For a post-apocalyptic survival series in which characters suffer and die without mercy, The 100‘s heroes sure hug a lot. Here are some of the best hugs in the series to date.

I have written about The CW’s The 100 for several years now, and over that time, I have been both elated and astonished to discover just how many different ways there is to be a fan of this show.

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The 100, a ruthless sci-fi survival drama set on post-apocalyptic Earth, features a massive cast of characters who all — regardless of screen time and role in the narrative — feel fully realized.

The multitude of ways in which all the characters are connected with each other, and the multiple ways in which each character represents a segment of the audience, have made The 100 fandom an uncommonly eclectic, diverse community. In my opinion, this can only be a good thing.

Related: This is how we save our people: The 100 as a study in leadership

What inspired this article was a series of tweets from showrunner Jason Rothenberg, who reminded his followers that “Life should be about more than just ships,” but quickly clarified that, of course, there is no one right way to be a fan.

“The passion of shippers is amazing. And, of course, why someone watches is their business,” wrote Rothenberg, but “I myself, as I’ve said before, am in it for the hugs… and the tears.”

For what it’s worth, I completely agree. I personally watch the show for a multitude of reasons, and shipping is not the main, but certainly one of the reasons I care so much about what happens to these characters (Mackson, hello). And the passion of this fan base is incredible, full stop.

But you know what? I have a sneaking suspicion that, regardless of what other reasons we have for watching The 100, what aspects of the show attracts us and which we find most valuable for whatever reason, we are all in it for the hugs.

So let’s forget about the season to come (ha ha yeah right), our individual character-, shipper- and storyline-preferences and our Roan conspiracy theories and talk about these hugs we all love so much. And there is a lot of hugging on this show.

What follows is my personal top 20 list of the best hugs on The 100, and then I would love to hear what hugs YOU enjoy the most. Why so many, you ask? Because I absolutely could not cut it down any further. My initial list had like 40+ hugs, and that’s not even counting all the reunion hugs we can probably expect in season 5. Rothenberg is really not kidding about being here for them.

Without further ado…

20. Raven and Abby’s hug in ‘Murphy’s Law’

I might have ranked this higher if it hadn’t come so early in the series; Raven and Abby had a wonderful, complex relationship in seasons 1 and 2 which has unfortunately had to take a back seat to make room for other (equally wonderful) relationships within their mostly separate storylines, and that makes this heartfelt moment between them in the series’ fourth episode a little bittersweet.

Nonetheless, Raven and Abby’s little found family/partner-in-crime dynamic was an early favourite of mine, and this moment when they hug goodbye before Raven heads to Earth alone, leaving Abby to possibly get floated, perfectly conveyed how close they’d already become while working together on the Ark.

19. Murphy and Monty’s hug in ‘Praimfaya’

In this moment, Monty saying “I may not hate you anymore” to Murphy sounded sweeter than any “I love you” I’ve ever heard on this show.

This is one of the (many) friendships on The 100 that I never knew I always wanted, but after this unexpected and delightful hug in the season 4 finale, I am obsessed with the idea of Monty and Murphy as best friends and/or algae masterchefs in The 100 season 5.

18. Nathan and David Miller’s hug in ‘Blood Must Have Blood, Part 2’

Even after miraculously making it to the ground, David Miller continued to be separated from his son for most of season 2, as Nathan was of course trapped inside Mount Weather with the rest of the delinquents.

When they finally reunited after a season’s worth of (subtle) build-up, the hug did not disappoint — and it was one of only three parent-delinquent reunions we ever got to see on screen!

Let’s raise a glass to David Miller, The 100‘s second-best dad (sorry, but nobody out-dads Beret Dad). May he have secretly survived Praimfaya to happily roam the lands with Roan, Helios and Pauna for many years to come.

17. Clarke and Octavia’s hug in ‘Human Trials’

Clarke and Octavia have had such a fascinating non-relationship so far. They’ve orbited the same storylines, they’ve even fought for the same causes, but their dynamic has been tinged with passive (and sometimes not so passive) antagonism.

Which makes small moments like these so precious: when Clarke and Octavia set aside their wildly different — but equally intense — personalities and just allow themselves to be relieved that the other is safe. This is definitely one of dynamics I would love to see more of in the future; it feels like there’s a lot of untapped potential here, and a lot of things left unsaid.

