Written by Dorothy Fortenberry
Directed by Omar Madha
Airs Wednesdays at 9pm EST on The CW
On this week’s The 100, Clarke is haunted by visions of Finn, the Grounders accuse Raven of attempting to assassinate their leader, Abby tries to soothe Clarke’s grief, and Monty gets caught by the Mountain Men.
“Remember Me” may be about the Sky People’s shaky peace treaty with the Grounders in plot, but in spirit, it’s wholeheartedly an episode about Clarke struggling with the grief of killing Finn, as well as the harsh decisions the leaders–particularly women–on this show have to make on a regular basis. As Abby notes, and as Clarke seems to realize, all of these leaders’ lives mirror one another; they have the same goals, they have to make the same decisions, and they have the same pressure put upon them to keep their people alive. The episode does an excellent job exploring how Abby’s past involvement with her husband’s death is reminiscent of Clarke’s killing Finn, and then elevating this storyline further by forcing Lexa to kill her right-hand man. Despite Lexa’s claim that emotions are a weakness when it comes to survival, she seems pretty put out by having to kill Gustus, and this speaks volumes about her character; she is quickly becoming a multi-faceted and fascinating individual to watch.
Really, though, “Remember Me,” belongs to the insanely talented Eliza Taylor. Taylor does an incredible job conveying how grief-stricken and guilty Clarke feels over Finn’s death while still maintaining Clarke’s trademark logic and grade-A decision-making skills. This episode is almost heavier, emotionally, than the midseason finale because of the myriad ways Finn’s death is shown affecting the group. Raven, too, is having a very bad day; the poor girl can’t even grieve without being tied to a stake and tortured. The episode doesn’t focus as much on her response to Finn’s death–beyond outright grief–but it’s surely coming. It’ll definitely be interesting to see how the dynamic of Raven and Clarke’s relationship changes in the future.
Also, it’s a good thing the peace treaty hasn’t fallen apart yet, because it’s important that Finn’s death means something, but also because the Sky People’s situation with the Mountain Men is getting more perilous by the episode. The Mountain Men have been deliciously creepy and ominous thus far, and it’s absolutely horrifying (though not really shocking at this point) to see all of the empty cages they’ve built specifically for the Sky People. When the showdown between the Mountain Men, the Sky People, and the Grounders finally occurs, it’s going to be monumentally awesome.
The only real complaints with “Remember Me” are trivial: there’s not enough Bellamy (is there ever enough Bellamy?), and the Finn stuff does feel a bit heavy-handed in the latter half of the episode. His final send-off is gorgeous, but the journey there is a little rough; it only reaffirms Clarke’s obviously-distraught mental state. But, again, minor complaints, because the episode is very, very good.
The 100 seems to function as a youthful, but still just as intelligent, hybrid of Lost and Battlestar Galactica; both shows were fundamentally about survival, and survival often came at a cost. The 100 has yet to shy away from moral ambiguity or hard-hitting questions, and that’s what makes this show great. The stakes are always high because the show understands how survival in a post-apocalyptic world works–everyone is in danger at all times, anything can happen, and anyone can die. The storylines are doubly engrossing because of how young most of the main characters are–they’re being forced to grow up in a very harsh and unforgiving world, and most of them, particularly Clarke, are developing into incredibly interesting, dynamic, and headstrong characters. The 100 is on an upward trajectory, and it’s only getting better as the story moves along.
Ashley Laggan