When we last saw Clarke (Eliza Taylor), she had just awoken in an all-white room that looked like a medical facility. The battle against the Grounders had gone badly. and as a last resort. her people had to retreat to their broken drop ship and ignite the thrusters in hopes that it might kill off enough of the enemy that they would think twice before attacking again.
The thrusters had done an exceptional job, but before Clarke and her group had time to react they were assaulted by strange-looking men in hazmat equipment with tear-gas grenades rendering them unconscious.
Season Two picks up immediately after the first season ends. Clarke immediately escapes from her room only to find that she is not a prisoner. She’s under quarantine until she has been cleared by the doctors at Mount Weather, the underground facility her and her fellow 100 had been trying to reach the entire first season.
There weren’t supposed to be people already living there, but the bunker built to survive the apocalypse had done its job by keeping a large group of survivors safe for the last 100 years. Unfortunately, there is one drawback to their survival. Having been locked away for several generations, they are highly susceptible to the higher radiation levels on the planet surface.
At first, the mountain men are looked upon as saviors and a possible respite from the savage outdoors, but something doesn’t sit well with Clarke sending her into an almost obsessive condition where she must uncover every little secret. And when she finally figures out what is really going on inside the mountain she is horrified and too late to rescue her friends who are no longer guests but captives subjected to biological experiments.
While rescuing the remaining 100 is her primary goal, things become more difficult when the rest of her people manage to make it down to the planet and want to establish their old governmental ways and take all responsibility from Clarke. And of course, the massive army of Grounders bent on war standing between them and the mountain pose an even bigger and immediate threat.
Season two is filled with lots of plot twists and shocking moments as all three groups do what is best for their own survival. That leads up to multiple betrayals and the death of main characters. The two most important points in the season come in episode eight, “Spacewalker,” where the relationship between Clarke and Finn (Thomas McDonell) reaches its heartbreaking conclusion and in the season finale two-part episode, “Blood Must Have Blood,” when the alliance crumbles and it looks as if the rescue attempt will fail. But rest assured, the season does have a definite resolution and doesn’t rest on such a heavy cliffhanger like its predecessor.
The four DVD set contains all 16 episodes of Season Two along with a “Gag Reel,” “Unaired Scenes,” and the following three special features:
- “The 100: Unlocking the Mountain” is a brief overview of the entire season by cast and crew as they discuss major plot issues and storyline.
- “The 100 Pre-Viz Stunts” is a mix of cast and stunt teams performing action scenes at the same time giving the viewer a presentation of the choreography of the scene along with the finished product.
- “2014 Comic-Con Panel” is the cast at Comic-Con talking about what occurred in Season One and hinting at what might be happening in the subsequent season. While a number of series have been adding Comic-Con features lately, it would seem to be a better idea if they included the most recent panel, in this case 2015, as it would be discussing the season on the current DVDs instead of the previous season.
Overall, the series has really picked up speed during the second season. It’s gone from a simple survival story to a full-fledged science fiction/horror/adventure show. Nobody is safe. All sides are committing atrocities in order to save themselves and there’s plenty of fighting and action going on. There’s even a little romance and a decent amount of characterization occurring to show each person as multi-faceted and not just black or white. It has a little bit of everything for anyone who watches. The one negative thing is that it’s serialized. In order to follow along, the audience needs to watch each episode as the story is always a continuation and it might be difficult for a new viewer to just jump into the middle.
