S01.E11: The Calm

[Stinger97]

With a low food supply at camp, Clarke and Finn lead a group out to hunt for food and wind up in a compromising position. With Finn's life in danger, Clarke makes a game-changing decision. Meanwhile, Raven makes Bellamy an offer he can't refuse. On the Ark, Kane risks his life and is reunited with Chancellor Jaha.

[shapeshifter]

With a low food supply at camp, Clarke and Finn lead a group out to hunt for food and wind up in a compromising position.

 

Of course they do.

This may be another show that needs a thread for addicts who want to quit but can't.

 

On the Ark, Kane risks his life and is reunited with Chancellor Jaha.

 

So, they didn't kill off all of the name actors.

[SonofaBiscuit]

Meanwhile, Raven makes Bellamy an offer he can't refuse.

 

 

It's sex, right?  It's totally sex.

[ottoDbusdriver]

With a low food supply at camp, Clarke and Finn lead a group out to hunt for food

 

Just last episode they showed that they had all kinds of food around the camp -- where did it all go ?

 

Clarke and Finn lead a group out to hunt for food and wind up in a compromising position

 

Probably sex as well.  Boning out in the woods when they are "looking for food" and the grounders capture them mid-stroke.

 

With Finn's life in danger, Clarke makes a game-changing decision

 

Does Finn get stabbed --- again ? To save Finn's life, Clarke whips out her pocket Scrabble and challenges Anya to a game.

 

On the Ark, Kane risks his life and is reunited with Chancellor Jaha.

 

Reunited and it feels so good, Reunited 'cause we understood

There's one perfect fit

And, sugar, this one is it

We both are so excited 'cause we're reunited, hey, hey

 

Bring on the ho-yay between Kane and Jaha.

[FAU]

 

Does Finn get stabbed --- again ? To save Finn's life, Clarke whips out her pocket Scrabble and challenges Anya to a game.

 

It's like his character never gets anything to do besides getting injured or being in a love triangle.

[whirlingdervish]

It's like his character never gets anything to do besides getting injured or being in a love triangle.

 

Seriously.  He's becoming the Peeta Mellark of The 100 [Games].  

Edited May 29, 2014 by whirlingdervish

[Stinger97]

It's sex, right?  It's totally sex.

 

Surprisingly, it wasn't sex! Although Bellamy and Raven got themselves into their own compromising position(s). 

 

Am I supposed to feel sorry for the Grounders? Or feel sympathy for them? Because all I could think this entire episode was, "Anya? Shut the fuck up, you hypocrite." That she was acting so high and mighty about The 100's bomb injuring the "innocent" girl? I wanted to slap her. Were The 100 supposed to just sit and wait for the Grounders to show up to kill all of them? Oy. 

 

Abby's alive! And Kane! And Jaha! Who wants to bet we see a shot of a very alive Diana in the season finale? 

[bluebonnet]

Wow, this show.  It would hurt my brain to sit down and think of plots and characters this stupid.  I can't turn away and I'm sort of in awe with how hard the writers must work to create something so dumb and inconsistent.

 

Last we see of Jaha and Kane, they were standing next to one another, with their hands on the other pulling themselves away from the drop ship area.  Not really sure how they ended up so separated unless teleportation.  I could go for that.  Works in nicely with the fart cloud.  It's also a-fucking-mazing that Abby was apparently the only person around who knew there was an alternative access point into the drop ship.  Whole thing could have been avoided if they showed the Ark blueprints to someone other than the doctor. 

 

I guess Clarke was supposed to be learning the costs of war with that dying girl.  But why does she have to learn it at the cost of Anya's intelligence and responsibility?  Is it sort of Grounder Code of Conduct to take no responsibility for one's own actions?  Maybe the whole thing is a test for Clarke?  Maybe Clarke is the Messiah for the Grounders and they are just putting her through trials?

 

Does Octavia know she's dating a loser who hasn't even killed a man?  Lame. Also, Grounder Pounder.  Wish I had thought of that one. 

Edited May 29, 2014 by SystemRemote

[shapeshifter]

While watching via broadcast in the Chicago area, a blue band crawled across the bottom. I only caught a bit of the text, but I think it said something about a special broadcast of the show June 7, a Saturday.

Anyone else anywhere see that?

The penultimate episode is next Wednesday, the 4th.

About this episode:

So with Clarke escaping, I guess they'll use Finn to get their "doctor" back rather than kill him.

[Slider]

We get it show, there are two sides to every story.  Jasper was speared first, so they drew first blood, and now they try to justify why the little girl was on the bridge acting like she was all innocent?  Don't think so.

 

BTW, what the hell happened to Monty?  Where is he? What did he see?  And how did that Miles kid survive an arrow to the heart?

