Last time on The 100, a tween girl stabbed Wells in the neck in the middle of the forest. That is all.
Earth-bound
We open with Clarke sitting beside a grave (Wells' grave), as Finn comes up behind her. To be honest, Clarke doesn't seem that devastated by Wells' death, especially considering she'd just made up with him after finding out he'd been protecting her mum. Clarke is very good at compartmentalising though, something that served her well in the last episode when she had to kill Adam.
Anyway, a short discussion with Finn later and we discover that The 100 think Wells was killed by one of the Grounders. In a clumsy bit of exposition, Clarke tells Finn he should stop wandering around at night, and he points out that he's reckless and she's responsible. Well, that sums up their character traits, just in case you hadn't noticed. On his wanderings, Finn has found an "art supply store", and brings Clarke back a pencil. Romantic.
Finally, Clarke shows a bit of emotion over Wells' death, and then anger over her mother's betrayal of her father. Clarke wants to seek revenge on her mother, by taking her wristband off. I'm thinking this move is not so clever, although it will definitely make her mum feel bad. On the plus side, Monty manages to take Clarke's wristband off without damaging it, meaning he could possibly use it to communicate with the Ark.
In camp, The 100 are building fences, and unfortunately Bellamy has made Murphy head foreman. After a guy falls to the floor, tired, Murphy responds to his request for water by urinating on him. Humiliating your fellow survivors is no way to ingratiate yourself with anyone, and Murphy is on a course to destruction.
Meanwhile, there's a bit of hero worship going on - our tween murderer Charlotte is clearly enamoured withe Bellamy, who gave her that all important advice about slaying her demons.
In good news, Jasper is up and about, and Octavia is trying to get him to step outside of the camp, but he's too afraid. Her reassurance that there's nothing to be afraid of is negated when the pair see fingers and a knife lying on the floor.
That knife is made from parts of the drop ship, and Clarke and Bellamy now face the fact that there is a murderer within their midst. The pair argue about whether or not to tell the rest that Wells was killed by one of them - Bellamy thinks that The 100 are united by their belief that Wells was murdered by a Grounder; Clarke thinks that The 100 have the right to know Murphy, whose initials are on the knife handle, killed Wells.
Clarke wins, and confronts Murphy. Despite his protestations, Murphy's terrible behaviour ever since he landed on earth means no one believes he is innocent. Clarke uses Murphy's behaviour to appeal to The 100, telling them murder isn't right but, having grown up on the Ark, they only know one kind of punishment - they want to "float" Murphy. A riot ensues, and Murphy gets beaten to a pulp and strung up on a tree, while Charlotte watches in despair, Clarke tries to stop The 100, while Bellamy gets tempted to give in to the will of The 100. In the chaos, just in time to stop Murphy's death, Charlotte confesses to murder.
Now Clarke and Bellamy face another problem. Outside the drop ship, Murphy is braying for Charlotte's blood, determined that she should face the punishment that was going to be meted out to him, although the rest of The 100 aren't initially so keen. Inside the drop ship, Clarke, Finn and Bellamy try and find out why Charlotte killed Wells, and discover that she took Bellamy's advice of slaying her demons a little too literally. Murphy knocks Bellamy out and tries to find Charlotte, only to discover that Finn and Clarke have whisked her into the forest.
Finn takes Charlotte and Clarke to the art supply store. In an uncharacteristic display of emotion, Clarke screams at Charlotte about how killing someone was completely wrong. It seems Clarke can't compartmentalise as well as she thought. While Charlotte sleeps, Finn and Clarke bond in candlelight. Now that's (sort of) romantic. Unfortunately, Charlotte's not asleep, and hears them discussing the possibility of Murphy killing them for helping her.
Clarke and Finn fall asleep leaning on each other (aww) and wake to discover that Charlotte has disappeared. Out in the forest, Charlotte is being pursued by Murphy and his band of bandits, as well as by Finn and Clarke, but it's Bellamy who finds her first. He shows a rare glimpse of his humanity, trying to protect her even though she's determined to give herself up to Murphy.
