Hello and welcome to Nerds and Beyond, now with 100% more The 100 reviews! I’ll be here each week to discuss what I consider one of the tightest written and gutsiest shows on television. And I’ll probably be gushing about one of the best characters ever created. *cough John Murphy cough* Let’s dive in.
Previously on The 100: Last season, our “kru” was forced into the Eligius IV ship and tucked in for a 125-year sleep, according to Jordan, Monty and Harper’s son. See, Monty and Harper chose to skip the cryo and live out their lives taking care of the ship and each other while everyone else was asleep. Now they’re long gone, save for some video tutorials and Jordan, who’s been TCB on the ship until it was time to wake up Clarke and Bellamy.
Shout out to the casting directors. Not only does Shannon Kook bring the best of Monty and Harper to life, he definitely looks like a blend of his “parents.” I’m going to like this guy. He’ll probably die soon. This is The 100.
Zoom in on the principal cast staring out the space window at the new planet as Monty voice-overs, “It was beautiful in my dreams. I hope we do better there. I hope your lives there will be as happy as mine has been. Be the good guys. May we meet again.” And already I’m crying two minutes into this thing! How, I repeat, how are they going to survive without Monty? My guess is: not as well as they could have. May we meet again, Monty. I’ll miss you.
Our kru seems anxious to check out this new planet but even more anxious to rip each other to shreds. Raven has awakened with a serious chip on her shoulder. One tends to do that when one has been tortured with a shock collar. She’s still mad at Abby and wants zero part in forgiving her. I mean, what’s the time-frame for forgiveness on this kind of thing? More than 125 years, it seems.
With a little lovin’ from Shaw, she puts some of that behind her, at least for a while. Oh no. If we know one thing about sci-fi, we know this: Do not have sex. Have sex, and you shall surely die. Ask Finn. Oh, you can’t, because he’s dead after sleeping with Clarke! (And I’m still not over it, thank you very much, The 100 writers.) It’s a shame. I like Shaw.
One of the things I respect about this show is its ability to bring the tension in spades. Case in point: When Clarke meets up with Bellamy, Echo, Emori, and Murphy, they don’t let her forget her part in the torture of Raven and Shaw. As viewers, we want everyone to forgive our protagonist, but they aren’t having it. Emori is quick to point out Clarke’s murderous ways. Or, as Murphy puts it, “for Clarke we call that a Tuesday.”
It’s hard to be Clarke.
When the Clarke bashing subsides, Bellamy clearly changes into his leader pants and tells the group to “listen up” as he plays exposition man. The Elegius missions were meant to find habitable planets and sent missions to scout these planets out. Monty has gone through the data and picked “Planet Alpha” for our kru, because it was closest and “probably” most like Earth. “Probably?” asks Murphy, wanting to make sure.
John Murphy: saving John Murphy’s ass since 2149.
Once again, though, Monty comes through 100 years after he dies! Jasper would be so proud. Too bad the ionosphere is interfering with scans, so our kru will have to go down to the ground to see what’s what on the planet.
I like this confident leader Bellamy: he’s really learned a lot, and it shows. He’s making the hard choices, like who is getting to go down to the new planet (like himself, Clarke, Echo, Murphy, Emori, Jackson, and Shaw) and who isn’t (like Raven and Jordan).
Bellamy’s ruling with kindness and forgiveness, too. Before they go to the ground, they wake up Miller, because Bellamy’s smart enough to not wake up Octavia, even though her skills could be beneficial below. He shares a moment with Miller, forgiving him and pinning the blame on his appearance in the Death Pit on Octavia. Something tells me when the brother and sister meet again, there will be fireworks.
Down on Alpha, things are going well, and everyone’s enjoying the scenery, Clarke notices the two suns are eclipsing, and Murphy notices the lake. He Murphies it and shrugs his shirt off, diving in. Jackson is horrified, because the water’s not tested yet and could hurt Murphy’s unhealed wounds. But Murphy doesn’t care — he’s going for a swim! Even though Emori protests, he drags her in for a splash and flirt.
Even she cannot resist the charms of one John Murphy. Richard Harmon’s acting choices choices make Murphy complicated, dark, and fun to watch. He is my hands-down favorite in this cast of talented actors. and I’m looking forward to where the character goes this season.
