The 100 Review: Acceptable Losses (Season 5 Episode 7)
The 100 continues it’s incredible 5th Season with yet another jaw-dropping, world-expanding, heart-pounding episode. The 100 Season 5 Episode 7, “Acceptable Losses,” takes us deeper into Octavia’s darkness and Abby’s addiction, while Clarke and Spacekru fight to keep their families safe.
Written by Battlestar Galactica alum Jeff Vlaming and directed by Mairzee Almas, “Acceptable Losses” packs quite the emotional punch as the stakes get higher and our heroes are forced to make tough choices to protect the ones they love.
The 100 has never shied away from impossible choices and “Acceptable Losses” doesn’t hold anything back in that regard.
FOR LOVE AND COUNTRY
“Acceptable Losses” shows us just how far Octavia is willing to go to win the war and take the valley for Wonkru. This episode also shows us how she’s been justifying the choices she makes, and for Clarke and Bellamy, it’s not pretty.
When Clarke and Monty catch Kara rolling a corpse into a secret room inside the farm, my first guess isn’t biological warfare, it’s cannibalism. And while I’m not ruling out cannibalism, The 100 loves to take what we’re expecting and turn it on its head and send all our minds spinning.
With their loved ones being among the prisoners in Eden, it’s safe to say that Clarke and Bellamy aren’t too keen on wiping out everyone there with a parasitic lamprey. Octavia all too quickly points out that if she were to do this it wouldn’t be too different from choices that both Clarke and her brother have made in the past.
I’ve said it before but it bears repeating, one of the best things about The 100 Season 5 is that the show is holding itself and its characters accountable like never before.
Unlike Clarke and Bellamy, who were able to find peace and a better life during the 6-year time jump, Octavia has only spiraled further into darkness. And with both of her generals doing things outside her orders, her grasp on power is tenuous at best.
Indra: Be careful of the dark Octavia. Too easy to lose your way.
Kara and Indra act as the devil and angel on Octavia’s shoulders. Kara is willing to sacrifice her humanity in order to see Blodreina’s cause through, and Indra is clinging to the last shred of humanity that still lies within Octavia in hopes that she can save both the girl and their people.
Octavia doesn’t want to continue murdering her own people, and she doesn’t truly want to harm the people she’s marked as “Acceptable Losses” within the valley, but she doesn’t see another option at this point. And it is unlikely that she ever will as long as she refuses to surrender.
Indra has taken on a very Season 1-Abby perspective within Wonkru, and I love her more and more with every scene. Adina Porter brings so much heart to this role. Indra’s love for Octavia and her commitment to humanity make her the most compelling person in this storyline.
Monty: If a war is the only way to have the last survivable land on Earth, then maybe we don’t deserve it.
Another beacon of hope lies within Monty Green. Among the delinquents and now Spacekru, Monty has always been a voice of reason.
Clarke giving Monty Jasper’s suicide note and then having Monty read it aloud to his family is a moment of accountability that I never expected The 100 to follow through on, but one that I am deeply grateful for.
A person’s story doesn’t end when they take their life, and I’m glad to see the impact Jasper left both on these characters and on The 100 itself being carried out this way.
At many times throughout the show’s history, our favorite characters have been forced to sacrifice their humanity in order to save the human race. It’s one of the pillars that The 100‘s pilot was built on.
But time and time again, characters like Monty have reminded everyone that saving the human race is pointless if all humans do is fight and kill each other until there’s no one left. Hope, love, kindness, and humanity are essential to survival.
Clarke and Spacekru’s tentative alliance with Indra is something I am living for, and with Clarke’s new plan to take Octavia out, I can’t wait to see how all of these players interact as they move forward.
With Madi becoming ever further entwined with Octavia, and Spacekru scattered to the winds, moving forward becomes increasingly difficult for everyone involved.
Clarke’s priority is Madi; she won’t do anything that puts her life at risk, and she’ll do everything within her power to keep her safe. Bellamy’s priority is Spacekru, and he’s going to do everything within his power to keep them safe. Something tells me those priorities are going to clash in the near future.
