5 essential episodes to watch before the season 5 premiere of The 100

Season 1, Episode 8: “Day Trip”

The first pivotal episode in Bellamy’s evolution, Clarke recruits him to join her on a mission sent by the Ark — they both head to an old aid depot for supplies and a possible home for the approaching winter. Then, a terrifying event brings Clarke and Bellamy closer. Meanwhile, in a flashback taking place on the Ark, Commander Shumway, Chancellor Jaha’s (Isaiah Washington) right-hand man, secretly assigns Bellamy the task to kill the Chancellor.

Like the books the show’s based on, Clarke and Bellamy have always been the one pairing that felt right from the start of The 100, at least for me. The scenes with Clarke and Bellamy in this episode were some of the best of the series to date.

Although he is her philosophical opposite — the Locke to her Jack — they became unlikely allies (then unlikelier friends later on in the series), and it was their coming together when The 100 first found its footing. Bellamy is at his best when he’s with Clarke, and vice versa. As showrunner Jason Rothenberg has exclaimed, countless times, this show has always been about Clarke and Bellamy, and I find there to be nothing wrong with that. I may be biased, but I suspect unbiased viewers can attest to this, too. (Besides, in the books, they’re engaged to be married, so I rest my case.)