The 100 Review: God Complex (Season 4 Episode 8)

As we head into the painful 3 week hiatus, The 100 Season 4 Episode 8, “God Complex” leaves us scratching our heads and trying to catch our breath.  “God Complex” gives us three stories which all push the story forward, but each is self contained and wildly different from the others in tone.

PARTY AT ARKADIA, BRING YOUR OWN RECREATIONAL DRUGS

With Clarke on the island and Kane off on a quest with Jaha, the kids decide it’s time to party (like it’s 1999, or 2150, whatever).

Jasper has given up on fighting and he’s fully embracing his philosophy of living, not surviving. And this week it’s oddly refreshing. In The 100 Season 4 Episode 7, Bellamy hit a breaking point. He’s been trying to atone so long that he’s forgotten what it feels like to just breathe.

Jasper: The way I see it, we can spend our last days wallowing in our reasons or we can do whatever the hell we want, and mean it this time.

With no one in immediate danger and the impressive effects of peer pressure Bellamy finally takes a break. It’s the lighter side of this episode, well as light as you can get on the eve of the apocalypse.

“WHO WANT’S TO GO DOWN THE CREEPY TUNNEL INSIDE THE TOMB FIRST?”

In Polis things are reaching real National Treasure meets Indiana Jones levels, and I love it. Jaha takes Kane on his crazy cult quest and finally gives Chancellor Peacekeeper something to do. It’s been clear to the audience that Kane’s goal to keep everyone alive with their souls intact, while morally the right way to lead, doesn’t make him very popular in the end of days.

Even his best buddy Indra has abandoned his ideology in favor of keeping Azgeda from following them into salvation. It’s been a while since we last saw Indra, so seeing her go full machine gun warrior is a bit of a shock.

But it makes total sense if you think of it from her perspective: of the grounders we’ve known the longest, Indra took the most convincing to trust Skaikru. And she’s given them their fair share of second chances too.

So when Kane, her closest ally in Skaikru sides with the people who’ve been killing all of hers, (for years, not just since Season 3) defending her own people and their main fortress of power becomes her priority.

Jaha’s continues to be strangely interesting and having even more strange and interesting luck. The theme that we’ve been not so subtly told about this season finally comes to fruition.

Jaha: From the ashes we will rise.

He’s been repeating this line like a mantra since he found a new cult to obsess over, and it turns out he’s actually been onto something.

This entire plot has given me more questions than answers so far, but boy am I excited about it because let’s be honest it’s really cool. Did Cadogan kill Becca? How did their stories overlap to become the grounder religion? Has anyone actually used the bunker before? Will we get flashbacks?

Either way, Monty and Gaia are pretty much the coolest kids in town, and I just really hope this is an apocalypse contingency that actually sticks.

I DON’T HAVE A SNAPPY TITLE FOR THIS SECTION, IT JUST HURTS.  

On Science Island when the group blows up a grounder in Becca’s fancy microwave, everyone has to ask themselves how far they’ll go to survive? Where to they draw the line between doing what’s right and doing what’s necessary?

Because Emori lied, she’s the one they choose to test next, because asking for volunteers apparently just escaped everyone as an option.

It’s really interesting to see where each of the characters in the lab fall on this decision. Natural leaders, Clarke and Roan know the necessity of sacrifice in the name of survival. Roan understands Clarke in a really compelling way and their similarities along with their differing approaches make their relationship rather fascinating to watch.  

Roan: You don’t back down when things get hard.

Clarke: It’s always hard.

Roan: Yet here you are.

At the complete opposite end of the spectrum is Luna’s refusal to give up her blood if it’s going to get people killed, but Roan doesn’t give her a choice. Luna’s mindfulness and morality have rubbed off on Raven in recent weeks, and she’s come to see Murphy and Emori as friends, so she’s decidedly against the whole thing.

I understand the need to have someone protest, but the judgement Raven passes seems hypocritical. She offers no alternative and doesn’t volunteer to take Emori’s place. She’s all too ready to call Clarke and Abby murderers for making this choice, when just weeks ago Raven was on the opposite side, withholding medicine from Luna and her people.

Abby: First we survive, then we find our humanity again.

It’s hard to tell if this is supposed to be a role reversal between Raven and Abby that just fell very short of actually working, or if it’s just inconsistent writing, but it’s the one part of The 100 Season 4 Episode 8 that doesn’t quite work for me.

Emori and Murphy suffer for their deception and it’s incredibly heartbreaking to watch. Richard Harmon is easily the standout in “God Complex,” showing a depth of emotion from Murphy that we’ve never seen before. His love and desperation to save Emori are absolutely devastating and beautiful.

Murphy: I’m begging you, please, I love her. Don’t do this.

Abby struggles the most with this decision, her humanity at war with the knowledge that if she does nothing, they’re all dead anyway. It weighs heavily on her every step of the way, and in the end she can’t quite pull the trigger and inject Emori.

For all we know, Abby’s brain has been both enhanced and hurt in the same way Raven’s has, meaning it’s entirely likely that she has solved the problem and Emori would have been just fine. But when Clarke takes the injection herself, all of Abby’s careful calculations go out the window.

Because Raven’s hallucinations were in part true, Abby immediately fears that her’s was a premonition.

Clarke has always been the most important person in the world for Abby and she’d do anything to keep her safe. Abby destroying the machine is just another affirmation that for her, Clarke comes first.

Having her completely meltdown here is also a riveting way to have the rest of the group officially learn that her brain is acting up in similar ways to Raven’s.

Hopefully the bunker Kane and Jaha found can allow everyone on Science Island to have a break, because they really need one after the day they’ve had.

OTHER THOUGHTS:

• It’s pretty cool foreshadowing that Murphy and Emori move to destroy the machine and then Abby uses the same instrument to actually destroy it later.
• The off-brand Clarke that turns up to show Bellamy a good time is about as subtle as cult aficionado Jaha.
• So is the Lost parallel of having Henry Ian Cusick find the hatch for the bunker, but that one is way more cute.
• The callbacks to Season 1 with the nuts and the whatever the hell we want are really nice touches from Jasper.
• Clarke being a nightblood now opens up a lot of doors. Where do you think this will take her?
• Speaking of the bunker, can we get everyone in there ASAP? I volunteer to start making them hot cocoa and handing out blankets.

What did you think of this episode of The 100? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!

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The 100 airs Wednesdays at 9/8c on The CW and returns April 26.

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