Clarke is very much a mother to Madi and seeing her make decisions based entirely on the life of her daughter makes me love Clarke more than I ever have before. I’m also delighted by Gaia taking on a protective role towards Madi too, even if her reasons differ from Clarke’s.
But like any teenager, Madi proves she’s got a mind of her own. When you’re young you can’t always see the big picture, you can hear all of the warnings for your parents give to keep you safe, but sometimes you have to learn your own lessons.
Madi just wants to prove her own power to the Wonkru novitiates that laugh at her, she wants to impress her hero and make herself impressive in Octavia’s eyes. Little does she know that every step she takes closer to Octavia puts her further into danger.
I adore how entangled these stories are becoming and how each person’s choices are becoming increasingly difficult and personal. Does Octavia have any humanity left, does she truly care for Madi? Or is Madi just another tool that she’ll use for her own power?
ALL’S FAIR IN LOVE AND WAR
Back in Eden Echo struggles to complete her mission when Raven refuses to turn against Shaw after he helped her and Murphy.
Echo: In war, you have to do the wrong things for the right reasons.
Echo is proving to be one of the most tactful and intelligent people on The 100, and if you still don’t like her, then God, Jed, I don’t even want to know you. Okay sorry, that’s a The West Wing reference, and I won’t force you to like any character if you don’t want to, but Echo is so much more than most people give her credit for.
I love Raven’s soft squishy heart and her faith in Shaw, but even Shaw tells her that that faith is misplaced. Shaw reveals that it was him who released the prisoners and gave Diyoza the opportunity to take over because he believed in her cause, and in her fight for humanity.
This glimpse into the Eligius history further cements these newcomers as part of The 100. Much like all of our favorite characters, Shaw and Diyoza show that there is both good and bad inside every person.
Even with the knowledge that Shaw isn’t as good as Raven might have hoped, she doesn’t turn on him, which may be the kind choice but it isn’t the smart choice. Echo does what it takes to make sure that they can save the rest of their people.
This will likely complicate things between Raven and Echo, but if Spacekru is as strong a family as we’ve been lead to believe, it’s nothing they won’t overcome. And hey, this gives Raven and Shaw the opportunity to spend a lot more time together, which I don’t think anyone is complaining about.
I WOULD DO ANYTHING FOR LOVE, BUT I WON’T DO THAT
Abby is a drug addict. That’s where she’s at right now, and it’s ugly and hard to watch and brutally emotional. When they said Paige Turco deserves an Emmy for her performance this season, they weren’t joking.
Abby: I did everything I could.
Abby is a drug addict, and The 100 is taking the time to show the emotional burden that puts on a relationship. The 100 is showing how the addiction changes Abby, and how it affects her work and everyone she cares about.
In the moments following “Acceptable Losses,” I saw a plethora of reactions to these Kabby scenes, and I wasn’t surprised to find a considerable divide and range of differing opinions. I’m also not surprised to find myself straddling the lines of those reactions.
Neither Kane nor Abby are entirely right or wrong in what they’re doing, and that’s part of what makes their story on The 100 Season 5 so incredibly compelling. It’s real, it’s messy, and above all, it’s human.
Both Kane and Abby are making a mix of selfish choices, and choices for each other.
Abby knows they’re expendable if she can’t be a good doctor, she believes Diyoza will kill him first if she can’t save the prisoners. She is convinced that she needs the pills so that she can be a good doctor.
In Abby’s mind, if she quits now she stops being useful, she stops being a good doctor. And that puts him in danger, which after nearly losing him is something she can’t let happen.
Kane knows that Abby is a good doctor on the pills, and believes that she can be an even better one off of them. He’s doing his best to make himself essential to Diyoza and pull his weight in keeping Abby as safe as she’s keeping him by looking for a cure.
Abby: We’re here because of me, because I serve a purpose. I can only serve that purpose if I’m functioning.