[ottoDbusdriver]

Not to go all Mr. Science on Kane's awakening, but the Ark is "supposed" to be in geosynchronous orbit over the drop site, even though they generally show the Ark at the same altitude as the ISS.  Even at ISS heights, they orbit the earth once every 90 minutes or so, so unless the Ark is spinning like a top the sun would not pass by that window in less than a minute.

 

Did they store all the nuts and berries (and apples !!) in the smokehouse as well ?  So technically not ALL the food went up in smoke. Plus once the meat is done being smoked they should be storing it in the dropship or someplace outside the smokehouse. How did that fire spread so quickly with Octavia inside the smokehouse ?  Has she been blinded by grounder love ?  Why wouldn't they have a bucket of water near the fire -- you know, in case the fire got too big.  The 80+ really are idiots.

 

Then Clarke flat out states they have 1-2 weeks of food in the drop ship.  There was only a couple of weeks worth of meat in the smokehouse anyway (remember, they are feeding 80+ people).  And Clarke states they have to go hunt -- so where did all the meat in the smokehouse come from ?  Octavia was hanging fresh meat. They can't still be eating panther from Episode 1 -- that was 12 days ago in show time.  Plus, what happened to the cold weather they were so worried about in previous episodes ? Remember, they just had to get those blankets because of the pending cold weather.

 

How about some gun safety lessons ?  That kid (Miles) teamed up with Finn and Clarke was pointing that assault rifle at everybody at close range.  Miles might as well have been wearing a red shirt.

And how did that Miles kid survive an arrow to the heart?

Actually he took two arrows, including one to the right knee.

 

Poor Raven, she lost her boyfriend and now she's leaving the camp.  Boo hoo fricking hoo. Wasn't Bellamy planning on leaving the camp a couple of episodes ago before he found the guns with Clarke ? Raven can't leave camp, so she's moving on. To Bellamy.  What happened to the other hotties Ballamy has previously slept with ?  Won't they get jealous that Raven anger-banged Bellamy ?  Then after taking the train to poundtown, Raven does the walk of shame out of Bellamy's tent (more like the stomp of shame).

 

What's with Jasper finding some magic solution for the bullets.  Regardless of how much gunpowder they can find to refill used shells, I doubt there is a good supply of fresh primer caps for those rounds.  It's almost like the writers don't completely know how bullets work.

Last we see of Jaha and Kane, they were standing next to one another, with their hands on the other pulling themselves away from the drop ship area.  Not really sure how they ended up so separated unless teleportation.

With regards to the Ark, are we meant to believe that the power was off for two days since the Exodus dropship crashed ?  Everyone should be dead from hypothermia.  If that's the case, that explains how Jaha was separated from Kane (maybe he woke up first), but that doesn't explain how Jaha got to Earth monitoring without getting through that blocked area.

 

The hurt kid is named Trist -- really ?  It begs the question -- how was that kid on the bridge when it exploded ?  Unless she was hiding under it, there was one grounder on the bridge when it blew up and he was a big guy.  Anya was long gone when the bridge blew, so her #2 should have been with her.  That kid had been that way for 2 days before Clarke/Finn were captured -- so why wasn't she already dead ?  Despite being a kid, she had 5 kills to her name -- so not so innocent.

 

Clarke barely looks at the sick kid and diagnoses her problem without skipping a beat.  Despite never having been to medical school or worked as a medic, she picked it all up just watching her mom when she wasn't locked up in prison.  Yet she didn't notice the kid was feverish when she inserted the tube to drain all the fluids putting pressure on her lungs, and how can you give a blood transfusion if you don't know the type of the donor or the recipient ?  And using dirty equipment, if the kid wasn't septic before she would have been soon.

 

Was that bunker supposed to be a bank ?  Who builds a bank in the middle of the woods with no other town around it ?  There was even money on the floor.

 

Followed by the 'What have you done' trope by the captors not understanding what the captives have done to the patient. 

 

I'm pretty sure that was Steve Bacic playing the grounder Clarke killed with the scalpel -- I can't believe that he signed onto this show for a 2 minute speaking appearance.  He played Rhade on Andromeda.

 

Abby had been tazed unconscious when the doors closed and the Exodus drop ship departed rather painfully from the Ark.  There's no way she was able to wake up, bolt for the secondary hatch and free herself with no one noticing.  Plus, if there was a second hatch, why was everyone only trying to enter the main hatch to the Exodus ship ?

 

Despite not knowing where they are (Finn's helpful directions not withstanding that they had walked about 3 miles and crossed a creek -- no actual directions were included), Clarke thinks its a good idead to run back to camp -- in the dark -- in a random direction from the bunker/bank.

