S04.E12: The Chosen

[MostlyC]

Jaha and Kane disagree over how to handle their grim reality; Clarke leads a group to save a friend.

[Guest]

I'm finding something delightful about the fact that the "older" generation is trapped in a bunker with Octavia and 1100 grounders while the younger generation has, through a series of events, somehow decided to strap their asses to a rocket and launch themselves into space like Wile E Coyote or  

 

Its looney tunes.

[dippydee]

I'm just happy Raven gets to use her rocket. I'm also intrigued by the random combination that could potentially be going spacewards. None of them are exactly stable non-confrontational people, I think a few episodes of them bickering Big Brother houseguest style would be pretty hilarious and the show could definitely use a little levity. 

[Guest]

4 minutes ago, dippydee said:

I'm just happy Raven gets to use her rocket. I'm also intrigued by the random combination that could potentially be going spacewards. None of them are exactly stable non-confrontational people, I think a few episodes of them bickering Big Brother houseguest style would be pretty hilarious and the show could definitely use a little levity. 

Its not exactly random though.  Its mostly the survivors of those who ended up on the ground before the whole ark came crashing down plus significant others.   Basically they decided by "ooh its opposite day".

[AudienceofOne]

So aside from the fact that the entire premise of this season is completely ridiculous and also that this season has absolutely no plot... I actually enjoyed that episode. Colour me stunned.

[absnow54]

I'm just excited that most of the originals' stories are intersecting again and that they're all together for this final survival attempt. Them deciding "Fuck it, let's just go to space." is the most fun I've had watching this show in a while. The scene of Jaha and Kane sedating and dragging out the bodies of those who were damned to die was pretty hard to watch. I hope the sedative they used was strong enough so they're not awake for the radiation wave to burn them alive.

[quarks]

I have two questions:

1) Why is Jaha one of the people who gets to survive? I mean, yes, he has some engineering skills and he found the bunker in the first place - but his whole City of Light thing is also why one of the grounders blew up Arkadia, which could have been a safe spot for another 100 people. Also he's Jaha. 

2) Basically, at the start of season 2, the survivors had four, possibly five options for living through the next five years: Mount Weather, Arkadia, what was left of Farm Station, the big bunker, and the lighthouse bunker - even if they only knew about four of those and even if the lighthouse bunker was too small to hold more than a few people and might not have been adequately provisioned. 

Azgeda blew up one of those - Mount Weather. By putting Farm Station people into slavery, Azgeda was partially responsible for blowing up the water thing earlier this season, which meant that Arkadia couldn't hold that many people. Then, Azgeda marched on Arkadia, forcing Arkadia to remove a number of security personnel, which was one reason Ilian was able to blow up Arkadia and eliminate that as an option. Yes, that was still mostly the fault of Ilian (and Jaha!) but Azgeda has some responsibility there.  Azgeda didn't find either the lighthouse bunker or the main bunker - Skicru did.

All of this combined has eliminated at least 800 -1000 potential spaces for people to hunker down in for the next five years. Plus, as one of the day players just pointed out, Azgeda and other Grounders don't have the skills needed to keep the main bunker operational. Sure, Azgeda can learn, but so can the other clans. And that's before we get into the whole issue of Azgeda also killing other grounders.

Which is a long way to my question: why is Azgeda getting the same treatment as the other clans? Especially with Clarke arguing that they - Skicru - are lucky to have any places in the bunker at all?  I mean, I'm with Clarke on this point - the Grounders really don't have a good reason to let any of the Skicru stay underground at all, apart from the technological skill. But that also applies to Azgeda. At least Skicru found the bunker.

Did like the remaining delinquents minus Miller going ok, yeah, screw this, let's head back to the Ark and space though. That was fun.

[Artsda]

I liked Bellamy questioning Clarke's decision to go help him with Raven, since she had just pulled a gun on him and locked her out. Now she suddenly cares? 

Loved leader Octavia and her reaction to Jaha calling her one of them. Yet minutes before he and Clarke locked her out to die. 

[snapdragon12]

I have a feeling Clarke will get left behind. Maybe there's not room in the rocket for all of them so she locks everyone else in and stays out, since she has the nightblood.  The show can't seem to keep Clarke and Bellamy together in one spot for too long.

