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Here we are again, about to embark on a live recap and review of The Dark Year. I’ll be writing stream-of-consciousness, so keep refreshing this page so you don’t miss out on my ramblings and excited (or shocked) comments. Of course, this will have spoilers for tonight’s episode and the episodes before it. Kinda goes without saying, but I’m saying it anyway. 

Are you ready?

I’m kind of nervous, to be honest. I’m wondering if my cannibal theory (I wrote about it on Heavy here) will be accurate. In fact, about an hour after this is over, drop in on my Heavy page because I’m sure I’ll have some type in-depth analysis available for you to read and debate about. 🙂 Oh, and we’re not worrying too much about typos tonight because Octavia’s crazy reaction to Monty (a la burning down his algae) was a giant typo, as far as I’m concerned. Hmph.

OK, awayyyyy we go.

The episode starts with Clarke desperately trying to save her overdosed mom’s life. This was not the homecoming she expected. And in walks McCreary. Yikes.

Now we see Clarke and McCreary discussing the satellite feed. It’s a 24 hour loop, she points out. (Let’s not forget that she abandoned Bellamy last week and left a bunch of baby worms in the mud… And murdered an innocent Grounder the week before that… Just reminding you…)

Clarke realizes they’re just helping her because they’re all sick. McCreary informs her that Abby is a junkie.

Clarke has 24 hours to get her mom back on her feet.

Raven, Diyoza, Murphy, Shaw, and company are in hiding. They talk about the hacked satellite feed.

I’m sorry folks. I’m being really plain right now in this recap. I’ll try to do better…

Bellamy talks to Echo (they are in love!) and Murphy and Echo realize for the first time that Clarke has changed sides. Bellamy can’t join them, and they’re close to running out of rations.

Kane isn’t trusted yet for … reasons…

The main goal of Raven’s crew is to stop McCreary from launching missiles with treasonous Clarke’s help. (Because it’s better for Madi to be a prisoner than in charge… Sorry, I’m bitter.) And the main goal for Clarke is to treat McCreary’s crew before Octavia’s army arrives in five days.

Abby is awake!

And Madi isn’t happy with Clarke’s plan.

I’m wondering if there will be some Madi betrayal coming soon.

Clarke is going to put Abby into rapid detox to try to cure her fast enough so she can cure McCreary’s gang.

Now we’re in flashback mode and we’re not holding back. Abby stoically explains that they are going to run out of protein and starve, so the fighting pits are the only solution. Kane can’t think of another solution. And Octavia is NOT happy.

Hmmm… I hope there aren’t more fighting pit scenes. 🙁

We don't need another gladiator fight-to-the-death episode on The 100, do we? https://t.co/i3EyVqnbCz via @PostApocalypt

— Post Apocalyptic (@PostApocalypt) July 25, 2018

By the way, if they had Monty’s algae none of this would have happened. But noooo. Octavia had to go burn all that down, even after she learned the hard way how important it was.

Bellamy reminds Indra of this, essentially…

Are we seriously hearing spy-like music for Murphy? I kinda love it.

Oh crap… Murphy, Emori, Echo, and Raven are caught. 🙁 But Shaw reveals himself and offers himself in their place. Which… why? They have the advantage? But they take him up on it and Shaw goes all superhero martial artist and takes them out. We are GOOD.

Raven’s mad though.

But Emori just gave Murphy the best gun in the world, so he now loves her forever, I bet.

Commercial break. Almost halfway through and all we have in the flashback category is a bunch of “tell don’t show” about cannibalism that we already expected. Hmmmm….

But wait, there’s this….

If cannibalism was the big reveal, I’d have been bummed everyone guessed it… it’s not. Hold on to your hearts. #the100

— Jason Rothenberg (@JRothenbergTV) July 25, 2018

Rothenberg just tweeted that the big reveal is NOT cannibalism and it’s going to hurt our hearts.

Now I’m scared.

My bet… They started framing people for crimes they didn’t commit, just for meat… (OK, I lie, that’s Derek’s brilliant prediction.)

Commercial is over.

Diyoza admits to Kane that Abby put herself in front of a bullet for her, so she’s worried about her too. Wonkru and the red queen will win, Diyoza admits, but the only question is what’s left at the end of the battle.

“Octavia lost her way to happily ever after a long time ago. How do you choose between the monster and the devil?” – Kane creeping me out.

Oh, and Madi has no chill when it comes to Abby. But she needed to hear that.