 

And the cherry on the top of this rat-turd sundae, Clarke trips a snare and gets to dangle upside down for a while.  The Aristocrats !!!

[bluebonnet]

I loved how they have Clarke and Finn sterilizing the scalpel (why do the Grounders have a medical grade scalpel?) and then Finn sticking the tubing in his mouth before inserting it in the girls lungs(?). 

 

I'm going to pretend that we aren't meant to believe the Ark was offline for two days.  I can believe that Jaha has the power to teleport but can't believe all these people could survive the freezing cold of space.  Plus, no air for two days?  As if!  That's assuming they need power to create breathable air.  Maybe they don't.  Maybe it's magic tied into the Jaha teleporting thing. 

 

I'm still really curious how Finn knows all this shit about tracking.  Reading about it in a book is one thing, but practical experience is the only thing that will afford the expertise he allegedly has.

 

I'm sort of curious how the kids know so much about meat.  How to kill and butcher it, how to store it, how to prepare it, how to deal with the stomach cramps because they probably weren't eating meet up in the space station.  They should show us how food is produced in the Ark. 

[Stinger97]

...and how can you give a blood transfusion if you don't know the type of the donor or the recipient?  And using dirty equipment, if the kid wasn't septic before she would have been soon.

 

I think Clarke realized that a blood transfusion would only work if the donor and recipient had the same blood type, which is why she approached Anya for her blood first. She thought that the best chance for a match would be from someone from the same tribe. It was only when Anya's bodyguard refused to let Clarke take Anya's blood that Finn volunteered his own blood. 

 

As for the dirty equipment, I thought we saw Clarke and Finn disinfect the needle for the blood transfusion with bleach because the Grounders had no moonshine. I assumed that the scalpel Clarke was using was also disinfected, but I don't believe we saw it occur. 

 

The hurt kid is named Trist -- really ?

 

Was her name "Trist" or "Triss"? I couldn't make it out and, admittedly, wasn't really paying much attention.

[In2You]

Shut up you hypocrite was what I was yelling at Clarke during this episode when she had the nerve to lecture Anya on violence. Clarke has been pretty kill happy herself . Plus days earlier she protected that child that murdered her best friend so lecturing anyone on violence involving a child was not her place. And I'm beyond tired of Clarke the superdoctor. So now she's the only one on the ground with healing abilities?  Its especially annoying since they didn't even bother to explain how she got her medical capabilities. Having read the book I know the book explanation but after the pilot they went in an entirely different direction from the book anyone. Like this whole Grounder war plot and all the original characters.

 

Was glad The Ark returned but the writers were once again too focused with internal conflicts on the ground. How Kane and Jaha ended up separated was a mystery as was how long they've been floating without power and air. They really shouldn't have waited two episodes to get back to that plot. 

 

I guess we're to assume they learned all that about preparing meat from the Earth Skills classes they mentioned in the second episode. 

 

The little girl's name was Tris.

[dr pepper]

Finally somethig to do with all the seriouslies i stocked up on while watching Grey's Anatomy.

 

Seriously, show? Seriously!? I mean Seriously!? Abby was not near any hatch when the takeoff started. Even if she had been, all the hatches would be locked. Seriouisly! Not to mention, you made a big thing of making us believe she'd been in the dropship, making us speculate on how she could survive. Seriously? You could have been developing other storylines. Someone suggested the chancellor can teleport. That was my thought about Abbie. She teleported out of the dropship. That's the most rational explanation.

 

Serioiusly!

[shapeshifter]

With regards to the Ark, are we meant to believe that the power was off for two days since the Exodus dropship crashed ? Everyone should be dead from hypothermia.

Which reminds me: I'm no rocket scientist (metaphorically maybe, but not actually), but given that the Ark is in space (very cold), and given that they have energy issues, why was the vent Henry Ian Cusak was crawling through so hot that waves of heat were visible, other than that it was a cool (hot) special effect?

I'm pretty sure that was Steve Bacic playing the grounder Clarke killed with the scalpel -- I can't believe that he signed onto this show for a 2 minute speaking appearance. He played Rhade on Andromeda.

You are correct. I did not recognize him, but usually I do.

Editing to drag over Webbermon's post from TWoP:

Yep, that was Bacic. Gaheris Rhade gets offed by a girl. Tyr Anasazi is somewhere shaking his head...then he busts out laughing.

Edited May 29, 2014 by shapeshifter

[shrewd.buddha]

So, the Grounders are cut-throat killers who speak very good English but the radiation has impaired their ability to comprehend logic : "We got hurt on the way to slaughter your people -- so, your fault." 

