Written by Jakob Andreasen
“That’s why we’re going to take her out.” Clarke has always been the voice of reason and after last week’s episode Clarke has good reason to kill Octavia. Maddie is now Octavia’s second, Octavia has been breeding deadly worms, and Charmaine is having a baby. ‘Acceptable Losses’ brought a lot of twists and turns, will this week’s episode bring the same energy?
War Is Here
Kicking off with Clarke, we are thrown right back into her conversation with Charmaine Diyoza. The two are discussing the terms of the surrender of Wonkru to ‘Team Diyoza’—the condition: bring Octavia in chains. Bellamy ‘Big Brother’ Blake does not like the plan. He does not want his sister dead, no matter how crazy she is.
Harper and Monty are, awkwardly, in the middle of Clarke and Bellamy’s disagreement. Clarke is hellbent on protecting Madi—everything changed after Octavia chose Madi as her second, and Clarke doesn’t want her ‘adoptive daughter’ to go to war. Harper suggests to the group that they drive away before anyone notices, which is not a good plan according to the other three. In true Monty fashion he proposes an alternative—algae. Monty has agreed to meet with Cooper (Octavia’s bestie) to discuss the benefits of the algae.
Octavia walks in—she chose the perfect time, right? She sees the computer and questions if the enemy can see Wonkru’s camp still, which they won’t be able to, after loop footage is run. Octavia knows that now is the time to move. Her orders are to load the worms into the Rover—War is here.
Back at ‘Team Diyoza’ Kane has tried to leave the camp, but not before he is brought to Charmaine and questioned for his alarming sense of freedom. Supposedly Kane was going South to start up a settlement. But, as he tries to explain his reasoning, a prisoner, Robert, has a coughing fit. While Charmaine is distracted by Robert, Kane sneaks a look at Charmaine’s journal.
She doesn’t like people going through her things and she shuts the journal, then she drops that Clarke radioed her earlier. Kane is taken aback by this. He is told that Clarke plans to kill Octavia and that once the Red Queen is killed and Wonkru surrenders; there will be more grounders in Shallow Valley.
Static interrupts their conversation. It’s Murphy. He and Emori are attempting to contact Charmaine. Murphy tells that they have ‘Graveyard’, the prisoner who tried to kill them, and offer him as a trade for Raven Reyes. But, Charmaine says no. Murphy and Emori weren’t expecting that.
Charmaine has solutions for her internal and her external conflict. She tells Kane that, this is How We Get To Peace. But, Kane sees through this and calls Diyoza a dictator; political assassinations, wrongful imprisonment, more concern for her ‘peoples’ lives over the lives that she is destroying. Kane has been here before. He’s been in Diyoza’s position. Kane has had to make the decision to sacrifice the few for the many and knows that eventually the few becomes the many. The means do not justify the ends. Diyoza is just as bad as Octavia.
Talk about an intense monologue.
A Discovery of Cures
We shift to Abby and her patient, Vinson, who is her main guinea pig for finding a cure from the disease that has affected the majority of the prisoners. And, as she watches the screen grab of his infected lungs, one of the spores disappears—it was the sound waves. Abby can dissolve the spores and section out the residue, but she needs more power. That’s when Vinson launches himself off the bench and goes outside to take one of those new powerful guns from another prisoner: a sonic drill, and brings it back inside, slamming it on the table. He says that the weapon uses sound waves to work. However, Abby tells him that unless there’s a prisoner at the camp that is an engineer…
Raven Reyes. Awoken by the grunts and screams of Zeke, the pilot that she betrayed, she watches as he’s bashed by his old comrades. As Raven goes to help, Echo stops her.
Back at Wonkru, Clarke and Bellamy are meeting in secret with Indra. They tell Indra of the offer that Diyoza has put forth, but Indra knows that her Commander would never surrender. And, why would Octavia surrender in a war that she is most likely to win—the worms would allow maximum damage, with minimal effort. Bellamy questions if the worms were not part of the plan, would Octavia still fight?
The three want to eliminate the problem of the worms, which would mean that an actual war would need to occur. Clarke suggests to blame Cooper for eliminating the worms and killing Cooper in the process would kill two birds with one stone.
Indra likes the idea.
Preparing for Battle
Shifting to Octavia. Cooper is explaining to the council the whereabouts of the worms once they are released and one of the locations is the Church in Shallow Valley, where our friends Raven and Echo are being held.
Back with Raven, Vinson comes for her as she’s needed to assist Abby with her work. Raven and Abby have a miniature reunion. Raven isn’t keen on helping dangerous criminals—she wants them to die, as it’s good for Wonkru. Abby doesn’t agree and uses her ethics as a doctor card, but we the audience know that her addiction is her motive. Raven suspects that something is wrong and asks Abby if Diyoza threatened to hurt her, which sparks tears from Abby’s eye. She nods. Raven agrees to Abby’s task—not wanting Abby to get hurt.
