REALITY TV
TV
MOVIES
MUSIC
CELEBRITY
About Us Contact Us Privacy Policy Terms of Use Accuracy & Fairness Corrections & Clarifications Ethics Code Your Ad Choices
© MEAWW All rights reserved
MEAWW.COM / ENTERTAINMENT / TV

'The 100' Series Finale Countdown: Will we see Clarke's iconic lever pull once more before the show ends?

We take a look at all the times Clarke has pulled a lever before and whether those instances may be reflected in the series finale
PUBLISHED SEP 26, 2020
(The CW)
(The CW)

The conflict of choices is a big part of human nature and it is a big part of what made 'The 100' such a compelling show. The theme of whether everything is a black and white decision or whether there are grays in between is also a part of that. The choices the character makes do have consequences and while a choice could be as simple as yes or no, 'The 100' has taught us that it is not so. Nothing is better symbolized of this than Clarke Griffin's (Eliza Taylor) almost annual lever pull. The lever signifies that while the choice is between two options, what comes after is much more complicated.

Admittedly, the choices that our favorite characters have made so far in this season have been infuriating. Clarke choosing not to kill Russell Bourne (JR Bourne), whose body was then taken over by Sheidheda, then later Indra (Adina Porter) choosing not to kill Sheidheda as well. Bellamy Blake (Bob Morley) chose to (for some reason) put his full trust into The Shepherd aka Bill Cadogan (John Pyper-Ferguson) and that cost him his life. Madi Griffin (Lola Flanery) chose to sacrifice herself so that no more of her friends or family would suffer.

Each of those bad choices has led to even worse consequences as we wait for one more episode before 'The 100' finally wraps up. But were the choices that came in previous seasons ever good? Jasper Jordan (Devon Bostick) came to believe that there was no good choice in the end and he chose to end his life rather than to keep fighting -- this is something that still traumatizes us as viewers. Monty Green (Christopher Larkin), Jasper's best friend, saw differently and gave Clarke and Bellamy the chance to "do better."

Have they done better? Given where we are now, the Season 5 finale seems like it was a long time ago and so does the Season 6 finale. But with one episode left, we are left with the question: Will we get to witness Clarke pulling the lever once more signifying all that it means? Could Clarke somehow be the one to take the test (misinterpreted as the Last War by Cadogan) and be faced with a metaphorical lever as she was in the Season 3 finale?

We wanted to take a look at all the times Clarke has pulled a lever before (and sometimes Bellamy) and even though it may be futile, we hope those instances are reflected in what is yet to come. A handy YouTube video has compiled all the times Clarke has pulled a lever up until Season 5 which can help refresh viewers' minds.

Season 1

'The 100' (The CW)

Technically, the first person to ever pull a lever on the show was Bellamy. It was, in fact, how everything started when Bellamy pulls the lever and opens the dropship, letting his sister Octavia Blake (Marie Avgeropoulos) seemingly be the first person to step on Earth after nearly a century. The freshman season saw Clarke pull the lever amid an onslaught of Grounders. She had to make the tough choice of leaving Bellamy and Finn Collins (Thomas McDonell) behind while she saved everyone else among her people, which at this time only consisted of the other delinquents who were on the dropship with her.

At first glance, we may think Clarke just saved her people while Bellamy and Finn got captured by the Grounders. But given how Finn's story progressed since then, we see that there's always a dark side. That moment was when Finn and Clarke got separated and the first half of Season 2 saw Finn going to any lengths to get back to Clarke -- even killing innocent Grounders. That then led to Finn being condemned to death by torture by Lexa (Alycia Debnam-Carey), but Clarke once again makes the tough decision to kill him herself so that he is not tortured. 

Season 2

'The 100' (The CW)

This is, of course, the most obvious lever moment in 'The 100' history, when Clarke and Bellamy together pull the lever to save their people and therefore resulting in genocide. A lever shows just a dual perspective and while it may seem easy that she has to save her people, we also saw the consequences of that act. A whole faction of humanity died and it affected some more than others. This is when Jasper's story also began to reflect the consequences and trauma of survival. Who gets the right to decide who lives and who dies? Clarke and Bellamy pulled the lever to save their mother and sister respectively, but it does not take away from the gravity of the situation.

The iconic Season 2 lever scene will be referenced by Clarke in the final episode according to the latest extended promo for the finale where she acknowledges that she did, in fact, cause genocide.

Season 3

The third season is when we began to notice the theme with the levers given that a lever once again represented a significant decision. Here, Clarke manifested a lever in her mind when she was in the City of Light. Becca and A.L.I.E. (both played by Erica Cerra) stand on either side of Clarke. Clarke finally tells A.L.I.E. that people have a right to choose their own fate and that they have to overcome pain, not erase it. She then pulls the lever destroying A.L.I.E. and the City of Light.

This is perhaps more significant than any of the others when it comes to the final season. In Season 7, we saw Clarke take many decisions herself, thus removing the agency of those around her including Bellamy and Madi. She does this to Madi when she decides that her daughter should not live anymore after Cadogan's torture left her in a vegetative state. She did, however, know that Madi was showing neural activity and the ableist take of deciding to take Madi's life sat unwell with many viewers. Does Clarke have the right to make choices for anyone else any more?

Season 4

For the first time in three seasons, Clarke does not actually have to pull a lever here. But in a way, Bellamy does when he is forced to make the decision to get the spaceship to take off before Clarke can get on it. Clarke makes the choice of staying behind so she can fix the satellite and ensure that her friends have oxygen supply on the Ring when they get there. It was Bellamy who regretted this decision, as we will come to shortly.

Season 5

'The 100' (The CW)

Once again, 'The 100' finale had Clarke with a hand on a lever. A missile is set to drop to the Earth and they must leave on the Eligius spaceship before it hits. Bellamy, however, waits just outside for John Murphy (Richard Harmon), Monty, and Emori (Luisa D'Oliveira) to return. Clarke pleads with Bellamy to get on the ship but Bellamy is adamant that he will never leave his friends behind again. His choice to leave Clarke behind in the Season 4 finale saw their friendship sour when both formed closer bonds with other characters. While Season 6 repaired that -- and in such a good way --, the final season has erased it all over again.

We feel it is important to note that Clarke did not put her hand on the lever until she and Bellamy saw their friends in the distance, even while she was telling him that they had no more time.

Season 6

The penultimate season of 'The 100' saw Clarke having to pull the lever again after she was saved by Bellamy. This time, she does it to float her mother, Abby Griffin (Paige Turco), or rather, the body of her mother after Abby was killed by the Primes so that they could use her body to resurrect Simone Lightbourne. Yes, she knows that this is not her mother but it cannot be easy and here, the moment was reflected more in the way Clarke had to push Simone-in-Abby's-body away after she opened the Airlock, having to accept that her mother truly is dead.

What it means for Season 7

Seeing as the lever has been used so many times to convey the significance of choices, it will be highly likely that we see that scenario again. Maybe the lever will represent transcendence, or maybe it could represent something else. If it is used in the final episode, it will be a very significant moment, one that will have to tie into everything that has gone down in 'The 100' so far.

However, in the final season, Clarke has become more about pulling a trigger than a lever. If a lever isn't present in the finale? Well, that will be a crying shame and potentially a final nail in the coffin in a season that disappointed and upset many of its fans in the sense that 'The 100' has become a show that we no longer recognize.

'The 100' Series finale, 'The Last War' airs on The CW on Wednesday, September 30, at 8/7c. Watch the extended promo below:



 

POPULAR ON MEAWW
MORE ON MEAWW