The 100 season 4, episode 3 brings new problems and possible solutions, beautiful character moments, and more than one big reveal.
“Jaha leads Clarke and Bellamy down a road to possible salvation while tensions rise in Arkadia and Polis.”
Are you enjoying The 100 season 4 as much as I am? This week’s “Heavy Lies the Crown” raised the bar and the stakes (on which the bar stands), and you can expect more of the same from the brilliant, tense and emotionally rewarding episode “The Four Horsemen,” written by Heidi Cole McAdams, who also brought us “Stealing Fire.”
Related: The 100 star Bob Morley previews Bellamy’s journey to leadership in season 4… and beyond?
If episode 2 was about choices, episode 3 is about the consequences of those choices, as the characters deal with the fallout (!) of Bellamy and Clarke’s divisive decisions. But don’t think they’re the only ones whose actions have consequences — next week it’s Raven, Octavia and Murphy who stand to face their own respective moments of reckoning.
If you want a taste of what’s to come in The 100 season 4, episode 3, proceed with our spoiler-light preview. Otherwise, stop reading now!
It turns out that Abby’s doctor senses were tingling when she decided to leave Polis at the end of last week’s episode.
At the top of “The Four Horsemen,” Nyko makes a welcome return, but the joy of seeing our favorite friendly Grounder doesn’t last long: The healer stumbles up to the gates of Arkadia in a desperate hope that Skaikru medicine can cure a group of sick Grounders, one of whom is Luna, who are all suffering from radiation sickness.
“It has begun,” Clarke mumbles, the already immense weight on her shoulders seeming to double before our eyes.
And Clarke’s troubles, which already have her teetering on the edge of hopelessness, are about to get much worse: As the promo for the episode reveals, Raven discovers that they in fact have only two months, not six, before they need to have the Ark sealed up with the 100 people marked for survival inside.
Who are ‘the new 100,’ you ask? Well, let’s just say that is a question Clarke spends most of the episode trying to avoid answering. But Raven, ever the pragmatist, insists that Clarke is the one who has to decide, since deciding who gets to live or die is her “specialty.”
Clarke can only bring herself to even consider such a terrible task because she still fervently hopes that a better solution will present itself. So, when none other than Thelonious Jaha comes up with a potential alternative, she hardly hesitates to go along with his plan.
Jaha, who never learns, is once again convinced that he’s found a way to save everyone, this time in the form of a fallout shelter (did somebody say Fallout Shelter?!).
But unlike his feverish search for the City of Light, Jaha’s new promised land seems somewhat more plausible. He’s done research and everything, which mythology-hungry fans like myself will be excited to learn gives us a bit of new insight into the show’s pre-apocalyptic past.
United in their hope of a better solution, Clarke and Bellamy follow Jaha into the wilderness, which allows for some great interactions between the three of them (the best of which might be what leads up to Bellamy’s ‘see you in hell’ moment as glimpsed in the promo).
You might even say the trio are going on a ‘day trip’ — just don’t expect any fun hallucinogens this time!
In fact, this entire storyline can best be described as “sobering,” even if it does conclude with a scene between Bellamy and Clarke that can only be described as beautiful.
Raven, meanwhile, is insistent that they put all their energy into saving the 100 people they know can be saved. She fiercely tries to keep her mind locked on the future to avoid confronting the present; in many ways, Clarke and Raven are mirror images of misery this week, both feeling the weight of responsibility and both struggling with the knowledge of how many lives will soon be lost.
Although you can expect a solid dose of Bravenlarke scenes, Raven’s most important interactions in “The Four Horsemen” are with Abby, who takes over for Bellamy in repping team ‘save who we can save today.’
After all, as discussed at length in my episode 2 review, it’s one thing to weigh up the numbers and declare that it’s better to save 400 people than 25, and quite another to stand face-to-face with the people whose lives you are deeming expendable.
And Abby — who, if you’ll remember, was staunchly against the culling, too — might just be the one to remind Raven that, despite her understandable drive to save as many people as possible, individual lives still matter.
Although Murphy and Emori had a beautiful reunion in the premiere of season 4, don’t expect it to be all smooth sailing from here. They may be star-crossed soulmates (#fightme), but Emori, in particular, finds it hard to process some of the things that happened last season.
Everything changes when Murphy makes a brief trip back to Arkadia, however, and finds himself caught up in the conflict between Raven and Abby, with surprising consequences.
Finally, we move to Polis for an absolutely fantastic, heart-wrenching and beautiful storyline involving Octavia that had me gasping in both surprise and horror. And that’s about all I can really say about it. *eyes the spoiler police*
This episode also marks the return of both Tati Gabrielle’s character, who finally gets a name, and Chai Romruen’s Ilian.
Gabrielle’s character reveals herself to belong to a faction of Grounders only vaguely familiar to us, but who are set to be much more important in coming episodes.
Meanwhile, Ilian, aimless now that his original plan to seek revenge fell through, has fallen in with a group of looters — which leads him to once again cross paths with the increasingly dangerous Octavia…
10 quote teasers from ‘The 100’ season 4, episode 3
Finally, I’ll leave you with 10 lines of dialogue from “The Four Horsemen.” Who says them, and to whom, is for you to figure out!
- “Put down the sword, Octavia.”
- “Do not come any closer!”
- “I know you’re in pain. I know you’re afraid. But it doesn’t have to be like this.”
- “Basically, we’re screwed.”
- “She’s lucky to have you.”
- “You jealous, Miller?”
- “If we can save one life, would you call that a waste?”
- “Tell me something good.”
- “If that’s what you want me to do, I’ll do it. For you.”
- “Yu gonplei ste odon.”
‘The 100’ season 4, episode 3 airs Wednesday at 9/8c on The CW
