January is not a month known for successful film launches. Sure, Oscar hopefuls who squeaked in via limited release before the end of the year see wider releases, but otherwise, January is where many projects go to die. When Blackhat – a film that was at one time talked about in Oscar circles – was scheduled for January, doubt began to creep in. But it’s Michael Mann, man! Director of one of my all time favorites, Heat. Not to mention mega-star Chris Hemsworth. It has to be good, right?

It isn’t horrible, but to call it good might be a bit of an overstatement.

Hemsworth plays Nicholas Hathaway, and is a bit of an unconventional choice for a hacker; how many high-end computer types do you know that look like Thor? We find Hathaway in prison, but conveniently the only person with information that can stop a new player who has already managed to melt down a Chinese nuclear plant and compromise the New York Stock Exchange. It’s a good thing his college roommate is the leader of the Chinese side of the task force working on the investigation, else Hathaway would have never had a chance to save the day, right?

Despite the marketing campaign focusing solely on Hemsworth, the rest of the cast is solid. Smarter studio executives would have featured the amazing Viola Davis (and trade in on some of that How to Get Away With Murder buzz), but from the trailers you might miss that she’s in the movie – maybe because she was criminally underused. Leehom Wang plays the aforementioned roommate Chen Dawai, who inexplicably brings along his sister Lien, played by Wei Tang.

The real star of the movie, for better or for worse, was the director. Blackhat is decidedly and obviously Mann’s work, from the wonderfully filmed gun battles to the deliberate (plodding?) establishing and transitioning shots. (An aside: A fellow film critic mentioned in our post-viewing chatting that he’d never seen Mann’s Miami Vice: I told him it was Blackhat set in Miami). Fans of Mann’s work from Heat to Collateral easily recognize the visual and storytelling style he has brought to screen successfully before … but maybe it is a little too familiar.

I like directors with a distinctive style. I appreciate the fun in following the quirks and idiosyncrasies of how different influences can manifest themselves on screen. At the end of the day, though, stylistic choices need to be made for a reason, and not for the sake of themselves. I never really felt like Mann interpreted the story that unfolded in Blackhat through the camera lens, painting a pretty picture instead of telling a story.

Perhaps this is why the story felt so disconnected and illogical. There’s very little reason to Lien’s inclusion in the story – beyond the obvious eventual pairing with Hathaway. Her brother talks her into it by saying that he needs someone he can trust – the implication seeming to be that he can’t trust his own government, a thread immediately abandoned (except for one moment of needlessly spoken code between the siblings midway through the movie). Even more disjointed was the evolution of the Federal agent guarding Hathaway. His heroic turn later in the movie is confused by the fact that the story barely establishes any real conflict with Hathaway; though at one point our supposedly in-custody protagonist goes of on a side mission – with Lien needlessly in tow – apparently without the need to escape or sneak back in. I won’t even bother with the final action sequence that saw men knifed to death in the middle of a parade whose participants don’t react even as they must be stepping around a dead body (until, at least, the guns come out).

There are things to like about Blackhat, but nowhere near enough to make a good film. One has to wonder exactly how much of the story was left on the cutting room floor to get the running time to a reasonable length (but hey, let’s make sure we have those multiple extended CGI-rendered sequences of the electron-level inner workings of a computer). Or perhaps if we had a villain whose plot audiences didn’t need a map and a flashlight to understand (though admittedly the muscle/henchman played by Ritchie Coster is an intimidating – if one-note – presence). Unfortunately Blackhat and Mann aren’t able to get out of their own way.

[easyazon_image add_to_cart=”default” align=”none” asin=”B0017HRJ04″ cloaking=”default” height=”160″ localization=”default” locale=”US” nofollow=”default” new_window=”default” src=”https://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51PHVIsD0gL._SL160_.jpg” tag=”cliqueclack-20″ width=”125″] [easyazon_image add_to_cart=”default” align=”none” asin=”B00AEFXORM” cloaking=”default” height=”160″ localization=”default” locale=”US” nofollow=”default” new_window=”default” src=”https://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51BtnfXjkDL._SL160_.jpg” tag=”cliqueclack-20″ width=”127″] [easyazon_image add_to_cart=”default” align=”none” asin=”B001B7CNXI” cloaking=”default” height=”160″ localization=”default” locale=”US” nofollow=”default” new_window=”default” src=”https://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51XFxfpB4VL._SL160_.jpg” tag=”cliqueclack-20″ width=”124″]

Slowly but surely, things are starting to change at Syfy. The network that once eschewed its roots in science-fiction programming in a move to grab ratings – and admittedly stability – is finally coming back around. Gone are the days when there was more wrestling than shows like Stargate: Universe (admittedly the WWE still has a place on the network, but sci-fi fans will take their gains where they can). Continuum and Defiance begat Dominion and Helix which are shepherding in 12 Monkeys and The Expanse (!!!). Depending on your opinion of the Sharknado franchise, Syfy has done a solid job at creating event television; Ascension, a mini-series premiering this week, hopes to continue that tradition.

