'The 100' Recap: 'Wanheda: Part 1'
"Pain, hate, envy? Those are the ABCs of me." -John Murphy
"Wanheda: Part 1" kicks off in the island bunker, just moments after Murphy got the snot scared out him by a 97-year-old suicide video. The bunker seals up, trapping the redemptive teen in his newly acquired bachelor pad. In less than five minutes, we see the entire three month time jump fly by.
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The City of Light
As Richard Harmon's character breaks down before out eyes in a spectacular performance, we learn that a four-man team created Alie. The AI eventually took the form of the only woman on the team, following which she used her new human avatar to made a bone-chilling proclamation. Her core command is to make life better, but, as in most sci-fi stories, a computer program will always chose the least compassionate route to a solution.
In Alie's eyes, Earth's biggest problem is overpopulation. Well, one nuclear war later that's defiantly not an issue.
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Chris, the man from the video, killed himself after Alie launched the first nukes, an act which was blamed on the Chinese. His coworkers hauled his body out of the bunker, but based on the amount of supplies left behind, they never returned.
Instead, it is Murphy who finds himself surviving off century old rations for 86 days. The stress and isolation are enough to send an already unstable boy over the edge, and by time the bunker's locks disengage, Murphy is grappling with the idea of suicide. Luckily, he can't bring himself to pull the trigger.
Once out of his swanky tomb, Murphy learns that Jaha has, in fact, discovered the City of Light. He offers Murphy a plastic chip, his ticket to the Promised Land; a place where pain, hate, and envy no longer exist. Murphy won't take the proffered chip, but once he spots Emori, he agrees to accompany Jaha and Alie on their latest outing.
Arkadia
Camp Jaha is turning into a thriving community. With materials pilfered from Mount Weather, the Sky People are settling into life on the Ground. It also helps that Lexa's ceasefire has kept the Arkers in relative piece for the last three months.
All that will quickly change.
Bellamy gathers his crew to scout Sector 7, the peaceful land that abuts the Ice Nation boundaries. Raven's at the wheel of their spiffy new jeep/humvee hybrid, Jasper is riding shotgun after being shocked awake from a mind-numbing night of drinking, and Monty is stony faced in the back with Bell and Miller. Octavia, in true Grounder fashion, is riding horseback.
The Violent Femmes Add It Up comes over the car stereo and for just a moment the teens seem normal and untarnished, rocking out in the back of their rover. You almost want to pause the show and leave them there in relative safety, but alas, their few seconds of fun come to a crashing halt when they pick up a beacon from the missing Farm Station. It's coming form Ice Nation territory, but Bellamy is willing to throw caution to the winds.
Bad move, Bell.
The tracker is in the hands of Azgeda warriors. A homicidal stare down ensues, and while it seems everyone is willing to comply with the 'set phasers to stun' program the Chancellor has in place, Jasper's urge to throw his life away is too strong. He merely laughs as the Grounders start to slit his throat in their bloodthirsty quest for Wanheda.
Jasper has wrapped himself so tightly in grief and anger that it would take the Jaws of Life to pry him out. Busy living in a world of What Ifs, Jasper will probably always think that his plan to kill Dante is the magic bullet for all his woes. Currently he's batting a thousand in the depression world series, and clearly drinking himself into oblivion and flirting with death are the only outlets he feels he has left.
Jasper, Raven, Octavia, and Miller head back to camp. Raven's injury prevents her from dismounting her horse, but only Abby is privy to this momentary drop in the mechanic's defenses.
Meanwhile, Bellamy has extended a job offer to Lincoln. Indra still has a kill order out on the former Trikru healer, and Lincoln chooses to embrace his life in Arkadia by falling in with the Guard. Octavia nearly blows a gasket when she finds out.
Wanheda
If you haven't guest, Wanheda is Clarke. Trigedasleng for Commander of Death, the name was bestowed upon the MIA Arker following her actions at Mount Weather. As Kane, Bellamy, and Monty learn from Indra, the Ice Nation Queen is out for Clarke's blood, and that means everyone is looking to bring her in. Apparently, killing Wanheda will grant you her powers.
The great Wanheda, meanwhile, is just barely scraping by. Currently, she is hunting a panther, using the resulting meat to buy supplies at a local trading post. That zoo is just the gift that keeps on giving. Earth Skills class and five months on the Ground has made Clarke a better hunter than we could ever hope to be. We'll mix our idioms and just say necessity is the best teacher.
She's dyed her hair red to obscure her identity, but in all reality, she isn't fooling anyone. Clarke is merely lucky that the woman at the trading post, Niylah, is grateful the Mountain Men are dead and gone. She also has eyes for Clarke, and while they wait for Roan and his Ice Nation bounty hunter pal to clear off, the pair hop into bed.
Unfortunately, Roan is more patient than Clarke thought. He grabs her outside the trading post and disappears into the night. At the same time, her rescue crew finds themselves stuck in an apparent Grounder trap.
Mount Weather
The Sky People are systematically emptying out Mount Weather, much to Lincoln's chagrin. He isn't the only one against the frequent trips to the mountain, either. As Macallan (Shawn Mendes) breaks into a piano rendition of Add It Up and the Sky People smile and laugh on the very spot where Maya met her end, Jasper losses it. The words "Grave Robbers" on his lips, he sends Macallan flying.
What did you think of "Wanheda: Part 1"? Is it everything you hoped it would be? Sound off in the comments below!
