The 100 Season Premiere Review: “The 48” (Season 2, Episode 1)

If the point of this episode was to prove that adults just muck things up, then mission accomplished. The season 2 premiere of The 100 re-introduces the remaining members of the 100 (just about half of the original number) to the concept of adult interference – in a major way. Whether you’re talking about a character who was “saved” by the mountain men, or just one of the lucky few that escaped the blast, things didn’t really go their way in “The 48” – unless you’re Jasper (Devon Bostick), who got both chocolate cake and a love interest, in a single scene.

The adults from The Ark didn’t have any problem sacrificing these teenagers in the interest of their own survival, but now that they were forced down to Earth earlier than scheduled, they’ve apparently changed their tune. Kane (Henry Ian Cusick) has been on Earth for all of five minutes before he becomes the self-proclaimed King of the World. In a very Christopher Columbus sort of way, he seems intent on discovering a land that was already discovered, and eliminating the natives in order to claim it for himself. In the interest of his people, of course. Except this time, the invaders came equipped with semi-automatic rifles.

It actually came as quite a surprise to me that the remaining members of The Ark are so well-organized and athletic. Considering the amount of space they had to train in space (no pun intended), their precision approach seemed a little out of left field. Of course, The Ark had its own police force, but how much training did they really need – with the exception of hand-to-hand combat – when there was nowhere for the bad guys to run in space? It struck me as odd that they would have mastered military techniques since landing.

Kane, naturally, leads them with a fearless authority that makes me think we won’t be seeing the more endearing side of him that viewers became accustomed to towards the end of season one. Although, his soft spot for Abby (Paige Turco) hasn’t quite seemed to deteriorate yet.

On the plus side, Finn (Thomas McDonell) and Bellamy (Bob Morley) probably have Kane and his team to thank for their lives. Fortunately for viewers, they probably won’t have to witness either of those characters ever actually admitting that out loud. At the risk of becoming prisoners under Kane’s leadership, at the first chance, they’ll probably head out of dodge to look for Clarke (Eliza Taylor) and the others. It wouldn’t be out of the ordinary for Abby to jump aboard this tangent grouping. And, Raven (Lindsey Morgan) would have been a shoe-in as well, but her health is still on the questionable side.