What are the next steps for Octavia and Wonkru after their brutal defeat in the wastelands? Could an olive branch from Diyoza save Wonkru or destroy it?
The 100 – “Exit Wounds”, Season 5, Episode 06
Airdate: June 5th, 2018
Director: Michael C. Blundell
Writer: Jason Rothenberg
Based on the Book by: Kass Morgan
What You Should Know:
Wonkru, under Octavia’s command, is defeated by Prison Crew in the wastelands. Unable to advance to the valley due to creatures in the sand, unpredictable sandstorms, and the superior firepower of Prison Crew, Wonkru is forced to retreat back to Polis and lick their wounds. Back in the valley, Abby continues to work on a cure for the mining sickness, while Marcus offers to supply Diyoza with valuable intelligence on Wonkru.
What You’ll Find Out:
Wonkru’s defeat in the wastelands has shaken their confidence in Octavia’s leadership, leading many members to whisper plans of defecting. As Prison Crew, acting on the intelligence given to Diyoza by Marcus, drops food into Polis with the promise of welcoming defectors into the valley, the silent insurgency gains momentum. In hopes of combating this, Octavia offers Echo a deal: root out the defectors or retain her banishment. In the end, Echo offers an alternative plan—that Echo infiltrates the valley under the guise of a defector and delivers Monty’s backdoor code to the Prison Crew systems herself.
The 100 — “Exit Wounds” — Image Number: HU506a_0210.jpg — Pictured (L-R): Marie Avgeropoulos as Octavia, Eliza Taylor as Clarke and Lola Flanery as Madi — Photo: Michael Courtney/The CW — Ã?© 2018 The CW Network, LLC All Rights Reserved.
Along the way, Clarke’s constant attempts to hide Madi’s true nature as a Natblida eventually fail, as Gaia (and Niylah) manages to put two and two together. Clarke attempts to flee, but instead, Madi goes to Octavia and outs herself. Rather than being executed as Clarke feared, however, Octavia welcomes Madi with open arms and begins to train her.
Murphy and Emori flee the safety of their cave in search of weapons to remove Murphy’s tracking/shock collar. Successful, but aware that their location will be discovered quickly, the two wire the ship to explode, taking several members of Prison Crew with it, and nearly killing McCreary in the process. Instead, the two take him hostage.
What Just Happened?
Octavia’s descent into full darkness continues, as we watch her character be unable to escape the stark realities of the bunker. Besides her threat to send Echo to fight in the arena, a social structure no longer needed outside of the bunker, but her willingness to kill her own people for attempting to flee the bunker society shows an unwillingness to accept reality at face value. Even when given much-needed food, Octavia elects to burn it rather than using it for the good of her people.
All said and done, this episode was one of the slowest paced of the season, and while a number of the events certainly serve to advance the narrative towards future conflicts, the balance here feels off. My current running theory, given the number of major characters that seem to be migrating closer and closer to Prison Crew, is that we will eventually see Octavia as the primary antagonist that unites the majority of our long-running protagonists with Prison Crew. There is also a growing, yet reasonable concern that the solution to the mining disease will turn out to be nightblood, similar to the season 3 solution, which would be a shame.
Rating: 7/10
Final Thought: The season started out incredibly strong, but we seem to be entering a bit of a midseason lull. If the pattern of previous seasons holds true, though, stick through for another episode or two and we should see the narrative pace increase exponentially.
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