What I wasn’t looking forward to was losing someone so soon. But this is The 100…
Planet Alpha, though as beautiful as Monty dreamed, brings its share of trouble. Before the night is over, a swarm of bugs is attacking our kru, forcing them to cover and run for safety toward the beacon the OG Elegius kru left. Shaw arrives first and barrels into a clearing, only to be fried by some bolts of lightning that turn out to be radiation. Clarke figures her night blood will protect her and rushes to save him, but it’s too late. Shaw refuses medication and leaves a goodbye message for Raven before he dies.
I told you. Do not have sex.
Later: they wonder why the OG Eligius mission needed a radiation fence. To keep something out, presumably. Man, nothing gets by Clarke. They arrive at a settlement (“with a castle!” says Murphy) that looks like Wonderland — bright, cheery, landscaped colorful yards. Murphy knocks on doors: “Hellooo, invaders from Earth, can we come in?” The settlement, apparently, is devoid of people. But he discovers a chain and cuffs (“Kinky!” he smirks and possibly files the location away in his head for later use) along with a shrine complete with photos of the Lightborn family, and blood. Oh, and a music player. Clarke argues they shouldn’t be snooping around the remains of a family and leaves. Murphy offers the music player to Bellamy, who refuses, so he decides to pocket it himself. This is a good thing. Trust me.
All this is happening while the Elegius IV still floats above. Abby, determined to save Kane, tells Niylah to wake up all the Skaikru for blood samples, but definitely not to wake up Octavia. The surgery is a success, and Abby takes a recovering Kane to the window to see Alpha. Kane puts his hand to the glass. (I swear to Primeheda, someone must make me a gif of this scene but the other half of the screen is Dominic Monaghan holding his hand with “Not Penny’s Boat” on it. Someone do it! Please!) Then we learn that dumbass, I mean Niylah, woke up Octavia, who is not happy to learn she’s donated blood to Kane. Also not happy? Kane.
They argue about who’s the worst. I’d say they share an equal portion of blame for what happened. Octavia, in a bid to win the argument, mentions how unhappy Jaha would be with Kane. Oh snap, you do not invoke the name of Jaha to Kane. He’s so bothered, he starts coughing up blood. Abby scrambles to save him, but Octavia declares his fight is over. Abby and Jordan pull a Han Solo and seal Kane up in the cryo right before he dies. May We Meet Again, Kane.
On Alpha, we come to the most exciting part of this episode: Emori stares through a peephole while nursing a headache. As she works to get inside the castle, Murphy scrolls through the music player, remembering all the time he had to listen to music when Jaha locked him in the lighthouse bunker a few seasons back. He finds a song he’s sure Emori will like: “This is the Sea” by the Waterboys. He tries to dance with her; she refuses. (What is wrong with this girl? Clearly, something. I mean, please.) Persistent, Murphy starts to sing along. (And I start to google music by Richard Harmon and find only a few con videos. Can we make an album happen, please Richard?) Since Emori is not having any Murphy, he turns and moves to a bigger stage — the castle balcony.
Murphy continues to jam while Clarke does recon. In a classroom, she finds a nursery rhyme book called “Red Sun Rising.” Because I’m a thorough reviewer, I can tell you that’s the episode title for next week. Hm. Bad things are going to happen…
Bellamy does what he does and never strays far from Clarke. He arrives to share a moment of quiet and some witty banter. Bottom line: they’ve shared a lot and are “there” for each other. Will they? Won’t they? We don’t know and that’s all I’m going to say about that. Clarke ends the convo by saying she’s going to watch the Murphy show. (Um, that needs to happen, mmkay? I’d watch 24/7!)
Murphy continues his performance as Bellamy picks up the aforementioned picture book and reads, “Trees and plants give us shade, we eat them everyday. When the stars align and the forest wakes, it’s time to run away.”
Say what, now? Clarke knows. “It’s not a nursery rhyme, it’s a warning.”
Sadly, Murphy’s epic air guitar solo is cut off by the sound of an engine. Our kru looks up to see the OG Elegius kru stealing their ship and only means of escape! Suddenly Emori tackles Murphy. And not in the good way. She stabs him with her knife and goes all ape on him, screaming “He’ll do it to you!” as they pull her off him. Clarke rereads the book, with its ominous message. She puts two and two together: “It’s in the air.”
This episode has set up what promises to be a great season, full of that ever present The 100 sense of doom. I can’t wait! Will Clarke and Bellamy turn on each other? Who will Octavia kill first? Will Murphy ditch them all for a singing career? Let me know in the comments.
See ya next week, Kru. Until then, I’ll be over here listening to “This Is The Sea.”