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The 100 Season 5 Episode 13 Review-Damocles Part Two

The speculation is over Monty and Harper, not Kane or Murphy, are the ones to die in The 100 season five finale Damocles Part Two.

The 100 season 5 episode 13 damocles part two finale

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Since the news leaked that someone major would die in the finale the rumor mill ran wild.  Would it be the manipulative as of late moral compass Kane, fan favorite Murphy or fearless warrior Echo?  It turned out to be the couple we were looking at the least.  If last week was full of gut punches, this week delivered just one breathtaking sucker punch.  Harper and Monty are gone, their child Jordan Jasper lives and we have arrived on New Earth to start the whole cycle over again.  Hopefully, we have learned something from all our misdeeds, but where Clarke and Co. are concerned it’s likely only a matter of time before we start fighting again.
A chicken fight with no real winners, Clarke and McCreary face off for possession of Shallow Valley.  It is all about the kids.  Clarke and Diyoza want to save theirs and they are banking on McCreary wanting to save his unborn child.  McCreary does indeed, but he is greedy and criminally insane and lucky for all of us, is seriously underestimating Clarke and Madi.  Unlike Raven and Shaw who will break and fire the bombs from the ship, Clarke will not blink.  She has proved time and time again that she can and will make the tough choices.  Clarke is ruthless.  She always has been.  There is a reason she was named Wanheda years ago.  She is willing to do whatever is necessary to survive and save as many of her own people as she can.  In tonight’s episode McCreary is not privy to any of this history however and is banking on her folding.  Unfortunately, for both of them, he is just as cutthroat but not nearly as smart.  By the episode’s end, he released the bombs and like a petulant child declared that if he couldn’t have the Shallow Valley no one could.  How he and Diyoza ever hooked up I will never know.  She is smart and strong and he is just a dumb bully.  I guess she just loved a “bad boy”.  What will become of him and the rest of the criminals?  How will everyone work together when you are constantly looking over your shoulder?
Bellamy is absolutely right the cycle of death and violence must end.  This is where The 100 shines.  At its best when humanity is at its worst this series more than any other is never afraid to place our heroes firmly in villain territory.  How many times have we witnessed Clarke, Abby, Octavia, and Bellamy make decisions that although furthered their longevity were not always the most peaceful or fair?  As a science fiction series it works beautifully, but as a glimpse into our country’s not so distant past it is deeply profound and at times uncomfortable.
The battle for Shallow Valley finishes earlier in the episode than any of us expected and as a result, left time for an appropriate memorial to Monty and Harper and a truckload of exposition.  Powerful scenes that were intended to pluck emotion from us early on did not hold a candle to the final moments.  Octavia’s declaration of allegiance to Madi although satisfying was more perfunctory than meaningful.  All of that is forgiven with Monty’s video, however.  The last ten minutes were intended to make us cry and they did.  As dark as any show on television this series has killed its fair share of characters, sometimes in shocking and painful ways, but it always squared its shoulders and turned to the newest problem at hand.  This time we faced the pain and reveled in the heartfelt emotion just as Monty would have wanted.  Monty’s arch from funny sidekick to sage pacifist is complete and with a teary-eyed goodbye he gave everyone a chance at life.  I only hope if the sins of our father come back to haunt us the triumphs come back as well.  As decent as any person Harper and Monty were the light of hope and a beacon of goodness.  The added time at the end of the episode was necessary as well to explain one final shocker.  Another reboot is here and this time it’s not just six years but 120 and you definitely are not in Kansas anymore.
Clarke and Bellamy are now de facto parents to both Madi and Jordan.  How will this dynamic change their relationships with each other and those important to them?  It likely will cause the most angst for Echo who will be forced into the role of Step Mom.  Madi showed Clarke how important others are to her journey.  She learned things from Gaia and Bellamy this week that were instrumental in their victory.  It truly takes a village and Clarke now knows they all need to work together.  Old habits die hard however and it would be virtually impossible for these two to always see eye to eye on parenting.  The conflict should make for good television.
It was smart to focus on Octavia and Diyoza for a reflective scene.  They are a wise combo.  They both have made mistakes and I’m sure with several more seasons of The 100 locked in they will continue to make more.  Hindsight is always twenty/twenty, but unfortunately, our own wisdom never seems to be that focused.  With the exception of Monty and Harper, why can’t we stop making the same old mistakes?  Why are we constantly doomed to the same old cycles of violence?  Time has a habit of dulling the edges and blurring lines.  With 120 years in the cryo pods that is a lot of blurring.  Let’s hope these two leaders have learned something. 
Octavia will need much more introspective screen time in season six for us to forgive her all the wrongs she has committed.  Clarke is often given a pass because we hear her thoughts as our own.  Octavia was never given such time and as such her behavior was often confusing and surface level.  A hero or Big Bad without motivation is one note and boring and O was both during most of the season.  Her saving of Abby at the end of the epsode all while trying desperately to cut her down emotionally was one of the most successful of her scenes as her feelings were on full display and we could relate to her.
As usual, Murphy is criminally underused.  This time his only purpose was as the misdirection.  His death was hinted at and dangled over our heads like a poisoned carrot.  We should have known the writers would never kill him just use him like bait to hook us.  For reasons that still allude me John Murphy continues to be relegated to the B team.  Always around but never given the importance or screen time he deserves.  Thankfully Emori and Monty saved him and with the help of Abby he is healthy and back to his fighting form.  As Clarke pointed out, “Cockroaches are hard to kill.”  Maybe next season we will finally get the Murphy-centric episode or dare I say even season we have been crying for.  Quit teasing us, Richard Harmon is fantastic and it’s time for Murphy to be taken off the bench.  
With Earth 2.0 in the rearview mirror and New Earth on the horizon, how will The 100 move forward?  Will they be doomed to repeat past mistakes or will they instead learn from their history and seek another path?  Something Monty and Harper would be proud of.  I sincerely hope their sacrifice is not in vain.  For once let our guys be the true good guys, not just the ones we know the best and thus root for.  Let them not be the simple better of two bad options, the lesser of two evils, or smaller snake in the garden.  Make Monty proud, you now have his child to look after and through his eyes Monty will be watching.  Don’t let him down.  Book One ends where it began with everyone in space.  Hopefully, this time around there will be better results.
Stray Thoughts:
1.  Quote of the night: “We have been here before.  We were the criminals.  We were The 100.”  Bellamy has sure become wise.  They will need his wisdom to continue what Harper and Monty started.
2. Of course, Murphy is Jordan’s favorite.  He is all our favorite.  It also proves everyone apreciates Murphy even if they can’t articulate it to him.
3.  Diyoza is like an elephant at this point she has been pregnant so long.  This baby will be born with a full head of grey hair.