Syfy President Dave Howe told The Hollywood Reporter earlier this week that they don’t invest in miniseries programs without the potential backdoor for a series run, and what I’ve seen of Ascension thus far (the network has released the first two hours out of the six total), that is a really good thing. At San Diego Comic-Con earlier this year, I had the opportunity to sit down with the show’s creator Phillip Levens and members of the cast: Brian Van Holt (Ascension’s captain William Denninger), Tricia Helfer (Denninger’s wife Viondra), Andrea Roth (Doctor Juliet Bryce) and Al Sapienza (Councilman Rose). Between those conversations, and viewing the first two hours, this is what we’ve learned:

The Ascension and its crew are a product of their time

The ship was launched in secret in 1963, on a course for the Proxima System. The mission was intended as a post-Cuban Missile Crisis lifeboat for humanity: a 100-year journey to establish a colony that can avoid the threat of the world’s destruction in a nuclear war.

Levens quotes a line from the script that talks about how technology might have developed separately from “our” timeline, “If you take 600 of the best and the brightest and put them in a tin-can for 50 years, you’d be amazed with the things they’ll come up with.” But the culture on the ship maintains a distinctly 1960’s personality, most specifically evident in the way gender relationships have developed (or more-specifically haven’t) since the mission began.

The crew isn’t able to communicate with Earth; the challenges of time and space (and the plot convenience of their engine-technology’s interference) prevent it. They aren’t even aware if the planet survived the Cold War; but the story spends enough time on present day Earth to confirm that we all still exist in this universe. At home, the existence of the ship and its mission is fodder for conspiracy theorists.

There are many characters that question the mission

We find the Ascension as it approaches its metaphorical Rubicon, the point at which the ship’s resources wouldn’t allow for changing course and returning home. Fifty years into its journey, none of the crew is there by choice. Their parents and grandparents, in effect, made that decision for them. Some are beginning to doubt the mission, “Some people [think] maybe their grandparents made a mistake, maybe they were conned by the government,” Levens explains, “Maybe they bought into something that wasn’t real.”

In closed society, segmented classes are unavoidable

Inevitably, one of the themes of the story looks at the distinction between the ship’s leaders and the manual laborers. Denninger’s second in command, Oren Gault, is promoted from the lower decks. Instead of being the example that the society can rise above its stratification, seemingly everyone on the ship not named Oren Gault sees his position as a move to mollify those lower-level folks that want to do more than tend to the livestock.

Dr. Bryce expects her daughter Nora to follow in her footsteps and becomes the ship’s physician. The events of the first episode (a murder on board is the series’ inciting incident) change her motivations

There is 5-6 seasons worth of story to tell if audiences respond

Ascension is just six hours for now, but Levens and the team already have multiple seasons worth of story if audiences and the network respond favorably. “It was always designed to have a much larger, five or six year arc. It has lots of surprises … it’s not what you expect.”

Love triangles, relationships and threesomes, oh my!

Ascension isn’t family viewing – at least not in my family. The ship’s interpersonal relationships are a mess. While a computer chooses mates based on optimal genetic conditions (a death has to occur before a life is allowed to be conceived), the characters sure do get around. Helfer adds, “In Viondra’s case it’s not so much about desire, it’s much more about power.” Her relationship with her husband is one of love, but is as much a partnership invested in maintaining the power the captain’s position includes.

Ascension is in for a bumpy ride

Things aren’t going to be easy for the crew — admittedly, that would make for a crappy narrative. From the murder that kicks the story off, to the growing friction between the classes (informed by the desire of some — if not many — to turn the ship around and head home) to the mysterious entity that seems to haunt one of the crew’s children, a thread of danger weaves its way throughout the ship. Monday’s installment presents interesting questions about the motivations of the crew and the many secrets they keep from each other. Some of those questions are likely to be answered on nights two and three, but I hope the story will get a chance to develop beyond what we see this week.

This post is another Guest Clack from Brandon Coulson. Check out his thoughts on last weeks’ The Newsroom here.

This week’s episode of The Newsroom was engaging, funny, and clever. It was one of the most well-balanced episodes of the series and my personal favorite of the season so far. The main focus this week was the continuing drama over a government source’s leak of classified documents and the legal ramifications. There are also  several B plots this week, nicely handled without diverting our focus from the main story.

We also have the continuing story of ACN’s financial woes and Charlie Skinner’s attempts to secure an investor. Said investor is played by another NBC sitcom alum, B.J. Novak, as billionaire and obsessive control freak Lucas Pruitt. While their interaction is brief, it’s fun to see. Pruitt is presented here as a micro manager extraordinaire, and Skinner’s character, not being one to bow to authority, plays off this beautifully. I only hope we get more of this pairing for the rest of the season.

