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The 100 Season 3 - Now Available on DVD
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Submitted by Meredith Tate on Tue, 07/19/2016 - 13:31
**review includes spoilers for seasons 1&2, and mild spoilers for season 3**
I’ve been a huge fan of The 100 for the last couple years. There is so much to love about this show, including a suspenseful dystopian / post-apocalyptic world, moral grayness, diverse characters, and strong and complex women.
When we last saw everyone at the end of season 2, Clarke and Bellamy just radiated Mount Weather in order to save their friends, who were being harvested for their bone marrow. Unfortunately, killing the bad guys also meant radiating a few good guys – including Jasper’s girlfriend, Maya. Clarke left camp in order to deal with her guilt, while Jaha and Murphy went on a trek in search of the mysterious “City of Light.” The Grounders violated their pact with Clarke by abandoning the “Sky People” at the last minute, fracturing the friendship/maybe more relationship between Clarke and Grounder Commander, Lexa.
Season 3 picks up right where season 2 left off. Jasper is bitter, mourning the loss of Maya. Clarke is living in the wilderness on her own, while Jaha has discovered that the “City of Light” is actually a drug that mentally transports people to a perfect world. Meanwhile, belligerent Commander Pike leads an army of sky people to murder a camp of grounders, leading to tension between the two groups and among the sky people. But while everyone is distracted by Pike’s assault, they’re failing to see the real danger – Jaha is slowly forcing everyone to take the drug, creating an army for Jaha's AI leader, A.L.I.E.
This season started a bit slow for me, not getting into a solid plotline until about halfway through. As usual, I enjoyed the show’s ever-present moral questions like, how far would you go to ensure the survival of your own people? If your actions save your loved ones, do the ends always justify the means?
*slight spoilers coming*
Season 3 did face a bit of controversy, after choosing to kill off one of the show’s few LGBT characters. While almost every couple throughout the show has ended in tragedy (Clarke and Finn, Jasper and Maya, Bellamy and his girlfriend, and another straight couple whom I won’t spoil but ends in death this season), it was disappointing to see The 100 sink to the harmful and overused “bury your gays” trope, especially when the show had been lauded for its LGBT representation. When there are so few positively portrayed lesbian and gay relationships on TV, I was sad to see this one end this way.
I was also slightly disappointed in the season finale, as it ended almost exactly like season 2 – with Clarke’s hand on a lever, trying to decide whether or not to pull it to save her people despite the potential consequences. I wish they had taken a different direction so that it would feel fresher. I also wish Raven and Abby had taken a bigger role this season - why does everything always have to come down to Clarke?
That being said, I enjoyed this season. The messy relationships added a great layer of moral ambiguity, and the Jaha storyline of forcing or coercing people to take the dangerous drug kept me on the edge of my seat.
I’ll probably stick around for season 4. I’m looking forward to seeing which direction they take the show.
Grade:
3.5 / 5.0
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