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The 100 Review: “Coup De Grâce ” (Season 2, Episode 11)

The 100 are preparing for a war, and as if there's not enough bad blood between the factions already, Clarke (Eliza Taylor) decided to add just a little more fuel to the fire. Not that I blame her, considering the Mountain Men did try to assassinate her while she got in touch with her cowgirl side, err, rode around on a horse looking purposeful. But, in a half glass full type of way, everything worked out. Unless that is, if you happen to be one of the unlucky 47 stuck inside Mount Weather in the middle of a coup de grâce - thus the title of the episode. Those characters should probably just enjoy the cake while they wait to either be rescued or become part of a gruesome science experiment - and the odds aren't exactly in their favor just yet.

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The 100 are preparing for a war, and as if there’s not enough bad blood between the factions already, Clarke (Eliza Taylor) decided to add just a little more fuel to the fire. Not that I blame her, considering the Mountain Men did try to assassinate her while she got in touch with her cowgirl side, err, rode around on a horse looking purposeful. But, in a half glass full type of way, everything worked out. Unless that is, if you happen to be one of the unlucky 47 stuck inside Mount Weather in the middle of a coup de grâce – thus the title of the episode. Those characters should probably just enjoy the cake while they wait to either be rescued or become part of a gruesome science experiment – and the odds aren’t exactly in their favor just yet.

It seems that the writers are struggling to an extent when it comes to Clarke’s character development (she cares, she doesn’t care). Sending Bellamy (Bob Morley) into Mount Weathers is an acceptable risk one moment but she’s second guessing herself the next. Her character bounces back and forth between ultra-confident leader and over-sensitive save the world type the entire episode. Arguably, the same can be said for most teenage girls. Yet, circumstances being what they are, ‘Ain’t nobody got time for that,’ is a blatant understatement.

You may remember a few episodes back, when Clarke was dealing with the aftermath of her decision to kill Finn, she never once wavered. Even when things went sour with the Grounders, she knew that she made the right call. At the end of “Remember Me,” fans saw a version of her emerge that contrasted heavily with what we’re used to. Clarke appeared to be emotionless. And, even though it wreaked of something straight out of The Vampire Diaries, it shook the status quo. It took the narrative and gave it a twist that was both necessary and unprecedented – and then, nothing. Absolutely no follow though.

Instead of capitalizing on Clarke’s new Lexa-inspired outlook, the writers dropped the ball. That’s not to say that regular, everyday Clarke isn’t good enough or even borderline exciting. She just isn’t as epic as she could be. Tonight’s episode only proved one thing, and that’s that she has her bad girl walk down. Other than that, she was a little on the rude side. I get it that everyone in camp is under a lot of stress these days, but the whole talking down to Raven (Lindsey Morgan) like she’s your employee act was a bit much. I guess she’s still got a little princess left in her after all – and not the warrior princess variety like Octavia (Maria Avgeropoulos), the annoyingly condescending kind. If the beginning of season one taught fans anything, it’s that no one likes a diva.