16. Monty and Harper’s hug in ‘The Other Side’

Monty’s relief at seeing Harper alive, especially after having just lost Jasper, coupled with Harper’s relief at choosing to be alive, gave us a moment of respite from an otherwise harrowing storyline. It hammered home that Monty and Harper have come to rely on each other, not just for emotional support, but for literal survival.

While some fans found it off-putting that this emotional reunion happened right after Jasper’s death, it worked for me exactly for that reason. In that moment, Harper was the only person Monty had left to fight for, just as Monty was the only person Harper had left to live for. That is at once sweet and intimidating, and could potentially set them up for an interesting arc in season 5, depending on where their story goes.

Aside from all that, this was also just a really solid, satisfying hug. A+ hug acting.

15. Jasper and Monty’s hug in ‘Coup de Grâce’

These two, man. Jasper and Monty’s friendship was allowed to be honest, vulnerable and open in a way you don’t often see between male characters on TV, and it was so great to seem them lead the storyline inside Mount Weather in season 2, becoming A-team heroes in their own right.

This hug was just so pure. They easily could have just left it at Jasper helping Monty out of the cage, but Monty just threw himself on his friend in a very cathartic display of raw emotion. I hereby declare that Monty is officially The 100‘s best hugger.

14. Clarke and Raven’s hug in ‘Rubicon’

Although Clarke and Raven’s relationship leaves something to be desired (so far), the pair have shared some beautiful scenes over the years. Probably one of their best exchanges came in the season 2 episode “Rubicon,” where Raven spontaneously hugged Clarke goodbye.

This really was a beautiful gesture from Raven, especially considering that a) only a few days had passed since Clarke killed Finn, and b) Clarke had just lied to Bellamy about Octavia’s whereabouts, and Raven knew it.

And yet Raven gave Clarke some much-needed comfort which Clarke wasn’t sure she deserved (Clarke’s confusion every time someone hugs her is both so precious and so very sad), and made sure they left things on good terms. The Finn thing might always cast a shadow on Raven and Clarke’s relationship, but that doesn’t mean they can’t care about each other.

13. Murphy and Emori’s hug in ‘Praimfaya’

It’s no secret that Murphy and Emori’s relationship is one of my personal favorites on the show, and I loved watching them develop both as a unit and as individual characters in season 4.

The 100 season 4 really was Emori’s season in so many ways, and that’s why this particular Memori hug, brief as it was, is my favorite: it was initiated by her, not Murphy, confirming to those fans who might still be skeptical as to her true intentions that Emori really does care as much about Murphy as he cares about her.

12. Octavia and Bellamy’s hug in ‘Many Happy Returns’

The Blake siblings don’t hug it out very often, but when they do… well, unless it’s in the context of Bellamy handing his incapacitated sister off to be protected by a fellow alpha male, I’m all about it.

Although they’ve hugged a few times since, my favorite remains their reunion hug in 2×04. It was all about the buildup: things could not possibly go any more wrong as Bellamy dangled off the edge of the cliff with never-seen-again Mel, the Grounders began attacking, Monroe got shot in the leg, and then the acid fog horn sounded — but yay! It was Octavia coming to the rescue!

The audience was as surprised and elated as Bellamy in this moment, who of course wasn’t sure he’d ever see her again after (literally) handing her off to Lincoln in the season 1 finale.

Will their reunion in season 5 be as glorious as this moment? I can’t wait to find out.

11. Kane and Abby’s hug in ‘Perverse Instantiation, Part 2’

It’s been a joy to watch Kane and Abby’s slow-burn romance over the course of The 100’s four seasons. They’ve had a lot of wonderful scenes (including but not limited to hugging), but one of my favourite Kabby moments remains their hug in the season 3 finale “Perverse Instantiation, Part 2.”

Not only did I love that Abby made sure Clarke was safe before going to Kane, but it was very telling how Kane was only able to break down when Abby embraced him; he is completely vulnerable with her in a way he can’t be with anyone else. It was a million times more intimate than a kiss would have been.

(PS their hug in season 5 might have taken this spot if we had any context for it, because aaahhh!)

10. Clarke and Lexa’s hug in ‘Perverse Instantiation, Part 2’

This is the definition of bittersweet: Clarke had already lost Lexa forever when they reunited in the City of Light — she knew it, and the audience knew it — and yet there was nothing but joy and relief in this hug between them.

