!) Clarke, of course, is not nearly as stoked to see Lexa as Lexa is to see her — you know, the massive betrayal thing.
Turns out our brave Heda made a deal with Drogo to lift his banishment in exchange for bringing her Clarke. Drogo, it turns out, is the son of the Ice Nation queen! It’s a small post-apocalyptic world after all. Drogo’s proper title is apparently Prince Roan of Asgeda, but I’m going to keep calling him Drogo. Lexa, of course, doesn’t keep up her end of the bargain, because she’s Lexa and screw you. Instead of lifting his banishment, she orders him imprisoned, and all her attendants to leave her alone with Clarke. However, she seems to have wildly misjudged how happy Clarke would be to help her, since instead of some cheek kisses and a “you look great,” Clarke spits right in her face and screams bloody murder about how she’ll kill Lexa for her betrayal. Someone should have told her that Clarke 2.0 doesn’t screw around. Lexa leaves to survey her kingdom, and the episode closes out.
It always astonishes me how much plot The 100 writers are able to fit into an episode without feeling bulky or hard to follow. It’s only been two episodes, and already we’ve had a complete shift in several key dynamics, a ton of world building in regards to both Asgeda, Trikru land, and the late Ark, and a few new characters I’m excited to see, along with some old ones getting a new perspective. I’m also extremely glad that Alycia Debnam-Carey, despite her commitment to Fear the Walking Dead, a show I don’t watch and don’t care about, was able to reprise her role on The 100, a show I do watch and care about very much. Let’s hope Ricky Whittle can do the same. I’m excited to see how the season will progress; if it’s anything like “Wanheda”, we’re in for a heart-wrenching treat.
The 100 airs Thursdays at 9/8c on The CW.