The 100 Season 3 Report Card

A season that started off strong, quickly got shaky, and then pulled it all together in the end: that's what The 100 Season 3 was.

The show notoriously deals in complex themes, and clearly the showrunners had plenty of lofty ideas in mind when they plotted out the course of this season. Unfortunately, there was simply not enough screentime to successfully pull it all off.

Despite all that, given the HUGE twist revealed by ALIE in the final moments of the season, we're really looking forward to The 100 Season 4.

In honor of the recent airing of The 100 Season 3 Finale, we're taking a look back at the season's best and worst episodes, best and worst new characters, best first kiss, and more!

Check out our picks below and be sure to weigh in by leaving us a comment with your thoughts.

1. Best Episode

This season wasn't the smoothest (what with the ludicrous Bellamy/Pike arc) but it managed to pull everything together in the end. "Perverse Instantiation - Part Two," the second part of the two-part finale, was an excellent, exciting, and emotional hour. It was filled with tension, drama, and much needed reunions. Best of all, the whole team worked together to help Clarke save everyone from ALIE.

2. Worst Episode

There's just so much that was terrible about "Fallen." Bellamy finally deciding to turn on Pike was much needed, but that was about the only real highlight. In the aftermath of Lincoln's horrible death, Octavia viciously beat her brother and was fully prepared to turn him over to Pike. Ontari coerced sex out of Murphy -- an act of rape -- and the scene downplayed that fact VERY weirdly. Raven, under ALIE's control, cut her wrists, forcing Abby to take the chip and become an ALIE minion. And Clarke, our protagonist, was completely absent for all of this, save the last two minutes. It was the weakest of the season, by far.

3. Best New Character

This was a tough one. In the end, Roan gets the Best New Character designation simply because we almost know Luna TOO well after her brief appearance. Roan, on the other hand, remains enigmatic. For that reason, he's the one new character we definitely need to see more of in season 4. Fingers crossed he's not dead!

4. Worst New Character

Ugh, Pike. His complete lack of nuance and his prejudice against all Grounders was aggravating and badly developed. As terrible as it will be to watch Octavia struggle with her actions, seeing her kill Pike was actually pretty cathartic -- despite the fact that Mike Beach totally brought his A game to this role.

5. Season 3 MVP

Raven Reyes has endured some of the worst pain and trauma of anyone in the series. She lost Finn to Clarke (first figuratively, then literally). She was shot by Murphy and permanently disabled. She struggled with depression in the aftermath of her disability. Then, she was used by ALIE in terrible, demoralizing, and dangerous ways. Yet, Raven managed to come out the other side of it all, once again, fighting through ALIE's influence and eventually playing a key role in the AI's destruction during the finale. Raven Reyes, we love you.

6. Most Heartbreaking Death (TIE)

This one was too close to call. Lincoln was an amazing character, one established very near the beginning of the series. He'd been around the delinquents for a while and became one of their own in due course. To see him struggle all season with the prejudice that certain Sky People at Arkadia felt towards Grounders, only to then die at Pike's hand for that very reason, was too much. Gunshot to the head while kneeling in the mud? That was the worst.

7. Most Heartbreaking Death (TIE)

Lexa was an immediately iconic character when she premiered during The 100 Season 2. The chemistry she shared with Clarke was electric, thanks in no small part to the wonderful talents of their portrayers, Alycia Debnam-Carey and Eliza Taylor. Seeing Lexa dead by an accidental stray bullet, a useless, pointless death, was horrifying, heartbreaking, and unsatisfying. It was made that much worse given that she and Clarke had FINALLY consummated their relationship just minutes before.

8. Best First Kiss

The development of "Kabby" has been a long time coming. Starting off as enemies, the two quickly grew to care for one another. Their bond deepened over the course of three seasons, until it became love. That kiss, when Abby remained behind at Arkadia as Kane and the others escaped, was amazing. We're digging the chemistry between Paige Turco and Henry Ian Cusick.

9. Worst Character Regression

Oh, Bellamy. He'd come so far since the "Whatever the hell we want" days of early season one. The fact that he participated in Pike's massacre of Indra's Grounder army was unbelievable, and the arc leading to that decision was very poorly constructed. It set Bellamy way back, and now he'll have to climb out of that hole he's dug for himself. Though, to his credit, he is making headway.

10. Best Character Development

On the flip side, Monty really shined this season. Sure, he had his poor decisions as well (throwing in with Pike temporarily was a big issue -- though he didn't actively commit a mass murder, like Bellamy did), but in the end he killed his own mother (TWICE) for the greater good. That takes some Clarke-level heroism. And imagine: he and Jasper were little more than the comic relief in the very beginning of the series.

11. Best Villain

Forget Pike. Forget Nia, the Ice Queen. Forget Titus, the misguided flamekeeper who was terrible at handling guns. And forget Ontari (just kidding; she was awesome, too). The real villain of the season -- the slow-burn villain who gained power and was near-unstoppable until everyone stopped focusing on minor, human squabbles -- was ALIE, the rogue AI. With her iconic red dress and Erica Cerra's creepy stitled line delivery, ALIE was such an interesting villain -- mostly because she was entirely unaware that what she was doing was villainous at all.

12. Overall Season Grade

B+. The first half of the season was quite rough. Bellamy's arc was a mess, Pike's characterization was a mess, and Clarke spent far too much time separated from the rest of the group when she was in Polis. The second half of the season pulled it all together with some great character-driven installments, leading to a climactic, amazing finale, and great promise for The 100 Season 4.