The 100 Review: How We Get to Peace (Season 5 Episode 8)

I’m probably most certainly in the minority here, but for some of us The 100 Season 5 Episode 8, “How We Get to Peace,” doesn’t live up to the hype.

Written by Lauren Muir and directed by Antonio Negret, “How We Get to Peace,” falls back on old flaws and sacrifices character and narrative at the altar of shock and awe. I suppose every episode in a season can’t be a home run, and while “How We Get to Peace” does have some fascinating and beautiful moments, overall it leaves me disappointed and empty.

THE GOOD: KANE AND DIYOZA

Though “How We Get to Peace” is nowhere near my favorite episode of The 100, let alone Season 5, everything between Kane and Diyoza in the first half is absolutely perfect.

In a war between two deadly matriarchs, it’s hard to find a place for a man who just wants his wife back and a place for people to live happily ever after. But Kane manages to find that place.

He finds it while both holding Diyoza accountable for the humanity she’s sacrificing for the sake of war, and acknowledging every one of his own sins.

Marcus Kane hasn’t always been a peacemaker, and he knows it. Kane gives not one but two absolutely riveting speeches on “How We Get to Peace,” both of which lay out the mission statements of The 100 and the best and worst of humanity.

Kane: I’ve seen the horrors we inflict on each other in the name of survival Colonel. God knows I’m as guilty as anyone.

After watching Kane give Abby an ultimatum on The 100 Season 5 Episode 7 “Acceptable Losses,” I had mild concerns for where his character was headed. But “How We Get to Peace” holds him up as a literal beacon of hope that I can only dream will keep shining through the rest of the season.

Kane frames Diyoza’s sins against humanity and his love for Abby in direct conflict with each other. Abby is the one who taught Kane to love and to embrace humanity, she is the very essence that drives him to be a better person. Kane sees Diyoza’s abuse of Abby and her addiction as an attack against humanity, and I can’t say that I disagree with him.

Kane: The ends don’t always justify the means.

Diyoza is by no stretch a hero, but when Kane reads her to filth on her continually enabling Abby’s addiction and pursuing a war against Octavia and Wonkru, she has what we call a come to Jesus moment where I’m from.

Diyoza is visibly uncomfortable with being listed as a dictator in the same category as the Red Queen.

Kane’s first speech is so necessary for acknowledging the hard choices that the characters of The 100 have to make Season after Season. It upholds the idea that who you are and who you have to be to survive aren’t always the same thing, but that you can, on rare occasion, find the happy medium if you try hard enough.

In the past, Abby and Kane helped each other find that happy medium. Now Kane can use the humanity that Abby fostered in him to show Diyoza a better way to find the future that they both want.

Kane proves that he too is a visionary surrounded by people who can’t see when he sells Diyoza on the dream of what the valley could be if they find a way to stop the war. It’s a beautiful moment both visually and emotionally as each of the leaders shares the image of the future that they want for their loved ones.

Diyoza: I’m not preparing for war I’m planning for peace, there’s a difference.

Kane wants an Eden where he and Abby can live together in peace, where humanity can be the very best of itself. And Diyoza wants a safe place for her daughter to grow up, for her to have a life free from war and filled with all the good things she remembers about growing up on our Earth.

It’s a stunning scene filled with all the good things that I truly do love about The 100, hope and humanity, and the desire to chase that belief in a better future. Both Kane and Diyoza’s unborn child stand alone as the literal personification of hope among the wreckage that multiple wars and apocalypses have wrought upon what remains of society.

While Kane appears to make an important breakthrough with Diyoza about saving what’s left of humanity, she still rides the line of doing what is right vs what is easy for the rest of the episode.

I want to like Diyoza; I want to root for a world where she wins and gets to raise her child in the valley of Eden and leads humanity to salvation, but until she stops toying with Abby’s life for the sake of her power I can’t fully do that.

THE BAD: THE BUNKER

Look, I’m all for Adventure Squad shenanigans, even more so when there are high stakes, but this storyline slips so far back into pointlessness and pandering that I just cannot get into it. In fact, the best part about the bunker storyline on “How We Get to Peace” is Monty Green with his pure heart and his algae.

The 100 is no stranger to killing off characters, with a death count higher than most soap operas, but the deaths that stick with us are always the ones that mean something. The 100 goes back and forth between story relevant, impactful deaths like those of Thelonious Jaha and Jake Griffin, and pointless, shock-value deaths that were given to characters like Sinclair and Pike.

Kara Cooper’s death definitely falls in the latter category. While she certainly was not a good person in the world of The 100, her death serves no real purpose. Immediately upon finding her dead, Octavia tells us that it’s both irrelevant to her as a leader and irrelevant to the story.

