S01.E09: Unity Day

[Stinger97]

Clarke and Finn attempt to broker peace with the Grounders but all hell breaks loose when Bellamy, Jasper and Raven show up armed and ready for battle. Octavia and Lincoln grow closer. Meanwhile, tragedy strikes during the Unity Day celebration on the Ark.

 

PTV Review:

• "Of Teenage Love Heptagons and Genocide"

[tricksterson]

Okay, when I saw the setup for the meeting and that both sides had brought backup and naturally someone was triggerhappy I went to a weird place.  West Side Story, where the Jets and Sharks set up a rumble according to certain rules and both sidesbreak the rules because of lack of trust and of course things go horribly wrng.

 

So, are the 90 all on their own now?  Is that what they want us to believe?

[shapeshifter]

So, are the 90 all on their own now?  Is that what they want us to believe?

 

Yes, but there's always the possibility that a few survived the crash and/or a few survived the Ark shutdown.

For awhile I've assumed that when a show is on the bubble, the network deciders will watch the finale to help make their decision--to see the likely direction and vision. And I had assumed the reason this show won over Star-Crossed was in part because of descent adult actors. So now that they killed off those actors in the finale, I guess I'm not sure why this show was renewed. Must've been the abundance of sex and violence.

[Stinger97]

I dunno. I highly doubt the show would kill off characters that have been driving half the story over nine episodes, and kill them off in such an anticlimactic way. I suspect that, at the very least, Jaha, Abby, Kane, and Diana will be shown to have survived. If not, what was the point of this entire first season? To lead up to a war between the Grounders and the 100? While we now know the Grounders' motivation, they were already at war with the 100 before this episode. So if the Ark citizens and the Exodus passengers are all dead... this has been one big waste of time. So, yea, there's got to be some adults alive. 

 

I was sad to see Kane's mother (played by the fantastic Christine Welles) killed. I'm a huge fan of Welles from Reaper (another CW genre show), and I was hoping she'd stick around. Speaking of, I had to laugh at Jaha chastising Diana for planting a bomb that killed six people on the Ark, while only a couple of episodes ago Jaha gave the go ahead to suffocate how many folks? I like that Diana isn't just bad for the sake of being bad, but she feels like she's fighting for something. Whether she's right in her convictions is another question altogether, but I'm glad to see she's a kind of gray character. 

 

Was Jasper (that's his name, right?) hallucinating those Grounders in the trees? Neither Bellamy nor Raven could see them and I figured the hallucinations were some leftover effects from the mushrooms from last week's episode. 

[Izeinwinter]

Nah, they were wearing pretty good camo And he was right to shoot - noone draws a selfbow without intending to fire the thing. It's not a geared composite bow, you cant hold it at draw for any length of time whatsoever and still hit anything - the strain makes your muscles tremble, and you miss. Have to draw and release all in one motion, so that grounder was about to kill someone. 

[shapeshifter]

Nah, they were wearing pretty good camo And he was right to shoot - noone draws a selfbow without intending to fire the thing. It's not a geared composite bow, you cant hold it at draw for any length of time whatsoever and still hit anything - the strain makes your muscles tremble, and you miss. Have to draw and release all in one motion, so that grounder was about to kill someone.

Oh. I was watching a small screen across the room and didn't see the bows drawn. Still, if Clarke had run when he said run, would her posse have still fired their guns?

So, now that at least Clarke has been told that the Ark-ites basically invaded the Grounder territory, can't they just make camp somewhere else? I mean, it's a pretty big, relatively unpopulated planet.

I wish Octavia would get some Grounder history lessons from Lincoln.

[ottoDbusdriver]

So the grounder is leaving Octavia lilies in order to lure her to a meeting ? Why aren't they radioactive or acid-filled or glow-in-the-dark lilies ?  Everything else has evolved, but not flowers (heck even the butterflies glow)

 

And all the grounder's English really is perfect ? We talked about this upthread, but it is spot on perfect -- I seriously doubt it after a 100 years out in the woods. There's no new regional words/dialect that have developed in all that time (because the grounders have must have schools)?

 

You know, there's been an awful lot of fucking in this party of 90 (?), is there going to be a baby boom 8-9 months down the line ?

