What are the best acting moments each season?
Thanks, anon! This one is tough!
It should go without saying, but this is just my personal opinion, and there are definitely other really good moments in each of these seasons that could as easily be argued as “the best.” That being said, here are my favorites!
Season One - A Father’s Final Farewell
This might seem out of left field, but I have to give it to Tor Lemkin, played by Mac Brandt. He’s incredible throughout the episode, as he manages to bring a lot of heart and sympathy to a one-off character. I couldn’t actually find my favorite moment in the gif search - it’s the moment he’s laying on the floor with the other volunteers, holding his daughter’s barrette. He stares down at it with a small, ironic sort of smile, holding it between his fingers. His goodbye with his daughter was bittersweet, as she doesn’t understand the gravity of the situation. Mac Brandt manages to convey so much at once in this small but incredibly memorable performance - one of hundreds, dying for their loved ones because they feel it’s the only right thing they can do. He could’ve just been another nameless face, but because of his story and his performance, we are pulled in to his personal journey, and his mixture of regret, sadness, and acceptance. Hope for a better future, where his sassy, bright kid can live peacefully. All from a little smile, a tilt of the head, and holding a hairclip. This scene leaves me wrecked, every single time, even when I rewatch it now.
Season Two - Clarke Can’t Get Her Hands Clean
Eliza Morley (nee Taylor) has had to do some really raw moments as Clarke Griffin. I think this breakdown, at the beginning of episode 2x09, is one of her best moments to date. Within the story, this scene takes place just minutes after Clarke kills Finn. It’s the opening of the episode. Clarke is alone in the tent, shell-shocked and beyond bereaved, and she’s trying desperately to wipe her hands clean of Finn’s blood. The way she implores Abby (“I had to, I had to,”) is so heartbreakingly childlike and wrought with regret. She just wants her mom to make it okay, to understand, to tell Clarke she did the right thing, even though every single fiber of Clarke’s soul is screaming at her that she did something horrific. And she did - both things are true. She had to kill Finn, and it was horrible. Eliza’s trembling, halting speech, her manic rocking, her bloodshot, teary eyes - it’s just an incredibly believable and appropriately gutting performance.
Season Three - ALIE!Raven Rises
Lindsey Morgan had only a few lines and gestures in which to sell us on the idea that ALIE has completely taken control of Raven’s body - and she absolutely nails every single moment. After watching Raven’s struggle and near manic energy in her attempts to keep ALIE out, there is something so chilling about her calm, robotic demeanor when she sits up after submitting. It only works because Lindsey does so well of mimicking the unsettling mannerisms and voice of the villainous A.I. It’s a subtle bit of work that shows Lindsey has a lot of talent when it comes to acting.
Season Four - Monty and Jasper Say Goodbye
Devon Bostick wins for this season, and this scene. In one of the most heartbreaking deaths on The 100 (no small feat) Monty discovers Jasper, moments before Jasper’s death, but too late to really save him. The two best friends share a heart-wrenchingly beautiful, sad final conversation. Devon Bostick in particular really sells Jasper’s state of mind in his final moments - he’s accepted death, he’s ready for it, but he hates the pain he’s causing Monty, and he cannot stand dying knowing that Monty was angry with him, that Monty might live with resentments. Everything from his casual, “Thought I was trippin’ already,” to the desperation in his eyes and voice as he begs Monty to say he loves him - ugh. It’s beyond words, and truly a fitting final performance for one of the best actors and characters on the show.
Season Five - Octavia Becomes Blodreina
I couldn’t find my actual favorite moment in the gif search, unfortunately, but this is the scene in which it takes place. All throughout s5, Marie Avgeropoulos does some incredible work, basically playing two different characters as both Octavia, a scared young woman acting as the tenuous link between survival and order for her people, and Blodreina, the violent and bloodthirsty persona she had to create in order to achieve those goals. Right before the moment in the gif above, we see Octavia lying with her head on a book that reminds her of her brother. A single tear slips out of her eyes. It’s a stark and fascinating contrast to the blood she’s soaked in, and the dozen deaths she caused to make that happen. It’s chilling and engaging. The entire premise of s5 rides on Marie’s performance, on selling the idea that some fragment of Octavia still exists inside Blodreina - and she absolutely nails it.
Season Six - Josephine!Clarke Wakes Up
Clarke’s “death” was pretty shocking, although I knew the moment it happened that it wouldn’t last. That being said, Eliza Morley (nee Taylor) has only a few moments to convince us that Clarke is “truly” gone at the end of 6x04, and that someone very different has taken her place. A lot can be said about Clarke Griffin, but she’s never been particularly vain or worried about her looks. The way Josephine!Clarke looks at herself, enthralled and even a little turned on, says so much about who Josephine is. The higher pitch of her voice (all the more impressive when you remember Eliza is Australian), the more delicate posture and bearing, the lighter and more open facial expressions - it’s a great moment that tells us that this season will be unlike any other, for better or for worse. It was a lot of fun to watch Eliza play around with the many “faces behind the glass” that inhabited Clarke’s body in s6, and this moment right here is where it all begins.
Thanks again for the ask anon, and so sorry to make you wait!
