The 100 Season 4 Review

Check out my reviews of previous seasons: Season 1 Review. -- Season 2 Review -- Season 3 Review.

Season 4 of the 100 picks up with the game-changing revelation that ALIE made to Clarke at the end of season 3 - the revelation that there will be another nuclear apocalypse that they have no hope of surviving. The season focused on the various characters attempting to find a solution, a way to survive, and they were hampered at pretty much every turn by the various politics and backstabbing and everybody wanting to save just their own clan. It kind of made sense, but it was also a little enraging to have all these potential solutions get destroyed by the idiocy of certain characters. The season did, I think, bring the characterizations a step up from the last season. While there were still ridiculous things being done the show at least allowed Bellamy to move past the disaster that season 3 was for him and grow into a character we can like again.

Also, while characters like Clarke and Abby continued to do stupid/enraging things that made them pretty much the bad guys this wasn't necessarily so bad, because it wasn't new. What I especially liked this season was that they were being called out on it - more people were commenting on it and putting them in their place with their "for the greater good" speeches. And let's be honest, by this point I've accepted that a large part of the fun of this show is to rage about it - rage at the characters and at the writers for the things they put them through and make them do.

To be honest, I wasn't feeling this season at all in the beginning. The turning point for me was near the end of episode 9. Episode 10 was phenomenal and the rest of the season was great as well. I don't think I can say any more without spoilers so here goes...


SPOILERS BEYOND THIS POINT

YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED

SPOILERS

A few spoilery thoughts about this season:

- I absolutely loved - and would consider this the turning point of the season where it became good - the scene where Clarke is about to make herself Commander and then Roan just shuts the whole thing down, tells her they don't need a saviour, especially one who doesn't even respect their beliefs and customs at all, and reveals the fact that her nightblood was artificially created through science. Of course Abby was the one who backed him up thereby doing one more Abby-ruins-the-day act, but this time, I was behind it. I LOVE that they had the show kind of call itself out on the whole saviour Clarke being the saviour thing. It was beautiful. Up until that point the show was very predictable and I had no doubt that Clarke would become the Commander, but this just took it in a whole new, and much better direction. And in the end the clans decided to have a conclave and battle it out for who gets to keep the bunker - solving the problem in their own way.

- Clarke's betrayal was ridiculous, but it put her so much more obviously and firmly in the bad guy role and I honestly - while I was enraged by the action for quite a while afterwards - I'm now ok with it, because I think the show and alot of fans can stop trying to pretend she's the good guy now and the show can start focusing on characters I care much more about.

- Jasper was finally killed off. I mean, he got a spear in his chest in episode like, 1, and still survived, but he was an interesting enough character until season 3. In both seasons 3 and 4 he just became extremely annoying and if they had allowed him to survive past this point it would have been too much. They killed him off in a logical way for where his character was and he got to say goodbye to Monty, so it worked well.

- I was not expecting them to kill off Illian, Roan and Luna and so quickly after each other. Didn't think the writers of this show had the courage to do that with characters that had become so important/prominent. It worked. It really worked.

- Raven's role is becoming more prominent and I love the little group that formed with Raven and those who went to save her finding a different way to ride out the storm.

- Also, of course Clarke had to do something big at the end - and survive, I'm pretty sure the showriters don't have enough courage to get rid of her once and for all - but I'm very glad she got separated from the others and they can have their own little dynamic without her. This also allowed her nightblood thing to become important again.


Overall, this was a good season and I'm excited about how the ending has changed up the dynamics for the next season.