Thoughts on The 100 2x08

[jaina]

I know, a TV show episode reaction in my livejournal? Who am I? But I typed some stuff as I was rewatching 2x08 on cwtv.com (trying to help boost viewing numbers) and I think this is really the best place to put it vs facebook or tumblr. I honestly don't know if anyone still reading this even watches The 100 or is caught up through the S2 MSF so, you know, feel free to skip, esp if you are Maggie and aren't caught up yet, because spoilers. Uh also if you like Finn you should probably skip.

basically this is just a bunch of angry typing as I was rewatching the episode.
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"it's a punishment for what happened in the village" NO. it's a punishment for WHAT YOU DID. Say it. WHAT YOU DID. It wasn't something that "just happened."

this bullshit scene with Murphy and Clarke blaming EACH OTHER for what FINN did holy shit i'm so irritated

lincoln is the only one speaking sense jfc

ew ugh i hate this clarke and finn scene so much "it was all for you, all these horrible things, so now i need you to forgive me" the worst kind of emotional manipulation Finn is such a gross Nice Guy

like i legitimately don't understand why everyone suddenly worships finn. I just don't. Everyone is defending the shit out of him and the narrative paints those who don't as being in the wrong

Kane: "i've gotten to know the commander" me: "YEAH I BET YOU HAVE"

why are they so against any kind of punishment for MASSACRING EIGHTEEN PEOPLE? like he should get off scot free? because he feels bad about it? look if some guy from the US went to Belgium and killed 18 Belgian people and then came back to the US, and then Belgium was like "uh, we're gonna need you to extradite this guy on account of him killing 18 innocent people" the US wouldn't be like "no, but see, he feels real bad about it, so we're just gonna let him stay here."

no but why are the writing Bellamy defending Finn, idgi at all, since when does he like Finn so much??

"let's go to the dropship!" yeah that...makes no sense and is a terrible idea. bellamy. you are a full on idiot for this episode. lots of people carrying the Idiot Ball this time.

'oh he's so selfless, he took the fall instead of Raven' IT WAS HIS FUCKING IDEA. such a Nice Guy. uuuuugggggggghhhhhh

Kane: "i spent time with your commander" me: "YEAH YOU DID"

I just really hate how they centered the entire episode around showing us how noble Finn was and how sad we should all be for him so that the ending would be Super Tragic but if he had been written well all along then we would already feel how tragic it is without the writers metaphorically grabbing us by the shoulders and going SEE? SEEEEEEE!!!

and if JUST ONCE he had actually come out and said, "What I did was wrong. I'm the only one responsible for my actions. It doesn't matter what my intentions were. I deserve the full consequences" then I would be so much less angry at all of this. COOL MOTIVE, STILL MURDER.

"i never meant to hurt you" not "i'm sorry I hurt you" just "i didn't mean it so forgive me" THIS IS WHY I HATE HIM
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and that's where my patience ran out. but I will say that I spent most of my first viewing of the episode yelling "KILL HIM!" every five minutes and then when Clarke went over to Lexa at the end I was like "oh god I hope she kills him. can't get my hopes up. can't get my hopes up. KILL HIM!!!!!" and then when she DID Rogue and I burst out in cheers and clapping. i have not been that pleased to see a fictional character die in a long time.


Okay, all that said though, if you aren't watching The 100 YOU SHOULD BE WATCHING THE 100 because on the whole it's a pretty killer post-apocalyptic funtime teen drama. If you like: 1) post-apocalyptic stuff, 2) kids-on-their-own, 3) team-as-family 4) characters being Team Mom and Dad, you might like this show. S1 is all on Netflix and it's only 13 eps. My recommendation is to watch through the first 4 eps, and by then you'll either know if it's for you or not. Don't stop after the first 2 because 3 and 4 are much better.

Comments

[padawansguide.livejournal.com]

I actually like how morally ambiguous this show is.

Finn should totally have taken ownership of his actions - but I kind of agree with one comment I saw that basically pointed out the giant chain of morally ambiguous (or outright horrible) choices that lead to that massacre. Like the adults sending kids down as guinea pigs instead of adults who were trained. The kids bumbled around and set off a war, with attrition on both sides. The Grounders did pretty brutal things starting with Jasper. And as Clarke pointed out, she has all kinds of Grounder blood on her hands. This is not necessarily a defense of Finn, but one could see his actions as a result of PTSD from being a kid fighting a war he wasn't trained or prepared for.

One of my friends has a cousin who did a couple of tours in Iraq. Ground stuff. And he was discharged because he was losing it. And instead of treating him, they just stuck him back in society. And then one day he snapped and went into a subway (as if he were on patrol or something) and shot it up and killed several people. He's in jail for the rest of his life. And while he is responsible for his actions, I do feel that PTSD (and not being treated for it when there were clear signs he had it) played a significant role.

Clearly there are other issues with Finn - as the flashback showed, he had a history of rash actions made for women he loved. (And in fact even getting involved with Clarke while having a girlfriend was sort of a rash action.) So clearly he was a guy that didn't think. But toss in some PTSD (and I would be amazed if every single kid DIDN'T have it after what they've all been through) and you have a recipe for disaster.

Also, who was dumb enough to put guns in his hands because rescuing her daughter trumped everything and everyone? Abby.

Again, I'm not a huge Finn fan, but I see a lot of people culpable in what happened in that village even if Finn is a reckless dumbass.

And everyone has blood on their hands. Even Bellamy - if he hadn't destroyed that radio, then the culling wouldn't have happened.

I don't disagree that Finn's got a bit of a "nice guy" things going. And they pushed too hard to make him the dreamy hearthrob. Which is why I kind of liked that at the end he did something so bad that there was no more waving it off. I liked that the show didn't back off from him having to die. And I liked that ultimately he turned himself in even knowing that he would probably be killed horribly.

I like the way it happened, because then it was about Clarke and her having to be strong. And also, I don't think anyone deserves torture no matter how bad they are - so I was glad she was able to kill him, because it would have been really sickening to watch them brutalize him.

The worst part of all this of course is that I have to wait for new episodes now! And I won't be able to marathon them!

ETA: All that was a way of saying, I like that Finn wasn't all dreamy hero or all bad guy - he was a confusing mix that made him hard to root for. And most of the characters are like that. And hardly any of the choices any one make are easy or perfectly moral ones.