The 100 Season 4 Episode 13 Review: Praimfaya
Caralynn Lippo
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Holy moly. The 100 Season 4 Episode 13 might have been one of the greatest season finales I've ever seen.
With a ticking countdown clock and a massive time jump, "Praimfaya" managed to do two very important things at once: Wrack up the tension for an exciting conclusion to The 100 Season 4's story and completely change the game heading into The 100 Season 5.
To start off the finale, we got what wound up being one of the only "quiet" moments of the hour – the cut-short farewell call between Bellamy and Octavia.
That conversation was long overdue and very necessary, even amidst the chaos going on surrounding the rocket launch. I'm so thrilled that Octavia's character arc seems to have stabilized and with it her relationship with her brother.
I love you, big brother. It takes the end of the world for me to say it.
Octavia
The only other bunker scene found Octavia worrying about how to be an effective leader to 1200 people counting on her for survival and order. Indra, bless her heart, has complete faith in her protegé. And I love it.
The time of the commanders is past. The time of the flame is past. This is your time. Let me help you.
Indra
Indra is unfailingly loyal to Octavia. I have no doubt that this will remain the same, even after the massive time jump.
Octavia also gave a rousing speech to her people, giving them hope in the face of hopelessness. Somehow, I think she'll do a fine job as the commander Not-Commander.
It was absolutely heartbreaking that Octavia and Bellamy were cut off before they could properly say goodbye, but the way they left things was about as good as it was going to get between the two of them.
Also heartbreaking: Clarke's realization that she wouldn't get to say goodbye to her mother.
On the bright side, that realization led to another famous Clarke-Bellamy tender hug. I sure do love Bellarke's hugs (seriously, they hug all the damn time). And if you ask me, there was something extra affectionate about this hug. It just seemed... less platonic than usual.
Also, of course, there was this incredibly touching speech Clarke gave about her and Bellamy's relationship and how it's progressed over the past four seasons:
Clarke: You've got such a big heart, Bellamy. People follow you. You inspire them because of this [your heart]. But the only way to make sure we survive is if you use this [your brain], too.
Bellamy: I've got you for that.
Bellamy the heart, Clarke the brain. But now, without Clarke there to guide him and help him rule, Bellamy's got to be both. With Raven's help, of course.
And can we just talk about how much of a badass Raven was throughout the entire finale? Aside from her one moment of doubt when she realized the Ark wasn't powered up (which Bellamy's pep talk quickly pushed her out of).
The finale effectively broke down the larger mission (get off of earth and onto the Ark before the death wave hits) into many smaller components.
There were so many moving pieces and so many opportunities for it to all go wrong; my heart was in my throat virtually from the moment Raven announced the 90 minute countdown to seeing "Six years and seven days later..." flash across the screen.
But the finale wasn't all plot – there were certainly plenty of incredible character moments as well (beyond the admittedly fantastic Bellamy/Clarke stuff).
Monty and Murphy were paired together on a mission to retrieve the oxygenator necessary to get the oxygen up and running on the Ark. I can't say I expected much of these two together, but I was pleasantly surprised.
They had a moment to discuss Jasper, and Murphy's sassiness is always amusing. I particularly loved the fact that Monty heroically sacrificed his hands to get the machine, without even hesitating. It was such a classic Monty move.
The fact that Murphy wanted to risk his own life to go back and get Monty (who he'd left behind to get the oxygenator to the others) perfectly encapsulated just how far he's come since the early days of The 100 Season 1.
And that bro-hug Monty gave Murphy when he came back for him? Amazing.
I may not hate you anymore.
Monty [to Murphy]
The big moment, of course, came when Clarke set off on her own to the satellite, in order to send the signal to turn on the Ark's power – something that needed to happen, or the entire space mission would be entirely useless.
The entire sequence, especially with the shifts between a frustrated Clarke encountering every possible problem with that stupid satellite and her friends rapidly running out of oxygen in space, was mesmerizing.
All the while, the very visible death wave crept closer and closer to Clarke in the background. Visually, it was stunning. Sonically, Tree Adams once again composed the perfect score for the moment.
I knew she would do it, and I didn't think she would really die (especially with all of the nightblood references peppered into the last few episodes). But the way it all unfolded was seriously chilling.
I also need to applaud Bob Morley for looking so spectacularly broken when Bellamy realized that Clarke wouldn't make it back in time and that he'd need to leave her behind.
I left her behind. I left her behind, and we all die anyway.
Bellamy
Bellamy knew exactly what Clarke would want him to do, but he still had trouble letting her go. It was so sad.