 

What the hell happened to Jasper ? All of the sudden the writers decided he was the resident chemist/moonshiner.

 

They really need to end the love triangle/petty jealousy nonsense between Finn/Clarke/Raven.
And Octavia/Lincoln are the Romeo and Juliet of this show. How incredibly original ?

 

And now we have the lens flares on the outside of the station !!!! Enough already.

 

It's almost like the Ark is infested by Hydra where trusted personnel suddenly turn to the dark side (cough, cough, ripoff ... .ripoff).

 

Is Diana Sydney/Ellen Tigh just older and little horny ? As she stated, they are the future of the human race, but there weren't many women on that drop ship -- so Diana and Abby will pretty be popular (plus there are no rules on ground -- whoohoo !!!).

 

Classic -- the fancy dancy signal rockets set a grounder village on fire. Well done, Raven.

 

Lincoln -- shot to the heart, and you're to blame -- Jasper, for shooting first.

 

With no parachute deployment, everyone on that dropship died except ........

for Clarke's mom, since there have been photos of Abby on the ground. And maybe a couple of redshirts, but who cares

despite the fact that that explosion was probably in the kiloton range to be seen from that far away.  The impact alone would have pulverized everyone and the following explosion would have burnt any mangled survivors.

 

And big tip from Anya -- that others have tried to conquer them before, and lost. Of course those others probably didn't have automatic weapons that regularly misfire due to old ammo.

 

Apparently Legolas from LOTR is a grounder, as there were only 2 grounders on horseback firing arrows that we could see, yet there was flurry of arrows chasing Clarke/Finn across the bridge (unless there were even more grounders hiding in the woods behind Anya). And all those grounders will be fine -- they've got the magic red seaweed to cure any major injuries. Back on their feet in no time.

[edra]

With how ridiculously excited I was anticipating this episode, I guess I can officially say I like the show. Unfortunately, this episode wasn't as good as I expected. Where did Gandhi Finn come from? And they really need to cut out the Finn, Raven, Clark triangle bit. There's nothing there. Seriously, a boyfriend battle, when they are literally fighting for the survival of mankind is silly, plus Clark and Finn just don't have any chemistry.

 

What's the grounder's deal? How did they survive? 100 years is a long time, but also not a long time, that's just 3 generations. Grounders and Arkites are not that far removed and their grandparents were essentially the same. They need to start filling in some of the back story i.e. the grounders, the 12 stations that made the ark, what started the war etc.

[shapeshifter]

You know, there's been an awful lot of fucking in this party of 90 (?), is there going to be a baby boom 8-9 months down the line ?

In real life yes. On a CW show? Or even any TV show? Difficult to do. I'm guessing miscarriages are the norm from remaining radiation--except maybe Lincoln and Octavia will have a little Abraham.

Where did Gandhi Finn come from? And they really need to cut out the Finn, Raven, Clark triangle bit. There's nothing there.

Seriously, and now, really seriously. Clarke is like a right wing hawk. What would make sense is if they kill off Lincoln (person of color redshirt), Octavia is pregnant with their kid, and Finn shines on both Raven and Clarke to help raise Octavia's baby to be a pacifist. Since Abraham Lincoln is a terrible name for the baby, it shall be: Unity.

[dr pepper]

 

With no parachute deployment, everyone on that dropship died

 

No. That wasn't the dropship, that was one of the pieces of the Ark torn off by the dropship pulling away without a proper disconnect. It arrived first because no chute or retros.

 

Apparently Legolas from LOTR is a grounder, as there were only 2 grounders on horseback firing arrows that we could see, yet there was flurry of arrows chasing Clarke/Finn across the bridge (unless there were even more grounders hiding in the woods behind Anya).

 

That's what set off the battle, noticing several other grounders in the trees with bows signalling each other.

[Izeinwinter]

Uhm- the ark almost certainly is using birth control as a utterly standard measure on everyone. Most likely, copper IUD's, because those can be made by anyone with any grasp of metal working, and safely inserted / removed by any doctor. Octavia, of course, wouldn't have one, so.. - STD's wouldn't be a problem, because with a limited population in an enviorment that contained, wiping out contagions would be both a priority and fairly easy... again, wouldn't really apply to what Octavia is doing. Uhm.. 

