The 100: Chapter Six (Less of a Wells Fan)

So, this is a meaty chapter. Mostly because we finally get to see Wells' personality, and to nobody's surprise whatsoever, guess what, he's kind of a prick. 

Actually everybody in this book is kind of a prick, which would be cool if I thought it was at all intentional, but I have the creeping feeling that I'm actually supposed to sympathize and agree with these people, and there's only so many lines I'm willing to cross, okay.

So we start out on the ground, when Wells is looking around and thinking about how bummed out he is about Clarke. Get used to this, because it happens fucking a lot.

Every night he'd spent in Confinement, he'd fallen asleep dreaming about arriving on Earth with Clarke. But instead of holding her hand while they gazed at the planet in wonder, he'd spent the day sorting through burned supplies and trying to forget the expression that crossed Clarke's face when she spotted him. He hadn't expected her to throw her arms around him, but nothing could've prepared him for the look of pure loathing in her eyes.

"Gee, I wasn't expecting a parade or anything, but the hatred is a bit overkill. It's not like I'm responsible for the deaths of her entire family or anyth - oh. Wait."

So this isn't a spoiler or anything, because there's no big reveal coming up that sheds any more light on what went down than what we already know: Clarke's parents were executed for their creepy radiation death camp, and Wells was the one who turned them in. I'm going to say this in capital letters so there can be no confusion: IT DOES NOT MATTER WHAT HIS INTENTIONS WERE. HE TURNED IN HER PARENTS, WHICH LED DIRECTLY TO THEIR DEATHS. SHE IS ALLOWED TO HATE HIM FOR THIS. 

I know y'all probably agree with me on this point but it just makes me feel better to say it. 

Okay, so boo hoo, Clarke hates him, so sad, Wells is sort of just standing around moping when a couple of those hooligans from Walden and Arcadia start making fun of him, which is when he morphs into Clint Eastwood in that Gran Torino movie:

Wells's chest tightened, but he forced himself to stay calm. He could take one or two of the little punks without breaking a sweat.

"Get the fuck off my lawn before I turn into a heavyhanded Christ allegory!"

He'd been the undisputed champion of the hand-to-hand combat course during officer training. But there was only one of him and ninety-five of them--ninety-six if you counted Clarke, who was arguably less of a Wells fan than anyone on the planet at the moment.

"Less of a Wells fan" is kind of a light-hearted way to say "I got her parents killed" but okay, sure, whatever. So Wells was in "officer training," which I assume is different from the guard cadet program. Since Chancellor Jaha was apparently a "soldier" at some point, I assume it's the same thing Wells was going to do, which still freaks me the fuck out because oh my God, why do they even need soldiers, who the fuck are they fighting?? Yes. Yes this society is very healthy.

Then there's a mention of Glass, finally, because she and Wells are supposed to be best friends, so good job remembering that she exists.

As they'd loaded onto the dropship, he'd been dismayed not to see Glass there. To the shock of everyone on Phoenix, Glass had been Confined not long after Clarke, though no matter how many times he pressed his father, Wells had never discovered what she'd done. He wished he knew why she hadn't been selected for the mission.

OH MY GOD, seriously?? She was literally on the same ship as you at the same time and then she fucking escaped in this big dramatic scene, the guards were yelling after her and everything, are you seriously telling me nobody noticed? I mean I know you were distracted with your dad's possible death at the time but come on, everybody in this book is on pot, apparently, they never notice anything until somebody smacks them in the face with it.

So there's some talk about how they don't have a lot of food, because the Ark only sent them down with about a month's worth of nutrition packets and the kids are already hoarding them, and then more talk about where they're gonna sleep. And since Wells is an angel of logic, he's like, "well, we have tents," and "we should set up near water because, you know, we need it and all," and the Walden and Arcadia kids are like "GO FUCK YOURSELF, RICH BOY," because they're just a tad emotional at the moment.

Then Murphy shows up. I mean Graham. Sorry.

Aside from Wells and Clarke, he was the only other person from Phoenix, yet Graham appeared to know most of the Waldenites and Arcadians by name, and they all treated him with a surprising amount of respect.

Uh, maybe because he bothers to remember their names? Something you haven't made even the tiniest effort to do so far, Wells. But whatever, they're just punks. Who gives a shit, anyway.

Wells didn't want to imagine what he'd had to do to earn it.

Okay, so Wells is a giant snob. I'm gonna tell you right now: this doesn't change. It's a flaw that I really like, actually, because it makes sense, considering who his father is, but it doesn't make him any less of a prick when he insinuates that everyone from Walden and Arcadia is a violent no-good thug with the mentality of a pack of wild dogs.