At least in the past, The 100 pretended that those hollow deaths were deserved or that they motivated important character moments.

I know I’m again in the minority for loving such a grim and dark character as Cooper, but it feels like she could have done so much more as a foil to Indra, and multiple other characters within the show. I suppose I had just believed that The 100 was past shock value deaths and plot twists and focused more on a character-driven story.

As for the meat of this storyline (no cannibal puns intended), a good chunk of it is actually amusing as Clarke grows increasingly disgruntled as everyone refuses to endorse her plan to just kill Octavia and get this war over with. Each time Bellamy denies her that option Clarke sighs with increasing dramatics bordering on pouting that no one sees that her plan is the best.

But ever the adaptable leader, Clarke decides to take out Octavia’s weapons if she can’t take out the leader herself. While I love that Bellamy and Clarke get to team up with Indra in a well-intentioned attempt to stop the war, the fact that it is all for nothing feels far too reminiscent of the multiple failed attempts at salvation throughout The 100 Season 4.

The biggest flaw of The 100 Season 4 is that on episode after episode our heroes continually failed in their quest to save humanity. Failure without hope or growth does nothing for humanity or for the viewer.

The 100 Season 5 has been progressing far beyond those Season 4 setbacks, and I hope that this one roadblock doesn’t derail the remainder of this year’s episodes.

Clarke is forced back into making Wanheda style choices to keep Madi and the rest of her loved ones safe. Clarke has always been capable of making the tough decisions when virtually no one else can and many times I’ve admired her for it. But after seeing her grow through the time jump and her relationship with Madi, it’s a little difficult to watch her have such cavalier views on human life.

I do love watching Clarke do everything in her power to save her child and her mother. Seeing her struggle with the same choices Abby was faced with throughout much of the first two Seasons of The 100 is incredibly compelling. Watching Clarke balance who she was before Praimfaya and who she has become as Madi’s mother is truly one of my favorite parts of The 100 Season 5.

I for one am definitely rooting for Mama Bear Clarke and I hope she doesn’t have to rely too heavily on her Wanheda skills to find the peace she’s looking for.

I’ve also been absolutely in love with post time jump Bellamy Blake. He took Clarke’s “dying words” to heart and has taken on a balanced leadership role in which he does what’s best for Spacekru as well as humanity as a whole. But it’s a little hard for me to believe that even a threat on Clarke’s life would push him to veritably poison his own sister.

Bellamy: By the time you wake up, we’ll be in the valley and we’ll have peace.

We all know that Bellamy loves Clarke, they have a friendship that literally defies time and space, but his love for Octavia has always been his cornerstone.

It could also be argued that Bellamy does what he does to Octavia in a last-ditch attempt to save her soul. He and Indra are among the only people that still see straight to the heart of who Octavia could be, who she was before the world took everything from her. If peace is achieved by the time Octavia wakes up will she be able to accept it and live in harmony with the rest of humanity?

Bob Morley plays this scene with a terrifying and heartbreaking strength as he does something that goes against every fiber of Bellamy’s being. Bellamy has faith that Octavia will survive what he does to her, but that doesn’t make it any easier for him to force her into a coma.

I’ll be the first to admit that seeing Bellamy stand up to Octavia on The 100 Season 5 is quite refreshing after the last couple of Seasons, but there isn’t really a situation in which I would truly believe that Bellamy Blake would fully gamble with his baby sister’s life.

Bellamy: My sister, my responsibility.

Blodreina she may be, but that’s still his little sister. Bellamy’s use of his old mantra is both haunting and harrowing as he holds her until she reaches unconsciousness.

Bellamy’s use of the early strain algae isn’t a death sentence, and if she’s as strong as The 100 has led us to believe, she’ll certainly survive this. But will this choice have done irreparable damage to the Blake’s? Will Octavia ever be able to come back from Blodreina? Will Bellamy wish death or recovery on her as she lies unconscious for the immediate future?

I honestly don’t know what’s next for this storyline and I’m a little afraid of it.

THE UGLY: ABBY AND RAVEN

Okay so, outside my reviewer’s brain and purely in my fangirl brain, this storyline did nothing but tear my heart to absolute shreds on “How We Get to Peace.” But even in my reviewer’s brain, the choices made here feel like a disservice to both the characters, as well as a horrifically simplistic view of addiction.

I want to preface everything I say in this section by first making it abundantly clear that both Paige Turco and Lindsey Morgan absolutely knocked these scenes out of the park. Lindsey Morgan portrays Raven’s heartbreak and disappointment at finding Abby in such a jarring and triggering state with equal parts devastating grace and tragic love.

