The 100 - Rubicon - Review: "This is war Clarke, people die"

Wow. Just wow. Any lesser TV show would have dealt with this crisis different; they would have either destroyed or prevent or redirect the missile. The show even suggest that option when Clarke says they can find the guy giving the coordinates to shoot the missile on a great bit of misdirection. But no; The 100 did what most shows wouldn’t: it let the missile hit the ground.

The 100 is no stranger to tough calls, and it has already made incredibly brave decisions, such as killing Wells, sacrifice 320 people on the Ark, trap The 48 on Mt Weather, killing Finn and make Lincon become an addict to the reaper drug, and that’s just to name the most memorables. All of these choices reflect the show’s commitment to take routes that seem unthinkable, but merely because there is this unwritten belief system that, on a sci-fi show, there is always a way to stop a crisis and that the protagonist will come up with it. Well, The 100 has said “screw that” and continue to surprise us, but I this time they didn’t just say “screw it” they tapped danced on the grave of that belief system.

What makes this particular choice standout from all the others this show has made is that, as Abby says, make Clarke cross the line: she had killed, but there was always a reason to it, even when she killed Finn she did it out of mercy. This time, she let people die in order to ensure their victory, a choice that obviously haunts her as we see her firm, but torn apart, by the end of the episode.

One of the best qualities of The 100 is its moral complexity: what is right and what is wrong? The answer is “it depends”; for some it is whatever ensures survival in the long term, for others is their own moral code. The decision Lexa and Clarke took to let the missile strikes hits moral grey areas not just because of the choice itself, but because they keep the information to themselves; remember the death of the 320 on the Ark? They were given a choice, they were trusted, but here it is chose upon them.

That doesn’t mean that Clarke and Lexa made the wrong call; chaos could have ensued, Mt Weather could have figured out that Bellamy was among their ranks and everything would have fallen apart. So it’s really, really tough to call it. But that what makes it all the more relevant and impressive: I’ve seen the comments, people debate over wherever Clarke took the right decision or not, and the level of thought and arguments involved in said debate is just amazing.

The fact that this show managed to create those discussions show just how much it has matured and become more and more a thing of its own.
So I’m done saying this show is the sci-fi version of GoT with Lost elements on the mix. The 100 has grown strong and well to be recognized as its own, similarities to other shows aside. It has proved, once again, that this show is able to engage in very complicated moral dilemmas and generate thought provoking stuff on a weekly basis.

But the decision making process about the missile strike wasn’t the only thing the episode treated. We also have Mt Weather and the quest for the City of Light.

I’m really not sure I dig the City of Light storyline; Jaha is a strong character to carry that story and I’m warming up to Murphy a bit more each week, as it seems he is walking a path of redemption - “seems” is a key word, since this is The 100 and he could quickly turn it around -. The thing is that, everything that is happening elsewhere is already developed and thus more engaging than this storyline that seems to be brought out of nowhere; I know Jaha spent some time on the death zone and that he heard the stories, but this plot was kicked in the midst of another, more interesting plot.

That being said, the show does make a good use of Murphy this week and the new found grounder - or is there any other name for these people on the death zone? - Emori, as they talk about their lives and what they are trying to leave behind. It seems like this week managed to actually sell me on the notion that Murphy is done being a complete ass and that he actually wants a new life for himself.

It’s not like I’m a fan of Murphy or that I have forgotten what he has done, but it is interesting to see a character that once was a complete jackass doing just what he pleased mistreating everybody else now trying to rebuild himself. There is something fruitful about that particular storyline. Plus, it is always nice to see her new found friend Emori hit in him in the face after threatening his life.

So Murphy’s quest makes the City of Light storyline work, especially since he has Jaha as a counterpart to discuss about faith. But as well developed as it was, everything else is so great that it is just hard to truly dig what is going on here.

