The 100: Book One - The First 5 Seasons
The first five seasons of The 100 create “Book One” and take place on Earth. The theme for Book One is about doing whatever it takes to survive.
In 2014, when The 100 originally aired, I attempted to watch it week-to-week with my sister. I made it about 3 seasons in before completely giving up the first time around; I was already having big issues with one of the characters that they introduced in the third season, so when I was an episode behind and got something spoiled that was huge, I quit the show instantly. Fast forward a few years to the end of season 5, and my sister can’t stop talking about The 100! Since quitting back in the beginning of season 3, I had seen a number of spoilers online, but without context nothing really bothered me. Eventually, my curiosity got the better of me in the beginning of the year, so I decided to give the entire series a go once more, and I am so happy that I did! I caught up completely before the 6th season started, or the beginning of book 2, at the end of April. Now, in 2019, I am back to watching The 100 week-to-week with my sister!
There is a lot to love about this show, and this show has definitely grown over the years, as well as the characters — the ones that can manage to stay alive, that is. In this post, I’ll be going through each season, the highs and the lows, and giving my thoughts and feelings along the way, but coming soon after this I’ll have a more in depth post focusing on the characters and different character dynamics!
Quick Warning: There will be lots of spoilers in this post! I’ll be going over the events of all five seasons, especially the episodes that stood out as my favorites, and a few least favorites. This is definitely a post for if you have already seen the show, or I guess if you are interested in the show and don’t mind spoilers!
Season 1:
Overall Season Ranking - 5th
The first 13 episodes of this series weren’t bad at all, it was honestly a good introduction to this series and it isn’t “too cringey” to watch again. However, this show grows with each season, there is a lot to be said for their first season being their weakest season when it comes to character arcs and the hardships that they faced, as well as plot twists!
Overall Premiere Ranking - 3rd
“Pilot” —
“Set in the distant future, 97 years after a nuclear apocalypse has devastated the surface of Earth, the only remaining humans are residents of a flotilla of orbiting space stations known as “The Ark”. 100 juveniles convicted of various crimes are sent to the surface to test its habitability. Among them is 17-year-old Clarke Griffin, the daughter of the Ark's chief medical officer and chief engineer. As the 100 explore, back on the Ark the leader of the Ark, Chancellor Jaha, has been shot, causing Councilman Kane, the second in command, to take charge.”
Overall Finale Ranking - 5th
“We Are Grounders (Part 2)” —
“The 100 are ambushed by grounder scouts and forced to retreat to camp. Meanwhile, the remaining citizens of The Ark prepare to return to Earth. After a technical failure to jettison requires manual intervention, Jaha remains on The Ark. The Mecha Station, with Abby and Kane, makes it to the ground. Back at the dropship, Tristan leads the grounders' attack. The 100 mount their defense. Octavia is injured and leaves with Lincoln. Most of the 100 retreat into the dropship; Anya leaps in after them. As previously planned, Jasper manages to activate its rockets, and the massive fireball kills all 300 of the grounders, and apparently Finn and Bellamy. When the 100 emerge from the dropship, gas grenades drop at their feet, and they all pass out. Clarke wakes up in a white room. Through the window in her door she sees Monty locked in an identical room across the hallway. A sign next to his door reads "Mount Weather Quarantine Ward".”
Favorite Episode -
Episode 11 “The Calm” —
“After a fire destroys most of the food supply, the group sends out hunting parties to restock. Clarke, Finn, and Myles go out together, but Clarke and Finn are captured and brought to the grounder camp. Anya instructs Clarke to save Tris, her second, a young girl who was injured in the bomb blast. Clarke tries to save her but is unsuccessful. In revenge, Finn is taken away to be executed. Clarke escapes by killing her guard and runs. Bellamy, Raven, Octavia, and Monty search for the missing party and find Myles, hurt in the woods. Monty mysteriously disappears after hearing a strange signal on their hand radios. Kane awakens on a devastated Ark. He searches for survivors and realizes Jaha is alive in the Earth Monitoring Station and trying to bring systems online. With over half The Ark's populace likely dead, they discover that there are survivors in an access bay to the exodus ship. Kane braves the extreme heat in a maintenance tunnel to reach the survivors—including Abby.”