[Boofish]

I guess I'm the only watcher of this show that finds last two seasons of the Raven stories unwatchable. So glad the others joined her so she can stop talking to herself and perhaps be interesting again.  Last week the first time they cut to her I cut out and decided to wait for my recording to finish so if could FF thru that subconscious nonsense.  I will see my way out :)

[Isazouzi]

2 Grounders are going to space. Can't wait for their reactions!

Disappointed that Jaha's ass hasn't been kicked out to die yet.

[AudienceofOne]

1 hour ago, Isazouzi said:

2 Grounders are going to space. Can't wait for their reactions!

Disappointed that Jaha's ass hasn't been kicked out to die yet.

One of the greatest annoyances of this season is the Jaha thorn. He should have been excised but the writers needed to keep him around so they could use him to make the Ark analogy. The problem is: a) that analogy stinks and b) it means accepting that Skaikru just welcomed Jaha back as a leader. Why would they?

The Unity Day/ 13th Clan was a better parallel, especially since Kane changed that narrative. This time, the 13th clan did not get blown out of the sky. Or maybe they did? It was all still under duress and a lot of them die so maybe it is the same thing? This is a far more interesting discussion but instead we've got Jaha still around and people going, "This is just like the Ark!" When it isn't.

Not that the 13th clan thing works any better because in this scenario the 12 other clans meekly and quickly chose 100 people - offscreen - and we're supposed to believe that was a totally conflict-free event. This was done so the episode could concentrate solely on the "unique" pain of Skaikru while simultaneously ignoring the thousands of Grounders that are about to die - apparently with a laudable stoic resignation. It's ok though because the two Grounders we care about are inside the bunker anyway. And people claim that Clarke is the ethnocentrist!

I would have liked to have taken more time to explore the Clarke/Bellamy conversation about her motives. When he asked why she was coming with him, she just looked so exhausted. And since it was Clarke's list that Skaikru went with in the end, once again she's the one who's borne the emotional weight of making these decisions. I bet nobody lays into Kane the way they laid into her over it.

It's frustrating because Season 2 of this show was so good and there is still echoes of that greatness in the characters and in these scenarios. But I feel like it's being squandered on increasingly-ridiculous "moral quandaries" and overblown existential threats.

Also, in case I haven't mentioned it before - this season has no plot!

[SourK]

LOL. I thought this was the season finale, and I was like, "Wow, that was more of a cliff-hanger than usual."

I agree that this has not been one of the stronger seasons, but I'm interested to see where they go with this next year, and I feel like, as people on these boards have predicted, they're gearing up to jump five years in the future (or at least some time in the future, if there's a new emergency before five years is up) and reset everything, which could be interesting.

That's not to say that there was nothing weird about this episode. Like, for instance, everyone was peacefully cooperating with the lottery system until Jaha riled them up, and then Jaha changes his mind and knocks them out with gas, and now the people he pushed into rioting are going to either die without knowing what happened or having a chance to say goodbye, or else wake up outside the bunker. Also, for the people who were cooperating with the lottery and got chosen before Jaha messed everything up for them, do they still get a spot in the bunker even if they aren't on Clarke's list? Do the bunker people know that Clarke's possy of critical people isn't coming back, and do they know not to hold spots for them?

Relatedly, I laughed when Clarke came up with a plan to save "everybody" that really just saved the main characters.

Also, Abby. I'm confused about what Abby's prognosis is, now, but, when she took herself off the list, wouldn't the most compelling argument to keep her be "Abby, you're basically the only doctor besides that guy who assists you sometimes" rather than "Abby, I love you"?

11 hours ago, snapdragon12 said:

I have a feeling Clarke will get left behind. Maybe there's not room in the rocket for all of them so she locks everyone else in and stays out, since she has the nightblood.  The show can't seem to keep Clarke and Bellamy together in one spot for too long.

I think this is a cool idea. I would be really interested in a flash forward where we have people up on the ship, people down in the bunker, and then Clarke surviving on her own like she did that one time when she dyed her hair with mud.

[Solace247]

1 hour ago, SourK said:

and then Clarke surviving on her own like she did that one time when she dyed her hair with mud.

Uh, it was berries, thank-you very much.

[AudienceofOne]

1 hour ago, SourK said:

Relatedly, I laughed when Clarke came up with a plan to save "everybody" that really just saved the main characters.

LOL I missed this the first time. You're right and that is kind of funny. 