At the climax, Bellamy tries to hold Murphy back from Charlotte, as the pair stand at the edge of a cliff. Murphy is screaming for Charlotte to be handed over, Clarke is screaming for everyone to stop. Murphy takes Clarke hostage, and then Charlotte pays the ultimate price, throwing herself over the cliff, giving The 100 the gift of not having to decide what to do with her, and freeing herself from her pain the only way she knows how - by slaying a demon. It's a shocking moment, mainly because she's so young, yet seems to understand that she does have only one way out.
Bellamy is devastated, and decides Murphy must pay. He wants to kill Murphy, but Clarke says murder is not the way, but that justice and rules do need to be put in place. They decide to banish Murphy into the woods. Bad idea. Such a bad idea.
But for the first time, in front of The 100, Bellamy and Clarke stand united as they explain their decision. To add to the feeling of peace, Monty has managed to set up a rudimentary communication system. It doesn't last long though, Monty's system fries all the wristbands.
After a very, very tense episode, The 100 ends on a romantic note. Octavia shows her soft side and gives Jasper a very sweet kiss, while Finn and Clarke start their romantic encounter with a shouting match. Finn, for the first time, loses it after thinking about the population of the Ark dying, and Clarke talks him down. It inevitably leads to kissing, and more. Poor Raven. And also, though he doesn't know it yet, poor Bellamy. I am for Bellamy and Clarke all the way - a true Bellarke believer.
On the Ark
Clarke's poor mum is in disbelief when the transmission on Clarke's wristband dies. Now her husband is dead, and she thinks her daughter is dead, and the people on the Ark are also dying.
Now more determined than ever to get to the ground, Abby's behaviour is drawing suspicion from Kane, who has noticed her heading frequently to an unused part of the ship. She puts him off by telling him that she's got a sort of quarantine set up there, and then swiftly heads to see how Raven is doing with repairing that ship. Not too well is the answer, and Raven heads off to try and get a difficult to find but absolutely essential part that will mean the ship can be launched.
Raven heads to see Nigel (a woman), determined to get the pressure regulator she needs. No dice. Nigel says she can have the pressure regulator, but only in exchange for Raven sleeping with another client of Nigel's. Raven breaks the bad news to Abby, who decides she'll have a go, offering Nigel medicine in exchange for the part. Unfortunately, Nigel is an informant for Kane.
In a little aside, when Kane goes down to the poor part of the Ark to speak to Nigel, we discover that his mother is a preacher of sorts, and he doesn't get on that well with her. It seems Kane has lifted himself well above his station to get to where he is. I wonder what he had to do to do that?
Raven tries to repair the ship now that she has the part she needs, and Abby is told that Kane is on his way to arrest both of them. She instructs Raven to finish the podship and then launch it. Abby realises she will be floated for this, but, like Charlotte on the ground, is willing to give herself up for the greater good. She's arrested by Kane but Raven manages to launch the podship just in time, and finds herself hurtling to earth. Little does she know that as she's risking her life, her boyfriend is cheating on her with Clarke.
Solid ground
So here we have it, The 100 have meted out justice "properly" for the first time. Violence only begets more violence, so they've matured and decided other measures are needed. It's admirable and shows that they're beginning to bring together the bare bones of a society, but this particular punishment is also unwise in some ways. Firstly, with a few members of The 100 already dead, is it wise to push another way? And secondly, Murphy is dangerous. I wouldn't be surprised if he pops his nasty head up somewhere down the line, and since he'll have been living wild and on his own, he'll only be more dangerous.
While this episode was about justice, what was really at its core was sacrifice, and the importance of human relationships. Both on the earth and on the Ark, people sacrificed themselves in the hopes of a better life for those left behind (as it were), while relationships became stronger, as everyone realised things are much better when you feel connected.
As The 100 continues, it shows us that there are consequences to everything, but that there is still good in people who are pushed to their limits.
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