User blog:Skyzy/Watch the Thrones Review

I'm going to do this in reverse and start with the Lowlights because I was not a fan of this episode at all and would like to end the review on a positive note. I'm left with that horrible, anxious feeling I had after watching Octavia beat up Bellamy in the Season 3 trailer back in December, only this time it's worse because all that dread of what might possibly happen seems to be frighteningly coming true.

Lowlights

 * Hannah, I liked you when you were first introduced! I had hopes you might replace Abby as a likable female adult on this show. Guess not.
 * Everything Bellamy. He gets his own discussion point and it's a long one.
 * It was sad to see Harper and Monroe walking away from Lincoln because they're (currently) still trusting Bellamy even when he's a genocidal maniac. I can only hope they both quickly come to their senses and protect Lincoln from whatever BS is going to be thrown at him for no reason (including rocks).
 * Linctavia. They will also get their own discussion point.
 * The Lincoln situation is much too predictable and having predicted his death since at least the trailer and with the actor being a lead in a new show, I've come to finally accept Lincoln will die this season and I'm getting to the point where I'm going to stop caring about his journey since it is meaningless if he's dead.
 * The Octavia situation. Her only story for four episodes has been of her not fitting in. Bored now. Moving on.
 * Most of the POCs are now either villains or going to die. As long as the white women continue standing strong, right? (This gets another discussion point because I can't remain silent on this topic after this last episode.)

Bellamy
As I said last week about the Bellamy/Gina plotline, it was completely unnecessary to begin with and now it's gotten even more ridiculous. It sucks that your girlfriend died but she was in like three scenes and I cared just as much about her death as I did Fox's. Sad, yes, but not worth taking up screen-time for tropish "emotional development." Hell, even Echo's betrayal seemed to have more of an impact on Bellamy than Gina's death. The whole Gina plotline felt forced and lessens the impact of Bellamy's beliefs and makes it into some sort of revenge/grief thing instead of him truly believing in Pike's cause.

The massacre of Indra's warriors next week by Bellamy has ruined his character for me if he really takes part in this. There's no coming back from that. I don't care if your girlfriend died, you prick. 300 warriors for 49 dead in MW when it was the Ice Nation and not the Trikru? At this point, it's all become meaningless conflict. I would be fine with the Bellamy/Pike storyline if it didn't also involve the destruction of Bellamy's character. I didn't like Finn from the beginning so it didn't bother me when they destroyed his character (besides, they at least gave him more setup than they've done with Bellamy). I've loved Bellamy's character since the Pilot when he refused to bend to the Ark rules on Earth so it bothers me that they're destroying two seasons worth of incredible character development in one episode for a girl who was nothing more than a plot device. It would have been more believable if they had given this story to Jasper.

As of this moment, Bellamy is cut. I'm done with him for even being willing to participate in the massacre, much less getting them guns and going out for round two, regardless of whether or not he actually ends up participating (we'll see next week). But I don't care any more what happens to him because he's not the same character I know as Bellamy. He's a new and contrived character filling a hole in a plot that shouldn't exist. I hate Bellamy more than Abby now.

Linctavia
Octavia just wants to leave but Lincoln says: "The only way they're ever gonna see us as different from Azgeda is if I stay." But that's the problem, Lincoln! They don't see YOU as different unless you JOIN THEM! Pike even challenges Lincoln to "prove he is one of them" by letting him kill all his people. This is why it bothers me when everyone keeps saying Lincoln is Sky People now. That is exactly what he is NOT! He is trying to be a good representation of his people so the Skaikru will realize there's nothing to be afraid of. This will NEVER work (because they'll see him as a fellow Sky Person before they'll ever see him as a "good" Grounder) and if he dies because of this, it's just sickening to do that to his character.

On top of it all, the entire Linctavia storyline has become so bland and contrived and gone sour on me. After four episodes, we get it! She doesn't fit in and all he wants is peace! I was bored with it in the second episode and I'm officially done with it by the fourth episode. I am greatly disappointed in this throwaway plot, especially if it leads to his death. And, of course he wants to stay now the kill order is lifted. I had a horrific thought earlier that maybe the real reason he's sticking around is because he's still suffering from the side-effects of the Red. That combined with the racism plot is just too much. If he doesn't leave after the massacre in the next episode.... ARGH!

