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‘The 100’ 5×05 Review: “Shifting Sands”

This last episode of The 100, “Shifting Sands,” was a type of filler episode that served to build up some more plot points and give us some more screen time for our favorite characters and relationships. We got a few more reunions in this episode, though nowhere near on the scale as last week. This season of The 100 seems slightly slower in pace than previous years.

I don’t know if maybe they just don’t want to overload us with so much information, or if there is a huge episode coming. Either way let’s get down to the review.

The Plot

This episode started with Octavia and Wonkru planning an attack strategy for Diyoza and her army. Octavia had her whole plan laid out when Clarke pointed that the route they were going to take would lead them straight through nasty sandstorms that would include flying shards of glass which you know, sounds pleasant. Octavia says that they will go that way anyway until Indra intervened and said that maybe they should actually listen to Clarke since she knows what she is talking about.

It was a nice shift to see Indra become the more rational one, given the way she used to be all the way back in the days of Lexa. Eventually they find their route and Octavia, Indra, Clarke, Bellamy, and Wonkru set off across a wasteland to reach the valley. They make camp for the night when Miller (who was sent ahead as a scout along with a grounder named Cooper) came running back with Cooper, who is screaming and convulsing.

Clarke examines him and they see something move in his stomach. It’s gross, like something out of a horror movie. Turns out there are parasites in the sand that burrow in through your skin and attack you from the inside out. Eventually, in a truly gross moment, all of the parasites come out of his stomach and they are forced to burn down the tent and the body.

While this is going on Raven is being tortured by McCready and Shaw to try and find out how she locked up their missile systems. She of course says she has no idea what they are talking about and that she didn’t do it. They bring in Murphy and beat him in front of Raven and she still says nothing. McCready is about to kill her when Shaw pulls a gun on him and forces him out of the room. Shaw reveals that it was him who stopped the missiles and that Raven and Murphy needed to help him get out of this situation he created for himself. Raven hatches a plan (because of course she does) and it includes Murphy escaping and her pretending to have unlocked their missiles. Murphy gets free but because this is The 100, Shaw betrays Raven and she is locked up again. Murphy and Monty manage to warn Bellamy that there are missiles heading in their direction. This leads to Wonkru forming a human shield around Octavia during a sandstorm that leaves many of them dead or injured, but they avoided being blown up by the missile. The episode ends with Octavia giving Bellamy a chilling warning about betraying Wonkru and becoming her enemy.

The Characters

Again this season continues to deliver scenes with some of my favorite relationships. This week’s favorites included Raven and Murphy, and Octavia and Indra.

The beginning where Raven was being tortured for what is probably the millionth time on this show (Leave Raven Reyes alone 2k18), and they bring Murphy in and he tries to attack them even though he is outnumbered and beaten is really great because it shows again how far these two have come. They have one of the most interesting friendships on the show, and I am really glad that they are exploring it more and more this year.

The other friendship or mother/daughter relationship that gave me all the feels this week was Octavia and Indra. Octavia is preaching about how love is weakness (something that sounds familiar in this show with leaders) and Indra says that she loves Octavia and does that make her weak? Of course Octavia does not say it back because she is currently dark Octavia, and Indra looks crushed, which in turn crushed me. These two characters have also come so incredibly far over the seasons: Octavia has gone from chasing butterflies to commanding an entire group of people, but she has also gotten more guarded and dark. Everything that happened in the past with Lincoln has not helped her desire to let people in, though Indra doesn’t seem like she is one who is going to let Octavia destroy herself.

We also got to see some of our romantic relationships in this episode, we saw Jackson and Miller again, and I just love those two together. We also got to see a little bit of hope in the Murphy and Emori ship. Murphy couldn’t go any further to meet the others due to his shock collar and instead of letting him stay there alone, Emori stays with him. We saw some interesting scenes with Kane and Abby though I have to admit I am not sold on their storyline this year so far. And of course there were scenes with Bellamy and Clarke that were sweet. They had a nice chat by the fire, and went on an adventure together just like old times, and a nice talk about being the head and the heart. Of course then we see Bellamy and Echo kissing, which leads to a shocked Clarke watching and even more worrisome a pissed off Octavia.

We will have to wait a little bit longer to see how all of this plays out, the next episode of The 100 is not until Tuesday June 5th.