Then for our third NBC cameo of the night we have Paul Lieberstein (The Office’s Toby, and a producer on The Newsroom!) as the acting head of the EPA, Richard Westbrook. Well, sort of acting head … it’s complicated. He has a great scene here as a doom-and-gloom official being interviewed by Will McAvoy. He proposes that the current state of climate change is irreversible and we are all doomed to die horrible, horrible deaths even as Will tries to redirect him to a softer position he holds strongly and is hilarious in his responses. Lieberstein uses the same deadpan delivery that made his character on The Office so fun to watch.

Strange that one of the most enjoyable episodes of The Newsroom is one of the funniest. The show makes a point to be “about” something. Each episode tries to make a statement and quite often it overshadows the character development. While there were still the serious moments you’ve come to expect from the show, the humor was the highlight this week. The exception was one scene when Will McAvoy is being questioned along with his producers and legal counsel by a federal investigator. The scene is a back and forth leading up to a fantastic rant by McAvoy. Definitely the “Sorkin” moment of the episode, this speech actually comes off as natural and doesn’t feel as forced as they usually do.

Aside from a couple of moments, there were great performances and the show seems to be having fun again. If the writers can keep a balance of humorous side stories to counter-balance the heavy themes of their main story the series should be able to end on a very strong note. By streamlining to just a few B plots, possibly focusing on just the Don/Sloan story, the week to week craziness of a newsroom, and dropping the Jim storyline, The Newsroom just might end as strongly as Sorkin fans, myself included, had hoped it would be from day one.

Big Hero 6 is the funniest movie I’ve seen all year. I love throwing down statements like that; they can be challenged, to be sure, but it’s all subjective opinion, right? The semantics really don’t matter. Big Hero 6 is the kind of film that sneaks up on you; like Toy Story and Finding Nemo before it, children will drag their parents to theatres only to watch their parents laugh at humor that exists appropriately above their head. There’s nothing like sitting in a theatre full of kids and hearing the parents laughing harder than the young ones (though I always love it when the row of film critics sitting in a row are the only ones laughing).

If you have smiled or laughed in your lifetime, you’re going to find something to love in Big Hero 6. It might just be one of these six things that I found particularly awesome.

1. It’s a superhero story you’ve never seen before. Disney Animation Studios wanted to do a big comic book movie, and had the entirety of the Marvel catalog to choose from. That they didn’t choose a super-familiar property was a brilliant decision. The comic version of Big Hero 6 has been in publication since 1998, but it is an obscure enough title that audiences – at least domestically – aren’t going to be familiar with it. Plus, while many of the characters have direct counterparts from the source material, more looks to be changed than the same.
2. Baymax is going to steal your heart. Disney has a long history of creating characters you instantly love: Mickey Mouse, Mary Poppins, Simba, Ariel, Elsa. Now you’re kids (and you, lets be honest) are going to fall in love with an inflatable healthcare companion robot. He’s the best thing in a film surrounded by best things.
3. It’s a vision of the future we don’t have to be afraid of. Sure, there’s an antagonist that is terrorizing San Fransokyo, but the city itself and the world it exists in doesn’t seem so bad. Future worlds in science fiction seem to drift in one of two directions: dystopian or utopian. It was refreshing to see a future that felt normal. The city’s name and its culture are all representative of melting pot ideals. At the same time, though, things aren’t perfect; this is a future we can actually believe.
4. Honey Lemon has the coolest tech ever. Or put it another way: Hooray science! While I think making the device a purse was a bit much (though that is lifted directly from the source material), the idea of mixing different elements to make cool (fake) sciencey weapons is just plain fun. It’s the kind of thing that you hope exists some day, just so you can throw at your little brother … even though he’s in his 30s and owns his own business.
5. This film is full of sci-fi pop-culture references. In a flick like this, animators are always going to fill in a bunch of visual references to other movies. At some point, what you think might be references/homages are completely accidental (I doubt they were going for Contact or Star Trek: The Motion Picture, but I definitely saw them in there).
6. I can’t tell you number six. There’s a running bit in the flick that I think will lose its humor if you know anything about it before you see it. In today’s internet-based society, it will probably be made into a meme before you get home from the theatre. It’s Big Hero 6’s “Just Keep Swimming” (Or Dory speaking whale if that’s your kind of thing, Mom!) from Finding Nemo. This is all I’m giving you: B********a.

And a bonus, just because I love you all:

7. Feast, the short before the film, was totes-adorbs. I really liked Paperman that played before Wreck-It Ralph last year, but it is nothing compared to the wonderfulness that was Feast. I’d be lying if the dog Winston didn’t remind me more than a little bit of my dog Gibbs when he was a wee pup. Regardless, there is more heart in the five or so minutes than there are in most flicks you’ve seen this year.

Editor’s note: Do yourself a big favor and stay for the post-credits scene!

As I was preparing one of the paragraphs in this review, specifically talking about the relationship between Anya and Clarke (and thus the Grounders and the 100), I’d written out the lyric that is now the title of this review before realizing why and where the reference came from. The song “Live and Let Die” feels so ingrained in this episode and the show in general. While I haven’t particularly loved that all of our characters are spread out and disconnected, it has created a situation where alliances and relationships are evolving weekly.