This is a big episode for Clarke, this is the episode where we start to see Clarke kill whoever she has to, whoever gets in her way, or whoever threatens the ones she cares about, and it doesn’t seem like she feels too bad about the choices she makes for survival.
Saddest Death
Episode 3 “Earth Kills” —
Wells Jaha
Not Enough Screen Time
Wells Jaha — Wells literally only makes it three episodes into this show! This is probably my one big “I wish this never would have happened” moment in book one. I feel things would have been a lot different had Wells lived, for his father and for Clarke. Wells was a better friend to Clarke than she could ever realize, and I think losing Wells was a big factor in how quickly we see Clarke do whatever it takes for the people she cares about — like when she starts killing grounders in episode 11 for Finn. While Wells wasn’t a natural leader the way Bellamy or Clarke were when they hit the ground — he was, unfortunately, the chancellors son after all — he was smart and brave, and I believe that Wells knew that life was about more than just survival.
Season 2:
Overall Season Ranking - 4th
Let me be honest with this one, as far as villains and the overall plot of the season, the grounders in season 1 were much better than the mountain men in season 2. However, the only reason season 2 is ranked higher than season 1 is because Lexa gets introduced during this season.
Overall Premiere Ranking - 5th
“The 48” —
“Finding Monty gone from his cell, Clarke breaks out and discovers she is trapped in an underground complex inside Mount Weather. She discovers an entire population of humans has survived, but is unable to go outside because they have never built up the resistance to radiation that the grounders and the 100 have from space and adaptation. After meeting their leader, President Dante Wallace, she is invited to stay along with the 47 surviving teenagers out of the original 100 that landed on Earth. Distrusting him, she makes a break for freedom but is stopped by Jasper. Clarke secretly plots an escape. Meanwhile, grounders capture Finn and Bellamy, before Abby, Kane, and the rest of The Ark's survivors find them and free them. After heading to the crash site, they discover an injured Raven and Murphy. Bellamy attacks Murphy, and Kane arrests him. The group returns to the newly established Camp Jaha, the remains of the crashed Ark. Separated from everyone else, Lincoln tries to save a poisoned Octavia, but with no antidote, he is forced to take her to his village, knowing it will mean certain death if he is caught.”
Overall Finale Ranking - 4th
“Blood Must Have Blood (Part 2)” —
“Clarke joins Octavia in the tunnels and is let into Mount Weather by Bellamy. With the 47 waiting for bone marrow extraction, Clarke and Bellamy take Dante hostage. When Cage still refuses to stop, Clarke shoots his father, which leads Cage to begin bone marrow extraction on Abby. Seeing no other option, Clarke has Monty hack into Mount Weather's air filtration system, and she and Bellamy irradiate the mountain, killing the entire population, including Maya. Cage escapes but comes upon Lincoln, who injects Cage with the reaper drug, killing him, leaving Emerson, who also escaped, as the last Mountain Man. Everyone returns to Camp Jaha, but Clarke, wracked with guilt over the deaths of hundreds of people, leaves. Meanwhile, Jaha and Murphy arrive at an island where they separate. Murphy finds a lighthouse inside of which he watches a video recording (dated May 10, 2052) of the previous occupant who says she "got the launch codes", before shooting himself. In the final scene, Jaha finds a well kept mansion, surrounded by flying drones, where he meets an A.I., named "A.L.I.E.", in the hologram form of an attractive dark-haired woman wearing a red dress, who thanks him for his "gift": the nuclear warhead from the missile he used to land on Earth.”
Favorite Episode
Episode 6 “Fog of War” —
“Two days after the massacre, Raven discovers that Mount Weather has jammed communications. Leaving camp to investigate, Bellamy and Octavia discover that Lincoln has become a reaper. Clarke still has not spoken to Finn. Raven manages to listen in on Mount Weather's radio broadcasts and discovers the previously encountered acid fog is a weapon of the mountain. In Mount Weather, Wallace wants Jasper to find volunteers to provide blood for the mountain residents, but he is unsuccessful. Maya discovers the radiation leak she was caught in was no accident and confides in Jasper about the mountain's caged grounders. In captivity, Jaha and Kane are told that one of them must kill the other to gain an audience with the Commander. Kane attempts to take his own life rather than kill Jaha, but a grounder witness, named Lexa, reveals herself to be the Commander and says that she believes their wish for peace is sincere. She sends Jaha to Camp Jaha with a message; leave within two days, or die.”
