The 100 Season 4 Episode 9 Review: DNR
Caralynn Lippo
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The end of the world is nearly here, and it looks like we'll be going out with a bang.
The 100 Season 4 Episode 9 was a sprawling set-up, launching us into the final four episodes of the season. And boy, are they going to be intense.
Despite the fact that The 100 Season 4 Episode 8 actually ended on a really optimistic note – Jaha found the miracle bunker! Yay! – things didn't stay too upbeat for long. Shocking, I know.
"DNR" started off with everyone preparing to head to the Second Dawn bunker uncovered at the temple in Polis. Very quickly, the plan (for Skaikru to share the space with Azgeda, the clan with whom they'd made their treaty) fell apart.
Abby broke the news to Clarke en route back to Polis that Indra and Trikru had been at the temple when the bunker was uncovered. Obviously, that meant Trikru would be in the bunker. And equally obviously, that meant they didn't want Azgeda anywhere near it.
That's understandable, given the fact that Ice Nation just launched a brutal attack on Trikru (and not their first, either). Who would want to spend years cooped up in an underground bunker with people who tried to kill you and your family?
Clarke's reaction was very in character and made sense. She's very loyal and hates to betray people.
For that reason, she obviously attempted to warn Roan of the fact that he was about to be captured. Of course, Roan didn't need any help because Echo was on it, showing up in the nick of a time with a few of their warriors to rescue the king.
I enjoyed the fact that Roan immediately believed Clarke when she insisted she'd only just found out about Skaikru's new alliance with Trikru.
Those two have a very complex and interesting relationship, based on a foundation of mutual respect for their leadership skills. He even listened to her when she convinced him to try out a last-call peace talk with Indra.
That, of course, was an epic fail. Indra was having none of it, so they decided on the best option: all-out war between the clans, mere days before the world would be completely irradiated and uninhabitable. (If you couldn't tell, I was being sarcastic when I said this was the best option.)
Clarke, who always wants to fix things, did something predictable that ended unpredictably. She attempted to become the next commander, in order to be able to put an end to the war before it started and unite the clans in surviving praimfiya.
I knew from the moment Clarke became a nightblood on The 100 Season 4 Episode 8 that if she didn't test out the radiation on herself, she'd make a play for becoming the commander.
It was so obvious, particularly from the moment that Abby destroyed the radiation machine. What other possible plot reason could there be for Clarke becoming a nightblood?
What I'm beyond thrilled about is the fact that Clarke becoming the commander didn't happen, and that Roan rightly called her out on her repeated attempts to play savior to the group of grounder "savages."
In reality, Clarke attempting to essentially trick Gaia into making her the commander is a huge disrespect of grounder religion. Logically, it's not Clarke's place to put a stop to the war, whether or not she has the best intentions in doing so. And of course she's got the best intentions – she's Clarke.
Meanwhile, several other emotionally-heavy storylines were carrying on concurrently at Ilian's farm, Arkadia, and Becca's island.
At Arkadia, the main conflict found several younger members of Skaikru making the decision not to accompany the rest of the group to the bunker. Instead, they'd rather stay and die in the oncoming radiation. Among that number was Riley, Harper, and Jasper.
Riley has been completely useless since he was introduced earlier this season, and Jasper has been suicidal for quite a while now. Neither of those two deciding not to go to the bunker was surprising.
But Harper's decision was absolutely heart-wrenching, thanks largely to a stirring and subtle performance from Chelsey Reist.
Harper: I'm just tired of fighting, Monty.
Monty: I know. We all are. But in that bunker, we'll be safe.
Harper: Every time we think that, something bad happens.
Harper absolutely broke my heart, crying in her cot to Monty about being tired of fighting for survival. Her hesitance to put herself in another rough situation (rather than opting to live out the rest of her few remaining days booze-soaked and jovial) made plenty of sense.
At this point, though, I'm rooting for Harper to change her mind, something that seems increasingly likely given that Monty opted to remain behind at Arkadia in case any of the naysayers group decided to come to the bunker at the last minute.
Harper was caught in a bad moment, unlike Jasper, who seems 100% sound in his decision.
I don't think we'll be saying goodbye to Harper anytime soon, but I'm equally positive that Bellamy and Jasper's heartfelt farewell really marks the last time the two are seeing one another. It just felt so undeniably final.
One of the two (probably Jasper) is going to die before this season's over.
Bellamy: May we meet again.
Jasper: We won't.
Bellamy: Whatever the hell you want.
I love the way their goodbye references both the time-honored Sky People mantra and Bellamy's iconic line from The 100 Season 1.