So yeah, Graham is a prick, Wells is a prick, everyone's a prick, and the conversation they have is annoying on so many levels.

"I wasn't trying to lecture anyone. I'm just trying to keep us alive." 

Graham raised an eyebrow. "That's interesting, considering that your father keeps sentencing our friends to death. But don't worry, I know you're on our side." He grinned at Wells. "Isn't that right?" 

Wells glanced at him warily, then gave a curt nod. "Of course." 

"So," Graham went on, his friendly tone at odds with the hostile glint in his eyes, "what was your infraction?" 

"That's not a very polite question, is it?" Wells tried for what he hoped was a cryptic smile. 

"I'm so sorry," Graham's face took on an expression of mock horror. "You have to forgive me. You see, when you've spent the last 847 days of your life locked in the bottom of the ship, you tend to forget what's considered polite conversation on Phoenix." 

"847 days?" Wells repeated. "I guess we can assume you weren't Confined for miscounting the herbs you probably stole from the storehouse."

OKAY. So remember when I complimented Wells on his political savviness in chapter two? Yeah, I take it back, because he's being super dumb now. He clearly knows that Graham is well-respected among the 100, that he's charming, and by the way? There's a bunch of people standing around watching them talk right now, so this conversation is incredibly public. He also knows, or he should know, that as the son of the Chancellor who is directly responsible for these kids' current predicament, as well as their shitty, horrible lives leading up to this predicament, that there's heavy resentment, on top of the normal baseline of resentment that exists between Phoenix and the other, poorer stations. So what does he do? Plays right into Graham's hands. Because he's dumb.

What should you have done, Wells? "Well, Meagan, I probably should have just answered his question honestly, and played it up as much as possible to get them to feel sympathy for me, and to realize that I'm one of them now." Yes, good job! What else? "Well, casually accusing him of stealing and thus reinforcing everyone's worst expectations about Phoenix snobbery was probably pretty stupid." Yes. Yes it was. Live and learn, Wells. 

So, because Graham is smarter than literally everyone else in this book, he seizes this prime opportunity and tells everyone he was convicted of murder, simultaneously gaining both respect and fear, and then drives the nail home about how Wells is an outsider and the Chancellor's son, and taunts him about how he totally knows what Wells' crime was, but he's not gonna tell because he won't give Wells the satisfaction, and by the way why the fuck is your dad killing all our friends?

Graham was still smiling, but his tone had grown low and dangerous. "And why now? What made your father decide to send us down all of a sudden?" 

His father. All day, absorbed in the newness of being on Earth. Wells had almost been able to convince himself that the scene on the launch deck--the sharp sound of the gun shot, the blood blooming like a dark flower on his father's chest--had been a terrifying dream. 

"Of course he's not going to tell us," Graham scoffed. "Are you, soldier?" he added with a mock salute.

That sound you hear is any hope of ever getting these kids' respect flying away at Mach 5, Wells. Hope you said goodbye!

So, of course he doesn't tell them, but he does think about how he totally knows what's up, why kids are getting executed and they sent the 100 down so hastily, because it's all his fault, apparently, although we won't find out why until the emotional climax blah blah blah. Then a sad twelve-year-old asks pitifully when he'll get to go home, and Wells thinks about how the parents of most of these kids don't even know about this mission and still think their children are in Confinement, and wow, holy fuck Wells, if this is your fault then yeah, I agree with you, you are a horrible person because that is really, really messed up. 

"We are home," Wells said, forcing as much sincerity as he could into the words. 

If he said it enough times, perhaps he'd start to believe it himself.

Yeah, I'm sure the traumatized twelve-year-old who just wants his mom finds a lot of comfort in that, Wells. Good job.

So yeah, after that, then we're in a flashback, because lol who needs transitions, and it's one of Clarke and Wells' dates. Because...I don't know why. He's thinking about Clarke constantly, so why not.

Some interesting stuff here: it's a concert in "Eden Hall" (where the Eden Tree is) and it talks about how they only bring out real musical instruments once a year, and the rest of the time they're kept in airtight protective cases, like the books. Wells is still grieving for his mother, and everyone keeps looking at him because Phoenix is like high school, only much worse because you're in space and there's nowhere to run away to after graduation. 

It was crowded as usual, with most of Phoenix buzzing around excitedly. Many of the women were eager to debut new dresses, an expensive and potentially maddening feat depending on what sort of textile scraps you found at the Exchange. He took a few steps forward, sending a ripple of whispers and knowing glances through the crowd.