This is it, this is the moment we are finally introduced to the Commander, Lexa! After all of the mystery surrounding the grounder commander, she sneaks her way onto screen as an innocent girl. In our introduction to the commander, we learn that she is clever, she will go in and gain information herself, she will put herself in danger before putting her people in danger, and she will come to her own conclusions and make up her own mind.
Favorite Episode: Honorable Mention
Episode 8 “Spacewalker” —
“Clarke returns to camp with knowledge of the only way the grounders will accept a truce. Opinions are divided when Clarke reveals the grounders will cease their attack if they are given Finn. Flashbacks to The Ark reveal that Finn was imprisoned because he took the fall for Raven's illegal spacewalking. At Camp Jaha, Abby and a returned Kane think they can bargain with the grounders by offering to put Finn on trial, but such plans are for naught, as Finn ultimately turns himself in. In a last-ditch effort to save Finn, Clarke goes to meet with Lexa. When Lexa refuses clemency, Clarke asks to say goodbye. She approaches Finn, kisses him, and tells him that she loves him while stabbing him to death, saving him the brutal torture/execution of grounder custom.”
It was hard to choose which episode was my favorite in season 2, but Lexa won in the end. However, this episode is another huge moment for Clarke, as well as a big moment between Clarke and Lexa, so it had to be given an honorable mention. I was never a big fan of Clarke and Finn’s relationship, even before they introduced the Raven love triangle, so I was okay with saying goodbye to Finn. Clarke makes a hard decision as a leader, and even though she stabs her first love in the heart, she does it to save him from a crueler fate, while still delivering justice for Finn’s actions.
Favorite Moment/Scene:
Episode 10 “Survival of the Fittest” —
Indra appointing Octavia her as second is one of my other favorite moments to come out of season 2. Octavia has always been “the girl under the floor”, she has never truly felt that she fit in with Skaikru even if she was born on the Ark. While her relationship with Lincoln starts a big change for Octavia, her drive to be respected by the grounders makes her fight her hardest and become Indra’s second. This is one of my favorite relationships in the show, how it changes from Indra being her seda, to them becoming family.
Season 3:
Overall Season Ranking - 1st
I have a lot of conflicted feelings about this season, I mean it is the season that originally made me quit watching this show in the first place. After getting through the first 2 seasons in my rewatch, I must confess that I wasn’t sure if I was going to be able to make it through this season since — spoiler alert — I already knew what happened to Lexa and Lincoln. Despite the fact that we had to say good-bye to 2 beloved characters, this season takes you back ~97 years to the first time the world ends, and to the time of Bekka Pramheda. This is my favorite season in book one, yet where I had problems, I had big problems. This season contains most of my least favorite episodes, including episode 5 which is the original episode that made me quit back in 2016.
Overall Premiere Ranking - 4th
“Wanheda (Part 1)” —
“Three months have passed since the tragedy at Mount Weather and our heroes learn that a bounty has been put on Clarke’s head. Unbeknownst to Clarke, a team led by Bellamy and Kane journeys deep into Grounder territory to save her. Meanwhile, Murphy finds his way to the mansion and discovers a very different Jaha on a very different mission.”
Overall Finale Ranking - 2nd
“Perverse Instantiation (Part 2)” —
“At Arkadia, Monty rescues Harper and captures Jasper. At the Polis tower, Clarke uses the EMP device to free her mother from A.L.I.E.'s control. Abby transfuses the near-dead Ontari's Nightblood into Clarke so she can be implanted with the Flame. While Pike and the others fend off A.L.I.E.'s acolytes, Clarke takes a chip and enters the City of Light. She is protected by Lexa's spirit and aided by Raven's hacking against A.L.I.E.'s minions, and is led to Becca's spirit aboard a manifestation of Polaris who shows her A.L.I.E.'s kill switch. To stop Clarke, A.L.I.E. claims that the world's abandoned nuclear power plants are melting down and releasing radiation, meaning Earth will be uninhabitable in the next six months and the City of Light is the only salvation. Clarke attempts to get A.L.I.E. to give people a real choice rather than force them to come, but Becca admits that A.L.I.E.'s core programing prevents such a thing from happening. Despite believing the AI's claims, Clarke proclaims that they will find another way and throws the kill switch, destroying A.L.I.E. and freeing all of the people under her control. In the aftermath, Octavia brutally executes Pike to avenge Lincoln's death and Clarke warns Bellamy that they haven't saved the world yet.”
