The 100 Season 5 Episode 8 Review: How We Get to Peace

This The 100 review contains spoilers.

The 100 Season 5 Episode 8

This episode is all about peace at any price. Whatever the opposite of appeasement is, it seems everyone is racing toward, trading violence and death in the short term for a shot at peace in the long term. Only Monty and Harper seem to be looking for another way, peace without more death, though Kane certainly thinks that’s what he’s doing, rather than being co-opted.

There’s finally a payoff for a throwaway joke about Monty’s algae putting Murphy into a coma. It turns out that was no joke, and Bellamy has effectively put his sister on ice to save Clarke and keep the peace. I like this option – Bel killing O is unrealistic at this point and perhaps always – but if the previews are anything to go by, Bellamy may soon learn it’s best not to tempt fate, especially when your top doc has already run off to join the enemy.

Abby’s downward spiral continues as she tortures Raven into helping her save the miners. Raven is probably the person Abby is closest to, after Clarke and Kane, and they’ve been through so much together since their time on the arc. But their bond is about to be mangled in a big (perhaps irreparable) way. Adding to the betrayal of the torture, Abby encouraged Raven to think that Diyoza was threatening her life, getting Raven to abandon her plan to “save” Abby, when in reality it was for her pills.

It still feels like there’s more to Raven’s sudden decision to allow Echo to kill Shaw. Yes, she has been deeply hurt and is more resolved than ever to take down Diyoza, but that won’t make Raven abandon who she is. It’s unclear if she’s working Shaw or Echo at this point, but either way there’s more to this story.

I’m hoping the Diyoza-Kane bond is also more than it seems, because right now it comes across like Kane’s former mentee banished him so he went and got himself a new one, someone who’s personality he appears to have immediately changed. Yes, it will be fun to watch McReary and Diyoza face off, and eventually to see Diyoza versus Octavia, but I hope Diyoza is playing Kane and Bellamy. Otherwise, she has simply changed her personality at the drop of a hat so that Octavia could be the villain. This show has always reveled in the grey areas, and the idea that Octavia is needlessly ruthless feels a bit lifeless and flat.

The idea that Diyoza sees McCreary as solely a problem and is ok with him being killed feels like it came about far too quickly. Likewise, Diyoza’s word that everything would be fine if Wonkru surrenders can’t possibly be true – when will we get to see what she has up her sleeve?

Vincent will be a fun wild card this season. The granny cord for his glasses somehow makes him look more menacing, like Steve Buscemi’s mild-mannered serial killer in Con Air. Aside from being cured and a killer, he seems to have taken an interest in Abby and Raven, and he is now the only person other than Abby and Diyoza who knows about the cure.

Emori re-dumping Murphy, on the other hand, felt painfully right. It was fun seeing Murphy and McReary together, both as a way of showing how far Murphy has come, and because ruthless sarcastic guys teaming up is at least a good time on the surface, if not for Murphy in the long run. I’m still holding out for the Murphy and Raven reunion tour to take at least a pitstop with romance. It’s been a while since we’ve seen Raven paired with anyone interesting, and though she was affectionate with Shaw, Murphy’s singlemindedness about saving Raven is matched only by his drive to save Emori in previous seasons.

A few interesting loose ends to keep in mind: O said something about how, “once she finds out about it the war will be over.” She would likely be Clarke or perhaps Gaia, but what is it, exactly? Where have Gaia and Niylah been in all of this, and do they still have designs on Madi’s future? Will Indra face ramifications, beyond losing her battalion, for her part in treason against Bloodrayna? Are there others, like Hunter and Monty, who want to live a more peaceful existence? The two sites seem more fractured than ever, and no closer to coming to grips with each other’s existence.