The 100’s final and seventh season was probably its weakest, but it gained momentum when it reached the eighth of sixteen episodes. Anyone who knows and loves this series realizes that every season, the stakes are raised, but the actual stakes were unclear until that episode. The ostensible issues were making peace at Sanctum, finding out more about the anomaly and Hope and a big bad that emerged at the end of Season 7. My only caveat is that even though I have watched every episode of The 100, because my memory is deteriorating, I may have appreciated it more if I remembered every prior episode.
Sanctum was a multi front battle between the Prime worshippers (Amazon continues its influence even in the dystopian future), the Children of Gabriel, the Convicts and Wonkru. Without Gabriel, the Children of Gabriel never had a solid psychological profile as a group though the series did try to explain their issues through one character, Nelson. Lee Majdoub, who plays Nelson, deserves credit for being asked to make a lot of ridiculous shifts plausible. While emotionally he sold it, the story needed to get more set up during the sixth season to work in this one. Wonkru versus the Convicts was a story line that worked and evoked The 100’s strongest themes of class and ethics. Hatch and Nikki as the head of the Convicts were memorable additions in spite of the economical amount of time that they had to do so. Wonkru’s story was personified through Indra, who finally gets a superb story arc to resolve her trauma and help her become a better guide to the leaders around her. I never doubted that she had a good heart, but what drives others mad just takes her on a journey of generational healing.
If The 100 made a mistake, it was expecting so many new characters, Hope, Nelson, Nikki and Hatch, to carry the first half of the season when we are supposed to be wrapping up the story arc of main characters. Even though the show deftly emotionally manipulated us to get invested in these newcomers, I knew that we only had a season with them at most. I just could not. Usually we go into a season firmly knowing what the obstacles are, but we had to wait until way later in the season to realize that the anomaly was more important to the fate of humanity than expected. The main characters are not absent in those early episodes, but for me, the series revolves around Octavia so I found myself a bit checked out of Sanctum’s twists and turns. Raven, Emori, Murphy, Echo and Gabriel shoulder some of the weight, but only Raven’s story line really moved the series’ storyline forward whereas Emori and Murphy as individuals and a couple provided much needed bright spots. After Octavia, Murphy has shown the most growth, and I love how far he has come.
When we did get Octavia, it was with a heavy side of Diyoza, who may be my second favorite character in The 100 (sorry, Clarke, we will always have good times before you became a mother). I never saw Xena and Gabrielle as lovers even though that series ultimately did take the turn, but even though The 100 definitely did not ship Diyoza and Octavia, tell me that they are not a married couple. Mama Diyoza definitely gave the series life, but Hope did nothing for me; however if labor nearly took out Diyoza, it affirms all my life decisions. Can you imagine being Hope and finding out that your mom is a complete bad ass after decades of just loving your mommy?!? Ivana Milicevic makes the best reaction faces.
The 100 made a mistake by waiting too long to reveal the real threat of Season 7. Prior seasons more explicitly laid out the threat of the season in the last episode of the prior season. Instead the series relied on us remembering a character referenced earlier in the series and vague religious technology cult mythology. Even though it was also a desperate, cynical bid for a prequel series, the eighth episode was sorely needed for the season to gain focus and momentum for all of us who saw the reveal of who was behind the Anomaly and responded, “I don’t know her.” If the prequel series gets the green light, I would watch it though I do not think that it is necessary. I am also concerned that if and when I rewatch the entire series, that episode may be inconsistent with what we learned about Becca. A threat needs to be distilled in a single sentence to make sense, and the last war was not doing it. Transcendence finally did.
The 100 finally lived up to its reputation by introducing a threat greater than the nuclear annihilation of Earth. It just took too long to get there. I would have preferred a shorter season, skipping all the different ways that the cult tried to recruit the main characters with varying levels of success and just started with Bellamy’s episode. I actually found that episode touching and sincere, but do not conflate it with cosigning Bellamy’s main character flaw: following the worst person with misguided good intentions. Bellamy and Kilmonger were not right. Becca and Jordan and Nakia were right with Raven and Octavia following their lead with a spectacularly disastrous miss that bought unexpectedly some time from Clarke. I am completely frustrated that a hot guy can be right about one thread, but miss that it is woven throughout a completely ugly, error-ridden tapestry. If you cosign Bellamy, you cosign a cult leader, who was going to fail! I never said that he wasn’t hot—though white is not his color, and he needs to stop shaving.
Compared to prior seasons, this existential threat lacks the same roots in real life horror so it lacked a bit of resonance. When Pike became a xenophobic, genocidal leader, it felt directly germane to the 2016 election. Season seven’s threat is only fun for (former) Christian fundamentalists and Star Trek: The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine fans. (Did I miss any other sci-fi references?) Thank God for Sheidheda. Even though The 100’s point is to convince me that violence is never the answer, and I agree, if I am being honest, I enjoy watching the battle scenes and come for the chaos. Kudos to JR Bourne for getting a chance to play a deliciously evil yet practical villain who generally showed strategic brilliance except in the final episode when they just needed him to do some crazy stuff to move the story forward. How many slender fifty-year old men get to convincingly terrorize masses of people? Bourne wins the Dark Horse scene stealing award. Would someone clarify—was he unusually strong and able to break chains? How did Sheidheda get that body-no one was plugged in like The Matrix? Is Sheidheda a prodigy because he adapted to technology so quickly? Were any of these plot holes a problem for me? Nope. I will sign a waiver because sometimes scenery needs to be chewed.
While I am mostly fine with how The 100 ended, I cannot forget that in Season 6, no one could stand being around the other, but sure, ok with the happy ending. I would have been fine with the death of humanity. A shorter season with a little more groundwork laid in earlier seasons would have made season seven more satisfying. Congratulations goes to Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. for ending on a high note, but The 100 stumbled to the finish line.