Favorite Episode
Episode 7 “Thirteen” —
“Murphy convinces Titus to tell him more about the origin of his religion, speculating that the first Commander was from the 13th station rather than born on the ground. Flashbacks to 97 years earlier reveal that after A.L.I.E. causes the nuclear apocalypse by hacking all of the world's computer launch codes, Becca – A.L.I.E.'s creator and avatar template – attempted to create A.L.I.E. 2.0 to interface more directly with humanity. When The Ark destroyed her research station Polaris, Becca injected herself with an unknown black substance while implanting the A.L.I.E. 2.0 in her neck, and traveled to Earth in an escape pod. In the present, Clarke and Lexa sleep together for the first time as they prepare to part ways in response to Lexa's decision to blockade Arkadia until Pike is removed from leadership. Titus attempts to ensure that the Sky People are destroyed by shooting Clarke and blaming Murphy for it, only he shoots Lexa accidentally. After Lexa dies, it is revealed that the A.L.I.E. 2.0 computer has been implanted in the back of her neck; Titus describes it as the spirit of the Commander.”
Why, oh why, is the episode where Lexa dies my favorite episode of this season?! I do find it ironic that the spoiler that made me quit the show was Lexa’s death, and the episode I was avoiding turned out to be my favorite, and the moment things started to turn around for me with season 3. I am a sucker for history, so when this episode finally explains every mysterious, cryptic thing Lexa has said about the Spirit of the Commander, all I wanted was more. In this episode, we go back 97 years to the time of Bekka Pramheda, the time of the first nuclear apocalypse, diving deeper into how Becca tried to fix things after ALIE.
Least Favorite Episodes
Episode 5 “Hakeldama” —
“Clarke, Lexa, and other grounders from Polis discover the fallen army of grounders, slain by Pike and his followers. Indra is found wounded and claims Bellamy persuaded Pike to let her live in order to tell Lexa that the Sky People reject the newly-formed coalition. Lexa allows Clarke's return to Arkadia to tell Bellamy and the others to step down. Clarke fails to convince Bellamy, but instead induces Lexa to end the cycle of violence in hopes of peace. Meanwhile, Murphy and Emori set up traps to steal from passersby. Murphy is caught, and one of the grounders spots the pill Jaha gave him earlier in the season; he demands to know where Murphy found it. After arriving in Arkadia, Jaha and A.L.I.E. set out to recruit more people into the City of Light by giving out the pills. Devastated by her chronic agony, Raven decides to take the pill, which successfully removes her pain. She then sees A.L.I.E. for the first time.”
Episode 9 “Stealing Fire” —
“In Polis, a conclave is held to decide the new Commander. Ontari, Nia's bodyguard, arrives and murders the other Nightbloods, declaring herself Commander. Titus names Clarke the new Flamekeeper and she takes the A.L.I.E. 2.0 computer chip, known to the grounders as "the Flame", to find Luna, a Nightblood friend of Lincoln. Titus kills himself to ensure Ontari cannot use him against Clarke, and Ontari swears Roan and Murphy to secrecy about the missing Flame. Meanwhile, Bellamy goes to Octavia for help to save Kane, Lincoln, and Sinclair from execution, but is captured by Octavia and Indra. Abby, Octavia, Miller, and Harper stage an elaborate rescue, with last-minute help from Monty, whose betrayal of Pike is covered up by his mother. When Pike threatens to execute the interned grounders, Lincoln surrenders to save them, while the others escape Arkadia. Octavia watches from a distance as Pike executes Lincoln.”