Bellamy and Finn’s changes are a great juxtaposition. When we first met Finn, he was goofing off, floating through the drop ship during re-entry. Most of last season, he was advocating a peaceful approach with the Grounders. Now, he is a cold-blooded murderer. These were the kind of actions that we could have expected out of Bellamy, the boy general of the 100 last season. While his tactical prowess has grown, it’s more his natural leadership that’s the most striking change. While I could still see this Bellamy telling Raven that he’s not the guy to talk her out of revenge sex – he’s not going to change that much – but he is a very different man than the boy he was.

Octavia is on a different path – quite literally – from her brother, but her evolution is no less dynamic. Holding Nyko hostage was one thing, but her (admittedly poor) stalking of Indra’s hunting party was rather badass, but none of that compared to her in battle. She’s got a long way to go before she’s the skilled warrior that the Grounders are, but the respect – albeit grudgingly from Indra – she was shown establishes that she’s on her way. It will only be a matter of time before she’s reunited with Lincoln, whose showing up as a prisoner of the Mountain Men probably wasn’t the big surprise it was meant to be.

Has the ground changed Marcus Kane? His character arc has been a little less clear than others. I was pleased that he did not devolve into a simple mustache-twirling antagonist in season one, as he easily could have. Once we got to know the then Councilor, he was a man who was not afraid of making hard decisions, but one that found himself at the center of those decisions more often than he probably should have. Now acting-Chancellor, there’s no avoiding them. I understand his decision to follow the provisions set forth in the Exodus Charter in Abby’s very public punishment, and his choice to lead a diplomatic mission. But are these changes or was he always this way? If the character had been a smidge more tightly-drawn last season, it would be easier to tell.

An aside: We’ve not seen the last of Major Byrne, who advocated Abby’s punishment. If she stays behind at Camp Jaha where Abby is now in charge in Kane’s absence, they have set up a very interesting dynamic. Not only do they have their more recent conflict, the deep-seeded rivalry between the “Haves” and the “Have Nots” on the Ark is destined to come into play again.

To that end, I’m also curious about the Exodus Charter. With 100 years to sit around, the people of the Ark obviously had a lot of time on their hands to plan for their return. However, the Earth that they have found themselves on is quite different than what they expected. Will the rifts that divided them in space crack through the laws that they established in a (literal) vacuum? Or will the adversity the found on the ground be the crucible that brings them together? Regardless, the myth of Jaha will grow. Will the man find his way back to his people, and more importantly, is he the kind of leader his people need?

Notes & Quotes

• According to Wikipedia, Paul McCartney can’t remember the exactly what the lyric from the song is, so don’t jump on me for getting it wrong in the title.
• “There is no ‘we.’” – Anya
• I love Adina Porter; if you only know her from True Blood, you’re missing out. Her role on The Newsroom is smaller, but she is very good (as is everyone in the secondary cast, but you already know about my love for that show).
• Do the shirts that Jasper and Monty wear in Mount Weather remind anyone of Hypercolor tee shirts?
• There are some nice parallels between the 100 establishing themselves last year and their parents doing so this year. Nice touches and subtle enough that we don’t feel like we’re watching the same arcs repeat themselves.

HBO generally produces high quality DVD/Blu-Ray sets. The annual Game of Thrones release could win awards (Are there such things, and if not, why? I found none of particular note in a 30-second Google search). Last year’s release of The Newsroom’s first season was solid, but left me wanting more – not unlike the show, as I am admittedly a huge Aaron Sorkin-nut. The features in the second season set, available this week, were great, but I wanted more.

I’ve got to be honest: I’ve never been able to wrap my head around why it seems to be so difficult to record commentary tracks. Season two comes with four commentaries (compared to the five out of ten in the season one set), recorded with a mix of cast and crew. The participants recorded simultaneously in different locations, causing some interesting scheduling challenges (Aaron Sorkin left midway during one track, Jeff Daniels joined late in another). But as someone who records a weekly Podcast, I do know it isn’t that hard to find an hour to sit in front of a microphone and blather on about any particular subject.

The set also included two deleted scenes, the first of which was much more lengthy than the other. The scene was set up in the premiere, as Sloan and Charlie discussed their upcoming fantasy football draft. The scene in question showed just how seriously Sloan took her job as commissioner. If only she’d taken her research as seriously … Tony Gonzalez as a high first round pick? And Will suggesting Roy Helu, Jr. as an alternative just because he was a Nebraska grad was even worse (Says the Washington Redskins fan).

The set also included something HBO called Instant Preview. If your Blu-Ray player is internet enabled, you can watch the first episodes of several HBO and Cinemax shows: Veep, The Knick and others. I didn’t have a great deal of luck with the app; my attempt to watch the Knick was faced with enough buffering challenges that I moved on to the next feature. It is a good opportunity for folks who just watch HBO series on DVD to take a look at shows that might not have appealed to them otherwise. Considering HBO’s plans to open a streaming service to the public, I doubt they will have an exposure issue anytime soon.