 

I did not see Jasper this week - is there some type of actor quota per episode - though we did get more confirmation that he is some type of chemist genius (along with the previous beer brewing, or was it moonshine?).

 

Of course Finn is not dead. No main characters die off-camera. Just ask Abbie...

And no matter what the situation - impending attack by Grounders, knife in your spleen, whatever -- there must be sexy times. It's a rule.

 

As others have mentioned, it seems very unlikely that a generation of teenagers, who were born on a space station and lived in what had to be a very confined and isolated environment, would be so good at all the rustic camping stuff. You'd think they could at least have had a bit of oxygen overload when they first landed. 

Edited May 29, 2014 by shrewd.buddha

[millahnna]

It's like his character never gets anything to do besides getting injured or being in a love triangle.

 

I was actually thinking during this episode that his role is one that would typically be a chick's.  He's constantly been damseled and he's the romantic target of two women who are being depicted as capable but damaged (with varying degrees of success but for the most part I'll go ahead and buy what they're selling with Raven and Clarke).  When they've given him an original thought, it's been with the sole purpose of motivating or adjusting the attitudes of the girls.  On the one hand, it's kind of amusing to see the tv/film gender roles flipped like that.  On the other hand, a character who's only there to be a plot device for his love interests is not really all that watchable unless written extremely carefully (which this show isn't, though I'm still enjoying it a lot). This show is no Orphan Black. 

 

I fully expect him to get fridged eventually.  I suspect I won't actually mind it all that much because I think the actor is a little boring (to be fair, the character is a little boring, maybe the kid would be better in a better role) and I consistently enjoy Clarke and Raven interactions.  They have a little bit of angst over the boy directed at each other but it's not overwhelming or unreasonable under the circumstances and when it's time to get shit done they just do it with fairly clear communication and action.  SO that's kind of cool.

 

Weirdly, the show is kind of reminding me of the first season of Sarah Conner Chronicles; the weirdest mix of really good and really mediocre writing.  It's a bit less extreme than that show (the good isn't as amazeballs and the mediocre isn't quite as bad, SCC's first season had some true golden nuggets of terribad). 

[FineWashables]

 

 

While watching via broadcast in the Chicago area, a blue band crawled across the bottom. I only caught a bit of the text, but I think it said something about a special broadcast of the show June 7, a Saturday.

Anyone else anywhere see that?

The penultimate episode is next Wednesday, the 4th.

 

shapeshifter, there's another new episode on Saturday June 7th at 8pm our time.  I think the Hawks games have changed WGN's priorities for the next week.  (Go Blackhawks!)

Edited May 29, 2014 by FineWashables

[maraleia]

Watching this show makes my brain hurt due to the huge amount of plot holes each week. Last night's episode had by far the most and I still don't get how these kids could survive on Earth when they've spent their entire life on a space station with a number of years being locked up. I'm thinking that if they don't correct these things I should stop watching.

[ottoDbusdriver]

The little girl's name was Tris.

The confusing part is that when Clarke discusses the girl's shoulder scars, she pronounces it with a 'T' sound at the end so it sounded like 'Trist'.

 

I also like how the grounder was completely oblivious to the fact that Clarke still had the scalpel in her hand.  Or how the scalpel that she picked up with her left hand suddenly appeared in her right hand for the kill.  Actually it looked like she had a much bigger object like a shiny screwdriver in her left hand before the scalpel magically appeared in her right hand.  +1 for continuity </snark>.

 

So maybe the magical teleporting isn't just limited to people on the Ark.

 

From the scenes where you can see Lincoln's back in previous episodes, he also has a large kill count in the 20-30 range.  I don't understand that since the grounders are so fond of tattoos that they just tattoo a kill instead of scarring them selves to look like a collegiate football helmet.

[bluebonnet]

Why would Lincoln put his kill count on his back?  No one wants to look at his back when his chest is on display. 

[SonofaBiscuit]

Those Grounders sure are a chatty bunch, aren't they?  Clarke wants to go home and Grounder Steve Bacic basically tells her that she won't have a home to go to by tomorrow.  Yeah, The 100 are expecting retaliation, but the element of surprise might have been useful.  I suppose he didn't figure that Clarke would be escaping, but still!  Lincoln seemed to like to tell Octavia the Grounder's plans as well.  Speaking of Steve Bacic, I was so happy that I would have another pretty Grounder to look at and then Clarke had to go and slit his throat (or stab him?).   

 

I liked the guy on the Ark who was helping Kane.  I don't know where he has been hiding this whole time, but I hope he's in the next two episodes and makes it down to Earth. 