Episode 12 “Demons” —
“Clarke's group finds Arkadia abandoned, and retrieve Lincoln's journal, which contains a map to Luna's location. A mysterious masked figure attacks Harper, Miller, and his boyfriend Bryan before they can reach Arkadia and then targets Clarke, who unmasks him as Carl Emerson. Emerson kills Sinclair, and traps everyone else in the airlock planning to force Clarke to watch them suffocate. Clarke uses the Flame to kill him and saves her friends. The group hold a funeral for Lincoln and Sinclair, after which Clarke, Bellamy, Octavia, and Jasper embark on a journey to find Luna, while the others remain to use the Arkadia's mainframe to hack A.L.I.E. Meanwhile, Emori arrives in Polis and reunites with Murphy. Jaha arrives with knowledge of Ontari's deception, revealing that Emori is under A.L.I.E.'s control. Ontari has Murphy arrested, and Jaha convinces her to take a chip. With Ontari in her thrall, A.L.I.E. now has mastery of both the Sky People and the grounders.”
Favorite Villain -
A.L.I.E. —
A.L.I.E. is an artificial intelligence (A.I.)
A.L.I.E's core command is to make life better for mankind.
A.L.I.E. believes that the root problem of humanity is "too many people", seeing overpopulation as a threat to human survival. To solve this issue, in 2052, she launched a nuclear strike with the intention to save humanity from extinction by wiping out the majority of Earth's human inhabitants.
Least Favorite Villain
Pike —
Pike was introduced in the beginning of season 3 with a group of survivors from the Ark crash that were lost in season 2. Pike and his extremest survived by killing first, and not bothering to ask questions later. Pike was elected chancellor in season 3, quickly ruining Arkadia and Skaikru, and becoming the second worst chancellor — no one can beat Thelonious at being the worst chancellor or leader, yet. Pike is the big reason that I quit watching the show, his character just bugged me that much, especially his influence over Bellamy.
Saddest Death
Episode 7 “Thirteen” — Lexa
Episode 9 “Stealing Fire” — Lincoln
Not Enough Screen Time
Lexa — Mostly just Clarke x Lexa; I could talk forever about my feelings regarding Clexa, believe me I have some strong feelings about this relationship, however I’m going to save it all for my upcoming character post! Stay tuned for more Clexa!
Favorite Moment/Scene
Episode 3 “Ye Who Enter Here” —
Lexa kneeling to Clarke
I am a sucker for my ships kneeling to one another, and to no one else.
Season 4:
Overall Season Ranking - 2nd
The 3rd season was all about fighting for free will, but in the finale you learn why ALIE was trying to bring the rest of humanity into the City of Light — the world was, once again, going to end. All of the clans are divided and at war, the grounders are lost without a true Heda to lead them. Despite everyone being at war, what they really face is the survival of the entire human race. This season is racing to beat the clock, but the clock keeps speeding up, and it was great to see how all of our favorite characters handle facing their final days. This season is my favorite as far as character development goes, and it comes in a close 2nd place behind season 3 when it rolled you right into another apocalypse.
Overall Premiere Ranking - 2nd
“Echoes” —
“Picking up immediately after destroying A.L.I.E., Clarke confides in Bellamy about A.L.I.E.'s warning of the nuclear power plants melting down and the human race surviving only six more months. In the aftermath of the battle, it turns out that the people Lexa killed to protect Clarke in the City of Light are actually dead, leading the people of Polis to declare both Wanheda and Skaikru their enemies. During these events, Echo leads the Ice Nation warriors against Skaikru and begins to take the city by force; in order to stop her, Clarke and Abby go to King Roan to save him from his bullet wound. When Roan awakens, Echo attempts to convince him to kill Clarke, but Clarke gives Roan the Flame and he declares himself ruler of the thirteen clans until the Flame chooses another commander and announces their peace with Skaikru. Murphy and Emori run away from everyone to be together. Clarke, Bellamy, and Jaha leave Polis to return to Arkadia to decide their next move in their fight against the radiation that's coming. Elsewhere at Arkadia, Raven attempts to determine exactly what kind of damage the radiation will deliver while Jasper's suicide attempt is unknowingly interrupted by Monty. Using Arkadia's sensors and historical records, Raven determines that A.L.I.E. was telling the truth as radiation levels are already beginning to rise and the power plants were only designed to last for one hundred years without maintenance. At the same time, in Egypt, a radioactive pyroclastic wave kills two people, an effect of the approaching apocalypse.”