My top three characters: with Lincoln most likely dying (no matter how much I'm in denial) and Bellamy spiraling down into villainy, that leaves only a destroyed Octavia after losing both her brother and her lover. At that point, I'll be praying for her to put herself out of her misery but I'll probably have stopped watching if it comes to that. I've been seeing this tossed around a lot on tumblr and twitter: darkness induced audience apathy. I'm already there with Bellamy but I'm not at that point yet with Linctavia (I'm getting close).

Covert Racism
I'm going to be blunt. Now, before I go accusing this show of racism, I'd like to point out that almost ALL shows are guilty of this to some degree (unless produced by Shonda Rhimes). That's why it's called covert. It's very difficult to get rid of systemic racism but at this point in our "enlightened" society, it shouldn't still exist in the first place! People need to wake up to it and maybe pointing all of this out might help stop someone from accidentally perpetuating it (because I don't believe it's intentional; I just believe it's based in ignorance).

It's time for a too-brief social and cultural lesson about POCs/minorities and how they're characterized onscreen. I love diverse casts in my shows and I also appreciate how rare it is to have diverse shows. What I don't like seeing is POC being continually killed off (most recently, Penny Dreadful unless they do some raising the dead voodoo next season) or turned into villains (majority of the shows out there). That's what leads to the cultural racism that gets people like Trump elected.

But what do we see here instead? A Black and two Asians leading the force set to massacre 300 people. And who are our fearless leaders who will show them the error of their ways and/or punish them? White Clarke, white Lexa, and white Abby (Hillary parallels?). Everyone has heard of the Bechdel Test (btw, Gina failed that test with flying colors) but there really needs to be one for minorities so they stop getting shoved into these repetitively negative roles that continue to subliminally re-enforce Trump's position. I'm all for feminism but not at the expense of minorities.

Highlights
Clarke: "Your ambassadors betrayed you. How do you move forward?" Lexa: "They were doing what they believed was right for their people, too." (And nope, sorry, Bellamy, that quote doesn't excuse what you're about to do.)
 * Lincoln's "ge smak daun, gyon op nodotaim" scene brought tears to my eyes. He deserves so much better.
 * Brenda Strong as Nia was perfectly cast. She was brilliant in this episode and she got the Diana Sydney send-off. Well done.
 * I was not expecting Nia to die already (yes, I mentioned it in passing but I wasn't serious). I thought she would be around for a bit longer. This was a great twist.
 * Pike's character still needs a little more dimension and depth (which I'm hoping is just because we haven't seen much of him yet) but Michael Beach's portrayal should be commended. He is believable and passionate.
 * Ontari is now rivaling Roan for my affections as favorite new character of Season 3.
 * Aden is still just too floatin' adorable.
 * Monty finally stood up for himself!
 * Lexa was magnificent in this episode and I was finally glad to see her being a Commander instead of a love interest (well, until that last scene).
 * Speaking of that last scene, this little bit from the Lexa/Clarke heart-to-heart:
 * The Roan/Lexa fight was one of the best parts of this whole episode.
 * Roan's little conversation with Clarke in the courtyard was also a favorite for me. I loved the whole "Death stalking me" line.
 * Roan and Nia exchange. I'm really fascinated by their backstory (maybe it's because I'm so confused with this Azgeda/Trikru banishment). I wonder if we might see Nia again, maybe in flashback?

General Thoughts

 * Polis and Roan are now more interesting to me. They've moved from the bottom of my list (that's now exclusively reserved for the Arkadia plots) and into number two under the ALIE plots (this coming from someone who has no interest in political dramas, which does not bode well for the rest of the season for me).
 * The Nightbloods and Ontari are a truly fascinating new story and I'm interested in learning more. I really hope their black blood has some sort of ALIE tie-in.
 * Is Roan's banishment from the Azgeda or the Trikru? I am still really confused by this situation with Roan.

I keep having to remind myself I was initially not a fan of Remember Me but with subsequent viewings, it grew on me. Maybe that will be the case with this episode. In the spirit of hope and trust because the writers haven't steered (too far) wrong yet, I'm not rating this episode until I've seen more in order to properly judge it.