 

I had thought that maybe Bellamy was a little scared of women in general, but I guess not.  I rewatched the pilot episode and saw him kissing some random girl, then apparently he also had a threesome that I don't even remember happening.  I thought he was going to turn Raven down at first, but nope.  Next stop, Clarke. 

 

These kids sure are a violent bunch, but I guess that happens when you live in a society where any crime will get to locked up or floated.  I'm not sure how The 100 and The Grounders are ever going to live in peace after what just went down.  The Mountain Men will have to be pretty terrifying for these two groups to unite. 

 

Edit:  Apparently the Grounders make their own bleach, who knew?  Clarke should have asked for the details on that because The 100 might need that formula to clean up the aftermath of the next outbreak of whatever the Grounders infect them with.

Edited May 29, 2014 by SonofaBiscuit

[DrLar]

Well in that situation who couldn't say no to Raven, she basically threw herself to Bellamy, but I thought he was a bit more interested in Clarke.. I guess not..

So I don't think they have any birth control so we can expect a pregnant Raven? but who's the dad? Finn or Bellamy? soap incoming..

 

Let me also guess, Clark gets rescued by Lincoln, and she also falls for him, now she'll fight Octavia... more soap inc.

 

So it seems the nuclear holocaust wasn't that devastating, 'cause this grounders have been killing a lot of people, even a kid has killed at least 5!

 

And of course Clarke's mom survived... but can also confirm Mrs. Tigh is dead?

 

Well the 320 dead before don't seem much against the 1,500 dead in this one, ironically they got the population reduction they wanted but they don't have oxygen now... ouch

[bluebonnet]

If they have no form of birth control (Octavia not included due to not being counted in the population on the Ark), then the show will have lost the tiny smidgeon of credibility I was barely giving them.  With family planning so strict on the Ark, it's impossible for their to have been no birth control.  Though, I suppose they could make up some shit about how the birth control is some sort of airborne substance that flows through the vents on the Ark, like magic, and a couple is given an antidote when they are approved to have a child so all these kids on the ground are no longer being dosed with magical birth control.  But really, barring some convoluted magical airborne bc, all these kids -the sexually mature ones at least and probably excluding Octavia - should be protected from babies for the time being.  Octavia getting preggers would be stupid, too, because it's not like the baby would serve the purpose of uniting the Grounders and the Droppers since Lincoln is now much maligned with both groups. The baby wouldn't even be a beacon of hope for the human race because it's not like either group has had issues with repopulation. 

Edited May 29, 2014 by SystemRemote

[In2You]

Why would they have given kids in lock up slated to die birth control though? That's a waste because its not like they had the opportunity to be getting some anyway.

[marcee]

I'm not getting too hung up on how the sheltered space station kids could survive on the ground because I feel like the show has given us a lot of throwaway-esque background lines about classes and training and being really good at specific types of courses (ie Jasper & Monty with chemicals, Raven with mechanics, Clarke with medical, etc)...I've gotta imagine they've been trained, since birth, to prepare for the point at which Earth would become habitable.

 

As far as the bank in the middle of nowhere - a forest could technically grow up around anything if given 100 years, right? Some buildings may have been destroyed by bombs and climate - but some may have remained (especially a vault).

 

Actually dying to know what Monty saw. Maybe a 24-hour McDonalds?

Edited May 29, 2014 by marcee

[SonofaBiscuit]

Well, if the female members of The 100 had copper IUDs implanted, maybe they were removed prior to the Earth trip so that in the event that The 100 did survive the trip, they could begin to repopulate the Earth.  On Earth, there would be no need for strict population control (as long as there was sufficient food and water), so I would imagine that the Ark crew would want the people on the ground to start having kids to ensure the survival of the human race.  I mean, I know most of The 100 are teenagers, but when you are desperate for the survival of your race, I imagine you start popping out babies as soon as you can. 

[DrLar]

We could do a who's getting pregnant first poll, at least one of the main characters will for sure..

[bluebonnet]

Why would they have given kids in lock up slated to die birth control though? That's a waste because its not like they had the opportunity to be getting some anyway.

The kids weren't always in lock up.  I definitely imagine a more futuristic sort of bc.  I've read of several concepts in books before.  In the Wool series (I'll spoiler though it's not really any major plot focus)

all females are given some sort of digitized implant at birth and a code or something is sent to it when they are later authorized to have a child.  I don't remember all the specifics but it worked in the context of the story. 

There's enough focus on the strict family planning that makes any lack of bc completely implausible, even in this incredibly inconsistent show.  I mean, they were worried about wasting medical supplies but would turn around and waste medical supplies by floating people instead of harvesting their organic material for use.  But they haven't yet been inconsistent with the family planning thing. 

 

Octavia is the only one I imagine getting pregnant anytime soon. 

