‘The 100’ Star Shannon Kook Talks Jordan Green’s Brave Decision
Spoiler Alert
[WARNING: The following contains MAJOR spoilers for The 100 Season 6 Episode 8, “The Old Man and the Anomaly.”]
The 100 is no stranger to placing its main characters in peril, but even for a show that thrives on ending the world, killing off its protagonists in heartbreaking ways and offering dilemmas with no good solutions, “The Old Man and the Anomaly” was nerve-wracking.
As of the episode’s conclusion there are now two characters with mortal wounds, one character who’s been sucked into a mysterious anomaly (is she alive? We don’t know) and one who’s alive, but in a different body. Oh, and there’s an impending war on the horizon.
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One of those potentially-mortally-wounded characters is the brave Jordan Green (Shannon Kook). Jordan stopped a knife meant for Priya—who he still believes could go back to being Delilah. As if getting stabbed wasn’t bad enough, the hand holding the knife belonged to Madi, Clarke’s daughter and his friend. Yikes!
Kook said that as an actor, it wasn’t easy reading what could’ve been his character’s demise in the script. “Sometimes I’d get the episode on Friday night, and we’re shooting on Monday,” he explained. “And I don’t know what’s coming the next episode… but then I guess it’s more realistic, because in life, you’re only reacting to what’s happening in the moment. But as an actor, you’re trying to tailor things to the story arc.”
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Of course, Kook’s no stranger to the deadly nature of The 100, and how quickly things can come to a bad end for characters. “You never know on this show,” he said. “You can die at any point, you know?”
Kook also mentioned the unique nature of his wound—that it came from someone who’s supposed to be Jordan’s friend. “It was just fascinating to be stabbed by my ‘sister,’ in a way,” he said.
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Jordan’s big moment was shocking, but according to Kook, it had roots in a moment from earlier in Season 6: Octavia getting beaten, and almost killed, in the Eligius ship’s cafeteria. “I did say to Jason Rothenberg, when Octavia was getting beaten up, that I was struggling with not stepping in, and I wanted to do something,” he said. “Whether Jordan’s a fighter or not, I still think he’s a very physically capable person. You’re not just going to go to a new planet and not learn how to defend yourself.
“I said to Jason, ‘I do feel like Jordan would put himself in harm’s way to protect his family,’ and this is his family,” Kook explained. “So I wanted to step in for Octavia, but it was an interesting thing for Jordan to not be able to respond to that moment, because we all go through moments of shock. But I do think Jason was listening, and that part of my character has come in in the current situation.”
The 100, Tuesdays, 9/8c, The CW
