‘The 100’s Shannon Kook on Jordan’s Journey & His Future With Delilah
Q&A
“I’m Jordan. Monty and Harper’s son.”
Those six words sent shockwaves through The 100‘s dedicated fanbase at the end of Season 5. It became clear that more time had passed in cryo than anyone originally thought — and that while Monty and Harper weren’t coming back, they’d left behind a sweet, innocent-and-awkward kid. Despite being the same age as Clarke and all the others, there was something pure and untainted about Jordan, and at least to his friends, it appeared he needed to be sheltered and protected.
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Shannon Kook would disagree with that last assumption.
We chatted with Kook about where we’ll find Jordan in Episode 8 (titled “The Old Man and the Anomaly”), whether his character has given up all hope of getting Delilah back and where the rest of the season will see Jordan go.
Episode 8 looks pretty intense. What’s Jordan going to be up to?
Shannon Kook: Jordan’s going to continue to try to get through to Delilah and figure out how to navigate through Sanctum with his companions.
When Jordan hears that Clarke’s alive, is he going to try to get Delilah back, too?
Yeah. Of course! Jordan’s always going to try to get any of the people he loves back, so he’s trying to figure out exactly what’s going on and he’ll proceed to do what he thinks is right. I don’t think Jordan is afraid to take his own measures and do what he thinks is right. As you could tell in previous episodes, he hasn’t been afraid to disagree with his friends. When he finds out that Clarke’s alive, he will obviously try to take measures further to get through to Delilah.
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For a character who hasn’t had much interaction with people outside his parents, Jordan’s been through a lot! How’s he feeling about people? Humanity as a whole?
I think Jordan has learned a lot about people. He didn’t not have human contact, he had his parents, but obviously he’s come into contact with different kinds of people and Jordan is adjusting to these different types of energies around him. He was a lot more awkward initially, and now he’s taken on a bit more of a forthright tone in certain measures. Just because he’s nice and inexperienced doesn’t mean he’s incapable, so he’s proven himself to be very smart and somewhat tenacious.
But what his opinion of people might be right now? I think he has great depth of understanding and compassion towards people… it’s the head and the heart, right? I think Jordan prides himself on being someone who acts with his heart over his head, and he holds close to his heart his father’s words of being the good guys. Which is up to interpretation by any person and character, but he also reminds Bellamy of the heart over the head.
Is there anyone Jordan hasn’t had scenes with that you wish he would?
There was a fantastic scene with Octavia in the first episode, but we weren’t able to include it. But I was so looking forward to that first moment between them. As with anything! That first moment, that first kiss with Delilah, those first things are things you can’t go back to. But I still find Octavia a very interesting parallel, but opposition, to Jordan and his experience as a character. In her upbringing she was the girl under the floor, he was the boy in space. Jordan didn’t have the tension of the Ark, he had a very harmonious upbringing with both of his parents, where Octavia had more of a lopsided, imbalanced situation. But they do share certain aspects, though they are more opposing in nature. And I just love Marie’s performances, so I’d be thrilled to work with her more.
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What can you tease about Jordan’s journey for the rest of the season?
I think Jordan’s still trying to figure out who he is in relation to all of this, especially since he feels quite alone in his views. Obviously, he didn’t feel like he was being heard and listened to initially, and was being treated as something of an incompetent, naïve child when he’s a man. He just didn’t have much interaction with people.
But sometimes the Fool in Shakespeare is the wisest, and he’s been treated as “they need to protect him,” but Jordan’s gone through a lot. He’s lost his parents, who loved him, and the first woman who loved him. It’s a different situation for him now—how is he going to navigate through what’s presented to him? Will he continue to maintain that heart-full, open shine? We’ll find out! There’s a lot more coming in the episodes to come.
The 100, Tuesdays, 9/8c, The CW
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