[shrewd.buddha]

...but when you are desperate for the survival of your race, I imagine you start popping out babies as soon as you can.

 

These dodos do not seem capable of thinking of anything  beyond their next hook-up or lynching.

And to be somewhat fair, the 100 (minus 14) were meant to be guinea pigs, not the bright hope for survival of all humanity. Maybe the Ark Adults have such a plan - but considering they were not working on drop ships for the last 97 years, they also don't seem very far-sighted. 

Realistically, I would think most people are primarily concerned with their own personal survival. The survival of the species benefits from that, but is not the primary intent. 

(Although I could see one of the guys saying "We have to have sex for the sake of humanity!"

 

When the space station ripped apart, I wondered if the Ark dwellers might become The 100 , and the Earth'ers could then be the 85'ers. 

Edited May 29, 2014 by shrewd.buddha

[SonofaBiscuit]

These dodos do not seem capable of thinking of anything  beyond their next hook-up or lynching.

And to be somewhat fair, the 100 (minus 14) were meant to be guinea pigs, not the bright hope for survival of all humanity. Maybe the Ark Adults have such a plan - but considering they were not working on drop ships for the last 97 years, they also don't seem very far-sighted.

 

 

I was thinking that maybe the Ark adults had some sort of contingency plan to ensure that the population on the ground would grow in case they were not able to make it down from the Ark, but you're probably right in that they weren't thinking that far ahead.  Total failure on their part I guess since with the Ark population wiped out, they are going to need all females of child-bearing age that they can find (unless they want to start pairing up with Grounders).  I hope for their sake, any sort of birth control being used is easily reversible and doesn't require any special Ark technology, or goodbye human race.

 

Edit: Well, goodbye humans from space, I mean.  The Grounders will probably continue to survive just fine.    

Edited May 29, 2014 by SonofaBiscuit

[tricksterson]

I tend to favor the Grounders as a First Nations analog resisting the invading colonists (although to be fair Europe wasn't dying when the colonists came over the ocean so there's that) but if they expect me to feel sorry for that girl they got another think coming.  She was part of an attacking war party and she already had five kill scars so you can't even play the innocent rookie card.

[In2You]

Why do people keep saying Octavia is the mostly likely to get pregnant? If anything Bellamy should be the first one to have a kid by someone since he's been "spreading his seed" the most. 

[bluebonnet]

Octavia was hidden away her entire life.  She didn't receive standard things like medical care, therefore she's the least likely individual to have ever been given birth control.  The point being made is that some form of birth control was compulsory.  A person who didn't 'exist' isn't going to be subjected to the same standards and requirements as the population that does exist on paper.  The only way Octavia would have been covered is if the bc was via some sort of water or air delivered system or if they did the bc thing while she was in lock up.

Edited May 29, 2014 by SystemRemote

[marcee]

Octavia was hidden away her entire life.  She didn't receive standard things like medical care, therefore she's the least likely individual to have ever been given birth control.  The point being made is that some form of birth control was compulsory.  A person who didn't 'exist' isn't going to be subjected to the same standards and requirements as the population that does exist on paper.  The only way Octavia would have been covered is if the bc was via some sort of water or air delivered system or if they did the bc thing while she was in lock up.

 

Except you've gotta imagine she was treated medically (immunizations, birth control, etc) when she was found and right before she was tossed into lockup. Otherwise she might've infected other cellmates with Measles or Under-Floor-Board-Herpes or something!

[shrewd.buddha]

But one important point : the Ark Adults and the 100 don't have to worry about the survival of their species.
Humanity has survived just fine without them : the Grounders.  
...They just tend to be slightly homicidal and enjoy tattooing a great deal... But their fitness regimen is A++

[bluebonnet]

Except you've gotta imagine she was treated medically (immunizations, birth control, etc) when she was found and right before she was tossed into lockup. Otherwise she might've infected other cellmates with Measles or Under-Floor-Board-Herpes or something!

 

Well yes, that's why I included the caveat that she was treated in lock up.

 

I'm not too worried about being subjected to a lot of teen pregnancy because the CW doesn't often show the consequences of unprotected sex.  Usually when they do, it's because a potential baby is a convenient and specific catalyst for character growth or plot development.  I don't think STD's even exist in the CWverse, and if they did, these should be something that the Ark population wouldn't necessarily worry about as realistically the original population would have been completely cleared of them.  Though it's not like this show is invested in any sort of realism or logic.  I can't remember if teen pregnancy actually exists in the CWverse, but I have a vague memory of seeing it at least once before.  Love triangles and angst - that's the CW formula.  Consequences of sex is almost always part of the love triangle problem. 