Another great, unexpected character moment: Emori frantically suggesting that they wait another minute for Clarke.
After the tension between those two earlier this season during the whole nightblood experimentation saga, I can't say I expected that.
But I love the way Emori and Murphy have gone from being outsiders to such an integral part of the inner circle throughout The 100 Season 4. What a journey it's been for them.
The fake-out, where it seemed like Clarke failed to power up the Ark even after all that, had me pulling at my own hair. But of course, she's Clarke, so she pulled it off in the end – seemingly losing her own life in the process.
And then there was another fake-out, up aboard the Ark, when it seemed like the oxygenator wouldn't go on in time to save the gang (or at least everyone). But Bellamy somehow pulled that off without Monty's assistance, and everyone revived in time.
Surprise! Clarke's not actually dead. As the just-over-six-years flash-forward revealed, Clarke's nightblood transfusion was a success – it eventually healed the hideous burns that Abby foresaw in her vision at the beginning of the season.
In the time since Praimfaya, Clarke has been radioing Bellamy every day, trying to keep her sanity and later, after the earth became survivable again, to give them the all-clear to come back down.
Here we go again. Bellamy, if you can hear me, if you're alive, it's been 2,199 days since Praimfaya. I don't know why I still do this every day. Maybe it's my way of staying sane, not forgetting who I am. Who I was. It's been safe for you to come down for over a year now. Why haven't you? The bunker's gone silent, too. We tried to get them out for awhile, but there was too much rubble. I haven't made contact with them either. Anyway, I still have hope. Tell Raven to aim for the one spot of green, and you'll find me. The rest of the planet from what I've seen basically sucks, so... Never mind. I see you.
Clarke
I have to admit that I'm obsessed with this time-jump. It's a complete game-changer.
First of all, the teenagers we've been following for four seasons are now all firmly 20-something adults with this jump. That they've been separated and isolated for so long also gives us so many options for compelling stories about what happened during all that time.
What relationships flourished? (Personally, I'd be shocked if Bellamy didn't get together with either Raven or Echo – or maybe both? – at some point while they were all sequestered on the Ark.) Which faltered? Did anybody die?
And, perhaps most importantly: Why is no one on the Ark or in the bunker able to answer Clarke's calls?
As if those questions weren't enough, the finale also threw in two more last-minute game-changers.
The first is the introduction of Clarke's new surrogate nightblood daughter, Madi, with whom she appears to have developed a close relationship – unsurprising, given that the two have apparently been the only ones on earth for a while now.
The second is the ship that landed on the ground in the closing moments. At first, Clarke thought it was Bellamy and the others (and damn, Eliza Taylor's face when she spotted it was such an iconic shot). But it turned out that the ship was a prisoner transport from the Eligius Corporation.
Obviously, this is a fantastic, full-circle parallel to the 100 teens who landed on earth after an apocalypse back on The 100 Season 1 Episode 1. It also begs a ton of its own questions, like: Who is onboard? Were these people in space all this time? What are their intentions?
In any event, one thing is for sure: I am very much looking forward to seeing where the show goes next.
Stray thoughts:
- I'm disappointed that the only bunker scenes we got were the two brief ones in the beginning, both focused solely on Octavia (and, I guess, Indra to a lesser degree). Seriously? No Kabby?
- I find it weird that we didn't see anyone dying in the death wave. This show loves to do gruesome/shocking mass deaths (the Mountain Men on The 100 Season 2 Finale, anybody?), so I was surprised that we didn't even get a glimpse of all of the many people (Skaikru and grounders alike) who were shut out of the bunker.
- I loved that Harper was so concerned about Monty and his hands that she totally ignored the fact that they needed to get the heck off of earth, stat.
- A theory I've seen floating around on Twitter: Kabby babies. Yes, please. I am so here for this (although how the bunker would sustain extra members... that I'm less sure about).
- In the face of a literal apocalypse, Raven still found time to be giddy about the fact that she'd soon be space-walking. Raven Reyes, I love you.
- Emori's unabashed glee at seeing Raven float in space really warmed my heart during an otherwise terrifying sequence of scenes.
- Perhaps my biggest complaint about the finale was Echo's minor subplot. It just seemed like a time waster (there were literally minutes to launch) and possible set-up for a Becho The 100 Season 5 romance.
What did you think of "Praimfaya"? Share your thoughts by commenting below. Remember that you can watch The 100 online to relive The 100 Season 4 during the long hiatus before The 100 Season 5 premieres!
Caralynn Lippo is a staff writer for TV Fanatic. Follow her on Twitter.