They’re eating their first bites of food and it’s gross. I’m eating dinner right now and just…ugh… They have to eat humans for a year. But Octavia has a point, this is to prevent the human race from going extinct.

(Derek is wondering why they had to make them into the grossest meat cubes in the world…)

Kane refused to eat the meat. Now THAT is interesting. Did he last the whole year? (We saw this flashback while Abby was passed out, by the way…)

And we’re back. I hurriedly ate my pasta so I don’t have to eat during the cannibal scenes. :-/ Madi told Clarke they’re on the wrong side of the war and Clarke says, “At least you get to live.” (And might as well have said, “I killed Bellamy, Indra, and my family for you… You’re more important.”)

Anyway, Diyoza is planning with Murphy, Raven, Shaw, and company.

Bellamy appears in Octavia’s meeting and tells her the spy (Echo) found them a way in. “Before I tell you this we need to set some things straight. This war is about to be fought on the last survivable land on Earth… We’re going to fight this the right way… It ends with us accepting the other side’s surrender… (then) we share the valley with them… no fighting pits, real peace.”

Octavia tells him that she wants this too and accepts his terms.

Abby wakes back up. She said she took the pills because of how what Allie did hurt her brain.

“We did things to survive,” she says about the Dark Year. “Things no human being should have to do.”

Abby brings up the fact that if people refuse to eat their muscles will atrophy and they won’t be any good for eating.

Octavia’s going to have to make it a crime to NOT be a cannibal.

And Kane, Abby says, is the first one.

In a ceremonial dinner, Octavia says they honor those who died, and eats the human flesh. Kane refuses. Maybe they should’ve done this:

This would have been more palatable than meat cubes. #The100 pic.twitter.com/VsdlQqd3pn

— Post Apocalyptic (@PostApocalypt) July 25, 2018

Another guy refuses to eat because one of the men in the arena was his brother. “He gave his life so you could live, so we all could,” Octavia says. “All of him, for all of us.”

The brother can’t do it. “I would rather die with my brother.”

Octavia: “You are Wonkru or you are an enemy of Wonkru,” she says, while holding a gun. “Choose.”

Then she shoots and kills him, and threatens another woman. “You eat or you die.” The woman refuses and Octavia shoots her dead while crying.

She shoots another man.

(This whole time I’m wondering why no one tries to take her out.)

Kane offers to eat, and then everyone follows his suit.

In present day, Abby says, “It was me…” to Clarke and breaks into tears. She was the one who planned the whole thing, forcing others to eat meat, and then making Kane the key to turning everyone.

What do you think? Did she make the right decision?

Meanwhile in Madi’s world… Madi knows about Mount Weather and all the other things Clarke didn’t tell her. Madi has the commanders’ knowledge. Clarke: “‘The things I did, I did for my people… Now you’re my people.”

Madi is getting a little creepy now.

“I never said I was a hero Madi, ” Clarke said. “Because I’m not one.”

Cut to Octavia and Indra, who also aren’t heroes. And Bellamy….

And there it is! Raven and Shaw confirmed. 🙂

https://twitter.com/Kazza169/status/1021922280388014080

“I'm not mad at you for saving my life. I'm mad at you for making me care about yours." D E C E A S E D. I love them y'all. (Although I was hoping it'd cut to a jealous Murphy) #the100

— Clarke only radioed Bellamy (@nightxcourt) July 25, 2018

And now we see Indra, Bellamy, and company’s big plan.

Annnnd we’re done. It was an “ok” episode. I think might expectations might’ve been too high. Would’ve liked it more, I think, if I hadn’t built it up so much in my head.

Here are Derek’s favorite and least favorite parts of tonight’s episode: 

He liked the backstory. “Because I thought it really captured how gross it is to eat people, the feeling, and I liked the emotional struggle that Octavia went through having to deal with people who were refusing to eat and what she did to make sure everybody ate. It was very pragmatic and hard core.”

He didn’t like Abby’s withdrawal storyline and not healing the McCreary crew. “I think she should try to help him because he hasn’t killed her or hurt her, and she’s there. He hasn’t given her a lot of good reasons to try to kill him. It’s basically killing him. He hasn’t been the cruel person he was billed as.”

He also liked Bellamy calling out Octavia for burning the farm and telling her that she, essentially, just killed her people. “Enjoy your walk,” he said.

Stephanie

Stephanie Dwilson started Post Apocalyptic Media with her husband Derek. She's a licensed attorney and has a master's in science and technology journalism. You can reach her at [email protected].

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