[In2You]

Octavia was hidden away her entire life.  She didn't receive standard things like medical care, therefore she's the least likely individual to have ever been given birth control.  The point being made is that some form of birth control was compulsory.  A person who didn't 'exist' isn't going to be subjected to the same standards and requirements as the population that does exist on paper.  The only way Octavia would have been covered is if the bc was via some sort of water or air delivered system or if they did the bc thing while she was in lock up.

 

You're making the assumption that they distribute birth control to teens on the Ark. We don't know enough about their society to make that assumption.

[millahnna]

Well, if the female members of The 100 had copper IUDs implanted

 

A Depo shot type of thing seems like the easiest method.  Probably get it with mandatory vaccines, including when being put into lock up.

You're making the assumption that they distribute birth control to teens on the Ark. We don't know enough about their society to make that assumption.

 

Realistically, they'd have to either 1) give teens birth control or 2) control their behavior absolutely (which we've seen they haven't done) otherwise their population problems would have gone critical before now.  Or maybe that's why their population problem is so bad.  Maybe they did neither until it was too late.

[bluebonnet]

You're making the assumption that they distribute birth control to teens on the Ark. We don't know enough about their society to make that assumption.

It seems like a plausible assumption to make considering the one single very consistent thing we know about Ark society is a strict population control policy that is harshly enforced.  We haven't been given any suggestion that there was a strict segregation of sexes amongst unmarried people, including teens.  I don't know what other assumption one is supposed to make when a society has a need to control population the way the Ark did.  I mean, I suppose abstinence-only education might be possible, but that obviously isn't very realistic given the nature of biological drives and limited space and resources of the Ark. 

[In2You]

A Depo shot type of thing seems like the easiest method.  Probably get it with mandatory vaccines, including when being put into lock up.

 

Realistically, they'd have to either 1) give teens birth control or 2) control their behavior absolutely (which we've seen they haven't done) otherwise their population problems would have gone critical before now.  Or maybe that's why their population problem is so bad.  Maybe they did neither until it was too late.

We have seen them control their teens behavior. Or at least attempt to control them. Which is why some of the teens ended up jailed for minuscule things. But there's no way you can ever full control an entire populations behavior. We havent seen an example of it but they could very well just jail pregnant teens.

[Stinger97]

I guess Clarke was supposed to be learning the costs of war with that dying girl.  But why does she have to learn it at the cost of Anya's intelligence and responsibility?  Is it sort of Grounder Code of Conduct to take no responsibility for one's own actions?  

 

The more I think about it (and God only knows why I have been), the more I figure Anya was simply being obtuse for the sake of it. She very obviously doesn't respect Clarke or any of the 100, and she's unapologetic for wanting to destroy them. At the moment she was forcing Clarke to treat Tris, Anya had the upper hand. And in that case, why accept responsibility for any of the casualties? She wants the 100 gone yesterday, and every moment they continue to exist, they're to blame for the Grounders who die. 

[bluebonnet]

We have seen them control their teens behavior. Or at least attempt to control them. Which is why some of the teens ended up jailed for minuscule things. But there's no way you can ever full control an entire populations behavior. We havent seen an example of it but they could very well just jail pregnant teens.

Sure, they were policing what was deemed criminal behavior, which was the same they were doing for adult members of the Ark, if that's the sort of control you are discussing. We haven't seen that they controlled their behavior absolutely, which is what millahnna wrote.  The sort of control you are suggesting that would prevent sex outside of intentional reproduction would be something more akin to strictly enforced segregation of the sexes, which we already know doesn't happen.  Sex before approval has never been mentioned as a criminal act, not even during Clarke's episode 1 monologue. 

 

Genuinely curious question, what are your interests in wanting the show to explore the natural consequences of sex?  Are you hoping to see a specific storyline be immediately developed regarding babies?   While the Ark society most definitely would have needed to utilize some form of birth control to limit population, I think I'm probably so used to CW shows where teen pregnancy and STD's don't exist that the possibility of it doesn't even enter my mind even on a show where they don't have the same population issues.  So I'm just curious what your thoughts on this are.

 

The more I think about it (and God only knows why I have been), the more I figure Anya was simply being obtuse for the sake of it. She very obviously doesn't respect Clarke or any of the 100, and she's unapologetic for wanting to destroy them. At the moment she was forcing Clarke to treat Tris, Anya had the upper hand. And in that case, why accept responsibility for any of the casualties? She wants the 100 gone yesterday, and every moment they continue to exist, they're to blame for the Grounders who die. 