Even though their fight was far from over, they allowed themselves to shut the world out and breathe each other in, just for a second. It was a beautiful last hurrah for a relationship that ended too soon.

9. Kane and Indra’s hug in ‘Echoes’

Name a better dynamic than Kane and Indra, I’ll wait. *Waits for you all to shout out a million other dynamics, because all the dynamics on The 100 are amazing, this was a trick question.*

Anyway, Kane and Indra’s relationship is BEAUTIFUL and does not get enough love, so let’s all take a second to bask in the glory of these post-apocalyptic BFFs’ embrace — initiated by Indra, no less! — after she found Kane alive in the season 4 premiere. (And this came directly after Indra threw herself on top of a chipped Kane to save him from a bomb in the season 3 finale!)

8. Miller and Jackson’s hug in ‘The Chosen’

Relatively subtle as it was, the Mackson relationship was built up beautifully in the last few episodes of season 4. Miller and Jackson wasn’t a pairing I think anyone had seen coming, but now that it’s here, it makes so much sense.

Their hug in “The Chosen” cemented this budding relationship, and indicated that there’s more to this whatever-it-is than ‘keeping each other company’ while waiting around in caves.

It seems like we can expect more Mackson content in The 100 season 5, and, in case it somehow wasn’t clear, I am HERE FOR IT. Hugging, too sweet-signing, etc. Bring it on.

7. Clarke and Kane’s hug in ‘We Will Rise’

Anyone who knows me knows that my ultimate weakness is characters who appoint themselves the de facto dad of wayward children™, and this is one of the many reasons I love Marcus Kane.

Kane has many adopted children to look out for, including but not limited to Bellamy, Octavia and Harper. But we’ve never really gotten to see much of Kane and Clarke together on screen, despite Kane’s relationship with Abby. This might simply be because they tend to fulfil the same role in the narrative of being the mediator/natural leader.

But in season 4, we did get one beautiful scene with them, where they not only established that Kane loves Abby (!), but that he truly cares for Clarke, too. For Clarke, Kane’s unexpected hug momentarily cracked the facade she had built up to ensure that she was emotionally prepared to make the hard choices; much like when Raven hugged her in season 2, Clarke was surprised but pleased (and surprised to be pleased) at someone’s gesture of kindness towards her. Oh, Clarke.

6. Jasper and Bellamy’s hug in ‘We Are Grounders, Part 1’

This is possibly the sweetest moment in the entirety of season 1, and a great payoff to the dynamic already established between Jasper and Bellamy (which in turn would inspire Jasper to step up and take charge inside Mount Weather in season 2).

After Bellamy takes Jasper’s place as Murphy’s hostage and almost dies as a result, he is somehow still not expecting Jasper’s gratitude and sheer relief that he is alive. Much like Clarke, Bellamy finds it hard to believe that people actually care about him, as opposed to his ability to save them — and ironically, Jasper was one of the only people who could genuinely make them both feel loved.

5. Murphy and Raven’s hug in ‘DNR’

Aside from the revelation that Becca came down from the 13th Station to become Pramheda of the Grounders, I’m not sure anything on The 100 has felt quite as satisfying as watching Murphy and Raven finally bury the hatchet and become genuine friends in season 4. I never even realised I was invested in this dynamic, but once the show actually devoted some time to exploring and bridging the chasm between them, it instantly became one of my favorite relationships.

Murphy has caused Raven so much (unintended) pain, and she has never let him forget it; all this time, they have been orbiting each other as living reminders of the worst parts of themselves. For most of the series they’ve had separate, but strikingly parallel, journeys, but their moments in season 4 perfectly tied back to season 1, and provided them both some much-needed closure and/or absolution.

Everything on The 100 feels in some way significant, but there are a handful of moments that are genuinely game-changing for the characters and their relationships. Murphy and Raven reaching an emotional place where they can hug goodbye was definitely one of those moments.

4. Clarke, Monty and Jasper’s hugs in ‘The 48’ and ‘Blood Must Have Blood, Part 2’

GROUP HUG BONUS! Clarke’s hugs with Monty and Jasper at the beginning and end of season 2 deserves a joint place on this list, and I will fight anyone who disagrees (lol jk, I’m not actually going to fight anyone about hugs).