Back at Wonkru, Monty and Cooper are meeting discuss the algae plan. Cooper is impressed with the progress of the plants that are fed the algae, as she goes to taste it, Monty quickly stops her as it will put her in a coma. She delivers the harsh truth that despite Monty’s eagerness to improve the quality of life at camp, she never wants to see this place again. While she explains why, the two hear a noise. It’s Clarke and Bellamy, and they are here for Cooper.
As Bellamy carries Cooper’s unconscious body to the ‘worm room’, Clarke asks Monty to unlock the door, but he refuses and knows that they plan to kill Cooper. Bellamy insists that this is how they stop a war, but Monty already doing that. He quickly gives in, knowing the futility of changing the duo’s mind. Monty suggests that Octavia be that one life instead, and Bellamy shuts his mouth. He and Clarke believe they are doing the right thing.
Shifting to Murphy, ‘Graveyard’ wakes up and commends Murphy on his bomb making skills, he wants Murphy on his side. However, he doesn’t have a side, Charmaine left him for dead, not wanting to trade Raven for one of her own. ‘Graveyard’ hearing that comes up with a plan, and Murphy is all ears.
Hope
Charmaine and Kane are having a heart to heart and Kane has had a lot of time to create the perfect life. It’s all very melodramatic. Diyoza takes this opportunity to tell Kane that she’s pregnant—100 years and five months pregnant. She invites Kane to feel her belly, telling him that he has made her feel hopeful—a good name for her daughter.
Someone who doesn’t have hope is Cooper. The plan to kill her has come into action. The worms have invaded her suit. She’s dying. Soon her abdomen will explode, and worms will escape her body, which is not the prettiest picture.
Murphy, Emori, and ‘Graveyard’ have begun their plan to free the prisoners from the inside. Murphy is fighting to save his friends and to make a stand against Diyoza. And, Emori is aroused. This is the John Murphy she fell in love with. Cue dramatic music. But, she knows that once this is over Murphy will fall apart per usual.
Someone that is already falling apart, Abby, unintentionally reveals her addiction to Raven. Raven discovers that Abby was not scared that Diyoza was going to hurt her, Abby was scared that Diyoza would cut off her supply. As Raven walks away, screaming that she didn’t build the machine that cures the prisoners for a junkie, her collar is activated. She falls to the floor and electricity travels through her body. Abby cries. She is sorry.
My Responsibility
Monty is wondering what happened to everything, when did they become killers. He doesn’t want to kill. Harper tells him that everyone dies, but he asks is she’ll still love him if he’s just a farmer. She tells him that when the army marches, they’ll stay here. The two share a passionate kiss and are interrupted by an alarm.
Indra has pressed the fail-safe button, to kill the worms that have exploded out of Cooper. Octavia barges in and Indra explains that she had no choice, and now Octavia doesn’t have a choice—without the worms the battlefield won’t be weakened enough. But, they don’t need the worms to do that, they’re going to use their eggs.
Someone wanted to make this look like an accident. Octavia’s first instinct is Clarke did it. Shifting to Clarke, she is talking to Bellamy about their pasts. The two are interrupted by Octavia, who arrests Clarke for the murder of Cooper.
As she is arrested, Raven is taken back to the Church. Echo notices her pain and holds Ravens hand and adds that she didn’t kill Zeke. But, Raven wants him to die without suffering. Cue Zeke. He and Raven have a heart to heart.
Abby shows Diyoza the success of her work, they’re interrupted by the announcement that ‘Graveyard’ has returned. Diyoza tells Abby that she mustn’t reveal that she has found the cure and as ‘Graveyard’ walks into the camp the two have a stare down.
Back at Wonkru, Octavia is having a last meal before battle, with her council. Bellamy walks in and the council is dismissed.
The Blakes’ have a healthy discussion. He doesn’t want Clarke to get killed, but Octavia doesn’t care. She forces him to take part in the last meal and he picks up the food for them, giving a piece to Octavia. Bellamy tells her that she loves him. Octavia knows he wants to say something. He tells her of the agreement with Diyoza, but as she tries to yell at him, her throat seizes. She’s choking. Bellamy has laced her food with the algae solution. Octavia is going into a coma. It’s all very intense. But, it’s his sister—his responsibility.
Next week’s episode, Sic Semper Tyranni: ‘The growing fractures in Wonkru threaten to explode once and for all. Meanwhile, in Shadow Valley, Murphy starts a fire, unleashing catastrophic results.’
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