Edited May 15, 2014 by Izeinwinter

[ottoDbusdriver]

Where did Octavia learn her sexytime moves -- all of the porn from the Ark's video library ?  For the first 16 years of her life, she lived in an apartment with her mother and brother, and the one time she ventures outside that apartment gets busted and tossed into solitary confinement, before being sent to Earth in the dropship.  Then again, this is the CW.

 

Also, that power failure on the Ark had better not last long or they can kiss their food supplies good bye.  Remember how it got cold so fast in the prison section when Kane was trapped there that he could see his breath.

[kj4ever]

With how ridiculously excited I was anticipating this episode, I guess I can officially say I like the show. Unfortunately, this episode wasn't as good as I expected. Where did Gandhi Finn come from? And they really need to cut out the Finn, Raven, Clark triangle bit. There's nothing there. Seriously, a boyfriend battle, when they are literally fighting for the survival of mankind is silly, plus Clark and Finn just don't have any chemistry.

 

What's the grounder's deal? How did they survive? 100 years is a long time, but also not a long time, that's just 3 generations. Grounders and Arkites are not that far removed and their grandparents were essentially the same. They need to start filling in some of the back story i.e. the grounders, the 12 stations that made the ark, what started the war etc.

I too was excited because I thought we would learn more of the grounder's side, but nope.  If they want to move this along and keep it interesting they best start showing that side also.  I would hope that it would at least show The 100 how the grounders saw them as invaders, which is totally true.  I mean who knows at this point if they even knew there were people living in space.  Imagine if a ship of kids fell to earth right now - what would our people do to them?  It wouldn't be pretty, especially if they were seen as aggressive.

 

I bet there are more than 3 generations of Grounders out there.  100 years without the entertainment of today and birth control?  Yeah, they probably started popping out kids at 14 or 15 years old.

 

The Octavia-Lincoln hook up was waaaay to fast for any kind of reality...

[Tara Ariano]

Here's Alex's post on the episode!

[shrewd.buddha]

So, did this episode establish if there is just one group of grounders or two ? : Jasper-baiting, killing, spearing Grounders and fab-abs, sexy-time Grounders?

It still galls me that they see two-headed deer and glowing butterflies, but don't seem to think twice about the water they drink, the food they eat, or what the possible radiation levels may be..
Why worry about those silly details when there are love triangle dramas?

Edited May 15, 2014 by shrewd.buddha

[wirebitersm]

I think I am confused, the grounders hate them because the flares burned down a village? But what about Jasper getting a spear to the chest? Different grounders? I just thought that meeting could have gone totally differently.

[bmjax]

I have to say I really enjoyed this episode. actually I like the show more and more, especially Clarke. During Negotiations when Raven mutters "Their princess looks pissed." and Bellamy responds that "Ourprincess has that effect on people." (or something close to that) I completely cracked up because it was spot on. I find that I am really enjoying Clarke's development. I was cheering when she told Bellamy what was going on and where she was going AND asked to help and backup. Seriuosly why does Finn fell as though he has earned her trust completely? Also Finn sucks. Sooooo many times the "hero" or "leader" goes off and never tells anyone what is going on. And she was right to do so, First, there was supposed to be no weapons, yet the grounders show up armed, and then in turned out that they had armed backup camouflaged in the trees.  The Grounder leader was really frustrating, I felt that she took no responsibility for their contributions to the escalating hostilities. On the flip side, I felt that Clarke was trying her hardest to placate her and apologize for the 100 (90 or 75 or whatever it is now) transgressions, she was trying to reach a truce.  I think the leader of the grounders had no intention of creating a truce, they were sizing Clarke up.

 

Anyway I guess what I am saying is that I feel that Clarke is a realist, she is NOT perfect and makes mistakes. That is why she is my second favorite character. My first is Kane. I love the actor therefore I love the character. I can't help it, the actor was my favorite character on Lost. I am that shallow.

 

How many episodes are they doing? 13?

[tricksterson]

Anyone else totally rooting for the Grounders here?  There they are, minding their semi-primitive (they have metal weapons and ornate ornaments so i figure they're at least Iron Age barbarian level development) business when these intruders literally crash down on them, (and I'd love to find out what if any stories they have about the Sky People) invade their territory, repeatedly, blow up a village and when they meet for peace talks, who shoots first?  Yes, the Grounders with the bows looked like they were going to fire but it was Jasper who actually shot first.