As has been extensively stated, The 100 has a lot of good relationships, particularly one-on-one dynamics. Rarely does it devote time to developing group dynamics (those seem to come naturally), and when it does, the group certainly does not involve Clarke. Clarke leads the group, she is not in the group, as Jasper himself has made painfully clear on a number of occasions.

But every once in a while, The 100 affords Clarke a moment in which she is loved, unconditionally and without strings or complications. Jasper and Monty have provided a solid amount of those moments.

In “The 48,” when they still thought they were safe inside Mount Weather, they were genuinely just elated to find Clarke safe with them; in “Blood Must Have Blood, Part 2,” they believed they were all coming back together on equal footing to save the day (for Jasper, sadly, that illusion was soon shattered). This makes these two moments, which relay the pure love for and trust in Clarke which Jasper and Monty both had at this point in the story, beautiful and heartbreaking all at once.

And this is why stories like The 100 need characters like Monty and Jasper. While leaders like Bellamy and Clarke tend to get preoccupied with saving some generalized ‘people,’ Jasper and Monty never let them forget that they, too, are human beings who deserve to have friends that love them.

3. Clarke and Bellamy’s hugs in ‘Human Trials’ and ‘Praimfaya’

Please correct me if I’m wrong, but I believe Clarke and Bellamy hold the current record for the most goodbye/hello hugs on the show, yes? Either way, they hug a lot, and all their hugs are great. I wanted to limit this list to one hug per pair, but I HAVE to make an exception for Bellamy and Clarke.

First, I had to go with their reunion hug in early season 2, which has always stood out to me as not only one of the show’s best hugs, but one of the best moments between these two characters.

Although they had already begun to grown close in season 1, this felt like a big turning point in their relationship: from this moment, Clarke and Bellamy were no longer co-leaders who had learned to get along, but friends who truly cared about each other — and weren’t afraid to show it.

The intensity of their relief at seeing the other safe surprised not only themselves but also Octavia, who ostensibly spoke for the audience when she said “Now there’s something I thought I’d never see.” But I don’t think anyone watching was really surprised.

And then of course there was their goodbye hug in “Praimfaya.” THEY didn’t know it was goodbye, but somehow, the intensity of the emotions they conveyed makes it feel like they did. These two have come a long way, but it’s really beautiful to see that no matter what, they’ve never stopped caring about each other. It’ll be really interesting to see if/how that still holds true after six years of separation.

2. Clarke and Abby’s hug in ‘Blood Must Have Blood, Part 2’

Clarke and Abby’s relationship is so wonderful. And so complicated. Not all of their hugs have been in a purely positive context. But their hug in “Blood Must Have Blood, Part 2,” one of the few times in which Clarke has been in an emotional headspace to hug and be hugged by her mother, is probably up there in my top 10 best moments in the whole series.

We can’t forget that what ultimately pushed Clarke over the edge and caused her to make the fateful decision to kill everyone inside Mount Weather to save her own people was seeing Abby on the operating table; while Cage Wallace was ready to let his parent die to save his people, Clarke was (at this point) not ready to do the same.

That Abby survived was Clarke’s only real ‘win’ in this episode, and their hug felt like a reward not just for her, but for the audience. After all, it came after a tension-filled season, in which Clarke and Abby had been trying to figure out who the other had become, and what they had become to each other; this was the moment when they finally began to figure that out.

“I tried to be the good guy,” Clarke told her, heartbroken at herself and clearly worried that Abby would not condone her actions. But Abby’s iconic response, “maybe there are no good guys,” provided Clarke with the compassion, understanding and forgiveness she needed in that moment.

1. Clarke and Finn’s ‘hug’ in ‘Spacewalker’

I know, I know, we all hate Finn, blah blah. But you can’t tell me you did not cry your eyes out when he died — if not for him, then for Clarke and Raven, who were both irrevocably changed by what happened in this episode.

Clarke hugging Finn goodbye, only to stab and kill him to spare him the torturous death the Grounders had planned for him, is such a quintessential The 100 moment (and when Jason says he’s ‘here for the hugs’ I secretly suspect that these are the hugs he’s really here for). Along with the Culling in season 1, this scene defined the series and what it stands for.

These characters love and are loved, and do the best they can under wretched circumstances. But their acts of bravery and compassion rarely make their circumstances any less wretched.

So yes, we’re all here for the hugs — including the crushing kind.

‘The 100’ season 5 premieres April 24 on The CW!