Overall Finale Ranking - 3rd
“Praimfaya” —
“As the death wave hits Polis and the Second Dawn bunker, Clarke, Bellamy, Raven, Murphy, Emori, Monty, Harper and Echo gather at the lab to ready the rocket to travel to the remains of the Ark. Monty is incapacitated after going out with Murphy to obtain an oxygen generator for installation in the Ark. With only 90 minutes before the radioactive pyroclastic wave of the death hits, Clarke decides to stay behind to climb to the top of an antenna tower to realign the dish in order to program power for the Ark prior to launch. The rocket's launch is successful, and Raven spacewalks to the Ark to dock the rocket pod. After programming power for the Ark, Clarke runs to the lab with the death wave right behind her, but upon arriving, she is revealed to have been affected by the radiation. On the Ark, the group almost runs out of air before the oxygen generator is installed. Six years and seven days later, Clarke is revealed to have survived the death wave along with a young Nightblood girl. While Clarke tries to make contact with the Ark, a spacecraft lands on Earth.”
Favorite Episode
Episode 10 “Die All, Die Merrily” —
“The clans hold a fight to the death at Polis to determine which clan will receive the shelter. Octavia, Roan, and Ilian represent their respective clans. Luna also fights, but explains she will not let anyone into the shelter if she wins. During the fight, Echo is discovered to be cheating without Roan's knowledge and is subsequently banished by Roan as punishment. Octavia decides to ally with Ilian, but he is killed with an arrow to his neck. Later, only three warriors are left; Octavia teams up with Roan to take on Luna, but a storm of black rain arrives which puts both of them at a disadvantage against Luna, who is a Nightblood. Although Luna kills Roan, Octavia eventually defeats Luna and becomes the winning champion. She decides to share the shelter equally with the clans, allowing 100 survivors from each clan. It is then discovered that members of Skaikru settled in the bunker during the battle and sealed the door.”
Octavia has been one of my favorites since the first episode, I have loved her through her identity struggle between the sky people and grounders. In the beginning we see a very protected Octavia, someone who was very sheltered by her big brother, until she meets Lincoln. But then, in season 3, Octavia loses Lincoln, but warriors do not mourn the dead until the war is over — which for her isn’t until she kills Pike. In season 4 we see Octavia turn into Skairipa, but this is how Octavia is grieving Lincoln, by becoming a warrior-spy. However, after grieving and then trying to settle, Octavia chooses to own her strength and becomes the last chance for Skaikru’s survival. In the end, we see O turn the page on her past, and enter a new chapter, a chapter of leadership where she unites the people, winning the conclave for the human race, her people.
Least Favorite Episode
Episode 11 “The Other Side” —
“With little sense of the situation outside the bunker, Clarke and Jaha refuse to open the door and risk the future of humanity. Abby helps Bellamy unlock the door and Clarke is unable to use force to stop him from opening it. Echo is stopped from exposing Skaikru's treachery when Octavia threatens to reveal her cheating and banishment. Octavia bars Echo from the bunker. By Octavia's decision, Clarke is left with 12 hours to banish over 300 of her people to the surface, possibly leaving too few skilled workers to maintain the bunker. At Arkadia, Monty tries to save the others by explaining how horribly they'll die, which convinces them to blissfully overdose – except for Harper who decides that she loves Monty enough to live. Raven has hallucinations of Sinclair which convince her to undertake a risky procedure to stop her mental deterioration and live.”
Favorite Battle/Fight -
Episode 10 “Die All, Die Merrily”
Wish HAD Happened
I wish that someone had killed Jaha the way that Octavia kills Pike in season 3.
I know that when Wells died I said that was the one thing I would take back if I could, but during the entirety of season 4 I kept screaming “WHY IS JAHA STILL ALIVE?!” Jaha was the reason ALIE made it as far as she did, Jaha helped make ALIE smarter and taught her how to torture people or force them into submission. Throughout season 4, different grounders blame Skaikru for bringing ALIE to Polis, but no one ever blames Jaha! I was amazed that after all was said and done, they just let Jaha wander about or trust anymore of his theories. I think Jaha could have been handled in the first episode, and been easily replaced.
Season 5:
Overall Season Ranking - 3rd
Here we are, the season that finally sparked enough curiosity for me to follow my sisters insisting and give The 100 another shot. Our heroes, and anti-heroes, have spent 6 years apart, all of them dealing with their own demons over those long years whether it be starvation, staying sane, or keeping their humanity intact. This season is full of miscommunication, but there really is no time for anyone to sit down and catch up, already they must fight for a new home and what remains of the human race. The fight for survival ends here, can they break the cycle and begin again or will they repeat the same mistakes from the past?
