“Fallen” further proves that both Lindsey Morgan and Erica Cerra are the real show stealers this season. The episode contains the fallout from Lincoln’s death in “Stealing Fire,” but it’s not the focal point. Instead The 100 writers use this opportunity for Alie (Erica Cerra) and Jaha (Isiah Washington) to organize an Arkadia uprising. They make Abby (Paige Turco) into a true believer of the lie that they are selling about the City of Light. A falsehood that parallels the rise of the fake commander, Ontari (Rhiannon Fish), in Polis. Overall “Fallen” is a great return to form for a series that has recently lost its voice in the midst of multiple character deaths.
“You’re dead to me,” says Octavia (Marie Avgeropoulos) to her brother Bellamy (Bob Morley) after his allegiance to Pike (Michael Beach) leads to the death of her first love. We have known since the season three trailer that this epic Blake sibling fight was coming, but the scene’s execution still took my breath away. Jason Rothenberg and crew make the clever creative choice to drown out the sound as Bellamy acknowledges everyone’s return to camp, only to then notice who is missing. This sound design is usually used to emphasize disorientation after a bomb has gone off. An explosion didn’t kill Lincoln (Ricky Whittle), it was a bullet to the head, but still a shot heard around the world. Bellamy allows Octavia to unleash her anger out on him, as he threatens everyone who attempts to intervene in the sibling fight. I love how ambivalent Kane (Henry Ian Cusick), Miller (Jarod Joseph), and Harper (Chelsey Reist) are about allowing Octavia to kick Bellamy’s ass. They are all now on the run from Pike and have to worry about the grounder blockade all because of Bellamy’s actions; but he’s still a former ally and leader from seasons past. “He stays chained, gag him,” orders Kane after agreeing to Octavia’s plan to take Bellamy with them as a prisoner in exchange for Monty (Christopher Larkin). Miller begins to question the order, only for Kane to cut him off and insist, “He’s the enemy, now do what I said.” The original Skiakru leader has fallen from grace and Kane will not allow him to easily earn his redemption.
“You have about five seconds to make me believe that you are still with me,” commands Pike after a surprising turn of events. Monty’s own mother turned him in to the current Chancellor, leading to a disastrous prisoner exchange for Kane and Octavia. Both characters end up chained and gagged after Bellamy decides to lead Pike’s team back to the Arkadia outcast camp. Instead he ends up leading Pike right to the enemy, because all the grounders really want is one man and then they’ll lift the blockade. The Blake siblings actually work together in this moment as Octavia translates Bellamy’s message that they have brought Chancellor Pike to pay the price for his crimes against the twelve clans. “Did you do that for your sister, or because it was the right thing to do?” asks Kane, but Bellamy doesn’t really answer his question and defaults to his anti-hero persona from season one, “It matters. Until you see that, you’ll still be lost.” Kane’s final piece of fatherly advice for Bellamy, before returning to Polis to meet the new commander. The Kane and Bellamy relationship is a great reward for including the farm station infiltration this season; unfortunately, they are going their separate ways for now. Bellamy’s focus will be on repairing his relationship with Octavia above all else.
“According to the data all human actions revolve around the avoidance of pain,” explains Alie to Jaha, while they debate Raven’s rejection to the City of Light. In “Terms and Conditions” we witnessed Raven (Lindsey Morgan) begin to break Alie’s link after her failure to remember Finn; her first love. Jaha quickly resolves that free will is the problem and convinces Alie to hack Raven’s brain, just like the missiles a hundred years ago. This is a superb comparison that clearly illustrates the terrifying extent of Alie’s control. She takes Jaha’s advice and forces Raven into submission after overloading her senses with all of her pain. Remember how tired Raven was in “Ye Who Enter Here”? Well after traveling down memory lane with her and Alie, we can understand just how much pain Raven has endured since setting foot on the ground. “I have full access to Raven’s synaptic network. She’s ours,” explains Raven (after Alie hijacks her brain); Raven is clearly talking, but all we hear is Alie; such a creepy moment. Things only get worse when Abby finds herself being forced to take the City of Light key. “She take that away from you too?” asks Abby after arguing against the faulty pain cure Alie offers to her followers. Unfortunately, Abby’s logical argument causes Alie to take drastic measures to retain control over her loyalists; she makes Raven slit her wrists. Well, I certainly did not see that coming, but it truly was the only way to make Abby accept the chip. A few scenes later we see Abby stand alongside Jaha passing out chips to everyone inside of Arkadia; so creepy!
Jasper (Devon Bostick) may turn into the real hero of the third season, as he takes Raven from the medical bay and crashes through the Arkadia gates to escape Alie. The final five minuets are great as Alie sends her drones off to stop Jasper from kidnapping “her favorite toy.” I mean it’s basically like zombies took over the camp, while the others were away. Jasper makes his escape and almost runs over Clarke (Eliza Taylor) in the process, “You really are the angel of death, aren’t you?” The 100 writers certainly love their dramatic irony this season as Jasper quickly informs Clarke that Lincoln is dead. Meanwhile, Kane is making his way back to Polis in an attempt to protect Clarke, but she’s already returned home. “Now that Arkadia has fallen, we’ll move onto stage two,” states Alie, alongside Abby and Jaha as they watch Jasper and crew drive away in the distance. Now we are going to watch Jasper finally make peace with his ghosts as he has to work with Clarke to cure Raven from the artificial intelligence holding her brain hostage.
John Murphy (Richard Harmon) will remain a prisoner in Polis, even after striking an unlikely relationship with new commander Ontari. The chemistry between Harmon and Fish is extremely palpable and I am really happy to see the writers explore their bond. King Roan has left his commander after being ordered to find Wanheda. Murphy observes Ontari’s fear in being called out as a false commander and decides to help her sell this lie, “like it or not, a fake commander needs a fake flame keeper.” He even tries to convince Ontari to use restraint when dealing with her subjects, but he wasn’t specific enough. Ontari gauges an ambassador’s eyes out; that happened. In my “Thirteen” episode review I talk about how the first commander is a false one. I couldn’t help but draw a parallel between Becca (Erica Cerra) and Ontari. We have not met Luna yet, but the writers are setting up a really nice contrast between her and Ontari; one disrespected the blood and the other desperately clings to the throne as her right. “Fallen” provides great setup for the remaining six episodes; As Alie moves forward with stage two, Kane goes to meet a fake commander, and Clarke reunites with the family she left behind.
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