Excuse me while I sob my way through this The 100 season 2, episode 8 recap.
Well. We knew it was going to happen. When TV shows kill off main characters, they tend to be pretty straightforward about it – the dramatic impact isn’t in the surprise element, it’s in waiting for the inevitable.
See Charlie from Lost, whose death was spelled out for half a season before it happened. Or Joyce in Buffy – the clues were all there, we just didn’t want to see them.
Finn (Thomas McDonell) has been a lost cause since the beginning of The 100 season 2. His brief reprieve was only to make sure his death would have the biggest possible impact, because as much as we may love him (yes, I did), let’s face it: his story was over the minute Raven arrived on the ground in season 1.
He stopped being Clarke’s love interest when he was revealed to have betrayed Raven (inadvertent as his betrayal was); his initial role as the “bad boy” alternative to good guy Wells only lasted until Wells died, and then Finn was suddenly the peace-keeper to Bellamy’s rebel.
What was left for Finn but a fall from grace, and an eventual demise? And oh, what a demise it was. But I’m getting ahead of myself.
The real spacewalker
Flashbacks this week showed us Finn and Raven’s relationship on the Ark, and how Finn landed himself in confinement.
There was more to the story than we first assumed; Finn, in fact, did not spacewalk at all. Instead he allowed Raven, who had been hindered due to a heart murmur, to celebrate her birthday floating through space.
But when they made a mistake and lost the two months’ worth of oxygen, Finn quickly realised that while Raven would be floated because she was over 18, he still had a chance because he was a minor.
Interestingly, these flashbacks were all told from Raven’s perspective – in fact, the episode was very Raven-centric (the title “Spacewalker” even ended up referring to her), which did have me briefly wondering if she might be the character to die.
Instead, it was told from her perspective to emphasise how hard Finn’s death will be for Raven going forward. It was her spacewalk which landed him in prison, and it even turned out to have been for nothing, seeing as Sinclair let her go into space after all.
Although Finn and Raven would likely have died on the Ark if not for Finn being sent to the ground with the delinquents, I can imagine that Raven will still manage to turn this around and blame herself for his death (if she doesn’t blame Clarke).
The pain of 18 deaths
I’ve had a long time to prepare myself for Finn’s death, predicting it since the season premiere. Therefore, I found myself aleady in the “bargaining” stage of grief this week, hoping for exactly what ended up happening: that Finn’s death would be quick, rather than him being subjected to the horrors Lincoln was describing.
Locked up in Camp Jaha, Lincoln explained that to atone for the 18 deaths Finn was responsible for, he would have to suffer the worst possible punishment: first he would be burned, then his hands would be cut off, then his tongue, then his eyes… and after Harper’s fate last week, I wouldn’t put it past the writers to show us all of this.
Lucky for us, Abby is still playing Chancellor, and unlike Jaha she would not even consider handing Finn over to the Grounders. She even tried to reason with Indra… without much luck, because Indra is not like Lexa.
Kane returned from the Grounders (and you know someone’s going to die when Desmond is around!) with an alternative solution: to put Finn on trial, and judge him by Ark laws. This would probably still result in his death, but we’d assume it’d be quick and without any, er, lashings. Although you never know, it is Kane after all.
But Lincoln quickly shot down that possibility: even if Lexa wanted to accept their offer, her own people would kill her for this perceived weakness. And really, one thing to take away from this episode is that Lexa is a really good person. She’s the best possible Commander the Ark survivors could hope for.
The stupidest plan in the world
Convinced that Abby was going to hand Finn over, Bellamy and Raven came up with a really bad plan: to take Finn and hide him in the old dropship. Because the Grounders would never think to check there?! Anyway.
Despite Raven and Abby’s heart to heart earlier (those two have the best talks), Raven was on board, and soon our favourite delinquents (even Murphy!) were on the run.
On their way, Finn and Clarke had a close encounter with a Grounder, and Clarke nearly died. Luckily the Grounder was terrified of Finn’s gun, and ran away before Finn was forced to get any more blood on his hands.
In the dropship, Finn and Raven had a moment, which was about where my tears started to fall. Shh, don’t tell anyone.
“We’ll always be family,” they reassured each other, despite everything that’s happened. Finn emphasised that him falling in love with Clarke was unintentional, and that he never meant to hurt Raven.
Then Clarke woke up, and did her best to reassure Finn without actually forgiving him yet: “The things that we’ve done to survive, they don’t define us,” she said. Wonder if she’ll remember that later?
