The 100 Season 5 Episode 3: ‘Sleeping Giants’ Review

Although still enjoyable, this episode after the one-two punch of the bloody savage action of episode two and the heartstring plucking, soul-sucking despair of episode one episode three felt 100% lite.

If the first two episodes were to set the stage emotionally for the season to come than this episode started the real storyline.  Some might have expected to get a six-year history lesson on the spacers, but what we got instead was so much better.  Everything was building to this mini finale.  It was as if we got the midseason finale after just three episodes.  Questions were answered, some left purposely vague and stakes were raised, for everyone involved.  What this episode lacked in emotional weight it made up of smart story progression.  The pace felt deliberately quicker and more urgent.  This sense of impending doom comes in the form of 300 very strong and very angry criminals.  For the first time our guys are completely cut off from one another and have to fend for themselves in very different environments.  What will happen when they all reunite and have to jockey for position, control and ruling philosophy?  Will they be able to reconcile before the prisoners mow them down? 

A case study in survival techniques, most members of the spacers group are egalitarian.  They have built a truly communal society that while not utopian is at least predominately violence free and seemingly fair.  The only member who shows signs of resistance to them is of course Murphy.  Sarcastic,  egotistical, practical, Murphy sees no reason to learn things he has no interest in.  After a hella strong inmate wakes up from the cryopods with a thirst for spacer blood and then threatens to kill three of our spacers they are put in the uncomfortable position of deciding what to do with the remaining sleeping maniacs.  Murphy suggests killing them all while they sleep before they wake up and take out the spacers.  With his trademark talent of irritating everyone around him he coarsely suggests its the prisoners now or the spacers later who will die.  He further rationalizes it’s what Clarke would do.  Even though Clarke and Murphy frequently butted heads he respected her survival skills. 

This is the best of Murphy, equal parts adroit planner, antagonist, and survivalist, he is truly a wild card and you rarely know where you stand with him.  His absolute will to live is his greatest weapon and the most interesting thing about him.  After  a heated debate Bellamy’s cooler head prevails and a plot to keep them in cryosleep is hatched.  In sharp contrast to his sister’s iron rule, Bellamy wants to ask for opinions and make a conscientious decision.  He does not want to kill first and ask questions later which is exactly what Octavia is doing in the bunker.  I can’t wait for the siblings to reunite.  These two will be hardly recognizable to one another.  That shock and the dichotomy of political philosophy will make for compelling television.

 If Clarke has found a child to mother in the valley, and Octavia has Jaha’s child to parent in the bunker, Raven is the symbolic mother to the spacers.  These are all adults at this point but she is still the matriarch of the group with all the reverence that title comes with.  We see her guiding hand with Emori who practically oozes insecurity and with Bellamy as the practical and complementary counterpoint.  Her calm demeanor and resourceful nature have gained her respect and admiration.   An argument could be made the real leader is Bellamy but his demeanor smacks of Raven’s level-headedness and with six years in space he has adopted her ideals.  In addition he clearly still values Murphy’s more ruthless nature.  He is, after all, the most clever and manipulative of the group in space or on land.

Clarke continues to protect her child at all costs.  This love for her child has turned her into an inhuman killing machine.  She is willing to sacrifice anything, even her humanity to protect her.  She also has leveled up her shrewd ways and used that craftiness to save Madi.  Bellamy is having the same dilemma with Raven’s request to stay.  He wants to keep Spacekru intact at all costs.  They are his family as much as his sister in the bunker.  Murphy has no such familiar concern with most of the group but he feels he owes Raven and he must act as her protector.  It’s with that in mind he stays with Raven instead of returning to earth with everyone else.  The chemistry between these two is fire and I for one would love to see a Maven ship.  Bellamy’s new found even keel attitude coupled with the paternal feelings he has  for his younger sister will put him firmly in line to provide yet more protection for Madi.  How Echo will deal with Clarke’s return and Bellamy’s affection for her daughter should be very intriguing.

We see absolutely nothing of Bunker Battle Royale this week and that’s okay.  The show needed some hope this week and everyone got a win the moment Clark and Bellamy reunited and the spacer’s gambit worked.  When Madi recognized Bellamy from drawn pictures and stories only, all our hearts grew three sizes larger.  We will need that optimism in the weeks to come as the prisoner group is not playing around and they are every bit as dangerous as any foe our group has encountered to date.  They were bested this week but they won’t stay down for long and if the skilled strategist Charmaine has anything to do with it our group’s days are numbered.  We will have to wait at least another week to see how that shakes out though. 

If next week’s teaser is any indication we will be back to the misery of the bunker in all its gory carnage.  Knowing that another Octavia-centric episode is to come I’m grateful for this tiny nugget of happiness.  If you need to get caught up on any of our other coverage click here.  Did you know this series is based on the book series by Kass Morgan?  I’ve included a link below. 

​ Stray Questions:

What’s all this praying the prisoners talk about?  Before beating Clarke Charmaine Diyoza orders a prayer session first.  For a bunch of criminals, they sure have some odd ideas about turning the other cheek.

How will Clarke’s ruthless attitude jive with the softer, gentler Bellamy?
Murphy seems surprised that there is no escape pod but how shocked is he really?  If he did know or at least suspect why did the ultimate survivor stay?

Who’s the good guy masquerading as a criminal and will he jump sides the first chance he gets?

How much longer until Wunkru gets topside and unleashes a hurt like none other?
What happened on earth to cause Charmaine to casually throw around her dislike of fascists?  I don’t like them either but that doesn’t come up in my everyday conversations.

How does Charmaine know what nightblood is and what it does medically?  I know she’s smart but this seems like she is omniscient.  These people are from 100 years ago and would have no idea what happened on the planet or how the people adapted.  Her educated guess is too convenient for even a brilliant military mind.  A doctor, a scientist or even a chaos theorist maybe could guess at that but Charmaine I don’t know?  Was that sloppy writing or is she a lot more than she seems?