The 100 Season 2 Episode 15 Review: Blood Must Have Blood, Part One
Amanda Festa
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Now THAT is how you do TV, folks. Everyone else can go home now.
With one of the most action-packed, emotionally charged and unpredictable hours of the series, The 100 Season 2 Episode 15 did not disappoint.
While last week put the focus on relationships, "Blood Must Have Blood, Part One" was all about the action. Seriously, the action did not stop even for one minute. And each minute was better than the minute before.
Lexa and Clarke's early call to arms was brilliant and exhilarating – Lexa focusing on the fight, while Clarke put an emphasis on sparing the innocents, perfectly highlighted the innate differences in their approaches and perhaps offered a little foreshadowing of what was to come.
The mountain has cast a shadow over these woods for too long. They've hunted us, controlled us, turned us into monsters. That ends today.
Lexa
Clarke walking us through the plan as if setting the stage for a heist was well executed. With a plan that has so many moving parts, it's important we know what is happening. Although, telling us what is supposed to happen is a surefire sign that something is not going to go as planned. But with The 100, the only sign of that we needed was that it's Wednesday.
And you know what they say about best-laid plans – and that lesser known saying about The 100 and my sanity. Neither is making it through the hour intact.
The four teams working separately but together also pays homage to the season as an entity. After all, the prisoners in the mountain have been there for a long while and we have been waiting for the band to get back together for some time.
Team 1, Raven and Wick at the dam blowing the power. Team 2, Octavia and Indra manning the mines to disable the Reapers. Team 3, the Trojan Horse inside Mount Weather. And Team 4, of course, led by Clarke and Lexa at the mountain doors.
I liked seeing our heroes leading different aspects of the same plan and anticipating the moment when they will converge. (It's going to be soon, right?)
While the ceaseless action kept me sitting upright, mouth agape from start to finish, it was the characters who carried the episode. The 100 has some of the most well-drawn, multi-faceted (and just generally badass) characters on television. And they have come so far, which makes their journeys incredible to watch.
But, ultimately, the biggest game changer of the episode was Lexa's betrayal. When discussing the finale over the last few weeks, it seemed as though many were worried (and are still very worried) about Lexa not making it through with her life. Who had the time left over to consider that she would betray Clarke and break the Sky People alliance?!
While it does make sense from a logistical standpoint, it is cold. I do think deep down, Clarke knows why Lexa did it, but would she have done the same? My gut says no. They had a plan – a complex and well-thought plan, and I believe Clarke would have stuck by it.
The Grounders would not have been able to get this far without the Sky People. Without Raven and Wick, the acid fog would still be burning people alive and without the manufactured tone generators, the Reapers would be in full rabid attack mode.
Lexa admits she made the decision with her head not her heart, but even her head should have reconsidered. Surely, her betrayal broke the alliance. So now she has her imprisoned Grounders back, but a whole new set of potential enemies, as well.
I do care, Clarke. But I made this choice with my head and not my heart.
Lexa
But you have to LOVE the way The 100 handles these morally ambiguous scenarios. On one hand, what Lexa did was inconceivable, and I don't believe for one minute that Clarke would have ever done the same to her.
On the other hand, from Lexa's perspective, it's such an excruciatingly sad and painful moment. Because she does have strong feelings for Clarke. She sacrifices this potential relationship with a woman who she may love in order to save her people – knowing that this choice may be unforgivable. Lexa truly is a leader who values the greater good – for better or worse.
Hopefully Lexa will change her tune in The 100 Season 2 Episode 16 finale and come to Clarke's defense. Although, if it means her making it through the episode unscathed, I'd rather her find shelter in Polis and stay safely hidden until the The 100 Season 3 Episode 1.
And Lexa and Clarke were hardly the only characters making moves in this impressive hour. Action Hero Bellamy has been tearing it up inside Mount Weather for a while, and while I've missed his interactions with Clarke, he has definitely come into his own during the infiltration. Similarly, Jasper has gone from lackey to right-hand man to leader in his own right. Watching him side by side with Bellamy had me pumped.
Lincoln was a stand-out tonight, as well. I am so relieved to have him back in the fold and (hopefully) free for good of the Reaper drug. The way he stood by Clarke's side and in the end wanted to fight for the Sky People even after Lexa's order to retreat proves he is a solid ally. And, like Octavia, is one who can bridge the divide between the Grounder and Sky People cultures.
I don't trust her. Not after Ton DC. Neither should you.
Octavia
Speaking of, Octavia has been one of my favorites for a while now. Her fearlessness, strength and killer braids are only outdone by her street ground smarts and general intelligence. Her deduction about Clarke and Lexa in The 100 Season 2 Episode 14 is once again called up in "Blood Must Have Blood, Part One" as she questions Lexa's retreat order (and rightly so!). I had chills when she is left alone in the Reaper tunnel, renounced by Indra for refusing to leave her brother, admitting: "I have no home."
It can't be over.
Clarke
The chills pretty much stayed with me until the end. And that last image of Clarke, looking up at the massive doors of Mount Weather, summed up her journey in such a beautiful way. What a shot to end on! She's one girl, but she's a fighter, and she has the resolve to stay the course. Whereas Lexa left to save the majority, Clarke will stay to save the 45 individuals left inside.
Cage better find an umbrella.
Were you shocked by Lexa's choice? Would you have done the same in her position? How will Clarke get her people out of this one? What new forms of emotional turmoil will the The 100 Season 2 Episode 16 finale bring us?
If any episode requires a rewatch, this is it. Remember, you can watch The 100 online at TV Fanatic.