Meanwhile, Paige Turco does so incredibly much with the little she is given to show us the absolute devastation and agony that plagues Abby as she remains trapped within her addiction.

My problem with this storyline isn’t that addiction forces you to do horrible things, it does. My problem isn’t that addiction robs you of your loved ones and turns them into monsters before your very eyes, it also does that.

My problem is that so far in Abby’s addiction we’ve only seen her story through the eyes of those around her. The 100 has shown us how Abby’s addiction has affected Kane, pushing him to sacrifice for her and then pushing him away when he can no longer handle enabling her.

Now with Kane temporarily out of the picture, instead of showing us Abby’s perspective we are forced to witness how her addiction affects and harms Raven. A character who’s actual mother also struggled with addiction.

I’m all for getting more Raven backstory, but does it have to come at the cost of turning Abby into a villain and retraumatizing Raven, who is perhaps one of the most continually brutalized characters on The 100?

Turco and Morgan give this storyline every ounce of emotion that it deserves, but the same end could have been reached without writing in unnecessary torture and violence.

Abby could’ve expressed her fear that Kane and herself would become collateral damage if she’s unable to save the prisoners. Raven could have still discovered Abby’s addiction and felt the same level of horror and experienced the same devastating triggers of a mother figure trapped in addiction without having to be literally tortured.

Raven: I didn’t build this for a junkie.

Abby: I’m sorry Raven, I am so so sorry.

The emotion that these two actresses bring to these scenes elevates the content far beyond the writing. I’m deeply invested in this story and it hits close to home for so many people who’ve struggled with addiction or who’ve had loved ones in that position.

I truly hope that the following episodes will give this story the care and importance that it deserves. The 100 needs to show us Abby’s perspective within her own story. We need to see more of her internal struggle and we need to see her pull herself out of it.

Addiction is a demon and it steals who you are, it contorts you into a prisoner within your own body, but that doesn’t mean that The 100 has to take away Abby Griffin’s agency and the sympathy for her character.

What she does to Raven in this episode is inexcusable, but that isn’t Abby Griffin, that’s her addiction.

Turco is playing this arc with an Emmy worthy realness; I am hoping that the remainder story follows her talent and delivers an honest and satisfying story.

Raven does an amazing job of both showing her own pain while still possessing a profound empathy for Abby. She better than anyone, save perhaps Murphy and Kane, knows how addiction tears a family apart. I understand the connection made here, I just wish it was written with more grace and nuance that was afforded these characters on “How We Get to Peace.”

As I stated earlier, Raven is one of The 100‘s characters most familiar with suffering. But one person’s pain does not negate another’s suffering. Both Abby and Raven have been through absolute hell and back and both of their struggles are valid.

As Lelanie Seyffer from Hypable has pointed out, men often get redemption arcs while women are used as plot devices. I am begging you The 100, don’t use Abby as a plot device; show us an addict that overcomes her addiction. Show us Abby Griffin embodying the hope that she has always stood for as she finds her way out of the dark and helps bring the rest of humanity into the light.

OTHER THOUGHTS:

• Y’all don’t deserve Monty Green. The only person that does is Harper, and dammit I hope they live happily ever after on their crappy little algae farm.
• Emori and Murphy still care deeply for each other, but I couldn’t be prouder of Emori setting her boundaries to make sure that when the action is over John doesn’t get the opportunity to break her heart again.
• NOBODY WANTS YOU THERE MCCREARY. JUST GO AWAY.
• Does Diyoza being pregnant before the 100 years she spent in cryo mean she got pregnant before they went to the asteroid or is that baby still likely to be McCreary’s? When did the 100 years happen? I need to know for science.
• I’m really going to miss Kara Cooper. I loved that shady bitch.
• Are you really going to tell me that Raven seeks comfort from Zeke, I mean, Shaw after she gave Echo the okay go on killing him instead of taking comfort from someone who’s been a part of her family for the past 6 years? I’m all for this romance, but please a little consistency.
• Can I have my Kane and Abby reunion soon? I’m in pain.
• Can I have Abby kicking the pills soon? I’m in a lot of pain.
• How does Madi feel about taking Octavia out? What did she do this week, kick Ethan’s ass in front of his friends again?
• What happened to that Gaia and Indra scene from the original Season 5 trailer? That’s the only moment we haven’t seen so far, did it get deleted or is it yet to be explained?
• Did Jason Rothenberg read every Kabby baby fanfiction before he wrote that Diyoza scene where she decides to name her baby HOPE?!? I’m unironically 1000% here for this.
• Can Raven and Abby catch a break? Let them rest.

What did you think of this episode of The 100? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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The 100 returns Tuesday, July 10th AT A NEW TIME 8/7c on The CW.

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