Overall Premiere Ranking - 1st
“Eden” —
“In a flashback to six weeks after Praimfaya, Clarke searches for food and water in the rover, first going to Polis where she tries to dig out the bunker, then to Arkadia where she finds Maya's MP3 player among other people's possessions as well as Jasper's goggles and a suicide letter addressed to Monty. She then drives to the Dead Zone, where the rover breaks down in a storm. She follows a bird, at one stage considering suicide, and discovers the Shallow Valley. She finds a room of dead people, then a young Nightblood girl who runs from her. Clarke follows her and tries to get acquainted with her, which does not work until Clarke draws a sketch of her. The time jumps back to six years after Praimfaya, where Clarke and the Nightblood, Madi, are living together. Raven and the other six on the Go-Sci Ring try to boost signals to contact the Bunker, when they see the Eligius ship. Clarke watches the passengers de-board the ship, where they roam the area and almost kill Madi, before Clarke jumps in. Echo tells Bellamy she is afraid of returning to the ground. Octavia watches over Wonkru warriors fighting to the death.”
Overall Finale Ranking - 1st
“Damocles (Part 2)” —
“Bellamy's group along with Madi, Octavia, Gaia, and Indra return to Wonkru. Octavia publicly submits to Madi, unifying Wonkru under Madi's command. Madi consults the previous commanders with Gaia's help and devises a strategy to take the gorge. Clarke frees Diyoza and holds her and McCreary's unborn child hostage, grounding the transport ship. Bellamy's group freely enter the gorge and take out its defenses, clearing the way for Wonkru. Bellamy convinces Madi to spare the remainder of McCreary's group. McCreary triggers a protocol that will destroy the valley before he's killed by Clarke. During the chaos, Abby struggles to treat a badly injured Kane with little time. After a brief confrontation, a remorseful Octavia unexpectedly helps Abby get Kane to safety. Everyone on Earth flees the planet aboard the Eligius transport ship and head towards the mother ship before the valley is destroyed. Due to the limited rations, everyone decides to enter cryogenic sleep for 10 years in order to give Earth time to recuperate. Clarke and Bellamy are the first to awake and are greeted by a 27-year old man named Jordan, Harper and Monty's son, who informs them 125 years have passed. He shows them a series of video diaries recorded by Monty and Harper, in which Monty gives updates on Earth's condition, their lives, and their son. As years go by, it became clear to him that Earth would not recuperate, so he put his son to sleep as well. Over decades, he managed to crack the Eligius III data and found a new planet to sustain the survivors, although Harper's death due to her genetic illness and his own age left him unwilling to put himself to sleep. Bellamy and Clarke stare outside the ship's window to the new planet, hoping that this time, things will be different.”
Favorite Episode
Episode 2 “Red Queen” —
“Shortly after Praimfaya, the clan delegates discuss punishment for a thief. Kane and Abby hear Clarke knocking on the bunker, and when they try to open it, they discover it has been sealed shut due to the rubble from Polis. A Skaikru rebel stages a coup and locks several Skaikru members in the farm area. While grounders gather the remaining Skaikru not in the farm area, Jaha is stabbed. Octavia spares him due to his expertise as an engineer. With Jaha, Indra, and Gaia's help, Octavia resolves the problem of opening the farm area door and proves herself to be a capable leader. When many grounders question her leadership, she kills them, telling them they are Wonkru, or they are against Wonkru. Those remaining bow before her. After opening the door, Octavia, Kane, and Abby rush to Jaha's aid. As Kane recites the Skaikru prayer, Jaha dies of his injuries. As punishment for Kara and the guilty Skaikru involved in the coup, Octavia instructs them to fight to the death. Kara emerges victorious. Six years later, Octavia and her advisers watch over Wonkru warriors fighting to the death. The next batch of combatants are brought in, Kane among them.”