Okay, so I think I forgot to explain this, but the Exchange is some kind of market where you can go and buy scraps of shit to make new shit, and recycle-fashion is all the rage. From just this short description, even without the stuff that you read later on in some of Glass' chapters, Phoenix sounds just...incredibly horrifying in so many ways.

Another thing: so the kids from Walden and Arcadia have no idea what Wells' crime is, but it's common knowledge on Phoenix, to the point where it's implied in chapter two that Jaha had to do some PR damage control, and Graham was able to find out relatively quickly. And this description of Phoenix as an intense fishbowl is even creepier when you start to put the dots together and realize that literally no information travels between the stations whatsoever. They have different accents. Do you know how isolated a community has to be, for how long, for accents to emerge? The Colony isn't that big, okay, Glass is described running from one station to the other relatively quickly, and yet there seems to be hardly any interaction between Phoenix and the rest of the population whatsoever. This is like some Hunger Games shit, you guys. Phoenix is the capitol, and Walden and Arcadia are everyone else in their gray drab uniforms, and nobody knows shit about each other because this is a fucking dystopia and the Gaia Doctrine is clearly a textbook called How To Oppress People: A Step By Step Guide.

So yeah, that's messed up. But let's get back to Clarke and Wells' date, because lmao who cares about that when we could be falling in love???

He'd never grown immune to the comet tail of double takes and curious glances he dragged behind him, but tonight it felt unbearable. 

He turned and started walking toward the door, but froze as a hand grabbed his arm. He spun around and saw Clarke giving him a quizzical look. "Where are you running off to?" 

Wells smiled grimly. "Turns out I'm not in the mood for music." 

Clarke looked at him for a moment, then slipped her hand into his. "Stay. As a favor to me." She led him toward two empty seats in the back row. "I need you to tell me what we're listening to."

You know, I still really like these two crazy kids together, in spite of myself. Clarke's calm will, and Wells' reluctant bowing to it, is sort of beautiful in its own way. Also "comet tail of double takes and curious glances" is a really, really good sentence.

The rest of the flashback is boring though, they listen to the music and say sappy shit to each other about how it "sounds like a sunset" and that's what their first date on Earth is gonna be, whatever. Then it's back to the present where Wells is set on being as stupid and self-righteous as possible.

"I know this all seems strange and intimidating and, yes, unfair, but we're here for a reason," he told the crowd. "If we survive, everyone survives." 

Nearly a hundred heads turned to him, and for a moment, he thought perhaps his words had chipped away at the layers of calcified defiance and ignorance. 

As good as the phrase "calcified defiance and ignorance" is, that's really fucking offensive, dude. They have calcified defiance because the government has abused and oppressed them their entire lives. They're ignorant because the government doesn't tell them things. Like, go take that snobbery and shove it up your ass, Wells.

But then a new voice crashed into the silence. 

"Careful there, Jaha." 

Wells twisted around and saw a tall kid in a bloodstained guard uniform. The boy who'd forced his way onto the dropship--who'd held Wells's father hostage. "Earth is still in recovery mode. We don't know how much bullshit it can handle."

Thank you God, for Bellamy Blake. 

bellamy pentecost blake, am i right??

So, again, you'd think the smart thing to do would be to follow the crowd, right? Because positioning yourself against the popular opinion would be, idk, not smart?

Well - nah. Why do that when you can dig yourself deeper? That's the Wells Jaha way.

Another wave of snickers and snorts rippled around the fire, and Wells felt a rush of sudden, sharp anger. Because of this kid, his father--the person responsible for protecting the entire human race--had been shot, and he had the nerve to stand there and accuse Wells of bullshit?

Wow, okay, somebody's been drinking a little too much Kool-Aid, I think.

So Bellamy our Lord and Savior's all like, "just be real dude, you want us to do what you say or you'll rat on us to the Council" and Wells is like "haha, what, nooOOOOooOOOo," and everyone's like "well yeah dude, it's kind of suspicious, and you're not doing all that much to convince us you're not still on your dad's side," and Wells is like "WELL BELLAMY SHOT HIM, HE'S A CRIMINAL, ISN'T HE A CRIMINAL? EXPLAIN YOURSELF, CRIMINAL!" and then I had to put the book down for a minute because I was rolling my eyes so hard I gave myself a headache. 

The boy's eyes narrowed. "I did what I had to do to protect my sister." 

"Your sister?" Wells repeated. People broke the population laws more often on Walden than on Phoenix. But Wells had never heard of anyone having a sibling, not since the Cataclysm.

