The 100 Recap: Would You Like to Play a Game?
Episode 312, “Demons”
Written by Justine Gilmer
Directed by P.J. Pesce
In a season that’s been sci-fi heavy, we take a quick foray into some new territory with “Demons”, The 100‘s answer to a whodunnit horror-mystery, only with less murder and more sadness for me. We also get some mover and shakers in Polis, though not for the benefit of anyone.
The first people we get to see are Miller and Harper! Score! Bryan is also there, which is cool. He tries to catch some Z’s while Miller spins a spooky campfire yarn. Gosh, do I love it when the kids get to act like kids, however brief those moments are. Things progress in a typical Teen Horror Film fashion; almost to the letter. One by one the kids vanish mysteriously until only Harper remains, paranoid and alone. Don’t get me wrong, it’s extremely effective and spooky, I’m just not a horror genre fan so it doesn’t resonate with me. Finally, Harper is accosted by a mysterious figure dressed in a grounder Halloween mask, and her fate is left to the imagination. Quick note: if Harper dies I will handcuff myself outside the CW headquarters and cry until it gets really awkward for everyone. It will be distinctly unpleasant.
In Polis, Baby Scarface walks the streets attended by Murphy, who looks to be enjoying himself the usual amount. The smallfolk offer gifts to their new Heda, who they don’t know is a GIANT PHONY FRAUD WHO MURDERS.
Sorry.
Then, completely by accident-chance, Murphy runs into a vendor that turns out to be Emori!! Yes!! I was wondering when she’d pop her cute little tattooed head in again. Murphy seems excited to see his love interest/criminal accomplice, although rightfully concerned as his new compatriot is a straight up Psycho Bitchicane. They manage to pull one over on the tiny turnip monster and arrange a meet in the Flamekeeper headquarters before they split up. I am cautiously optimistic.
The Best Friend Squad is on its way back to Arkadia, with the newly un-Kool-Aided Raven Reyes fully intact and reading from Becca’s 97-year-old diary. The squad goes over all the backstory plot we learned back in episode 307 (RIP), as well as remind us that while Monty’s mom’s body may be dead, her mind is still in the City of Light. Oh, and Team Milper isn’t answering their radios. Completely un-suspicious.
They arrive to find a conspicuously empty Arkadia. While I marvel at how badass the BFS looks with all their weapons hot, Octavia spies the bloodstained spot where Pike took Lincoln’s life, and a tiny piece of me dies. However, Octavia 3.0 is singularly focused. She squares up and they roll out.
The team splits up for their individual missions; Octavia and Jasper to find Lincoln’s notebook (hopefully containing the whereabouts of Luna, the last Nightblood), and Bellamy, Clarke, Raven and Sinclair to load supplies into the rover. Octavia and Jasper’s mission is more likely to cause me to curl up into a ball and cry, so we follow that one. As expected, the first thing Octavia finds is the guard jacket Bellamy gifted Lincoln with in the season premiere. Aaand now I’m drowning in tears. That didn’t take long. O has a mini-meltdown during which some of Lincoln’s possessions are destroyed, but I doubt he minds (RIP). Jasper makes an attempt to comfort her as Octavia comforted him at Mount Weather, but the difference is Octavia has a job to do and is set on getting it done. “A warrior doesn’t mourn the dead until the war is over,” she tells him. Once again, Octavia Blake is the hero we deserve. She also finds the notebook, which does contains a map to Luna, as well as Lincoln’s drawing of Octavia 1.0 from way back in Season one. And honestly, that’s just rude.
But right as OKS is about to hero it up, Jasper stumbles in with an indistinct head injury and a warning before he falls to the floor: “Grounder.” (My heart, it bleeds) Octavia is caught unawares and overpowered by the same figure that took out Bryan, Miller and Harper; and her fate is also left to mystery.
Time for a meet-cute with Murphy and Emori! They don’t take long to get down to business in the cave that miraculously hasn’t burned down yet despite the fact that nobody ever seems to blow out the candles when they leave. Emori takes a quick break from smooching to admire the décor of Murphy’s new crib, particularly the mural of Becca, the original commander, and the slogan of her company, “Seek Higher Things”. Murphy, however, has other avenues on his mind. And so I have to watch another weird Murphy sex scene. I’m sure I did something terrible in my own life to deserve this, I’m just not sure what it was.
Let’s add a needed injection of Bellamy/Guns (the only real ship in this show that matters at all). He stumbles upon the armory, which remember Pike chastised earlier this season for not having enough murder tools. Well, that’s been fixed. Meanwhile, it seems Raven may have found a way to turn on ALIE 2.0 without the aid of a Nightblood. This seems like a lucky break, which probably means it won’t pan out. The chip can be activated by a spoken phrase that Becca conveniently forgot to write down. The Mythbusters would be so ashamed. Clarke tries to remember phrases that held meaning to Lexa, but I guess all that time arguing over Jus Drein No Jus Daun left little room for talking about anything else. It’s of course angelic icon Monty Green who takes a look at Becca’s journal and finds the same company motto Emori was vibing with back in the Polaris cave. Sinclair translates it into Latin, because he is the Ultimate Dad Rabbit Wizard. After this he’s going to play golf with his buddies and forget to bring sunscreen. I love him. Anyway it works, and the weird little tentacle thingies spring out and activate the AI.