[Solace247]

13 hours ago, Boofish said:

I guess I'm the only watcher of this show that finds last two seasons of the Raven stories unwatchable. So glad the others joined her so she can stop talking to herself and perhaps be interesting again.  Last week the first time they cut to her I cut out and decided to wait for my recording to finish so if could FF thru that subconscious nonsense.  I will see my way out :)

Raven's a character that hits a lot of the same beats over and over, but she's not allowed to be anything other than awesome (able and sassy) and so she's a lot of people's fave. Personally, I can take or leave her, especially since they keep ratcheting up her abilites to level 100.

[NeenerNeener]

18 hours ago, SourK said:

LOL. I thought this was the season finale, and I was like, "Wow, that was more of a cliff-hanger than usual."

I thought it was the season finale too, and I was wondering if they had announced yet how the next season was going to play out. A 5 year time jump could have Bellarke as an established couple when the next season opens. 

[ketose]

I'm pretty sure the thousands of people who are going to die would have preferred living forever in the City of Light.

Ironically, by Jaha bringing Alie to Arkadia, Clarke was able to find out about the death wave & radiation. Without that minimal warning, they probably would have died before they even knew what was going on.

This is also totally beyond stupid. When they walk out of the bunker in 5 years, there will be no animal life and sparse vegetation at best. Jasper might have had the right idea. Oh, and his girlfriend would have been totally dead by now given the Mt. Weatherites low tolerance for radiation.

[ottoDbusdriver]

About Raven's handy-dandy Priamfiya map, it showed that the Deathwave has already reached Arkadia, yet would take another 9+ hours to get to Polis (which in the context of this show is a 1-2 day walk from Arkadia), but then take another 90 minutes to get to Becca's Island (which is a 10 hour truck/boat ride from Polis).  WTF ?  Who does the math on this show ?  Is the Deathwave going to hold back for plot convenience before it gets to Polis but then step on the gas to get to Becca's island ?  The mountainous island off the coast of New Jersey ?

So they are going to get the oxygen generator from the lighthouse, but what are they going to make oxygen from ?  You just don't plug it in and it produces oxygen, it has to produce oxygen from something else.

How do they know what is left of the Ark in orbit ?  When Jaha left via nuclear-tipped missile, the Ark was basically shredded to pieces.  Clarke is just assuming that the agro module is completely intact.  If everything is exposed to space, which there is a high probability, Clarke's shrug it off "we'll get things up and running" is pretty much more bullshit.  I hope they enjoy starving until the first algae crop is available.

Why not just stay in Becca's bunker ?  It seemed to come through the first Priamfiya without any issues.

If all of the other nuclear plants in the world went to shit, how come the nuclear power plant that has to be powering the bunker is all peachy keen ?

How come Monty and his girlfriend weren't wearing their radiation suit helmets in the truck while driving ?  Even Bellamy and Clarke had their helmets on.

Let's get this straight -- a random group of grounders apparently not associated with the known clans is just wandering through the woods, didn't hear a truck coming down the road and one of them walked right into it's path (like an idiot).  And Echo was following all this time on some kind of superhorse (that could keep up to that truck) because her plan all along was to save Clarke so Clarke would get her into the bunker ?  That was her plan ?  What if the truck didn't break down ? Or did Echo arrange the attack just so she could appear to be the hero ?

I'm looking at that space capsule and I'm not seeing reclined seating for 7/8 people --  because if they are all sitting upright during liftoff, all of them will end up with spinal injuries.

On 5/18/2017 at 3:31 PM, nosleepforme said:

Monty's "Jasper would have wanted you to take his helmet"-line was ridiculous. Jasper would have asked Clarke to die with him.

Yeah, that was some real bullshit writing, no one would ever believe that.

What continues to make me laugh is the stupid solar panels on the sides of the truck that Bellamy was driving, because it's just so ridiculous. 10 hour drive in a dark forest, sure solar power will get them the entire way. Whatever.

Edited May 20, 2017 by ottoDbusdriver

[thuganomics85]

I was way too happy over the brief exchange between Niylah and Murphy, but I just loved seeing the Harmon siblings finally get to act with each other!

The stuff with the bunker was predictable, but still pretty well done.  No way a lottery wasn't going to end in a revolt and Jaha would try something, but Kane talks him down, and instead they use on the sleeping gas on their own people, and then use Clarke's original list to select the 100 to live.  Henry Ian Cusick really sold Kane's anguish over having to do this.  And there is so going to be problems when Abbie wakes up and she finds out she went against his wishes.