Abby’s addiction is something that has been plaguing them on and off for the past 6 years. They’ve been through this dance before, and before they never found a way out of it.
Addiction is something that follows you your whole life. You can’t just make the choice to be sober one day and suddenly you’re clean and cured. Sobriety is a choice you have to make every single day for the rest of your life. And you’re the only person that can make that choice.
Kane cannot make that choice for Abby, but he can stop enabling her. Anyone who’s suffered from addiction will tell you, it’s not as easy as the ultimatum Kane gives Abby. Addiction is a disease that takes that choice away, it’s a demon that manipulates your body and your mind beyond imagination.
Abby is suffering and her inability to make that choice makes complete sense. Her being unable to make the immediate decision to choose Kane over the pills does not mean she loves him any less than he loves her.
The tears pouring down her face after he walks away show us that this hits home for her. She can’t make that choice yet, but she loves him more than anything and this effects her deeply.
Kane asking Abby to choose doesn’t mean he’s an unsupportive partner. It’s framed as a choice; Kane gives her an ultimatum. But this might actually be the first time they’ve reached this stalemate and there’s actually been tangible hope that they’ll survive the outcome.
In the bunker, as far as we know, hope was virtually dead. They never knew if they’d make it out, they never knew if anyone would come to save them. Kane and Abby only knew the increasingly desolate life of a dark tunnel with no signs of light.
In the bunker, they had only each other, their pain, and their love and no hope for a future without the horror and devastation of Wonkru. But now Kane can see their opportunity to start over, he can see their chance at a happy ending (well as happy as you can get on The 100), and he’s refusing to let Abby’s addiction rob them of that.
Before now, the only way to hold onto their relationship and all the hope they had left was to cling to each other in the face or every tragedy and sorrow that life under Octavia’s rule threw their way. However, they don’t have to live like that anymore.
Kane can see that because he’s not an addict. He knows that just asking Abby to quit won’t end her addiction; Kane knows if he doesn’t do something differently, nothing will change.
So he stops enabling her. If nothing changes if he keeps enabling her, then why would Abby give up the pills? Why would she give up something that makes her life easier? She wouldn’t.
Kane: I need you to choose, me or the pills.
Kane choosing to walk away puts the choice to get better entirely in Abby’s hands. He can’t carry this burden for her, and it’s not fair to expect him to.
Kane: Abby, I love you and I want to take care of you through detox. I’d walk through fire for you. I’d die for you. But I won’t watch you kill yourself, not anymore.
Neither Abby nor Kane are strangers to sacrificing themselves for the greater good and choosing to give their lives for their people or each other. Kane’s line saying he’s no longer going to watch Abby kill herself has echoes of her saying she can’t watch him die on The 100 Season 3 Episode 9 “Stealing Fire” when their relationship first began.
When Kane walks away after giving Abby this ultimatum, he isn’t giving up on her. He isn’t saying he’s ending their relationship and they’ll never be together again. He’s giving all of the power to her. When Abby does choose to quit on her own, I have absolutely no doubt that Kane will be right there by her side.
Kane has made it abundantly clear that he’s committed to her, with wedding-vow like words dripping from his mouth every other episode. Until Abby can make the commitment to herself to get clean, they can’t keep going through the motions.
Now Abby’s addiction has a consequence that it didn’t have before. For maybe the first time Abby’s choice to quit will be entirely her own.
When Abby chooses to quit, to go through detox, to get clean and save herself, it will be because she wants to. Abby has to save herself, Kane can’t do it for her.
It’s hard to watch Kane and Abby hit such a devastating low point in their relationship, but it’s a necessary step if they’re ever going to move forward.
When a bone doesn’t heal properly, sometimes the bone has to be rebroken to save it, you have to force a clean break so that the pieces can fit back together the way that they are supposed to.
This is Kane and Abby’s clean break.