Of course, without a human host the chip they still can’t find out how to stop ALIE 1.0, so the mission stays the same. Monty and Clarke (my faves!!) venture off to meet Bellamy with all his new children (guns), and on the way have a heartbreaking conversation on what will happen when they destroy the City of Light. Read: Clarke’s mom will come back, and Monty’s won’t. I feel a very sharp pain somewhere in the center of my heart. Monty Green is too pure and suffers too much. He better get a damn good storyline in s4 to make up for all this nonsense. I want nothing less than an entire episode of Monty and Clarke high fiving and chain smoking joints while receiving well-deserved respect from their peers. On a beach. Free.
As they’re walking, the lights of Arkadia begin to flicker and some creepy music box tune begins to play out of seemingly nowhere. Monty, having seen thirty seconds of any horror movie ever made, knows better than to follow the noise. But, as this is the horror movie parody episode, he must follow the white girl into danger and peril. It’s suitably creepy when they come across the source of the noise: a children’s carousel toy. Clarke barely has enough time to pick it up before a strange gas bomb goes off, revealing the mysterious figure from earlier and proving Monty right about everything, as usual. She falls to the floor, but thanks to her new Flamekeeper digs, Wanheda still looks badass doing it. She looks even more badass when she wasn’t passed out at all, you fools, and takes off the mysterious grounder’s mask to reveal it’s not a grounder at all! It’s Emerson! Remember Emerson, guys? The Shredded Last Mountain Man, doomed to walk in exile forever after Clarke and Bellamy killed everyone he’s ever known his entire life?? You know, Emerson! He’s back again!! I can’t even describe how little I care!! But it’s scary!! Clarke manages to escape (obvs) and run straight into her life partner/mini-dad friend/Bellamy’s arms.
Post-coitus (ugh), Murphy is trying to convince Emori to dip out of Polis and find some place that has less child murder and fewer bathtub suicides. Emori, of course, is intent on staying, so she gets an earful of The Story of Murphy’s Subplot Thus Far. Though he does not mention the Gross Non-Con moment that I’m just gonna go ahead and throw out the idea that we never mention ever again, he does reveal the wannabe-Heda has “Taken a liking” to him, which, ick. Emori’s not as pissed as I would expect her to be, but they’re interrupted before this convo can get much further. Of course it’s Murph being summoned by one of Ontari’s henchmen. Thus he is dragged away from his bae, in this, the perfect storm of Hetero Angst™.
In the quickly-spiraling clusterf**k that is Arkadia right now, Bellamy and Clarke are in straight Hero Mode, looking badass and deducing that Emerson has abducted 3/4ths of their friends. Raven and Sinclair, however, remain in the hangar bay, safe for the moment. The Super Best Friends are coming to the rescue, but until then Acting Dad Friend Sinclair is getting their shit on lock. He doesn’t get very far, as Emerson cuts the power and proceeds to beat the crap out of a disabled woman half his size. I bet having the moral high ground feels good, huh, Emerson?
Oh my God, Sinclair is going to die. I can’t believe I was ever stupid enough to start liking him. I feel so foolish. This leads to The Saddest Thing Ever: Raven shuffling out of the rover in desperation to save her Dad Friend, with Sinclair using his final breaths to beg her to escape and leave him behind. Oh my actual God I can’t believe I allowed myself to like him. I guard my heart so much better than this. Just to twist the knife counter-clockwise, Raven is snatched by Emerson right before Sinclair closes his eyes, probably making the last thought he ever had about Raven being dead. I want to Google a word about how sad and angry I am, but I’m too sad and angry to do it.
Bellamy and Clarke arrive to find Sinclair’s dead body, and thus the Rabbit Wizard’s eyes are closed forever. The besties try and make sense of their terrible awful situation, which leads Clarke to contact Emerson directly. Emerson, whose grudge-holding powers put Jasper’s to shame, responds from the airlock he was held captive in, which currently holds most of Clarke’s living friends. Clarke, of course, being a hero, offers her life in trade for theirs. Bellamy doesn’t like that plan, not one bit. Neither do I. But Clarke doesn’t want her friends to die for her mistake (not that I think not killing Emerson was a mistake — but I think in this situation it’s a hindsight thing), so she pulls a classic Hero Move™ and hands over her ex-GF to Bellamy, making him promise to finish their mission if she dies. But of course, Bellamy, having gone back to his normal self, no longer does what anyone tells him to do. I think that since the last time they separated everything fell into complete chaos, he’s not in such a hurry to give up his Platonic Murder Buddy™. He comes up with an alternate plan in which he shoots Emerson (presumably in his dumb face). Clarke agrees to it, but not with a great amount of enthusiasm.