Oh lordy, I've been thinking about this show way too much right with you.  It's addictive in an almost embarrassing way.  I'm glad I can talk about it anonymously with everyone here. lol

 

You bring up a good point that got me thinking that perhaps Anya's deliberate obtuseness has to do with her maintaining authority over her tribe.  'Deny and mislead' is an oft used method with leaders of all cultures.  Maybe Anya messed up somewhere and is now doing some damage control?

[In2You]

Sure, they were policing what was deemed criminal behavior, which was the same they were doing for adult members of the Ark, if that's the sort of control you are discussing. We haven't seen that they controlled their behavior absolutely, which is what millahnna wrote.  The sort of control you are suggesting that would prevent sex outside of intentional reproduction would be something more akin to strictly enforced segregation of the sexes, which we already know doesn't happen.  Sex before approval has never been mentioned as a criminal act, not even during Clarke's episode 1 monologue. 

 

Genuinely curious question, what are your interests in wanting the show to explore the natural consequences of sex?  Are you hoping to see a specific storyline be immediately developed regarding babies?   While the Ark society most definitely would have needed to utilize some form of birth control to limit population, I think I'm probably so used to CW shows where teen pregnancy and STD's don't exist that the possibility of it doesn't even enter my mind even on a show where they don't have the same population issues.  So I'm just curious what your thoughts on this are.

 

Oh I have no interest in any baby stories I'm just making a point that they wouldn't necessarily worry about administering birth control to  the teen population nor would they have to segregate genders(which would be fairly difficult in such close confinement) to enforce strict rules about pre marital sex.  

In the book they had a character named Glass and she was among the delinquents to be sent to the ground. Her crime was getting pregnant out of wedlock. They didn't separate the boys from the girls on The Colony but at the same time the teens knew they were at risk of being jailed.

[shapeshifter]

I'm not getting too hung up on how the sheltered space station kids could survive on the ground because I feel like the show has given us a lot of throwaway-esque background lines about classes and training and being really good at specific types of courses (ie Jasper & Monty with chemicals, Raven with mechanics, Clarke with medical, etc)...I've gotta imagine they've been trained, since birth, to prepare for the point at which Earth would become habitable.

Me too, but they missed numerous opportunities to inject a little humor when the Arkteens first attempted to employ knowledge that they had heretofore only done virtually, if that.

The grim lack of comic relief may be what makes me quit this show. They need a mini SG1 O'Neill to snark around the encampment.

The many years I've worked for a sociopathic boss is my excuse for kind of liking the way Clarke shushed the Grounder while he was dying.

[ottoDbusdriver]

We have seen them control their teens behavior. Or at least attempt to control them. Which is why some of the teens ended up jailed for minuscule things. But there's no way you can ever full control an entire populations behavior. We havent seen an example of it but they could very well just jail pregnant teens.

 

Since the show is progressing so slowly (only 12-13 days have gone by in 'The 100' show time), anyone who has gotten pregnant may not even know about it until the send of Season 3 at this pace.  So it may be a non-issue for a while.

[bluebonnet]

Oh I have no interest in any baby stories I'm just making a point that they wouldn't necessarily worry about administering birth control to  the teen population nor would they have to segregate genders(which would be fairly difficult in such close confinement) to enforce strict rules about pre marital sex.  

In the book they had a character named Glass and she was among the delinquents to be sent to the ground. Her crime was getting pregnant out of wedlock. They didn't separate the boys from the girls on The Colony but at the same time the teens knew they were at risk of being jailed.

I can only speak for what has happened on the show because that's what this forum is about.  I haven't read the book and don't really intend to read it. 

 

I'm not sure I understand your point about withholding birth control from teens.  Teens are capable of creating life.  Why would teens be exempt from population control policies?  BC is a fairly cost effective measure to limit unintended pregnancy.  I would think teens are the population they would most want to ensure have the bc.  The average parent doesn't want to see their kid jailed or floated and one would think the average parent of the Ark would encourage kids having the protection of bc to limit their chances of jail and floating.  Why create extra ethical dilemmas when it's as simple as birth control.

 

This is probably the last I'll engage in this discussion because I'm not particularly interested in discussing ways to deconstruct the single most consistent part of the show.  It just seems reasonable that, unless we are presented with evidence that destroys the consistency, we assume that birth control was a primary method for planning and population control. 

 

Now, if you want to discuss the reproductive  realism of pine-apple trees, I'm all for that!

[dr pepper]

Let's suppose somehow Charlotte survived. She shows up in the middle of season 2, her budding sociopathy having giving her the ability to weld a bunch of outcast grounders into an outlaw tribe that robs from the others. She was never treated with Unicorn Juice #3 because she hadn't finished puberty yet. Well now she has, and she's the first one to be pregnant.

[In2You]

How simple is it to create birth control in space though? This is the same society that wanted to float a doctor for using "too many medical supplies".