Octavia continues be awesome, and the boot in the ass most everyone else needs.

Bellamy pointing out that Clarke's "I have to save Raven!" kind of doesn't hold water since he was willing to sacrifice her last week, was a nice touch, even if I still have to accept the show is going to give Bellamy a pass on all of his horrid actions last season.

So, the ragtag group of Clarke, Bellamy, Raven, Murphy, Monty, Harper, Emori, and Echo are now going to try and launch the ship after-all and go back to the Ark, and try to survive up there.  That... should be interesting.  Of course, I really don't know if that ship can fit everyone, so I suspect more bodies will drop next week.  Then again, I don't see next season being everyone in a bunker or space station for the entire episode, so there will either be a massive time jump or Primafaya will somehow not end up happening.

[ketose]

I'm leaning toward no death wave next week. Either that, or a dumb ass time jump to a desolate wasteland.

[wonderchica05]

I want to go ahead and cast my vote now to float Echo once we get to space!

These folks need to listen to Henry Ian Cusick more. He knows all about #hatchlife.

[roctavia]

It sounds like after the death wave, there will be high radiation, but something they suspected that the nightbloods would be able to survive. So if Clarke ends up stuck on the island, she can ride out the death wave in the bunker, but then in theory she should be able to survive the high levels of radiation outside... which may mean the levels won't be so high that vegetation can't start regrowing in the next few years.

How crazy is she going to go by herself for 5 years? Or will she be able to talk to her mom over the radio while she's in the lighthouse bunker... which no longer will have oxygen... hmmm

[Lady Calypso]

Wah, wah, they're sacrificing three hundred people's lives. Like they're the only ones, Jaha. Shut up. God, his look at Bellamy at the beginning was just ice cold. I really, really need Jaha to die. I have a feeling I won't be that lucky, though. 

Personally, I'm not really feeling for Skaikru needing to sacrifice their people, since all the 12 clans needed to do the same. I get that Skaikru is able to take care of the necessities in order to survive, but they can have Skaikru teach Grounders how to do it. So no, Skaikru is not special. I love that Octavia chose the Grounders. I also love her owning Jaha. Jaha is, again, the worst. I don't think I can express that enough.

Good thing Kane convinced Jaha to gas their own people to stop a bloodbath. Kane is an excellent leader. Him and Octavia will do well, along with Indra, in leading the people. Though Abby may not be happy when she wakes up to find out that she was chosen to stay by Kane.

However, even if I don't feel bad that Skaikru think that they get to dictate how many of their people should be staying because they're seemingly superior due to their knowledge of how to survive, I do feel bad for the Skaikru people who were promised spots and then had them taken away. That has to suck. It's definitely worse than The Culling from season 1.

It does look like many might be separated for a while. Octavia/Bellamy and Clarke/Abby, in particular. Speaking of Octavia/Bellamy, does she even have any idea that her brother isn't in the bunker? 

I did have a good chuckle at "Jasper would want you [to put on the suit]". I think Monty got exposed to some radiation and it got to his head. Silly boy; Jasper would want Clarke to party without the suit!

[Subrookie]

On 5/20/2017 at 6:23 AM, ottoDbusdriver said:

What continues to make me laugh is the stupid solar panels on the sides of the truck that Bellamy was driving, because it's just so ridiculous. 10 hour drive in a dark forest, sure solar power will get them the entire way. Whatever.

I realize it's been a while since anyone has posted on this thread. But, I'm binge watching this all on Netflix now and your comment rings true. The writing doesn't just ask you to suspend reality to enjoy the show, it's like the writers think we're idiots. 

It's things like why even have solar panels on the truck and pretend it's an electric vehicle then when they turn it on you hear a diesel engine. Or, why only briefly say in the second to last episode of the season that they don't have a way to grow food at ALIE's bunker after half a season of showing us how pristine it is after making it through the nuclear war? 

[Meushell]

Finally watched this season after last year’s disappointment. Overall, I do like this season better. The basic plot is stupid, but I had to get past that to start watching anyway.

I hope the boy who never got a chance to say goodbye to his father pulls a Charlotte on Jaha. It would be such a fitting end. 

Edited September 8, 2018 by Meushell