The ill-conceived, ill-prepared nature of the expedition makes sense given that the real purpose of sending down the Hundred was not to do a meaningful survey of Earth -- it was just to reduce the Ark's population and prolong their air supply, while also ridding themselves of their most expendable members, the criminals. The whole survey thing was mainly just a smokescreen to hide the true agenda from the Ark's populace. If, by some miracle, the Hundred did survive and report back that the surface was habitable again, that would be a nice bonus, but it wasn't the primary goal.
This show really does not hesitate to go as dark as possible. Two weeks ago they had a little kid murder one of the ostensible main characters. Last week they had the same little kid throw herself off a cliff. But this week was the darkest one yet -- but in a way, the most optimistic and moving one yet at the same time.
The danger that the Ark authorities would cull 300 citizens to reduce air usage has been around since the pilot, but I expected that Abby and Raven's plan would result in a last-minute reprieve, or that Abby revealing the truth to the populace would lead to some other option being explored. But instead we got people volunteering en masse to sacrifice their lives -- and the 100's desperate scramble to signal the Ark and save those lives came just barely too late. And so that final shot when Abby saw the signal flares... it was both the best and the worst possible news she could've gotten.
It's odd -- I usually don't relish shows that go too dark too consistently, but I find it surprisingly bold and effective here, perhaps because it's not something I would've expected from a CW show based on a young-adult novel. I guess the constant tragedy could wear out its welcome if they don't mix it up some, but they did mix it up here by making the story as uplifting as it was tragic. When these people were faced with the worst possible crisis, they didn't degenerate into venality and cruelty (like they would have on Moore's Battlestar Galactica), but came together like they never had before in pursuit of a greater good (which is actually closer to reality). Even Kane seemed to set aside his agenda and genuinely persuade Chancellor Jaha not to sacrifice himself -- even though I could've sworn he was the one who had Bellamy try to kill Jaha in the first place. It sucks that it was all unnecessary, but that doesn't really diminish the nobility of the characters' choices and actions here.
The main thing that bugs me is Abby's get-out-of-execution-free card. She's now committed at least two crimes, both of which are capital offenses since all crimes committed by adults are capital on the Ark, and yet she's been given a free pass. Okay, the excuse is that they need her doctorin' skills, but it still feels like a contrivance to keep the series lead around.
I also find the continued lack of Kelly Hu disappointing. They got my hopes up by giving her a big role in the pilot, and then they pulled a bait and switch.
