'The 100' Season 7 Episode 10: Can Murphy save them all? Fans think he should represent humanity in 'the test'
Spoilers for 'The 100' Season 7 Episode 10 - 'A Little Sacrifice'
If there's one thing the fans of The CW's 'The 100' know well, it is that there are no good guys. The statement is often repeated in the post-apocalyptic series, now in its seventh and final season, sometimes by Clarke Griffin (Eliza Taylor) or by Bellamy Blake (Bob Morley). Given that Bellamy is making his big return in the next episode, one of these two will be expected to make the big move to save humanity. We are, of course, talking about the "last war" here, which may not be a war at all, but a test, according to Jordan Green (Shannon Kook).
In this week's episode, Jordan's study of the Bardoans' text makes him think that Bill Cadogan (John Pyper-Ferguson) and the Disciples may have decoded the text wrong. He mentions his Korean heritage -- his father, Monty Green (Christopher Larkin), a late beloved character, was Korean -- and relates his understanding of Korean text to the Bardoans' symbols. He tells Niylah (Jessica Harmon) and Gabriel Santiago (Chuku Modu) that he believes that there is a test -- of judgment, perhaps --, not a last war, to be taken by whoever enters the code that Cadogan is after. Remember that Cadogan believes that the Flame (which he does not know has been destroyed) has the code because Becca Franco (Erica Cerra) had previously entered it. Jordan believes that the person who enters the code will represent the whole species.
Now, here is where we expect that person to be either Clarke or Bellamy, or perhaps even Raven Reyes (Lindsey Morgan). However, fans have a different idea and they believe this week's episode foreshadowed who that person really ought to be -- none other than the Cockroach, John Murphy (Richard Harmon). Murphy was one of the most despised characters at the beginning of the series, but his development and growth since then is unparalleled on television. From being an angry young teenager, Murphy has grown into someone who really cares. While Season 6 may have shown him temporarily revert back to his old self a bit, Murphy has endlessly been a hero in Season 7. This week, we saw him put himself in danger when he chose to save all of the Faithful from Sheidheda (JR Bourne), prompting his girlfriend, Emori (Luisa D'Oliveira) to tell him, "Don't look now, John, but I think you just might be someone worth believing in."
A Reddit discussion after the episode aired showed that many fans want Murphy to be the one to take the test. One fan wrote, "Wouldn’t it be awesome if Murphy was the one chosen to take this 'test'." Another opined, "I think Murphy will somehow get there and do it. He has the most dramatic character arc in my opinion," as another replied, "That scene in the reactor space kind of foreshadowed it. But idk."
We think the scene foreshadowed the same too, much like the arc of Monty Green in Season 5. When Monty and the others come back down to Earth six years after the second nuclear apocalypse, he endeavors to develop his algae formula so that people don't face a food shortage again. He grows a farm in the bunker, but this is set on fire by Octavia Blake (Marie Avgeropoulos) in her Bloodreina mode, who tells him, "The farmers won’t save the world, Monty. The warriors will."
By the end of the season, only Monty and Harper McIntyre (Chelsey Reist) chose to stay out of the cryogenic chamber to monitor Earth. When he realized Earth would not be inhabitable again, he uncovered the Eligius files that helped him set the course for the spaceship towards Planet Alpha. The farmer did end up saving humanity. Monty and Harper decided to live out the rest of their lives in isolation on the ship, and their union gave us Jordan, who was named after Monty's best friend, Jasper Jordan (Devon Bostick).
It is quite likely that the showrunner Jason Rothenberg is setting up something similar for Murphy. Who better to represent humanity than one who had flaws and learned from his mistakes and grew to become a meaningful member of society? Murphy's care for Clarke's adopted daughter, Madi (Lola Flanery), is starkly different from how he treated Charlotte (Izabela Vidovic) in Season 1. That Murphy chose to put himself in danger to save a people not his own is a remarkably mature and compassionate move. So we agree, it would be awesome if Murphy does end up taking "the test."
'The 100' airs on The CW on Wednesday nights at 8/7c.