Because Mt Weather… along with the main plot of the decision making process of the missile strike crisis, everything on Mt Weather is just so great!
Bellamy is making good use of his cover as he not only is able to pass a gun to Jasper, but he also gets help from Dante Wallace to cause a breach on level 5, saving the lives of his friends, at least for now.

Everytime Dr. Tsing came to take someone from the 47 I just thought “she has to die”. And man, did this show please me! Jasper wasn’t able to do much with the gun Bellamy gave him besides getting picked for bone marrow extraction, but Bellamy - guided by Raven via radio - causes the breach, and we get to see Dr. Tsing lame attempt to escape through the elevator and Jasper stopping it so she could die due to the radiation. Most satisfying death scene ever!

But now, taking it a bit more serious, seeing Jasper letting her die shows how much hardened he has become as the show has gone on: he has always been a little bit more naïve and rash than the rest of the regulars on this show, so seeing him like that just shows how being on the ground and Mt Weather has changed him. And of course, I'm sure we are all happy that he let Dr. Tsing die.

“Rubicon” as a whole is a pretty outstanding episode, with just a few kinks that made it go a bit slowly, such as the City of Light storyline that gets a bit on the way of the more compelling story arcs, but as I said, it is slowly coming to work and I believe it will become better and better. Other than that, the episode will probably be remembered by fans as the moment Clarke crossed the line and decided victory over lives, and that is a pretty impressive thing to take from a TV episode.

Grade: A-

Stray Observations:

-By the way: happy Valentine's Day everyone! Take this review as a little present from me ;)

-Character I miss the most this week: Maya; she had plenty of great stuff to work on last week with Bellamy, so she is missed here.

-Biggest “Awww”: Raven hugging Clarke. After everything that has happened between these two, it is a nice moment.

-I watched this episode with a friend of mine who studies mathematics and he froze the screen to take a look at Raven’s mathematical equations about the dam. Turns out they were off.
Watch out for that writers! You don’t want to make look Raven bad at math.

-Eliza Taylor keeps proving her awesomeness by trying to sound in control while her body language reveal in how much distress Clarke is. I just can’t believe how much she has improved during the show’s run so far.

-Raven turns the radio into a mobile radio so they can contact Bellamy everywhere: once again, she proves to be essential for the sky people survival.

-Call out to Bellamy’s awesomeness! The way he tells Jasper to give a better fight is already making up for all the times he has been sidelined this season.

-So Cage gave Dante the bone marrow and it seems like he is going to be banished from Mt Weather. It is interesting to see their conflicted father/son dynamic. Cage may be the antagonist, but he truly believes that he is doing the best for their people, I think that is what sells him as a good bad guy for the show. And I love how Dante tells him “It will only cost you your SOULS!”

Memorable quotes of the week:
-Murphy: “Touch me again and I will end you…
In a non delictive way.”

-Clarke: “This is wrong!”
Lexa: “It’s also our only choice. And you know it. You could have warned everyone up there. But you didn't. You said nothing, not even to your own people. This is war Clarke, people die. You showed true strenght today, don’t let emotions stop you now.”

-Octavia: “Grounders don’t give up! We fight. Either you get up and we fight this or you crawl away and die alone like a coward.”

-Jaha: “I believe, this is what they call having faith John.”
-Murphy: “Faith? Nah, I just don’t have anything better to do.”

-Bellamy: “Just tell me how we know this is even working.”
Alarms sounds.
Raven: “I say it’s working.”

-Jasper: “I hope you know just how special you are to us.”

-Abby: “Tell me this wasn’t you! Tell me this was Lexa!”
Clarke: “I wish I could.”

About the Author - Pablo

I'm currently studying Psychology while also writing fantasy books (one already published in my home country, Chile, you can check it out on the facebook icon). I watch many different types of shows, including my favorites Revenge, Game of Thrones, Once Upon a Time and about 23 more. Currently writing reviews for Once Upon a Time, The 100 and Community

Recent Reviews (All Reviews)