I have skipped over the technical aspects of the set. I am a nerd about many things, but video transfer and audio composition is not one of them. Suffice it to say, the episodes both look and sound great. Content is more my thing; I’m looking the final six episodes of The Newsroom. I wish we were getting more, but Sorkin’s success on The Social Network begat his work on the Steve Jobs biography, and that movie’s inevitable success will likely keep him out of the television business for a long time to come.

This review is based on a complimentary copy, provided to CliqueClack, solely for the purpose of this review.

Jason Rothenberg and the rest of The 100’s production team spent the entire summer dancing around questions about the fate of the myriad characters last season’s finale left in significant danger. Isaiah Washington, who plays Chancellor Jaha, was even more dodgy (remember the beginning of this video?). Last week’s premiere cleared up the disposition of Bellamy, Finn and Raven – to an extent – but this week covered the last man in space.

Unfortunately, I found the Jaha storyline to be a rare misstep by the writing team. It was obvious early on that the infant was a hallucination brought on by oxygen deprivation. Hell, even in the final scene last week Wells’ picture was up on his father’s monitor as we first heard the baby’s cries. It was a weak way to move Jaha beyond his “the captain goes down with the ship” mentality, and motivate him to finding a way to get down to the planet.

Despite his protestations at Comic-Con, I didn’t buy into Washington attending the convention to promote the show if he wasn’t going to be involved (Though Arrow and Caity Loitz have me rethinking that mindset). Regardless, Jaha now has two feet firmly planted on terra firma. He’s still separated from his people – the temp effects available in our screener gave no hint to his location beyond it being in a sandy desert – but that’s something that has to be resolved eventually (else why bother bringing him back?).

The 100 doesn’t seem to be the kind of show to shy away form the consequences of the tragedies that befall our characters. Raven’s operation left her without the use of her leg. Unless Abby Griffin has some miracle cure hiding in another part of the wreckage, Raven is going to have a great deal of difficulty adjusting to her new normal. And really, if some miracle occurs like Hal on Falling Skies (or Maggie on Falling Skies for that matter) we are all worse off for it.

You can take her legs, but you cannot take her spirit. Reminding Finn – and to a certain extent the audience – that the bond between the remaining 100 is more important than following the rules of a society that banished them to an unknown fate. We as an audience might like Abby or Jaha or even Kane to a certain extent (Though I wonder how he will react next week to the prison break) … but the core of this show has always been about the teenagers sent to the ground. Finn, Raven, Jasper, Monty, Bellamy, Clarke … the children that were cast into an unknown hell bonded and became their own dysfunctional family. There was never any doubt that they would go searching for the others, it was just a matter of time. That it was Raven who prompted them – and Abby that supplied them – was a nice touch.

Clarke keeps pushing and pushing, despite everyone around her urging against it. Jasper can say “someone’s got to keep her out of trouble” but he’s a bit busy with his new lady friend. Instead, Clarke discovers the Mountain Men’s secret (or perhaps just the first). I’m no doctor, but I am sure with years of research and experience, the inhabitants of Mount Weather could have found a way to buoy the immune systems or whatever they would need to do to develop a resistance to the radiation that didn’t include (medically) sucking the blood from Grounders.

Notes and Quotes

• That opening title sequence is amazing, isn’t it? Rothenberg promises that it is full of easter eggs, so I’m sure someone will have it uploaded and examined by the time I’m eating my cereal tomorrow morning.
• Felix Gaeta. Ellen Tigh. Tory Foster. The 100 has been filled with Battlestar Galactica alums from day one. This week introduced Ty Olsson (Captain Aaron Kelly) as a grounder friend of Lincoln’s.
• “Ai laik Okteivia kom Skaikru; and you have something I want.” – Man, Marie Avergopolous – and Octavia — certainly has become a badass.
• “Only patients are allowed in medical,” I’ve seen that scene twice now, and both times Clarke had me cringing and pulling myself into the fetal position.

Previously on The 100: What. The. Fudge. Critics can talk about Scandal, they can talk about The Walking Dead, or they can talk about a host of other much-hyped shows that provides shocking twists and turns, but for my money, The 100 has them all beat.

I was describing the show to a friend this summer, trying to explain how the show kept ramping up the action. I told her there was a big shocking moment at the end of the pilot that left audiences jaw-dropped. Then Clarke topped it at the end of episode two. Then Charlotte topped it once and then once again in the following episodes. There’s nothing like The 100 on television anywhere, and I’m damn glad the show is back.

