'The 100' Finale Countdown: Three best season endings and what to expect when The CW drama wraps up
'The 100' is coming to an end in September 2020. Running for its seventh season now, The CW post-apocalyptic show has amassed a massive fan following who are waiting to see how their favorite show will end. Part of the reason 'The 100' has done so well for so many years is that the show ends every season with strong episodes that not only bring a satisfying ending to the season's events but also set up the storyline for the next season quite well.
As we hurtle towards the Season 7 (and series) finale, MEA WorldWide (MEAWW) takes a look at some of our favorite moments, characters and other nostalgia from the past seven seasons. This week, we are going to take a look at our three favorite season finales on 'The 100', and based on them, what we expect for the series finale.
Season 4 Episode 13 — 'Praimfaya'
Book 2 of 'The 100' may have started with Season 6, but for us, this is where we felt like Book 1 really ended. In Season 4, Clarke Griffin (Eliza Taylor) and Bellamy Blake (Bob Morley) are trying to avoid human extinction due to the second nuclear apocalypse. Most of the remaining humans were safely in the Second Dawn bunker (they went on to become WonKru), some of the original delinquents and a couple of Grounders made it to the Ring up in space, but one was stranded on the surface.
That was Clarke. Season 4's finale was nailbiting until the very last second. Most shows would have ended their finale with the scene where Clarke is trapped on Earth after volunteering to reactivate the power to the space station so her friends can land there. The power readout shorts out and Clarke thinks she failed, meanwhile, we see on the space station that Bellamy and the others are running out of air. Instead of ending it there, however, the episode goes on to show that Clarke did succeed, and though she suffered radiation burns, she survived. We then got an "epilogue" where we see Clarke after six years, with a new haircut and a new companion.
What we hope is emulated in Season 7 finale
The end of Season 4 was perhaps the culmination of the growth of Bellamy and Clarke's friendship and trust. Bellarke fans would certainly replay those scenes where the duo are there for each other as they mourn/hope for their respective family members. This episode displayed the best of this relationship and how far Bellamy and Clarke had come from the series premiere. The Bellarke friendship has never been the same after that, though Season 6 gave us a short-lived reprise when Bellamy fought tooth and nail to bring Clarke back.
In Season 7, that friendship looks to be completely gone now since Bellamy has become a follower of Bill Cadogan (John Pyper-Ferguson) and betrayed Clarke to tell "(his) shepherd" that Clarke does not have the Key (aka the Flame) and that it was destroyed.
Let's be honest. If 'The 100' ends without a proper reconciliation between Bellamy and Clarke, fans might as well revolt. We certainly know that any ending that does not see them coming back together — and we are not saying romantically at this point, just a friendship will be the minimum — will leave viewers unsatisfied. We hope to see the Bellarke camaraderie that Season 4 excelled in.
Season 5 Episode 13 — 'Damocles' Part Two
Season 5 saw the actual ending of "Book 1" of the show and it brought together some elements that are especially in play in Season 7. After the two remaining factions of humanity fight for the last piece of liveable land on planet earth, an "ego war" saw Bloodreina (Octavia Blake played by Marie Avgeropoulos) and Paxton McCreary (William Miller) dead set against the other team winning or even compromising with them. McCreary went a step further and destroyed the remaining patch of green on the Earth (with him on it), leading to the surviving humans board the Eligius prison ship so they could find life elsewhere.
Again, any other show might have ended their season finale there, but 'The 100' had more to give us. Fast forward 100-odd years — Bellamy and Clarke are woken up by someone they (and we) have never met before — Jordan Green (Shannon Kook) is the son of Monty Green (Christopher Larkin) and Harper McIntyre (Chelsey Reist), two of the original delinquents. A recorded video shows that Monty and Harper chose to live out their lives on the ship and have a family — without all the stress of survival and fighting. Additionally, Monty also succeeded in finding Planet Beta, where humanity could hope to settle.
What we hope is emulated in Season 7 finale
In a show like 'The 100', it would be easy to lose hope (take the story of Jasper Jordan — played by Dev Bostick — Monty's best friend), but the beauty of the show is that it ultimately brings out why it is worth surviving. Do you just survive or do you find your humanity? This has been a question that has been asked repeatedly through the series, and one that will undoubtedly rear its head again before the show ends. This question also becomes more important, given Cadogan's zeal to fight the last war to achieve transcendence.
While we were sad to see Monty and Harper go, 'The 100' ended their stories so beautifully by giving them a sort of happy ending. We cannot say it was the best happy ending, given that they had to live out their lives without their friends and they would have still had a certain sense of anxiety about their son. Nevertheless, while both Jasper and Monty chose to stop fighting, Monty did so while believing in the best of humanity, which is something we would like to see happen again.
Season 2 Episode 16 — 'Blood Must Have Blood' Part Two
Who are the good guys? Again, this is a question that has come up frequently on the show. Clarke and Bellamy have been forced to do some horrible things to fight for the survival of their people and there is no better example of this than the Season 2 finale. After Lexa's (Alycia Debnam-Carey) betrayal, Clarke is forced to make a tough (and questionable) decision to save SkaiKru. This was an episode that questioned what morality really meant and it was peak television. Clarke decides to flip the lever, which in itself has become an iconic symbol through the series, which would save her people, but kill the Mountain Men. Bellamy does not let her do it alone, so they do it together.
The greyness of the situation was immediately visible but the true repercussions played out differently in Clarke and Jasper. Clarke isolated herself from everyone else after the incident because of the guilt she felt. Jasper — whose girlfriend Maya (Eve Harlow) also died — could not reconcile with Clarke's decision and the toll of war had played out drastically on him as we saw him descend further and further into his PTSD.
What we hope is emulated in Season 7 finale
The Season 2 finale showed that not everything done for survival is good and this is potentially something that Bellamy was dealing with when he got swayed by Cadogan's principles. It is easier, perhaps, to let some unknown entity and a mysterious last war dictate whether who should survive, rather than making the decision on your own. We do not know whether we will see the metaphorical (or literal) lever in this season, but perhaps Clarke's decision from back then might come back to haunt her as she fights one last time.
Honorable mention: Season 3 Episode 16 — 'Perverse Instantiation' Part Two
Season 3 of 'The 100' was highly controversial because of what was done to Lexa. The writers probably knew of the impact of the character on the show and therefore, she was brought back in the season finale when Clarke was in the City of Light. The Disciples have been compared to the City of Light many times, given that they both work on the basis of blind faith and survival. Ultimately, Clarke destroyed the City of Light and had to face the possibility of having to fight another nuclear apocalypse.
What we hope is emulated in Season 7 finale
The most obvious thing is, of course, cameos! 'The 100' had some great characters who managed to become fan favorites quickly. We still watch old seasons for the characters who are now gone and it's clear why they are so popular. 'The 100' was great at writing them and making them real people. They were flawed, loveable and easy to root for. Even Charles Pike (Michael Beach), whom many fans love to hate, was not a clearcut villain. He had his reasons to do what he did and even though they were wrong to us, he had a different reality.
This may be a long call, but we hope there is a callback to some of our favorite characters like Lexa, Jasper, Monty and even Finn Collins (Thomas McDonell) who was perhaps the first example of grey decisions and that there are no "good guys".
'The 100' airs on The CW on Wednesday nights at 8/7c. The Season 7 finale will air on The CW on September 30.