Kane basically gave Abby this same choice on The 100 Season 5 Episode 4, “Pandora’s Box;” give up the pills as his dying request. His time in the arena, their time in the bunker, it broke them both and they haven’t healed properly. Now they can.
I genuinely cannot wait to see how Abby takes on this struggle on her own. I would be disappointed if the choice to quit was anything but hers. The concept that it’s up to Abby to save herself, and then save their marriage, I mean, relationship, is something I’m very excited to watch.
OTHER THOUGHTS:
- For goodness sake can we PLEASE stop interrupting Kabby scenes? This has to be a deliberate trend at this point as it’s happened in every episode they’ve been on. Perhaps this is wishful thinking, but I hope this is leading up to something big. Reunion sex, a wedding, both? I’m not picky.
- Abby is giving the suffering prisoners the same pain pills that she’s taking. If she was too far gone, she’d horde the entire supply for herself. This may have been a throwaway moment, but I’m taking it as a sign of hope.
- The bunker’s farm may be on its last legs but Monty’s idea to keep using algae is a good one. I hope this breadcrumb comes back at some point.
- TELL ME EVERYTHING ABOUT THE BATTLE OF SAN FRANSISCO RIGHT NOW IMMEDIATELY. PLEASE AND THANK YOU.
- I really love that Kane and Echo keep having scenes together. More, please.
- Even though the plan changed I’m really looking forward to Bellamy and Clarke eventually storming Eden to save the people they love there at some point.
- I’m with Harper, Octavia is scary.
- Who raised Ethan to be so rude? Come on son, you’re not five anymore, be nice to Madi.
- DIYOZA IS PREGNANT. I knew it!!!! I ADORE this plot twist, and I can’t wait to see where it goes. How will a baby play into Diyoza’s war games? How will the prospect of bringing a new life into this world affect Abby’s struggle with her addiction? WHO KNOWS? BUT I’M REALLY EXCITED. CAN YOU TELL FROM ALL THE YELLING?
What did you think of this episode of The 100? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
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The 100 airs Tuesdays at 9/8c on The CW.
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Samantha Coley
Samantha (she/her) is a social media specialist by day and a sci-fi junkie by night. As a freelance writer and podcaster, she also enjoys live-tweeting, blogging, good music, and better television. Her current favorite television shows include Star Trek (yes, all of them), Riverdale, and Stranger Things and there will always be a place in her heart for Battlestar Galactica, Leverage, and The West Wing.
2 comments
Honestly, can we have one show that truly focuses on Kane and Abby? I’d like a solid 45 minutes of the wonderful Paige Turco and Henry Ian Cusick giving such love and life to these awesome characters. Like you, I did not believe that Kane walked away from Abby and their relationship. He pointed out some very difficult truths, but ones that needed to be said. I did not think he diminished how difficult giving up the pills would be for Abby, but he assured her (as I’m guessing he has done in the past six years) that he loves her more than anything or anyone in the world and that she would not go through detox alone. He knows she is the best doctor without the best and wants her to see that she can still be that person without the pills. She can solve the problem with a clear mind. I do wonder if Diyoza revealing her pregnancy to Abby on the heals of Marcus’ words will have an impact on her to take control of her life and decide to quit on her own – not because Marcus gave her an ultimatum but because she realizes that is what she needs to do for herself and for the future life that was revealed to her.
Diyoza…I’ve read a lot of commentary about how she is somehow better than Octavia in how she is ruling her people. I don’t see the difference. Octavia rules by fear, Diyoza rules by control and manipulation. Wonkru knows if they disobey Octavia, they die. Diyoza knows that the rest of the prisoners are not too fond of her and do not want the “enemy” in their came. So, she collars the escapees, telling them she needs to do this until they prove themselves useful, yet, to me, this is just another form of imprisonment. Kane realizes Diyoza does not give a flying algae plant about Abby. She is feeding her addiction as a way to control her too. If she can keep Abby functional while keeping her mind clouded, it prevents her from being the amazing doctor that she is. The sober Dr. Griffin would find a cure for the prisoners. And what then? If they are cured, Diyoza may very well lose her rule. She does not want to do that anymore than Octavia wants to lose hers. So, she feeds the addiction and keeps Abby off balance. What happens when (because I believe Abby will make the choice to stop taking the pills) Abby is clean, focuses and does find a way to treat the prisoners? What I think Diyoza does not fully understand? The power of love and just how devoted Abby and Marcus are to each other – first and foremost.