I talked to the cast and crew at San Diego Comic-Con this summer, and I was particularly struck by something showrunner Jason Rothenberg said. The full quote is in the video below, but he basically didn’t think that the show deserved its reputation for killing off characters; other than Wells, none of the characters killed was portrayed as a regular character. Rothenberg implied that since the show received that reputation, they were going to attempt to live up to it in season two. Boys and girls, if that statement does not scare you, you are not paying close enough attention. There’s an influx of characters on the ground with the return of the Ark, the Mountain Men (People?) and more Grounders. More characters to track makes it considerably easier to chop off a couple here or there as the story allows.

The end of last season left most of our characters a scattered, battered, bloody mess, separated and in a heap of trouble. Clarke, Monty, Jasper and 45 others have found themselves in relative safety in the welcoming arms of the denizens of Mount Weather. It seems that some aspect of the American culture and government were saved from the holocaust, but are now trapped by the radiation their bodies were protected from. Mount Weather’s comforts – including power from Philpott Dam (which in reality is a three day walk from Mount Weather) – are too good to be true. Other than Clarke’s feeling of unease, it is impossible to pinpoint exactly what is off about Mount Weather, but something obviously isn’t right.

The finale and premiere have introduced a variety of game-changers, none of which are going to be as impactful as the landing of the Ark. Kane saving the boys was a hint of the safety that the returnees (can the show come up with a cool name for them stat?) represent, but Bellamy’s arrest proves that whatever trials they experienced on the Ark, they will likely never comprehend what the 100 experienced on the ground. The politics of the myriad groups now on the ground are going to play a major role in the story arcs this season, but none will be trickier than the reintegration of these two groups … if it is even possible.

One of the other things Rothenberg mentioned in our conversation was the possibility of learning more about Murphy, and how that might humanize him a little. He obviously was referring to his conversation with Raven in the drop-ship. Rothenberg was clear to say that Murphy wasn’t necessarily going to be redeemed, something I think is impossible. I don’t particularly care that he had a particularly good childhood; very few of the 100 did. Bellamy was hard on everyone early on for the right reasons without realizing it, but Murphy was a sociopath. It’s hard to embrace someone who urinates on someone who just wanted a water break. Raven wasn’t there for the worst of things. She might show a little mercy, but it is doubtful others will.

The return of the Ark, the mysteries of the Mountain Men, the savagery of the Grounders and the resolve of the 100; so much of what we learned last season will soon be disproven. Our heroes are going to face challenge after challenge that continues raise the levels of WTF in ways that the first season couldn’t even begin to prepare us for.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=UnrZ4Lzi4Qc

• I have seen the first three episodes of the season, so it is admittedly difficult to dance around what I already know. A smarter man would have stopped in between episodes, but I was too damn excited.
• One of the few truly “fun” things that The 100 gets to explore is the relationship between Jasper and Monty, and tonight’s cake/pie interchange is a great example.
• There were several WTF (and for the record, the F stands for “fudge”) moments, but Kane shooting Tristan through the head was the first of several times that got me off the couch.
• Speaking of which … how did a politician on a space station become such a great shot and a tactical leader?
• Some of the casting cross-over is due to where the show is filmed, but the show adds a Cylon tonight in Rekha Sharma (Kate Vernon appeared and was too-quickly killed last season) and will add another Battlestar vet next week.
• We’ll get more into Octavia and Lincoln next week, but I am really interested in where their story is going. Ricky Whittle was one of two recurring actors upgraded to regulars this year (Lindsey Morgan) and was extremely entertaining at SDCC – I’ll be sharing that video in a week or two.

The 100 was probably my favorite new show when I reviewed the 2013 pilots last summer. Nothing could have prepared me, however, for what was to come when the series got to Episode 3 (Or Episode 4 … or Episode 5; at some point I had to stop counting). Jason Rothenberg and his team are right up there with Shonda Rhimes’ Scandal in terms of telling a fast-paced, dark story that is less like a television show and more like — if you’ll forgive the cliche — a roller coaster ride (and a damn fine coaster, too. Not one of those kiddy-coasters, but one you lose your lunch just looking at from the bottom).

We sat down with the cast and crew at San Diego Comic-Con earlier this summer. They told us what they could about the upcoming season, which was unsurprisingly very little. Isaiah Washington was particularly obtuse (tongue-in-cheek … to an extent). If you had asked me this summer, I would have said that just by his appearance at the Con one could figure out his fate … but then I’m reminded of our conversation with Mark Guggenheim about how many episodes Caity Loitz was going to be in, and I start to hedge those bets.