 

Disappointed that they were just riding regular horses instead of fire breathing unicorns though.

[bmjax]

Disappointed that they were just riding regular horses instead of fire breathing unicorns though.

 

That would have been awesome!  

[tricksterson]

On the other hand, judging by looks, their leader is a vampire so that counts for something I suppose.

 

Either that or the Goth look never went out of style, which would speak for a truly terrifying and dystopian future.

Edited May 15, 2014 by tricksterson

[Stinger97]

Anyone else totally rooting for the Grounders here?  There they are, minding their semi-primitive (they have metal weapons and ornate ornaments so i figure they're at least Iron Age barbarian level development) business when these intruders literally crash down on them, (and I'd love to find out what if any stories they have about the Sky People) invade their territory, repeatedly, blow up a village and when they meet for peace talks, who shoots first?  Yes, the Grounders with the bows looked like they were going to fire but it was Jasper who actually shot first.

 

I don't think I'm really rooting for either side. In my mind, the 100 are wholly innocent in heading down to Earth and accidentally invading the Grounders' territory because the kids weren't given a choice. And, of course, the Grounders are justified in being pissed off about essentially being invaded. However (and correct me if I'm wrong because I missed the first couple episodes), it was the Grounders that struck first. That Anya was using the "your missiles burned down one of our villages!" as justification for all the impaling, poisoning, etc., didn't work for me. The Grounders were killing the 100 well before that ever happened. But apparently the Grounders have had previous encounters, perhaps with other Ark-ites, so maybe they were feeling trigger happy. 

 

As for Jasper shooting first at the meeting, I felt like the kid was justified. He'd been impaled with a spear only weeks (or is it days in show time?) before and it looked like the Grounders were about to ambush Clarke, Finn, and Octavia. I guess, like the Grounders, he was feeling a tad trigger happy as well. 

[Joystickenvy]

Unity day looked like a blast.

I too found the lack of two headed radioactive unicorns disappointing.

Octavia sure gets around. First Jasper, then the guy who got killed by the fart cloud and now sexy time grounder.

[marcee]

I can't lie... I'm kind of feeling Bellamy/Clark. I know, right? But yeah.

And I'm totally cool with Octavia and Lincoln if only because it means I get to see Lincoln. Lots and lots of shiny, ridged, sculpted Lincoln.

 

PS Octavia was probably IUD'd when she was tossed in prison.

[edra]

I can't lie... I'm kind of feeling Bellamy/Clark. I know, right? But yeah.

And I'm totally cool with Octavia and Lincoln if only because it means I get to see Lincoln. Lots and lots of shiny, ridged, sculpted Lincoln.

 

PS Octavia was probably IUD'd when she was tossed in prison.

Feeling those 2 pairings as well. The post-attempted murder confession Bellamy has been somewhat okay.

 

Re-Grounders attacking first, it seems they had been invaded before, by who? Previous Arkites? Another Grounder group?

[tricksterson]

I don't think Anya (Is that her actual name?  I didn't hear it if so) was referring to Arkites but to other Grounders.  Presumably there are other tribes or even entire other cultures around.  And yes, they speared Jasper but only because he crossed the boundary line.  Not their fault he didn't know they existed.  

[Stinger97]

I don't think Anya (Is that her actual name?  I didn't hear it if so) was referring to Arkites but to other Grounders.  

 

Yea, I think Lincoln referred to her as "Anya." 

 

 

And yes, they speared Jasper but only because he crossed the boundary line.  Not their fault he didn't know they existed.

 

I mean, it might not be their fault that he crossed the boundary line, but they also can't act as though the 100 aren't justified in defending themselves too. The Grounders have been killing the 100 (and in incredibly gruesome ways) since they landed. The Grounders are as much to blame for the war as the 100 are. 

[patchwork]

Other than the opportunity it gives to admire Lincoln's abs I'm not feeling the romance and it doesn't do Octavia's character any favours. First she poisons the group, she could have easily killed them all, and why? Because being kidnapped is the most romantic thing ever apparently. She could get a side order of intel with the sex but no she's not bothering to do that. Some basic questions about how they survived the bombs or something, nothing that matters to the current situation but nah why bother being anything but a liability. I was mostly indifferent to Octavia but during the last few episodes I've come to actively dislike her, she's a petulant brat with no thought for anyone but her self. Yeah there's reasons why she's like that but I have a low tolerance for stupid. 

