Wear, Watch, Want #14: The Watch Only Edition
I've been having a kind of terrible week. I have those sometimes. I mean, everyone does, but as a Professional Sick Person, they're a part of my life I just have to expect to happen, and learn to roll with it when they do. Today I had to get an EMG test done, which, among other things, includes putting a needle/electrode an inch and a half into your muscle. When the doctor showed me how deep those needles were going into my skin I said, "AWESOME. Who's idea was that anyway? Like who was the person who said, 'Hey guys, what if we did this?!'" And he didn't know! So maybe he wasn't even a real neurologist. He did, however, tell me he writes columns about exercise for women's magazines. OMG SO HOLLYWOOD.
So that was this Friday. Last Friday I had a mid-level anxiety attack in an MRI machine. I've had a lot of them in my time on this earth, so I feel qualified to categorize this anxiety attack at about a 60% on the Anxiety Scale. I was determined not to press the panic button they gave me, because my insurance company made me jump through a lot of hoops to agree to pay for it, and there was no way I was getting out of that magnetic coffin so much as a second too early. I made it through and was rewarded by having my nerves electrocuted. What a life!
The point is, I'm not really operating at full power as I write this. I'm not really operating at half power. As for today's Wear, Watch, Want, it's going to be a little different, because what I'm wearing is pajamas and what I want is for my pain to stop. I'm just lying in bed popping Vicodin and cuddling my heating pad and wishing I could find something to watch on Netflix. Do you ever wish you had never seen a movie or TV show, so that you could watch it for the first time and enjoy it like you did way back when? I'm majorly suffering from that at the moment, and the show I'm feeling these conflicted feelings toward is The 100.
The 100 is a show on The CW that's based on a YA novel (that I haven't read, but I hear is not as good as the show) of the same name. In the world of The 100, Earth has been ravaged by nuclear war, and it's been estimated that the planet needs 100 years before it can sustain life again. The space stations that were in orbit at the time of The Big Earth Destroying Event all hot glued themselves together and formed The Ark, which would keep humanity alive for 100 years until they could return to the ground. Because this is a very tenuous plan, and resources are obviously very precious, there are some extreme rules, mainly: Families can only have one child, and there is a zero (ZERO!) tolerance policy for all crimes. Murder someone? Out the airlock. Steal some extra food? Out the airlock. Roll your eyes at your boss? Out the airlock (probably). Even kids are held accountable for their rule-breaking, but those in power aren't completely heartless - they throw kids in prison until they turn 18, THEN put them out the airlock.
It's been 97 years since The Big Earth Destroying Event, so we're almost ready to go home, but it turns out resources are even lower than expected, and The Ark cannot sustain life for even another few months, let alone another three years. It's decided that a group of 100 teen prisoners will be put in a spaceship and sent down to Earth, with bracelets monitoring how they fare, i.e., to see if they die. These kids are seen as expendable, because they are criminals, but remember, they are criminals based on a system that finds all criminal behavior equal. So some kids are actual delinquents, and one girl, Octavia, is there because she was a secret second born child who lived under her family's floor.
The ship lands, and Earth is survivable, but it's a hostile situation to say the least. There are no designated leaders, no adults, no structure. The plan was literally, "Throw some formerly imprisoned kids in a metal box, drop it through space, and see if they survive." The adults in this show, in case it wasn't evident, can be complete dicks.
Season 1 of The 100 was about the teens establishing a home base and surviving until the adults showed up, and for the adults up in space, it was about figuring out if they could go down to Earth, and how long they could manage to survive on The Ark. But of course there are complications, mainly, that not all life on Earth was obliterated 97 years ago. There are multiple groups of humans that are not thrilled to have Space Teens invading their home. And there's unrest in the camp too. Think of that awful group you had to do a report with in high school, but imagine if instead of a poor group dynamic getting you a failing grade, it got you DEAD. Yep, there's death. One thing I was surprised by was how much death and violence there is on The 100. I'm impressed that The CW is willing to take things so far. Which brings me to Season 2...
Season 2 is currently on the air, and it's something I look forward to every week. I liked this show before, but now? I LOVE IT. I can't think of anything that doesn't just avoid a sophomore slump, but slaps it right across the face and says, "NOPE." This show has gotten so amazing, and this week's episode in particular had me completely freaking out. I don't want to spoil anything, but if you're reading this and want to know what episode had me on an emotional roller coaster, and also made me cry (not a feat, but still worth noting) it was episode 5, "Human Trials." To tell you more about why season 2 is so incredible would give away a ton of what happens in season 1, so I'll keep it to myself. I will say that season 1 is now streaming on Neflix, so if you want to catch up it's super easy. I may even end up re-watching it while I'm lying in bed recuperating. I'm still completely jealous of anyone who gets to binge watch it for the first time from the beginning (but it doesn't hurt as much as getting an electrode injected into your muscle).
