'The 100' Season 7 Countdown: Richard Harmon on Murphy's potential leadership role and happy ending with Emori
It's May, which means one thing and one thing only: it's time for all things 'The 100'. The CW drama will premiere for one last time on May 20 and while we are still waiting for more details on what the final season will be like, one thing is for sure: Season 7 will be one for the books.
As part of our countdown to the final season, MEA WorldWide (MEAWW) has been talking to the stars of 'The 100', including Sachin Sahel and Luisa D'Oliveira. This week, we bring to you our chat with John Murphy himself. Richard Harmon, who plays Murphy, is as excited for the final episodes as we are.
Harmon tells us that fans could expect to see the same amount of drama they are used to receiving from the previous seasons of 'The 100', "if not a little more". He said, "We didn’t want to be the show that went out walking its way to the finish line, we wanted to cross the line in a full sprint and I believe we achieved that." Harmon says the cast and crew were able to have the show go out on their terms, "which is a luxury, not all shows are blessed to have and for that, I am very grateful".
Harmon has been a part of the cast since Season 1 and his character John Murphy has been one of the most important, if not frustrating, characters — by virtue of representing the "to each his own" survival mode most of us might resort to.
The actor says working on 'The 100' has been the greatest experience of his life so far. He said, "When I signed on to this show nearly eight years ago, I had no clue what a difference it was going to make to my life. On my final day of shooting, I truly realized that there is almost nothing I have in my life that wasn't touched in some way by the show. My friends, my day-to-day routine, everything. It's going to take a while to get used to life without the show, but the debt I owe to everyone involved from the ground up will be with me forever and I love knowing that."
Harmon is quite fond of John Murphy, just as fans are. Murphy may have had the best character evolution on television — he went from being a narrow individual-minded person to someone who would put others' needs before his, albeit, just in time.
On playing Murphy, Harmon said, "As an actor, it was incredible to take a guy that my full intention was to make as despicable as I could and then be tasked with the challenge of trying to bring him around to a well rounded understandable character."
Harmon also says that he grew as an actor during the seven seasons of 'The 100' and that he grew up as a man as well. He also adds that Murphy's and his growths were attached at the hip.
One of the most memorable scenes from the past six seasons for Harmon is from Season 3 when Murphy was trapped in a lighthouse bunker from before the first Praimfaya for 86 days and "he goes crazy". Harmon said, "For them to trust me enough to open a season solely on me will always be a special memory."
However, Harmon says there is one more scene from the final season that he is excited for everyone to see. We cannot wait to see the scene as well and we are certain that Harmon is going to excel in it.
Murphy's growth over the past six seasons that viewers have seen also came with some new relationships with the others on the show. One of those complicated relationships was with Clarke Griffin (Eliza Taylor) who was the de facto leader of the group. Clarke and Murphy may have been at odds at times since the first season, but these are also two characters that have come to build mutual respect for each other.
Harmon says Muprhy's relationship with Clarke is intriguing and one that he has talked about with his co-star Taylor "quite a bit over the years". He said, "To the disagreement of many I'm sure, I would say that they actually have quite a bit in common but they go about things in two very different ways. There is respect but there is also that sort of disagreement in the ways they accomplish their goals."
In fact, Harmon also teased something that fans could expect in Season 7 when he said, "It would be interesting to see how Murphy would act if he was put into a leadership position like Clarke… Which may or may not be addressed in this final season."
Murphy's relationship with Raven Reyes (Lindsey Morgan) has similarly gone from being fraught to becoming one of understanding and Harmon agrees that it is one of his favorite relationship arcs on the show. He said, "For them to have come so far from the disdain they once had for each other, specifically from her to me, which is completely understandable, to where they are now is incredible. And yes again without spoiling anything I will say I had a couple of chances to work some wonderful scenes with Lindsey this season."
There is one relationship that fans surely wonder would have a happy ending for Murphy, and that is his relationship with Emori (Luisa D'Oliveira). While Harmon can't spoil whether a happy ending is a possibility — especially because happy endings are hard to come by in the world of 'The 100' — he said, "I think sometimes people focus too much on the end instead of the journey and those two characters have had the happiest of journeys together, even through all the craziness. They love each other, they always have and they always will, to me I think that's about as happy as it gets."
Harmon also has a special message for D'Oliveira. He said, "If you ever read this, which you probably are currently because I will text you to, you already know all these things but everyone else should as well. You are the best. The f***ing best. It has been the greatest honor to be tied to you (for) the past five years. Every day you made life easy, every day you were prepared, every day you were open and honest and willing to try anything."
He continued, "There was no way of knowing that the day they hired you would end up being one of the biggest days for me on the show, because after that day, my job became that much easier and that much more fun. I can’t wait for whatever we work on next together because we are damn sure making that happen. From the bottom of my heart, my friend, I love you and am so grateful to you."
Harmon hopes fans take away from the final season what he did. He said, "This has been a hell of a ride, I'm not sure where I'll find the next one like this or if I ever will, but this has been something special. I hope they feel that way too."
And what can fans expect from the final season? All Harmon could say was, "Buckle up your seatbelts. Grab a drink if you're drinking age in your respective country — you're going to need it. Through all the darkness, try to find the light and have fun with it."
Harmon will next be working on a new film which was supposed to be filmed when everything shut down. He promises it will be "a fun time". Some of the previous projects he worked on which could be coming out soon include 'Anderson Falls' (with Shawn Ashmore and Gary Cole) and 'The Return' (with Sara Thompson who played Josephine Lightbourne in 'The 100').
Follow MEA WorldWide's countdown to the final season of 'The 100' for more. The final season will premiere on May 20 on The CW at 8/7c.