When Raven tried to hand Murphy over instead of Finn, everyone freaked out – which shows how far they’ve all come. Really, in season 1, we needed Finn to be the voice of reason. While he did get to take charge one last time, this scene proved why the show doesn’t need him anymore: Bellamy and Clarke are the moral compass now.
Before handing himself over to the Grounders, as we knew he would, Finn (or rather, the show) gave Clarke one last chance to forgive him. But she just walked away – and it was over.
R.I.P. Finn
The Ark survivors gathered behind their fence, as the Grounders prepared for Finn’s slow, torturous death. My hands were shaking as I struggled to hit the screencap keys. Anyone else?
With only a few minutes left of the episode, all hope was officially out. The only possible twist the writers could pull now was to have Clarke die instead of Finn – and that would have been a terrible move for the show, so I’m really happy they chose to stick to good storytelling rather than pointless shock value.
Desperate to save Finn, Clarke walked into the Grounders’ camp to try for one last negotiation. Before she went, Raven handed her a tiny knife. It had “Finn” written all over it.
Standing in front of Lexa, Clarke pleaded for Finn’s life, and even tried to offer herself up in exchange. Lexa was clearly moved, but there was nothing she could do: blood must have blood, and as barbaric as the Grounders are, at least their laws are consistent.
The only one that could do something to help Finn now was Clarke. Approaching him, she kissed him and told him she loved him (for the first time, by the way)… and then she killed him, quietly and discreetly, with only a faint wheeze from Finn indicating what was happening.
In the words of Buffy the Vampire Slayer: “I told him that I loved him. And I kissed him. And I killed him.”
Remember in season 1, when Clarke sung that boy a lullaby as she sunk the knife into his neck? And how Charlotte then did the same to Wells? Poor Clarke. Her love interests keep dying.
“Thanks, Princess,” Finn whispered to her, as he realised what was happening. And then he died, leaving Clarke surrounded by angry Grounders. But Lexa stopped them. “It is done,” she declared, as fair as any Grounder will ever be.
Up in Camp Jaha, Raven was screaming and crying, as Clarke looked around in silent disbelief, the tears rolling down her face (you and me both, Clarke!).
And then it was over.
Holy shit, you guys.
What happens next?
I’m not going to lie. I am very sad that Finn is dead. He may not have been everyone’s favourite character, but he was mine. As I discussed at length in a previous article, Finn’s character progression made total sense to me, and I would have liked to see him try to move forwards, carving a place for himself in the new “society” the Ark survivors have formed.
But really, there wasn’t a place for him anymore. With the adults on the Ground, there are others to be the voice of reason. With Bellamy’s character having evolved so much, there is someone else whom Clarke and the others can always depend on to Do The Right Thing.
And with Lexa as the leader of the Grounders, they can have their peace. It had to come at such a terrible cost – we all have to feel like we’ve earned it.
I’d also like to add (being well over my word limit already) that this is one of the only times the death of a character I like has not made me angry.
A lot of shows kill off characters for dramatic effect, with little thought to how it’ll impact the storyline going forward (in fact, the other characters are often quick to forget about the dead person in question).
Sometimes writers kill off characters that fans don’t like, choosing the easy fix rather than committing to the story they originally set out to tell. Shannon’s death on Lost, to give a random example, was a huge mistake. Her potential for character development was so vast, and there was no reason for her to die whatsoever. But I digress.
The 100 continues to astonish me with its commitment to good storytelling. I’ve been engaging critically with scripted entertainment for the good part of 10 years now (whoa), and it’s been a long time since I’ve been this invested in a TV series. Killing off my favourite character has not turned me off from watching in the slightest, because I know why it had to happen. I know how much of an impact this will have on Clarke, Raven, Bellamy, Abby, and everyone else, and I’m really looking forward to seeing the repercussions of this tragedy.
I will miss having Thomas McDonell on The 100, and I will miss the Finn/Clarke romance (it’ll take me a while before I embrace Bellarke, but I promise to be on board if the show ever goes there). But I can’t wait to see what happens next.
10/10 metal ravens to the cast and crew for their outstanding performances – Lindsey Morgan and Eliza Taylor especially, and of course Thomas McDonell. What a way to go.
And we also have to mention writer Bruce Miller and director John F. Showalter, who made the plot development as heartwrenching as it was.