 

Until Finn come to her about the meeting I feel that Clarke was stepping back as leader. They had guns to protect them from the Grounders until the adults arrived and took over, she didn't have to worry so much about the future. He had the right idea about trying to make peace but then he made it all about whether or not Clarke trusts him. She doesn't that's blatantly obvious, get over yourself.

 

I'm not exactly on the Grounders' side but I'm glad the show gave them a valid argument and I want to know more about them.

[shapeshifter]

Octavia sure gets around. First Jasper, then the guy who got killed by the fart cloud and now sexy time grounder.

I'm glad somebody's keeping track, because I lost count. But I find her behavior quite natural, given her background and age. She reminds me of myself sneaking out to see my boyfriend when I was her age, although that was a very long time ago and pre-apocalypse, so my exploits were much tamer.

PS Octavia was probably IUD'd when she was tossed in prison.

I wonder if they removed any such devices (or triggered a deactivation protocol) so that they could procreate in the event that they were able to survive. If so, Octavia could be pregnant by any one of a variety of dark haired men, and, if any of the hookups occured within a couple of days of each other, she could even have twins by different fathers. I'm not sure if that's more daytime soap opera than CW plotting.

[tricksterson]

Oh, I understand the 90s hostility and mistrust it's just that I'm seeing the Grounders as an analog to the First Nations in whose case some stricter immigration control would have been a good thing.  On the other hand the American colonists ver lives didn't depend on their journey, at least not on an en masse level so yes, I see their side of the story as well.

[Joystickenvy]

I don't think Octavia actually hooked up with Jasper and I don't think we were ever shown the train arriving in pound town with the fart cloud victim, I was just commenting how they've put her in 3 different potential relationships already. If sexy time grounder dies, I'm sure she'll quickly move on to someone else.

[bluebonnet]

My biggest issue with Octavia's relationships - fraternal, platonic, or romantic - is that it doesn't jive with a girl who left her quarters only once.  She's too well socialized.  They should have given her some decently awkward lines to support that this is a girl who lived in the floors for 16+ years.  "Oh, you're so awesome because you chained me up to protect me" might have been awkward had a properly socialized person not also said it.  Perhaps her innocence and naivety will be shown when she falls pregnant because while it's easy to believe that there is a futuristic type of birth control used on the Ark (limited resources pretty much demands strict family planning protocols), it's hard to believe they would have given it to Octavia when she was put into prison.  Why use a resource when the prisoner may not make it through the tribunal at 18?  

 

I really want to like this show, but the focus on the love triangles (or rectangles, whatever shape it's grown to now) takes away a lot of time from the world building.  The Ark is still the strongest scenes in the show because we are learning new things about their society.  There is so little exposition done with the ones on the ground and hardly any yet with the Grounders.  We know they have a village or villages and are led by a woman named Anya.  They still haven't really told us anything yet.  The mystery they seemed to want to build up on who exactly these people are on the ground is fizzling out.  I want to know more but not if it requires me to sit through several hours of love triangles.  

 

I'm also pretty miffed that it wasn't a fire-breathing unicorn Anya was riding.  Gas clouds that seem to only target human skin and organs, two headed deer, glowing butterflies, and then a regular horse?!?  What a let down.  

[shapeshifter]

A small, subtle horn on the horses' foreheads would be nice. Did we get closeups on the horses, or is it still possible for them to have horns next season to appease us fans who are thirsting for unicorns?

[Stinger97]

Just FYI, I spun off the discussion about the show's love triangles v. sci-fi elements, and which we'd prefer to see more of, into its own thread. Find it here. 

[kieyra]

I'm binging the show, just got to this episode. I don't know how many of you might have seen Dichen Lachman on Being Human, but her performance there did not make me happy to see her appear in this show. And she's apparently gotten even flatter and more act-y. It's painful. I don't remember her being like this on Dollhouse.

[scarletregina]

I'm finally watching this show and just finish this episode. Is Anya supposed to be in her 30s, like the actress, or is she supposed to be a teenager like the 100?