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The 100 starts the season off strong with Clarke Griffin (Eliza Taylor) all alone after a death wave of radiation from nuclear meltdowns across the planet ravaged everything in its path; save for one single living valley.

One of our favorite things about tonight’s episode is, of course, Eliza Taylor’s performance.

In this season’s premiere, aptly named Eden, Eliza Taylor carries the majority of the episode on her own as she seamlessly plays through the emotions of loss, devastation, desperation, and hope that’s reminiscent of films such as I Am Legend or Castaway.

Clarke Griffin struggles for weeks to dig out the bunker in hopes of spending the next five years with her family, only for her hopes to be shattered after the realization that she doesn’t have the manpower to remove the tons of concrete and debris left behind by the death wave. It’s in this moment we begin to feel the reality of her isolation set in.

Along with Clarke’s struggle to find sources of food and water, we get an inside look at her psychological state of mind and grief that had been continually put on the back burner amidst the race against time and daily fight to survive.

With the absence of immediate threats, Clarke finally has a moment to reflect on her losses, and her performances are cathartic and gut wrenching in the best way!

After almost losing all hope, Clarke finally finds Eden and her will to live is revived. It is here that Clarke meets Madi, a young Night Blood and sole survivor of her clan.

Another favorite moment for us has to be Clarke’s initial meeting with Madi, which isn’t exactly full of rainbows and butterflies like we’d imagined. But would it really be The 100 otherwise? Clarke and Madi’s early scenes provide a nice break with some comic relief. Madi as a feral six year old can only be described as a sour patch kid; sour at first, then sweet.

Fast forward six years and Clarke has developed an intense (what has been described by executive producer, Jason Rothenberg, as “maternal”) bond with Madi (played by Lola Flannery).

Madi seems to have quite the admiration for Octavia Blake, calling her a “badass” as Clarke humors Madi’s gushing and confidence in Octavia’s ability to save everyone in the bunker.

However, Clarke seems to be a bit concerned with Madi’s idolization of Octavia and this scene appears to be setup for a possible plot line or relationship between the two further down the line…and how it might become a problem.

Our last and FINAL favorite moment of this premiere was seeing our space delinquents together once again. Monty is bright and compassionate as ever. Raven Reyes returns in all of her fiery glory, smiling and safe, just the way we like it!

Some relationships have been strengthened by the time jump, others are in tough spots, and some…well, some are just plain bizarre. Some might argue that they’re even out of character.

With the arrival of the Eligius ship, however, the group is spurred into action with Bellamy leading the charge to get everyone back home, his sister being his number one priority.

Speaking of, we’re left with quite the cliffhanger as Octavia seems to have begun a new and bloody tradition. Tune in to next week’s episode, “The Red Queen,” to find out how Octavia managed to keep the bunker under control over the time jump!

We can’t wait to see what happens next week. What about you? Let us know what you thought about the Season 5 premiere in the comments below.

K.B. Orson

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Twenty something California resident that waits tables by day and fangirls by night.

The subject of gray morality has always held a certain appeal to me which, I believe, dates back to when I first read Lord of the Flies in high school. Science fiction (books like Ender’s Game or movie franchises like Star Wars) and the post apocalyptic genre have become a more recent fascination of mine. The Walking Dead, and The 100 are the shows that opened the door to my post apocalyptic obsession and are both dear to my heart.

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