I’m tired of reading about Octavia and Madi being the girls locked under the stairs. We do not know much about Madi other than that she was taught to hide so she could not be discovered as a nightblood. We do however know that Octavia, though her existence was hidden on the ark, did have love in her life. Bellamy and Aurora both loved Octavia. On the ground, Octavia developed friendships with the other delinquents and found true love with Lincoln. His death devastated her yes, but her actions know are not because she never had love in her life. She took control in the only way she knew how in the bunker and I think fell in love with that power. It’s consumed her and to me, she’s beyond redemption.
I did appreciate that Octavia called out Bellamy and Clarke on their double standards. Both made choices to kill innocent people at times. Clarke allowed a bomb to explode in TonDc all in an effort to protect Bellamy in Mount Weather. Now, I need Clarke to realize that the decisions Madi is making for herself, going against Clarke? are similar to those she made when she opted to shut out and rebel against Abby.
Clarke may have come a bit closer to Monty, Bellamy, and Harper, but to me, just as Bellamy wants to protect his family, Clarke is only looking to protect Madi. She took control at the end without talking it through with anyone.
I love Adina Porter and Indra. At this point, can we have Abby, Marcus, Indra, Jackson (where is he by the way?), and maybe Murphy secure their own little Eden and find some peace and happiness?
In the end, to me, the best leaders, the carriers of hope are Kane and Abby. Even though Abby is dealing with her addiction, when it comes to it, they are still fighting for humanity to survive. They do not want a war, they do not want to keep repeating the same mistakes, and do want to find a way to have the right to survive. Abby sees that she can keep her and Marcus alive by find the cure, but I also think as a doctor, her role is to save lives, no matter whose life it is.
As I said…a whole show of Marcus and Abby. But, since that is not likely to happen, I’d take some lengthy, uninterrupted scenes where they can honestly talk through things and end it with some much needed loving.
I’m sorry, but the fact that Abby has stated that she takes maybe 3 pills a day. The fact that they have only told us that everyone besides Abby believes Abby is a junkie. The fact that Abby’s supposed addiction. ALL of that only shows me, that she is the VICTIM of Opoiod Dependency as a Chronic Pain Sufferer. There is a HUGE difference and the tendency of the media to follow the governments line of thinking that these are one in the same. They are two completely separate things, yes one may lead to the other. But the fact that they haven’t proved Abby is an addict by showing us merely they have told us that she is but never wholly by her own admission. A chronic pain sufferer who is dependent on an opoiod to live can suffer similar symptoms as addicts in their emotional range and in the dependency (both emotional and physical). An addict displays the same symptoms except an addict will also do ANYTHING to get their next fix, and it is a fix or high, an addict can’t control how much they use, because once the high wears off they take more to feel high again and will run through their stash within days…. an addict will put their fix before anything and everything and convince themselves that they made the right choice. Abby has shown that she can control how much she takes (she has a stash that lasts her longer than a day or two), that she takes it for pain/relaxing not to get her high (high on opioids means you can’t actually operate to save a life nor figure out how to diagnose and cure an incurable disease), and that she doesn’t place the pills above anything and everything else because she has given patients medication (her stash is limited if she were a true addict she wouldn’t share any of it) and when faced with Kane’s ultimatum she breaks down because he has one mindset on it and she doesn’t know how to face her pain, save lives, and save them both without the stuff he is asking her to give up (if she were an addict her response would have been an angry “how dare you hand me an ultimatum and not try to understand where I am at” not freeze and then burst into tears oh AND she wouldn’t be too upset about losing them cause when you’re an addict your first love is your drug of choice not your man. Oh and she obviously cares about what she does affecting him cause you could see that she wanted to give up her life for taking the pills in the bunker but Kane wouldn’t let her and she was destroyed. And she is