Happy Wednesday TV fans! After watching the CW’s The 100 season 5 episode 2 last night, I learned that becoming a leader is harder than one thinks. It’s not about being the strongest warrior or coming up with the smartest plan, but about someone who is willing to sacrifice everything for the greater good of his or her people. The choices will never be close to easy, but someone has to make them. Octavia comes to realize this rather quickly when she is trying out her new role as “Commander,” but proves to be an unstoppable force of strength and decisiveness. Please note spoilers are ahead if you have not gotten a chance to watch the latest episode yet. In last night’s episode, “Red Queen,” Octavia’s words of “Wonkru,” which literally mean one crew, sound like a nice sentiment, but the different clans are still on edge, desperately trying to survive in the bunker and refusing to all get along. Meanwhile, Abby hears Clarke knocking on the door and Jaha accepts his final destiny, but not before providing Octavia with some words of wisdom. My top 5 moments from The 100 season 5 episode 2 are:
5
“Symbols matter Octavia.”
While Octavia is responsible for saving everyone in the bunker, not everyone is accepting her as their new leader. Indra is still at her side, however; and tries to remind her about the importance of symbols. Octavia wears the gear on her forehead to remind everyone that she is the Commander, but Indra’s daughter, Gaia explains that the Order of the Flame will not support a red-blooded commander. While Gaia is bound by tradition and protocol, Indra reminds her that “your real commander would have let you burn.” We are no longer in a world on The Ark or on the ground, as the bunker has brought everyone together and not by choice. Survival is at the top of everyone’s list, but we know that life in the bunker will certainly have its challenges.
4
Abby hears Clarke.
When everyone is in the bunker deciding what to do next, a faint knocking is heard and Abby knows right away that it is her daughter, Clarke. Marcus attempts to calm her down, but Abby will do anything to get to her daughter. They quickly discover that there is something sealing the hatch entrance, which creates a bigger problem than just getting to Clarke. There is only one hatch entrance currently in the bunker and they will not all be able to survive after five years if they are not able to get out. This is not Marcus’s first encounter with a hatch, as the Lost fan in me immediately thinks back to Henry Ian Cusick’s days as Desmond Hume, when he was living in a bunker for three years, pushing a button to save the world before the survivors from Flight 815 decide to blow the hatch door wide open. Perhaps there is an idea after all. While food rationing seems like the first step toward maintaining survival, there is also the problem of finding the appropriate equipment so that they can make it out after five years. The problems keep on coming, as Octavia and the others realize that population reduction has reared its ugly head yet again.
3
“We’re taking back what’s ours.”
A select few from Skaikru start to realize the inevitability of population reduction and decide to seal themselves into the farm and leave everyone else to fend for themselves. Abby tries to explain that their deaths will not be painless or quick. Rather, they will be slow and agonizing and that no one would want that guilt on their hands. Panic has led to rash decisions and Octavia must embrace her role as a leader to get back into the farm and bring some order to her people. Octavia removes the gear from her forehead, explaining that it is more of a target than a symbol. While the plan to take back the farm seems far-fetched, any plan is better than no plan.
2
“I think his fight is over.”
An instrumental part of the plan is for Jaha to put his engineering skills to the test and to get the door open to the farm, but we learn that he is severely injured. Jaha has dealt with his fair share of burdens as a leader, but desperately wants to be with his wife and son again. In his final moments, Jaha asks Octavia to take care of the boy he has been watching over and looks to say goodbye to his old friend, Marcus who comforts him with his prayer. “May we meet again.” Jaha’s death reminds us that his days of a leader are long over and the torch has now been passed to Octavia. But does she have what it takes to do what is necessary to lead?
1
“You are Wonkru or you’re the enemy of Wonkru.”
Before Jaha dies, Octavia reveals her hesitation about becoming a leader when she says, “I am not a leader…I’m a warrior.” Jaha talks to her about the decisions he made in the past, which included the decision to execute her mother when the rules were broken. Jaha tries to get Octavia to see the big picture and to “know what it takes to lead.” He explains that there is always a war and a good leader will focus on the enemy and how to stop it. Octavia finds the leader within her and knows what she must do. She tells everyone around her that “you are Wonkru or you’re the enemy of Wonkru.” Any time someone attacked her, Octavia struck them down, proving to be an unstoppable force. With each objection, she took down her enemy while repeating her words over and over again, until everyone understood that they really are Wonkru. Octavia offers the guilty the chance to fight for their freedom. “Win the fight. Save your life.” While this certainly helps with the population reduction issue at hand, what happens when someone Octavia cares about ends up in the fighting pit? We’re about to find out, as the ending scene reveals Marcus to be in that very situation.
I hope you enjoyed the list and feel free to post your own theories and thoughts on The 100 in the comments section below. Thanks for reading and happy viewing!
Best,
Amy Koto, TV Fanatic Girl
@TV_Fanatic_Girl
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