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

Season 4, Episode 13: “Praimfaya”

In every single season, The 100 outdoes itself. Rarely have I seen a show become progressively more intriguing with age, but The 100 has done exactly that. In this season 4 finale, Clarke, Bellamy, and Raven work against the clock, to get back to the Ark before the storm hits. Everyone else, in the meantime, looks to Octavia as commander, just as “Praimfaya” approaches. Before the end of the hour, a timeskip shows life after the storm.

By the end of season 4, Bellamy’s growth is clear. Though he hasn’t always exhibited the requisite maturity to deal with some of the situations he’s had to go through, it was refreshing to watch him step back into a leadership role. Clarke, on the other hand, was out of character, but in a good way; that is, it takes her out of her comfort zone. Clarke essentially sacrificed herself for her friends, something she hadn’t done. She has made tough calls in the past, but she’d live, while others surrounding her were killed off or nearly so.

This time around, she gave herself up for the survival of humanity, and never have I loved her more than then. Relax, though, she’s alive, as we see her in a flashforward prologue — she has even become a surrogate mother to a Nightblood in an apparently lush woodland!

It’s not all happily ever afters, however, for Bellamy and Raven are still on the Ark, and a never before seen prisoner transport ship is descending to Earth, introducing the upcoming fifth season with new problems and situations. Are you ready for it?

Next: 15 times Bellamy and Clarke made us feel everything

Season five of The 100 premieres on The CW at midseason, likely in early 2018.