The 100 – Perverse Instantiation – Part Two

By starrymag | May 20, 2016

By: Allison Schonter

 

We’ve come a long way since the beginning of the season, and where it once seemed like a bunch of storylines jumbled together with no end, Perverse Instantiation – Part Two wrapped up all of the loose ends, but presented the group with perhaps an even bigger problem to come.

 

Polis and Arkadia

 

Perverse Instantiation – Part Two opens in Polis with Clarke (Eliza Taylor) attempting to save her mother’s life. She uses the EMP, the only one that they have left, to unchip her and bring her back and out of A.L.I.E.’s (Erica Cerra) grasp. After a short, teary-eyed and heartfelt reunion wherein Abby (Paige Turco) remembers everything that she has done to her daughter, Clarke is back to business. They are running out of time to destroy the City of Light and with Ontari (Rhiannon Fish) brain dead, they have officially run out of options. And so this leads Clarke to her most daring move ever: she will accept the Flame and consume the chip to find the kill switch.

 

Clarke’s plan is risky, though. Only Nightbloods can accept the Flame, but Clarke’s blood is normal. So, they use Mountain Men antics and pulse Ontari’s Nightblood through Clarke’s system before Clarke says the magic words that activate the Flame. Once the Flame is in her head, she enters the City of Light, but she isn’t out of trouble. Ontari’s body begins to fail, which likewise causes Clarke to not be getting enough Nightblood into her system and she begins to reject the Flame. In a desperate attempt to save her daughter, Abby cuts open Ontari’s chest and begins pumping Ontari’s heart manually, before ordering Murphy (Richard Harmon) to take over.

 

Meanwhile, Bellamy (Bob Morley), Pike (Michael Beach), Octavia (Marie Avgeropoulos), Miller (Jarod Joseph) and Bryan (Jonathan Whitesell) are trying to hold off A.L.I.E.’s minions from reaching Clarke. They have begun climbing the tower (that’s really tall tower and way too much climbing…) and so they grease the balcony. But the Commander’s chambers are still left unprotected. So, off go Pike and Octavia to stand guard. Not such a good pairing (Pike did kill Octavia’s love, the person she considered home) and when the chipped finally do make it into the room, Octavia stands by and watches as they attack Pike. Bellamy swoops in and saves Pike, thus begins a battle of holding the door closed while the minions try to burst through.

 

On to the backup plan. Fill the hallway with water, let the minions get through and use Octavia as bait of sorts. She tells Kane (Henry Ian Cusick) that she’ll take the chip and as he and the other minions begin to approach her they are shocked…quite literally shocked, as in electrocuted. But don’t fret, because they are still alive, and they eventually make it to the throne room where a fight ensues and Pike even saving Octavia.

 

Back in Arkadia, Raven (Lindsey Morgan) and Monty (Christopher Larkin) have their own problems. Jasper (Devon Bostick) has Harper (Chelsey Reist) and he is giving them an ultimatum: give him Raven’s machine or Harper dies. Raven’s chance of reaching the kill switch again, according to A.L.I.E./Jasper is only 2%. A.L.I.E. has added additional security, making it nearly impossible. Monty isn’t having any of this and so he shoots Jasper in the leg, knocks him out and ties him up.

 

Now free from Jasper’s torment, Raven is able to work on finding the kill switch, only she discovers something different. She discovers that Clarke is in the City of Light and that she has accepted the Flame. Being the tech-savvy person that she is, Raven is able to help Clarke find the kill switch, providing Clarke an escape route when no escape route seems possible.

 

 

The City of Light

 

Clarke enters the City of Light and it’s strange, to say the least. She is dressed in clean clothes, her clothes from seasons one and two. Her hair is clean. She’s wearing her father’s watch. The City of Light is modern, with paved streets and new buildings. The streets are empty at first, until they’re not, but the people can’t see her. The Flame is protecting her, shielding her, and it is also leading her to the kill switch. She sees the infinity symbol, first on a street sign and then as a girl’s hairstyle and she follows it. But as Ontari’s body begins to fail and her own body begins to reject the Flame, her invisibility is cast aside and people begin to notice her/ A.L.I.E. knows that she’s here and Clarke is growing increasingly weak.

 

The chipped men begin to beat her, but Clarke entered the City of Light with a feeling that the Flame would protect her and it does. Lexa (Alyica Debnam-Carey) swoops in wielding two swords, slicing through the men and taking out the others. Their reunion is short-lived because their fight is not over and while little is said, (nothing truly needs to be said) because them seeing each other is enough. Lexa had promised Clarke that her spirit would choose the next Commander wisely, and it has, because Clarke will save the world.

 

Lexa helps Clarke up and they begin moving until Clarke once again collapses. As A.L.I.E. uploads her second version, things in the City of Light begin to change; day becomes night and it starts to rain. They are running out of time to find the kill switch. Once Ontari’s blood is pulsing through her system again and Clarke regains her strength, she and Lexa begin moving once more, following the signs that Becca (Erica Cerra) is giving them. This time it is in the form of a girl on a bicycle with an infinity symbol on her jacket. But A.L.I.E. has built a firewall in the form of a fence and they can’t get through. It seems as if Clarke’s mission is over as Jasper arrives and soon Jaha (Isaiah Washington) with others. But this is when Raven saves the day with an escape route and this is when Clarke and Lexa must part ways for good. A simple “I love you” and an “I’ll always be with you” are exchanged before Lexa makes her last appearance charging the chipped individuals as Clarke takes the escape route (this is the farewell that she deserves, the one that she should have originally had).

 

Clarke finds herself on the thirteenth station. Becca is there and so is the kill switch. But before Clarke can pull it, A.L.I.E. also shows up and she is a bearer of bad news. If Clarke pulls the switch, she will likely be killing everyone. The nuclear power plants around the world are melting down and in six months they will leave 96% of the Earth uninhabitable, even for those who came from space. The City of Light, according to A.L.I.E., is their only option. Becca and A.L.I.E. go back and forth, trying to convince Clarke to do what they want her to do, putting the burden of literally the entire human population’s fate on her shoulders. Despite A.L.I.E.’s promises that Clarke will never have to experience pain or loss ever again, Clarke ultimately decides to pull the kill switch because you don’t ease pain, you overcome it.

 

 

Final Thoughts…

           

So the City of Light is demolished (Thankfully! Huge sigh of relief!) and the chipped are no longer minions of A.L.I.E. Most everyone was reunited with a loved one. Murphy and Emori (Luisa D’Oliveira). Abby and Kane. It even seems as if Bellamy and Octavia have begun to mend their relationship. But Clarke, the woman who saved them all, once again had to make a sacrifice. She sacrificed her one love when she could have chosen to stay with her for eternity. There was no may we meet again this time because they both knew that there wouldn’t be a next time. She also comes out of this ordeal with a new weight on her shoulders as she’s saved the human population for now, but they now face a new challenge in the form of the warning A.L.I.E. gave her. This girl can literally never catch a break.

 

In other news, Octavia couldn’t settle her differences with Pike and who can blame her? He killed Lincoln (Ricky Whittle) and blood must have blood. So, she does what she feels she has to do and kills him by stabbing him. Octavia, like Clarke, couldn’t be reunited with a loved one and she is still struggling with Lincoln’s loss.

 

 

This is normally the part where I remind you to tune in next week for an all new episode, but we have a long wait ahead of us until Season 4…