Two things real quick: Bellamy is the oldest person in the hundred right now. He's identified in chapter three as being age twenty, and since everyone else was a delinquent assigned to the Earth mission, that means they're all under eighteen. Yet Glass and Wells frequently refer to him as a "boy," which means either: Bellamy looks super super young for his age, or Kass Morgan has no fuckin' clue how teenagers think and is apparently under the impression that they'd use the same terms to describe their peers as a middle-aged white guy from Alabama yelling at his son from the bleachers at a high school football game. Also: Wells should have no idea at this point where Bellamy is from. Yet he identifies him as being from Walden, specifically, because...the editor never caught that. 

"That's right." The boy crossed his arms and met Wells's eyes with a challenging stare. "Now I'm going to ask you one more time, what are you really doing here?" 

Wells took a step forward. He didn't owe anyone an explanation, let alone this criminal, who was probably lying about having a sister and who knew what else. But then a flash of movement caught his eye. Clarke was heading toward the fire from the other side of the clearing, where she'd been tending to the injured passengers. 

Wells turned back to the tall boy and sighed, his anger draining away. "I'm here for the same reason you are." His eyes darted toward Clarke, who was still out of earshot. "I got myself Confined to protect someone I care about."

The crowd fell silent. Wells turned his back on them and started walking, not caring if their eyes followed him as he made his way toward Clarke. 

Apparently in addition to not catching the slip up about Bellamy being from Walden, the editor also missed that Morgan has used the word "toward" three times in as many paragraphs. I guess they were having an off day.

Also I'm assuming that Bellamy was rolling his eyes as much as I was after Wells did this "sad sigh, knowledge bomb, dramatic exit" bullshit. Fun fact! It's only dramatic to you, Wells. Nobody else gives a single fuck about your problems, because - and here's another fun fact - they've got a shitton of problems of their own! Mostly directly caused by your father! You're a giant prick!

And...does anyone know what happened to Graham? I'm assuming he melted into the ground or something, as most characters do when they stop being relevant to the scene. Maybe they revert back to an inert, plastic-packaged state, like the toys in Toy Story whenever Andy is in the room.

So, okay, this entire goddamn mess of a scene is obviously the inspiration for a lot of the "leadership argument" scenes on the show, only at least those made sense. It's disappointing to me because she's got a lot of potential for storytelling gold here, but it's so clumsily done that it's just frustrating and weird. The dialogue feels rather patched together, actually, and there's a few spots where they make some weird jumps that people wouldn't normally make in natural conversation, where you can tell that Morgan went back in and added additional lines. Basically: it sucks. But don't worry, because Clarke and Wells are about to talk and suck some more!

"What are you doing here, Wells?" she asked, her voice strained and weary. 

She's in shock, Wells told himself, forcing his mind to wrap around the ill-fitting explanation.

No, she's not, she hates you because you got her parents killed. I feel like I'll be reminding you of that fact, like, a lot.

"I came for you," he said softly. 

Her face assumed an expression that broke through the barriers, a mixture of sorrow, frustration and pity that seemed to travel from Clarke's eyes straight into his chest.

....what the actual fuck did i just read?? What even is that sentence??

"I wish you hadn't." She sighed and pushed past him, striding off without another glance.  

Her words knocked the air out of him, and for a moment, all Wells could think about was remembering how to breathe.

Okay, so...I was gonna quote some more because the description of the glorious wonderful sunset that makes everyone stop and stare is actually kind of cool but you know what, fuck that, the rest of this chapter was such a mess I don't even care. We end with Wells being sad and thinking about how he's watching his first sunset alone instead of with Clarke like they'd planned during some random jokey conversation they had once a million years ago, and you know what, if this is what love is like in Kass Morgan land, count me out, because none of this shit strikes me as even the least bit romantic.

You know what this sort of love is? Desperation. Wells met Clarke as his mother was dying, and latched onto her because life fucking sucks on the Colony and none of these people have anything to live for whatsoever, so they find reasons to keep going and care way too intensely about them as a way to distract themselves from their actual, shitty reality. Whether that's gossip and recycled dresses, or your ex-boyfriend drama, or a girlfriend whom you prioritize above everything else to the point of actual obsession, or your increasingly shaky hold on your principles as the machinations of the government you represent becomes crueler and crueler with each passing day, you do what you have to do to keep yourself waking up every morning, right? Just get through each day. Survive, because what else is there to do?

Oh my God, this book is horrifying. I need a fucking drink.