Here is what we learned from our conversations:

Jason Rothenberg

• Rothenberg isn’t sure the show really earned the “Is Anyone Safe” reputation it received in the first season. “We didn’t really kill that many important characters … we killed Wells.” But the writers try to treat violence in a real way. Wounds are impactful, and characters don’t heal by the time the next episode comes around. “That said, this year? No one is safe. We got too much credit last year, so this year I need to earn it.”
• Managing what the writers and actors can say before an episode airs is tough. There’s a balance between needing to answer questions to media to help build hype and revealing too much. Rothenberg, “I know if I was a fan of the show and I read online, ‘Oh this guy’s going to live’ … I’d be like ‘eh, OK.’ I want to be surprised when I watch it.
• Murphy is a character whose backstory is going to be revealed a little this season. “We’re going to start to peel back the layers.” Rothenberg compares episode six that explained where Bellamy was coming from as something they are going to try to do with the most hated of The 100. “I feel like [Murphy] on some level was underserved as a character last year … There’s a reason why he is the way he is.”
• Rothenberg loves all of the characters, but particularly likes writing for Clarke, “Eliza is just so good, anything I write she shows me what it really means.”
• All of the characters are scattered. The survivors from the Ark have landed in different places; the original 100 – or what’s left of them – are separated. “One of the things that this season is about is figuring out ways to get the people back together. Reunions are a key storyline.” The adults from the Ark finding their children – and finding them changed – will be an important arc. Rothenberg stopped short of saying whether or not Clarke and Abbey will be reunited, but at least they’re on the same planet now.
• Rothenberg doesn’t think that they will ever show the story of the apocalypse on the planet, but is interested in showing how the people of the Ark came together. “It’s a big episode, where big = expensive, so I’m not really sure when it’s going to happen, but it’s something I’d like to do.”

 Eliza Taylor / Clarke Griffin

• Taylor “kinda knows where Clarke’s going,” but they’re only given scripts a couple of days in advance of shooting. Plus? The story is always changing.
• “Being able to play someone who is smart and strong and soulful is just fantastic.”
• Taylor has been focusing on her physicality this season, especially after watching last. “I’m a girly-girl really,” and that’s something that Clarke isn’t. There were scenes last year where she felt she put a little too much of that into play, and she doesn’t want to repeat it.
• She’s looking forward to the hypothetical reunion with her mother (she thinks it will happen, but again, she hasn’t read ahead). “There’s a lot of tension there, but also they’ve both changed so much individually, it will be interesting to see if they recognize one another.”
• When asked about whether Clarke will continue to evolve in the same direction we saw in Season One, Taylor was confident she would. “She’s on that path, there’s no turning back. She’s definitely blurring the lines,” doing those morally questionable things that being a leader forces her to take on.

 Devon Bostick / Jasper Jordon

• Bostick is really excited to explore “the new world that is Mount Weather.” It sounds like the mystery that is this new locale – which Rothenberg assures us we will understand in the first moments of the season – will change the fabric of the world these characters live in.
• Bostick loves playing Jasper. He took to the character immediately when he read the pilot script, though he was shocked to see him die in the end. “He was the only guy having fun, just enjoying Earth for the first time … he’s goofy, but there’s a lot of heart to him.” But playing the transition is interesting. Jasper has PTSD from being speared, and has become a very different person. He’s running into battle, when he should probably just stay in camp.
• Jacktavia: Octavia slipped out of Jasper’s hands, which did challenge how Bostick approached the character. “She was a motivation to be doing the crazy things, because ‘she’s gonna dig it.’” It was a good beat to play, that despite Jasper’s affection, she was taking advantage of him. But now, “She’s a Grounder-pounder as they say around camp.” You can tell that Jasper’s sense of humor is very much born in Bostick’s.
• No one will say if Bellamy is alive or if Jaha is dead. Usually, you get a pretty good indication of such things by the show’s marketing in advance of the season; for example Isaiah Washington attended the Convention where Bob Morley did not. In this case, I’m not sure that’s a definitive clue.
• The interactions of the various factions on the ground will be a big part of the season. “The politics of the different societies; we’re going to explore how they all relate and who stands where,” teases Bostick, who was walking a tight line on what he could say and what he should not.
• That Mount Weather was a big part of the premiere and the finale was done intentionally. It was their goal originally, as the adults on the Ark told them that is where they could find safety. In the season finale, they learned just how wrong they really were. Bostick tells us, “We were wrong about the Grounders; now we’re wrong about the Mountain Men.”

 Lindsey Morgan / Raven Reyes

• “If you think Season One was nuts, Season Two is definitely … ‘Get Ready.’” The intensity jumps off from the first minute back.
• Morgan appreciates how well the writers are in tune with what the actors are doing and what they bring to their characters: “They can see what we shine in, and what’s our strengths as actors. They’re also very curious … they always try to stretch us and surprise us.” They pushed Raven a great deal last year, exploring her character beyond just a normal guest star (the character and Reyes’ work was rewarded with a promotion to the regular cast this season).
• While talking about the writing surprising her, someone asked if there was a moment in a first season script that surprised her. “Bellamy … I mean, where did that come from?!?” Where the producers will give warnings about major plot points – most specifically to an actor if their character is going to die in a script, they let her find out this particular character beat on her own. “I was just reading the script going, ‘Oh, this is good! This is … WHAT?’” Raven was always intended to die, but the writers kept pushing that death back. When Morgan read scene where Raven and Bellamy hook up, she figured that such a shocking, raw moment would be an interesting final beat before the character was supposed to die in the next episode.