At the end of season 4 there are 3 separate groups; Clarke and Madi, Spacekru, and Wonkru in the bunker. While the season premiere, “Eden”, is the best season premiere in book one, getting to see how Wonkru came together in the bunker was the best episode of the season. Another bonus of this episode is that I finally get my wish and Jaha finally meets his end in this episode. Although Octavia won the bunker and joined the last of the human race together as Wonkru, she still struggled to keep everyone in order since she was still viewed as “the girl under the floor” by Skaikru, and simply wasn’t the commander to the grounders. Octavia wins the people the way that she won the bunker, in blood, becoming Blodreina. However, this is just the beginning of the Red Queens dark reign.
Honorable Mention: Favorite Episode
Episode 11 “The Dark Year” —
“Clarke helps Abby after her overdose where the truth of the dark year in the bunker is revealed -
It was after being down in the bunker for two years that Wonkru ran out of protein supply (soy beans) due to a fungus infection in the hydrofarm. During a meeting with Octavia, Indra, Kane and Abby, Kara Cooper informed them that the fungus was spreading to more crops. Cooper said that the she had managed to save a few healthy seeds but it would take at least a year to eradicate the infected crops and plant the new seeds to produce proteins. Abby advised that a year without a protein source would do a lot of damage to their health; she told them that there was only one answer - resort to cannibalism. Abby suggested that the only way they could survive is if they started eating the people who died in the pit. Octavia didn't like the idea but Abby insisted that it was the only way. So, Octavia gave in to save her people from starving.
Octavia then explained the food situation to Wonkru. She told them that while they may think it's a sin to eat human flesh, the biggest sin would be letting themselves starve to death when they know that they're all that's left of the human race. Indra added that those who fought in the arena died so that the rest can live. Their sacrifice should not go to waste. To lead by example, Octavia painfully took the first bite and urged the others to do as well. Some accepted while others including Kane, refused to the eat human flesh. However, the only way for this to work is if everyone participated. So, Abby advised Octavia that she should make it a crime for people not eat. And that means, killing anyone who refuses to eat. Octavia hated the plan but Abby pushed her to do it.
Following Abby's advice, Octavia came in for the next meal with a gun and went around the room forcing people to eat. She started persuading them to eat because she didn't want to kill them. However, with no choice, she was forced to starting shooting them on the spot. This got Kane to stop the rebellion and start eating human flesh as well.
Diyoza and Kane go to McCreary and tell him that Wonkru will win because they know every move he is going to make before he makes it but they will tell him how to win the war.”
I had a hard time choosing between these 2 episodes, both focusing on the events of what happened in the bunker, and how Octavia became Blodreina. After “Red Queen”, we learn that they lost about 400 people during the 6 years they were in the bunker, but everyone keeps eluding to the dark year they faced. During the dark year Octavia proves, to an extreme, that she would do anything to save her people. Octavia is a strong leader, she trusts her advisers, and she carries a heavy burden of keeping the human race alive in a bunker, and like many great leaders she makes mistakes. O reaches a point of no turning back, and in this episode you see it break her, but she is remade Blodreina so that she can survive, so that her people can survive.
Least Favorite Villain
McCreary —
“If I can’t have this valley, no one can.”
This show has had a number of bad villains before, but they have yet to introduce a character as annoyingly stupid as McCreary was.
Not Enough Screen Time
Niylah —
In season 3 they introduce Niylah as a lover of Clarke’s, and once again in season 4, but there is so much more to this character than a convenient love interest for Clarke. Niylah makes it into the bunker in season 4, and you can see in season 5 that she quickly joins Octavia’s inner circle. There is something between these two characters, and while Octavia is Blodreina or the Red Queen to everyone else, we get to see O be softer with Niylah the way she is with no one else after all that she has lost and all she has done to survive.
Favorite Moment/Scene
Madi x Bellamy —
“Bellamy if I do this, she’ll never forgive you.”
The first five seasons of this show has had its ups and its downs, its highs and its lows, and while I quit once I can honestly say that this show is quickly becoming a favorite, along with one of the few shows I’ll watch on a weekly basis! This show has come a long way in 5 years, the characters and dynamics have grown greatly, yet sometimes I’m still surprised that we are already five seasons into this show! The end of book one had me in complete tears, there are only 4 of the 100 left at the end. After 5 seasons all around the theme of survival, the theme for book two is about trying to be the good guys. I’m excited for what may lie ahead of our characters, and I hope we can see them find happiness instead of being in constant war.