I also love the fact that Bellamy was the one to convince Jaha (and Monty) to let the resistance group choose their own fate rather than forcing them to come to the bunker.
We can't save them if they don't want to be saved.
Jaha
Meanwhile, at Becca's lab, Raven came to a similar decision not to go to the bunker, but for very different reasons.
Lifelike hallucinations of Becca convinced a brain-damaged Raven that, since she was dying, she might as well use the rocket to get herself a one-way ticket to space for a final spacewalk. Knowing Raven, it's obvious that hallucination-Becca is just a manifestation of her innermost true desires.
Yet it still felt weirdly nefarious, in a way, like Raven was being manipulated and preyed upon. Maybe that's just because I really don't want Raven to be so accepting and even accommodating of her own death.
Raven is one of the show's best characters and I don't want her going anywhere anytime soon.
That said, her decision to remain behind at the lab and forfeit her spot in the bunker gave us the hour's best scene – and one of the best scenes of the show to date.
Who would have thought that Raven's emotional farewell would be with Murphy? Yet, it was a perfect exchange, with the two reaching a point in their character arcs that they could come together as friends and share this important moment.
Murphy finally, directly apologized for what he'd done to Raven to cause her disability all those seasons ago. He's come a long way and is easily the most complex, developed character on the show. This was a major moment for his development.
Raven was able to implicitly offer her forgiveness and assured him that her decision to stay behind wasn't because of her leg disability, but the fact that her mind, her greatest tool, was quickly giving out on her.
When Murphy asked what to tell the others about Raven's decision and Raven said to tell them that she "floated herself," I was pretty much laughing through the tears, just like the characters. Stellar performances by both Lindsey Morgan and Richard Harmon.
Finally, one person who initially tried to stay out of the thick of it couldn't help but give in and chose to go out on her own terms as well. That person, of course, was Octavia.
It was kind of hilarious to see her attempting to "play house" with Ilian for a minute, helping him with his farming. Unsurprisingly, it didn't last long.
The lowkey lifestyle (and apparently frequent sex) with Ilian wasn't for Octavia. That was proven when three people from his clan came to confront her after Ilian refused to go to war against Azgeda.
To her credit, Octavia did try to convince them to leave. But when they didn't, she went full Skairippa on them, slaughtering them mercilessly.
Poor Ilian was so horrified to come back and find three very messily dead people on his land, when all he was trying to do was sway Octavia into his whole "good death/reincarnation" mindset.
This is who I am.
Octavia
That was all it took to reassure Octavia of what she'd known all along – she needed to be where the fight was, dying a warrior's death and not waiting for the radiation to take her.
She showed up in the nick of time, just after Roan stopped Clarke's ascension as commander and after he and Indra had agreed to stage a final conclave.
Basically, The 100 is going full Hunger Games. Except the last-standing winner of this Hunger Game determines which of the clans get to survive the apocalypse, while all of the others are left on the wrong side of that bunker door.
Octavia's entrance just as Bellamy and Clarke were discussing the fact that Skaikru had no one capable of fighting for them, grounder-style, in the conclave was a great moment.
Though I don't initially see why Octavia would agree to fight for the Sky People (her relationship with them has long been contentious), it was an admittedly powerful moment.
So powerful I didn't even mind so much the incredibly corny line that Octavia used to announce herself when she arrived in Polis:
I'm here for the war.
Octavia
Doesn't that just sound like she's checking in at the front desk of a hotel for a convention or something? So silly.
Stray thoughts:
- The promo for The 100 Season 4 Episode 10 clearly shows Luna among the final conclave warriors. But all of her people are dead, so... who exactly is she fighting on behalf of? Like, literally just herself?
- Imagine Luna winning the conclave and being like, "Cool, now I'm going to sequester myself in this bunker as the sole survivor of the human race. Peace, y'all!"
- The decision to (temporarily) stay behind with his best friend and girlfriend better not end up harming my precious Monty.
- So that meaningful exchange between Miller and Jackson in the truck was definitely a thing, right? I'm surprised, because I always assumed Jackson was straight and had feelings for Abby. But you know what they say about assuming...
- There was a lot else going on this week, but I loved the minor plot about Emori and Murphy assuming they'd been abandoned and preparing accordingly, and then their happy surprise at the end when Jackson and Miller showed up for them. That was such a great moment.
What did you think of "DNR"? Share your thoughts by commenting below, and remember that you can watch The 100 online anytime here at TV Fanatic!
Caralynn Lippo is a staff writer for TV Fanatic. Follow her on Twitter.
