"The 100" ended for me when Bellamy died, but here are my finale thoughts anyway

While season 7 has undoubtedly been the weakest of The 100’s strong, 7-year reign, I still foolishly let myself believe that the series finale might surprise me.

The finale opens on Clarke standing in an elevator, pulling out two pistols from her pockets like a cowboy in an old western as she begins shooting every disciple in her path. “Out-of-f*cks-to-give” Clarke is one of my favorite versions of Clarke. She marches her way right up to the stone with Octavia and Levitt hot on her heels and doesn’t hesitate before shooting Cadogan more than once in the judgment space. Watching this scene had me believing this finale would be epic and intense, because where else can you go from here but up? Turns out I was wrong. You can go down. The Cadogan death was great, but it was also the most exciting part — and therefore the climax — of the episode. Everything that follows wasn’t so much a plotline as it was a chance for each of the show’s frontrunners to find peace with their final decisions.

And while I’m glad the show didn’t end with Clarke’s death or another nuclear apocalypse, I also wanted... I don’t know… something to happen. Something that would justify Bellamy’s death to “save” Madi, only for Madi to die anyway. (Shoutout to Lola Flanery though for her superb acting skills as a brain dead teenager.)

The purpose of The 100/Bellamy’s death

Jason Rothenberg said in a statement recently when he attempted to justify Bellamy’s death (and yes I say “attempted” because there is no way he can ever justify his death) that the show has always been about “survival.” Um, where have you been the last SEVEN SEASONS JR? Yes, obviously on a surface level this show is about survival and the atrocities we sometimes have to commit in the name of surviving. But to me, and to many fans that I think would agree, this show is about so much more than that. It’s about moral integrity and the power of love, but especially, moral integrity. Clarke has committed any number of ruthless acts in the name of protecting those she loves, but that’s always been the appeal of The 100 — the idea that we as viewers are forced to question if we truly would or could have done anything differently. “Clarke was born for this” is a phrase that has been uttered more than once throughout these seven seasons as a testament to her leadership skills. But where she lacks in judgment, Bellamy always made up for with his heart.

So much of the beauty of this show was that anytime Clarke fell short in her abilities, or the burden became too much to bear, Bellamy was there to pick up the slack and alleviate her pain. Their relationship has always been one of mutual dependency, and where one faltered, the other endured. Their steadfast support and trust of one another was (in my mind) one of the greatest relationships on TV and killing Bellamy felt like killing one half of a whole. I’m in no way saying The 100 needed to end with Bellarke finally happening, but I do think there’s no way to satisfyingly end it without Bellamy.

Killing Bellamy was sad enough, but Clarke killing Bellamy pushed the show too far from its original purpose and counteracted everything it has taught us for seven seasons about the power of love. The only way this show could have happily, and epically ended would have been to end with one final test for Clarke and Bellamy — the ultimate test —that allowed fans to peer one last time into the strength of their joint decision making. But no. JR clearly took a note from 2020 and decided no one deserves to be happy.

The 100 has forced Clarke into more than one questionable decision, but even her most upsetting choices have always aligned and felt believable with who she is as a person. Killing Bellamy is such a far stray from Clarke’s character that it feels almost like the show’s creators lost sight of a character they’ve spent seven seasons developing.

Octavia and Murphy’s character growth

Murphy and Octavia on the other hand have only grown since they both first appeared in the 2014 pilot. Probably the only remaining positive aspect of The 100 after last night is that Murphy and Octavia both experienced incredible character development throughout the show’s entirety, and their arcs were increasingly exciting to witness.

Octavia first: Octavia first stepped out of that dropship in the pilot episode with little sense of how to behave like a normal human and an appallingly low level of self-worth. (Which makes sense considering she was forced to hide under the floor, and pretend she never existed for 18 years.)

However, since that time we have seen her grow from “Bellamy’s little sister” to a warrior in her own right, all the while discovering the true meaning of honor and justice. She overcame her unhealthy dependence on her brother and learned to fight for herself as well as others. And while she was constantly thrust into situations that forced her to make incredibly difficult decisions, she stepped up to the plate, proving to be one of the strongest leads on this show. (The 100 has certainly never lacked in strong, female characters.)

The decision to have “Blodreina,” winner of the conclave, queen of the grounders and ruthless warrior ultimately convince all of humanity to drop their weapons and exist as one, is kind of a beautiful one. Octavia finally learned the greatest lesson in the end: if you aren’t fighting for someone or something, then what are you fighting for?

Murphy. What can I say except that I love Murphy and it killed me that they took away the ONE good thing that has ever happened to him: Emori. However, Murphy went from being the most hated character in season one, to one of the most beloved by season seven.

His character growth is why I love television series. The 100 managed to make us love, hate and question Murphy throughout the course of this show, all while allowing him to stay true to his character. Almost all of his decisions leading up to Emori came from his primal instinct to survive, no matter the cost. Honestly, Murphy is one of the most realistic characters IMO, because it’s easy for us to act all brave and pure behind the screen, but if someone is torturing you and they give you the option to sell out your friends or continue suffering, most people would end up selling out their friends too.

However, Murphy finally realized that life is about more than survival. It’s about living and living with those you love. And the beauty of his character development is that viewers always knew that version of Murphy was in there somewhere. We were given occasional glimpses into his pure heart. It could be seen in his decision to save Monty from Praimfaya, or stealing medicine to save a sick grounder child, or standing by Raven’s side during her brain injury, or his sympathy for Clarke as she held a dying Lexa. In the end, Murphy blossomed into the Murphy he was always meant to be.

Clarke’s happy (?) ending

After Bellamy’s sad death, it wouldn’t have surprised me if The 100 ended with Clarke’s death as well, probably from some self-sacrifice. Luckily, we were (slightly) spared. When transcendence began and every other human started glowing and becoming orb form, I panicked when Clarke continued to remain pale and human-like. For a full five minutes, I feared The 100 might actually end with Clarke being the sole human survivor on Earth, forced to bear the ultimate burden for all of humanity’s mistakes. THANKFULLY that was not the case. And yes, while I’m glad Clarke didn’t have to wander the Earth alone with only a golden retriever companion for the rest of her life, I also feel like this ending was abrupt and confusing. So transcendence is ok, but the city of light that the characters so vehemently opposed back in season three is bad…? I’d like to think that transcendence is supposed to be like the ultimate choice of purity for humanity — choosing to overcome their pain and suffering for a life of contentment, while the city of light was only masking the pain still buried deep inside them. Buuuuut, I also think I might be generously giving JR too much credit, and it’s entirely possible he just stumbled onto this ending.

And while it was a glorious choice to give fans the Clexa reunion we so desperately craved, (well played Rothenberg), it will never make up for the fact that Clarke is now forced to live a life on Earth without Madi or Bellamy. I just hope these characters can live the rest of their lives in peace and are finally freed from the responsibility of the weight of the world on their shoulders.