destroyed in this episode seeing what they are doing to Kane. If she were a true addict, she wouldn’t care as much as she does!). So I’m sorry, but without giving us a back story that shows us that Abby is truly an addict, this is just a pathetic representation that’s fueled by the ignorant propaganda of the “anti opoiod war” and it turns me off to the show. Seriously I LOVE this show, but I am seriously considering refusing to watch anymore, because this confusion of an addict and a chronic pain patient on this show is the same confusion that caused the system we are now living in that forces my mother to live in CONSTANT pain (me too btw and neither one of us are addicts in the slightest just cause we have pain and take an opoiod more than 3 times a MONTH) and is the same ignorant confusion that killed the man who raised me. When I watch these scenes now, I don’t see the amazing acting or the attempt at portraying something real. I don’t get sucked in like I used to… no I have to stop mid-scene to vent some steam because it makes me so livid to see this misinformation being spread around further to the point that I can’t even enjoy one of my (well used to be) favorite shows!!! Yes, it is amazing acting. But I’m sorry, without showing us a background to how she became an addict that proves Abby is an addict, all I see is the shows failed attempt to be “politically/socially edgy” without ruffling feathers that would destroy their funding. But alas I am one of the few in this, because chronic pain sufferers are being ignored and pushed into suicide from their pain because the doctors who dare to help them are being tossed in jail, because how dare we few attempt to have a life after the accident or defect we were born with that has made our pain so unbearable we admit that death sounds like a nice alternative. No in this new day and age we must suffer or spend all our money on a street and risk death for pain relief (how the man who raised me died because he just wanted to sleep one night straight after a month of little sleep from his constant pain). But no, don’t educate yourselves on what the government is doing to those who actually need these medications and who are mistaken for addicts because they need the medication to function on a daily basis, sure marijuana is fine now but medication isn’t? Sure go get stoned but no you’re no longer allowed the medication that managed your pain and let you have a life? Puh-lease.
….See the topic really upsets me and it is offensive to addicts and those mistaken for addicts in this shows pathetic attempt at portraying a real problem. Because this show is following the BS everyone has bought from the government and NO ONE attempts to educate themselves on by avoiding the headlines and main news outlets (the government owns these!) and research to find the truth by researching things such as “new statistics on opoiod deaths inaccurate,” or “opoiod epidemic is a lie” ….unfortunately Google is buying into it too so good luck cause any time you google the words “opoiod epidemic” you find all the misinformation that’s everywhere…. not that anyone reading this would bother. Bet you everything I ever make that anyone reading this comment will say “oh she is just another addict” buddy SO NOT TRUE, just sick and tired of seeing so much misinformation and misrepresentation that I personally know is killing people because I see it hurting my mother and killed the man who raised me last year. I think I have a right to be pissed about it.
So yeah, no the 100 is failing epically in my opinion, because all they have shown me so far is that Abby is a chronic pain sufferer dependent on opoiod medications who is being hedged into the title of addict even though she isn’t truly an addict. Aka the 100 is attempting to weigh in on a “socially hot issue” without doing all the right research and is therefore botching it. I know people who did become addicts because they were a chronic pain sufferer and it grew and none of them (at only 6years in) would have electrocuted someone they cared for to save their supply like Abby did to Raven, yet another misrepresentation. SMH this is bullshit and I can hardly watch and I pray the 100 gets serious backlash, alas it won’t because we few must suffer because of the **** who refuse to educate themselves and buy whatever is sold to them AND because of the asshats who abused our medications in the first place and put us in this situation. This country and this show…. I am so f*cking close to just being DONE….
Bet I won’t even be allowed to post this either huh? Gonna follow all the other sheep yourself???
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