Disclaimer: Warner Bros. Home Entertainment provided Cinema Sentries with a free copy of the DVD reviewed in this post. The opinions shared are those solely of the writer.
When last season ended, Clarke (Eliza Taylor), with the help of her friends managed to stop Allie (Erica Cerra), the Artificial Intelligence that had not only brought forth the original Armageddon that destroyed the world but was trying to enslave all the remaining humans by taking over their minds. But just before the victory was obtained, Allie informed her of something even worse to come. The remaining nuclear power plants on the planet are all in meltdown mode and within six months the world will be engulfed with another radiation wave that would kill everyone.
With the only safe place to hide, Mt. Weather, having been previously destroyed, the group needs to come up with other ideas. One idea is to use their own base as a place to escape the radiation, but the only problem is that there is only enough food and space available for a hundred people. And even if they could decide on who would stay in the shelter, once the grounders find out what is about to happen, a war will begin. A second option is provided by Raven (Lindsey Morgan) and Abby (Paige Turco) who think that if they can create more Night Blood and transfuse it into people they will become immune to the radiation. But they must first find a subject to test it on. The final and most unlikely option is that Jaha (Isaiah Washington), who found the imaginary City of Light, would go off on another one of his crazy quests and find a hidden shelter.
This season returned to the survivalist nature of the first two seasons while seamlessly mixing in the science-fiction aspect. The clans were back at odds with one another as they fought over who deserved to be saved as the others searched for a medical answer. Once again, the writers threw in many twists and turns that were unexpected to the audience and another main character also made his last appearance.
Unfortunately, the character who said his last goodbyes did not have the effect they were intending and ended up being the one disappointing storyline. The intent was to show the tragedy of Post-Traumatic Stress, but what really happened was that the character became so obnoxious and annoying that you ended up rooting for him to be killed off. If it hadn’t been discussed in one of the special features segments, the audience would have completely missed the point.
“God Complex” was one of the best episodes as we saw Abby and Clarke debating the nature of testing the Night Blood serum on a captured grounder. Was it ethical to do even if it meant the survival of the human race? Were they any different than the Mountain Men who used them to try and save their society?
The best episode was “Die All, Die Merrily,” which pitted one member of each clan against one another in a city-wide battle to the death to determine who would control the bunker. Not only was it action packed, but several important characters did not make it, and Octavia (Marie Avgeropoulos) came into her own as the show’s strongest warrior.
The DVD contains seven Special Features: “From Outcasts To Leaders” is a mixture of clips from previous seasons while the cast discusses how the original kids started as 16-year-olds sent to war and have matured into leaders even more so than the adults that followed. “Creating A Post-Apocalyptic World” discusses how destroyed cities of the past led to the inspiration for the look of the show. “The 100: Jasper’s Journey” is an in-depth look at a comic-relief character that was originally destined to die in the first episode ended up becoming a major character and a victim of PTSD.
“Battle Tested: The 100 Season 4 Stunts” is a look into the season’s most important fight scenes. Not only are the different fighting styles of the characters explored, but there is a side-by-side comparison of both the stuntmen working through the scene and the final results with the stars of the show. “Gag Reel” is fairly typical, but the few times it evokes laughter is when there is a particularly serious scene and something unexpected occurs. Unfortunately, most of the time they don’t preface the bloopers enough. “The 100: 2016 Comic-Con Panel” is the cast discussing the events of Season Three and what is to come in Season Four. “Deleted Scenes” appeared to be extensions of the originals and did not add anything new to the story. It’s understandable why they were deleted.
While the fourth season did have a conclusion that answered the question of who will survive, it ended with a six-year jump in time and a whole new set of questions. As solid as the series has been over the last four seasons, I am looking forward to finding out those answers.
