TV Review: The 100 1×07 “Contents Under Pressure”

Contents Under Pressure

More and more ethical choices are coming up for the characters of The 100. This week’s title for the episode, “Contents Under Pressure,” truly depicted what each character struggled with.

Pressure surrounds all of The 100. Raven succeeded in making contact with the ark just as they’re demoting Dr. Abby Griffin from the council board. Well, at least her life was sparred due to her incredible medical skills. Abby’s skills are put to the test as she has to carefully guide Clarke on what to do in order to save Finn who has had a knife in his side torso.

Clarke truly had to keep her emotions in check while curing Finn both in regards to her feelings for his survival as well as the anger she has towards her mother. Oh yeah, she has to basically perform an operation without any proper tools and in the middle of hurricane that’s hovering right over their location on Earth. No big deal.

 

Thankfully, to much of all our relief, Clarke is able to pull out the knife from Finn’s side the exact 3 millimeters that allow his survival. Okay, so the hard part is over, but Finn is starting to violently convulse because it turns out that the knife has poison all over it.

Bellamy has taken the grounder that saved Octavia as a prisoner and has him tied up while he interrogates him for intel. It’s too bad that the grounder does not utter a single sound. We don’t hear a single peep come out of him even when Bellamy is flogging him. Or when Bellamy sticks a needle through his hand – ouch. Clarke agreed to Bellamy’s torture technique in order to try to find out the antidote to heal Finn. However, Raven took things to another level in order to get an answer by sparking to wires and going as far as to electrocute this grounder with said cables.

Advertisement

We’re hoping by next week we can have a name to call this grounder.

There’s one thing we know about him though, his infatuation with Octavia started much before she fell down the ravine. Bellamy finds a notebook where among sketches of the camp and a count of all the 100 that have died there’s also a portrait sketch of Octavia. The grounders have been keeping track of the camp all along. But this grounder has had his eye specifically on Octavia.

Could it be that Octavia seems to be the only one who has kept a pure heart in all of the madness that has come with their arrival on Earth? No matterthe situation they have been under and how strong the pressure has been, Octavia continues to choose to do the right thing. This shows so much character growth, and it’s unexpected too. From seeing Octavia being a flirtatious pretty girl taking her pants off in the first episode to the compassionate person she is now was not what we had in mind when we first met her. I was totally wrong about Octavia, and I’m so glad I was! She’s so much more than just a pretty girl, and each episode I begin to love her more and more!

Advertisement

The grounder seems to really love her though. He revealed the poison’s antidote only when he saw Octavia cut herself with the knife that Finn was stabbed with. Octavia feeling terrible about all that this man has gone through after having saved her life goes upstairs to try to clean his wounds. As she’s telling him how sorry she is, the grounder finally speaks! Yes, he speaks English! Looking deep into her eyes, he utters a heartfelt thank you, and I’m hoping I wasn’t the only one who melted in that scene.

Why do I totally love this grounder and Octavia tension? I’m totally hoping more revelation on this grounder comes our way in the following episodes.

Meanwhile on the ark, things aren’t looking too good. While there’s the good news that the 100 are alive, it also came with the heartbreaking news for Chancellor Jaha that Wells isn’t.

Advertisement

 

Not to mention that many of the ark’s inhabitants are wondering if their loved ones, those 320, gave their life in vain. They’re beginning to question what else the council is hiding from them. How did they allow for more than 300 people to die if there was the possibility that there was another solution?

His son’s death and the pressure of a whole spacecraft wanting to rise against him aren’t easy for Chancellor Jaha. But we get to see how deeply it’s affecting Kane. He’s even begun to turning towards his mother’s spiritual beliefs in order to seek peace. Kane finally understands that his rash decisions can have eternal effects on the lives of others.

There are others that aren’t losing sleep as they see that the council is feeling a little weak. Such as Diana, someone who was the ex- Chancellor from the working sections of the ark. She was voted out by the people, but it’s looking like she’s on a mission to get back into power. She has people from the working sections pressuring Jaha on how they’ve lost their loved ones in vain and how their belief in the council has gone down the drain. This pushes Chancellor Jaha into offering the empty council seat left by Abby to Diana. Which gives me the impression that it will be a choice he severely regrets in the future. Diana looks like she has a couple of schemes under her sleeve, and someone who should not be trusted. It seems that although those in power on the ark are adults, they’re just as lost as the teenagers trying to survive on Earth.

So much seems to be at stake. Because not only is there the new exodus mission which will move everyone on the ark to Earth, but there’s also the problem on how to transport everyone to Earth.

 

How do you transfer more than 2,000 people to Earth if there’s only space on the pods for 700? That’s a toughie.

I don’t envy Chancellor Jaha’s position.

The 100 keeps getting better with every episode. It isn’t afraid to make its viewers uncomfortable or take the story line in directions that aren’t necessarily the safe or conventional ones. These writers aren’t taking prisoners; they aren’t playing games! I can appreciate that.

Once again, I can’t wait until next week. Tell your friends to watch this show cause it’s getting too good. It can NOT get cancelled. This show is so different from anything that The CW has taken on.

So these are the pending questions for this week’s episode:

How much will Diana screw things in the council? What are her ultimate plans?

The grounder and Octavia, what is it about her that has him so devoted to her?

Will Finn be able to stick with Raven when his heart is clearly with Clarke?

Tell us what you thought about this episode!

Comment below!

7.5/10

Gif/ Photo Credits:

CW

0ctaviablake

theblakesiblings

Advertisement

Exit mobile version