The 100 are under a lot of pressure going into tonight’s episode,”I Am Become Death.” After last week’s failed attempt to negotiate a cease fire with the grounders, the immediate concern is safety. However, the mystery of whatever fell from space is taking up a healthy portion of everyone’s mind. As if Clarke (Eliza Taylor) and Bellamy (Bob Morley) didn’t have enough to worry about with just keeping the 100 from killing each other, they now have to worry about retaliation for Jasper’s (Devon Bostick) ego. It appears that humanity managed to survive after all – but for now, the 100 are only privy to the worst parts of it.
This episode doesn’t waste any time exploring both matters of concern. The crash site conveniently is still on the explosive side, which sends most of the familiar faces running back to camp. The surprise return of Murphy (Richard Harmon) though takes precedence over any impending doom that may be on the horizon.
Murphy showing back up is problematic for a couple of reasons. In the overall scheme of things, he’s proven to be an unstable member of the 100. This by itself is enough reason for fans to be weary of his character. In the realm of the show, however, his banishment complicated matters. It made it clear that there was no room for radical thinkers in this pseudo-community under the combined leadership of Clarke and Bellamy. If Murphy is forgiven for his offenses for simply showing back up in poor health, it would establish a precedent that might come back to bite them in the end.
Fortunately, or unfortunately, the writers found a way to reintegrate Murphy into the larger group again without Clarke and Bellamy losing face. This plot twist also answered the question of how the grounders were going to respond to the recent insult at the bridge; two birds with one stone. Whether the grounders specifically sent Murphy back to the 100, or he crawled back on his own, he became a pawn in a much larger conflict.