Murphy’s Development
First, this is a Murven post so if you are a Memori shipper then you might not like this post. Ok, here goes:
I really loved what I’m seeing with Murphy’s arc so far in Season 5, he started the season as someone who isolated himself from the group and not in good terms with his ex-girlfriend. I even have a feeling only Raven and Bellamy have not given up on him, while the others pretty much are so frustrated with him that they have just given up. Then, we see him back in the group because of the new development of the Eligius ship and then you see him putting an effort with all of them to finally go back to earth by being part of the kru again. Although being John Murphy, he still can’t help but spewing out his bitterness to Emori causing Emori to push back with her own bitterness. In the Eligius ship, his usual survival instinct kicked in, he wanted to stop the threat from happening by wanting to kill the sleeping prisoners and yet in the end he said the words “Let’s be good guys” with the show very clearly showing us Raven’s reaction to those words by giving him a big smile that kind of says “that’s my boy”. It is like the show is telling us, yep, this will be Murphy’s arc folks. I mean, Bellamy even kind of hinted at it when he said to Murphy “you know what I think your problem is? You liked being the hero”. Murphy even asked Madi “was I the dashing HERO who got the girl?” like he might have said it in a jokey way but when I heard those words I suddenly have an image of a very young John Murphy playing with his toys or watching fairy tales and dreaming of being a hero and getting the girl...like I could not forget about that image at all lol... But yeah, so far what I am seeing with Murphy’s arc is a hero’s arc and the fact that it is told around Raven’s character, who, let’s face it, is everyone’s favorite girl and who he has such a rather complicated and painful history with is just so brilliant!
In 5x01, we saw him interacting with vulnerability and honesty with Raven, that speaks to us how they have really become very very good friends during those 6 years, like it actually feels like they are each other’s best friend which is such a weird vibe to me because Raven was Emori’s new roommate and also her mentor, so I was surprised by the scene with them talking about “happy ever after” and how it’s hard work. Like it was Murphy not Raven who mentioned “happy ever after” which again makes me think of fairy tales while Raven was just her usual sardonic self in saying “cockroach playing violin”.
In 5x03, we saw him deciding to keep Raven company and not leaving with the others!!! Which is again in line with his remark of “let’s be good guys” and being the hero. At this point, he thought he did this so he can impress Emori which is still in line with his “dashing hero who gets the girl” thing... But after finding out that they actually do not have an escape pod and quite possibly die in space, his survival instincts kick back in and he must have regretted his decision to stay for I think that split second when he said “son of a bitch” but then somehow you could see in 5x04, Raven and Murphy’s first scene of the episode that he has come to terms with the possibility of dying together in space and maybe it doesn’t suck because you know they have been there like that before and it is familiar territory for him and Raven to face dying together. Like what Raven said “it would have sucked to die alone” a callback to what he told her in 2x01 and also a reminder to us the audience of how they’ve come so far already, as people and as friends and comrades. Another favorite of mine in their dynamics was how Murphy is very good at getting Raven to chill out and stop to take a breather from working so hard in doing her thing. I mean I love Raven especially when she is being her brilliant self and coming up with ways to f- things up but since I love Raven, I also want her to find time to take a breather and smile and relax once in a while. And I think Murphy are one of those rare people to get her to do that possibly because he had so much practice at making her relax (season 4 everyone!!!) that he is now a pro at it. I mean you could tell that he has been doing it also for those six years because he knows what her work face look like. I even have a head canon about this that Murphy in those 6 years minus 6 months that he appointed himself as Raven’s chill time because let’s face it Raven would have worked herself to the point of exhaustion trying to find a way for them to all go home. Hence, I love that they started having a conflict when Murphy was inviting her to play ball and then once they resolve what is really the reason for their conflict they celebrate their reconciliation by of course playing ball ha ha just classic Raven and Murphy bff dynamics or if I put on my shipper goggles on a.k.a. their first date he he he...
--- will continue this post after 5x06 as I feel 5x05 scenes will have more context to them after what will happen with Murphy in 5x06. So if you have liked my thoughts so far, then keep a lookout for part two of this post :)