 Marie Avgeropoulos / Octavia Blake

• Avgeropoulos was able to enjoy Comic-Con this year much more than last year for several reasons. She explained that it is easier to talk about a show people have seen – and become a fan of – than last year, where she felt like they were promising that the show was amazing. Plus, managing the Convention while on crutches, as she was forced to do last year, is much harder than you’d think.
• While social media has been a part of the show’s early success, she hadn’t really participated much before. “It’s the only place you can get a marriage proposal and a death threat in the same day.”
• “Season Two? It’s much darker and will push the envelope and show viewers even more than Season One.” She tells us that what we think is happening is the exact opposite from what is actually going on. We will obviously be meeting new characters, who “survived – or not – the effects of the radiation.”
• Avgeropoulos is comfortable with the character at this point, “It’s like when you turn the key in a car and put it into drive and it’ll just do its thing.”
• “I think Jasper is desperately trying to get out of the friend-zone.” But the Lincoln/Octavia story is more dynamic. She identifies with Lincoln for several reasons, and that the 100 had wrongly accused him was one of them, as she has familiarity with that. “Her only crime was that she was born.”
• Octavia is separated from the 100, both physically and emotionally. Her time with Lincoln will be difficult once they encounter other Grounders who won’t welcome her with open arms, and how the 100 react if and when they reunite will surprise her as well.

 Ricky Whittle / Lincoln

• “Season One was really like Disneyland [compared to this season.]” His hashtag for the season is apparently, #justgotdarker.
• In preparing for this season, Rothenberg and Whittle’s discussions have lead him to doing a great deal of reading and research on “something,” which he obviously couldn’t share. “The material I’ve been given, I feel very honored to be trusted with … I’m going to have to go there, I’m going to have to ‘go there.’”
• Whittle has put a great deal of time and energy into crafting his performance. You can tell he has embraced not just the assignments the producers gave him, but everything that role entails. He obviously (yeah, ladies … it’s obvious) spent time in the gym, but it goes beyond that. He works with a vocal coach to get his accent right. His work with an acting coach lead him to lobby the writers to give him less dialogue, as he thinks that’s how Lincoln would be. “I don’t want dialogue. Keep that mystique, keep him silent. He doesn’t need to answer you.”
• The one assignment he would share with us? Horse training. He’d ridden before, but wants to take it to a new level. The stunt coordinator owns his own ranch where he worked with Joseph Gatt and Dichen Lachman last season.

Isaiah Washington / Counselor Jaha

• Talking with Washington was an interesting experience, much different from how he was last year. The whole conversation was, I hope, just tongue-in-cheek … cheekiness. Just a couple of quotes (which were repeated often) will sum up the experience (and I’ve left most of the beginning of the conversation in the highlight clip above):
• “I’m a walking cliffhanger, and I can’t tell you a thing.”
• “No, I can’t talk about it.”
• “Can’t talk about that.”
• “It’s so disappointing, I feel like I’m letting everyone down. I ran my mouth non-stop last [year].”
• “Yeah … it’s gonna be intense.”
• “You will be in alignment with Jason Rothenberg’s decisions on Counselor Jaha’s fate.”

Product tie-ins for television shows and movies are nothing new. From action figures to video games, apparel to novels, audiences are accustomed to searching Amazon – or your favorite brick and mortar stores if that’s what you are into – for items related to your favorite show. There has not been, however, a massive influx of branded adult beverages, even though there is a lot of opportunity for natural connections. One of the best examples of that – other than the inevitable Scandal-branded wine – is Game of Thrones and beer.

Valar Morghulis represents the fourth collaboration between HBO and Ommegang Brewery. Their previous brews have included a blonde ale (Iron Throne), a stout (Take the Black Stout) and a red ale (Fire and Blood, natch). The latest is an Abbey Dubbel, which Ommegang describes as:

Valar Morghulis possesses a deep chestnut brown color with a persistent and creamy tan head. Rich aromas of caramel, toffee, ripe fruits and burnt sugar, with a hint of cloves. The taste is delicately balanced with rich malty sweetness, caramel and just enough bitterness to balance out its malty backbone. A surprisingly dry finish is light on the tongue, which belies the initial aroma.

While I missed out on the opportunity to try the previous products, HBO was kind enough to send us a couple of bottles – and some cool beer goblets – to try. I’m not nearly the craft beer aficionado as a lot of people out there – those that know me make fun of my appreciation for a good organic cider – I did enjoy Valar Morghulis. The maltiness was a little complex for my tastes, but the sweetness, in the form of the fruits and particularly the caramel and toffee tones really completed the flavor.

Maybe Ommegang and HBO are going to revolutionize the television-tie-in industry. Maybe that Scandal wine is right around the corner, followed by a Mad Men gin, Outlander whiskey and Simpson’s Duff (Oh, wait …). In the meantime, go find this beer (using Ommegang’s cool Beer Finder) – do it soon; it’s only a limited run. I promise, your tastebuds will thank you.

For more information, check out Ommegang’s blog post.