Pretend-Flamekeeper Murphy is presiding over Pretend-Commander Scarface McTurnipBaby’s open court. It’s like that scene in the Emperor’s New Groove when Yzma is sitting in the Emperor’s chair. One of her appointments is Jaha, much to Murphy’s dismay. He’s not nearly as dismayed as I am, though, as I hate every single character in this scene, yet I have to watch it because every Murphy scene is Plot Relevant™. This one is no exception. Jaha drops the bomb that Ontari is a false commander, as well as the double bomb that Murphy is not the real Flamekeeper. How does he know this? Well, the ALIE Network knows, thanks to… Emori!? Dun dun duuuuuun!! Looks like Murphy’s philandering has caught up with him. Exposed, Murphy tries to BS his way out of yet another sticky situation. ALIE-Jaha convinces Ontari to spare his life, claiming he has useful information (which, okay, sure). So it appears Murphy’s reprieve from being locked in places has ended. RIP Free Murphy (Episode 311-Episode 312).
ALIE-Jaha moves on to his/her/they’re next task: bringing Ontari into the network. It’s not that difficult, after Jaha promises her an even more powerful tool than the Flame to channel the spirit of Bekka Pramheda, the Kool-Aid Chip. Ontari has no way of knowing what utter BS it is, and she’s desperate to become a legit commander, so it’s not hard to predict her choice.
Oh God my heart is about to throw up. Clarke goes to surrender to Emerson, but surprise, surprise; their hastily put together backup plan does not go well. Emerson, who already knows Bellamy is there because duh, lures him out by threatening to kill Octavia, which has a 100% success rate of getting Bellamy to do whatever. He surrenders almost immediately, to Clarke’s dismay, and joins the other poor captive ducklings in the airlock. I am remarkably anxious given that I know they aren’t going to die. This is a stressful-ass scene. It’s particularly hard to watch Clarke slammed against the window to beg for her friends’ lives as she watches them gasp for air. Closely seconded is Octavia struggling to say what she thinks are her final words to her brother. That’s a whole other section of my heart to shatter, though. Clarke manages to get an upper hand and a very brief fight ensues between her and Emerson; it does not end in her favor. But despite having her dead to rights, Emerson refuses to kill her until she’s witnessed her friends’ deaths. This turns out to be the second to last mistake Emerson ever makes. The very last is asking Clarke if she has any last words for her friends, which gives her a bomb ass setup to deliver the verbal passcode to activate the Flame and jam it into Emerson’s ugly neck. Ascende Superious, douchebag. You will not be missed.
After being saved in the most baller of manners by Clarke, the new All-Delinquent Best Friend Squad Sans Supervision prepares to roll out. But not before some sad! Bellamy carries the shrouded body of Lincoln kom Trikru back into camp to be burned, as is the grounder custom. Before that though, Octavia takes the opportunity to follow Jasper’s earlier advice of “falling apart a little”. I honestly can’t even watch it, my heart already feels like steel wool after that airlock scene and I just straight up don’t have it in me. I am a weak emotional bitch.
So Lincoln and Sinclair get a joint bro-funeral as the Best Friend Squad lays two of their OG members to rest. I like that they follow both the grounder and Skaikru traditions (“Yu gonplei ste odon” and “May We Meet Again”, respectively). Oh man, this scene gave me — and I try to avoid using this phrase if at all possible, so I’m hoping that this exception marks how significant it is — the Feels. We get the additional gut-punch of Bellamy adding another branch to his bonfire of self-loathing, and Octavia kom Skaikru prompts her squad to roll out.
Clarke takes a moment with her potato chip girlfriend (she has a lot of those, and each one hurts) while half the BFS prepare to take off. The other half (Raven, Monty, Bryan and Milper), are staying behind to isolate the ALIE One code in Arkadia so they can destroy it. Although it requires the squad to split up, something I never enjoy, it is the right call. Plus it leads to lots of hugs! Even a Clarke/Raven hug, which are rare and my favorites. Jasper elects to join the mobile BFS that’s going to find Luna, because this show hates me.
Last call! Emori struts into the throne room of the Giant Candle like she was born for it, there are fourteen candles. She kneels before an empty throne, which of course is actually the ALIE hallucination. Props to Erica Cerra for somehow looking both vacant and infuriatingly smug at the same time. Anyway, it’s time to fill up the City of Light! How will that happen? Let’s find out together.
Okay, so this episode was slightly underwhelming for me. It wasn’t bad, but you could tell it was going for a genre feel and it just slightly missed the mark. There was a little too much predictability for me. However, as I’ve said many times before and will continue to say forever, the best part of this show has always been the dynamics between the delinquents, and we got heaps of that in Demons. That was the absolute bee’s knees. All the goodbye hugs! Bellamy and Clarke kind of becoming a team again! Octavia sloooooowly coming to terms with her brother’s actions! And so much teamwork!! That’s the good business, right there. More please. But less Murphy sex. I cannot stress that enough.
The 100 airs Thursdays at 9/8c on The CW.