A few years ago the only show on The CW I would rave about was Supernatural as it was the only show that wasn't directly targeted at teenage girls (although a lot of the fan base seems to be just that). It wasn't marred with frenemies and love triangles to keep the viewers on their toes, it's about a brotherly bond and how blood isn't the only thing that makes you family. And killing monsters, mustn't forget the killing monsters part. It stood out amongst all the other shows on the network such as Gossip Girl and 90210 but then something glorious happened, they got a new CEO who decided just because the shows and the people looked pretty didn't mean they deserved to be on the air. In 2011 Mark Pedowitz took the reigns of the network and decided to branch out in regards to their programming because he realised people other than teenage girls watch television. From that ground breaking thought his predecessor didn't think of came the likes of comic book adaptations Arrow, The Flash and iZombie, critically acclaimed Jane The Virgin and Crazy Ex-Girlfriend as well as The 100 which is the subject of this post.
The reason I decided to pick out The 100 is mainly because I've never written about it before and because it doesn't garner as much attention as its network-mates (if that is actually a term). Although they are low rated, the comedies Jane The Virgin and Crazy Ex-Girlfriend are both critically acclaimed and happen to be golden globe winners which makes them top of the quality crop over at The CW. Arrow, The Flash and iZombie already had a built in fan base upon their debuts and the former two do exceptionally well ratings wise. Green Arrow and The Flash may not be as famous as their other Justice Leaguers (again, I'm not sure if that's actually a term but it bloody well should be) but they are known amongst comic book readers and due to their respective successes their fan bases go beyond that. The 100 seems to be the show that's largely forgotten about as it's not as critically acclaimed or have a big a fan base as those noted above, but I firmly believe that after the last episode it should rated in the same league as them.
Below is the synopsis taken from imdb.com:
Set 97 years after a nuclear war has destroyed civilization, when a spaceship housing humanity's lone survivors sends 100 juvenile delinquents back to Earth in the hopes of possibly re-populating the planet.To me that sounds intriguing apart from the 100 juvenile delinquents part. I'm used to The CW right now and I know that when they say 100 juvenile delinquents what they mean is a cast of beautiful people in their late 20s-30s masquerading as teens without their parents present. They will party and hook up with each other and the show will be filled with enough love triangles to fill up a shippers wet dream. The fact that it's adapted from a young adult novel didn't help matters much, when I think YA novels I can't get the likes of Divergent and Twilight which doesn't exactly fill me with hope for quality drama. For the first few episodes (possibly more) I was right, it was catering for the demographic that the network was known to target because at times it seemed like these kids just thought they were on spring break or something, but thankfully it's evolved after time.
Initially the most interesting parts of the series were the adult characters, the parents that were left behind at the space station praying for their children's (and their own) survival. They made the tough decision to send the delinquents down into a land that may be inhospitable and they were living with the consequences, although they were worlds apart they were trying to aid them. Over time the teen characters have actually developed into adults which never happened with the likes of Gossip Girl and 90210. They had to live harsh lives and make incredibly tough decisions for their groups survival, including essentially killing off a colony of people and having to deal with the guilt of doing so. Yes, the characters still look like they've stepped off of an Abercrombie and Fitch ad but they have become multi-faceted human beings.
As well as the evolution of the characters the show itself has built a world around it. It was first set in a space station and we'd only been introduced to the people aboard, later known as Skaikru, but now we see that there was already a whole civilisation living on Earth, the grounders, who were united under one commander. On the surface they seem like feral beings which causes a lot of friction with Skaikru but the more time we spend with them we can see they aren't so different from the people of the sky. All they have done is survive and at times they have had to kill to do so, how is that different from the executions on the space station? The more I see of them the more intrigued I am with them, I think maybe they should designate a series of webisodes about life of the grounders before the Skaikru fell to Earth because I would most definitely watch that.
The most important thing about this show is that it has the balls to build up important characters and kill them off as a way of furthering the storyline. I recently wrote about how The Walking Dead needs to man up and kill some of the primary characters (a post which I am not retracting) but The 100 is not The Walking Dead, I never actually go into an episode believing someone important is going to die. Sure, they have red shirts like every other show but they would never off anyone important would they? Yes, yes they would. The protagonist, Clarke Griffin (Eliza Taylor), has already lost her best friend Wells Jaha (Eli Goree) as well as her two main love interests Finn Collins (Thomas McDonnell) and Lexa (Alycia Debnam-Carey) and thats within the first three seasons alone. To be fair Wells died so swiftly that he didn't have time to develop and I found Finn utterly annoying so I wasn't sad to see either of them go but they both had strong links to other characters on the show so the deaths had impact on certain people.
Lexa was an ally to the Skaikru as well as being the commander of the grounder community, uniting them and leading them into battles if necessary. She'd also done something I didn't think possible on a YA-adaptation which is show a large amount of character growth of a reoccurring character, who also happens to be a late-comer. Lexa seemingly started off as a strong and firm leader who seemed to be picking fights with the Skaikru to protect her people. Over the course of her arc on the show we've seen her make incredibly difficult decisions that have effected everyone around her, but we have also seen her softer side through her relationship with Clarke. She's shown depth with the character and the writers could have run with it and kept her and Clarke's relationship alive but they wrote her off as a way to further the story of the grounder people and how they cope with the loss of their leader, as well as the rising of a dictator-like commander.
In a recent episode we also witnessed the loss of Lincoln (Ricky Whittle) who was a grounder that had aligned with the Skaikru. Through his character the Skaikru have stayed connected with the grounder community even when there is friction between the two camps. He also developed a romantic attachment to one of the 100, Octavia (Marie Avgeropoulos) so his character was quite prominent in the show. With all these links and how important his character is to others it was shocking once his death came along but also understandable. His death will effect many members of both the Skaikru and the grounder community in various ways, perhaps it'll make the fighting between the two even worse or maybe it'll be the thing that brings them together.
I'm not saying The 100 is perfect because at times it can be clichéd and cheesy, but there are so many different story lines being juggled at any one time it's easy to ignore the bad. I like the majority of the cast but I will admit the show has suffered from CW casting, some are pretty on the surface but when they attempt to emote it is laughable. The show isn't going to be a major award winner or one that gains a massive following but the truth is I didn't have high expectations going in but I've been pleasantly surprised and look forward to more. If you haven't given it a shot yet I suggest you do, after a few episodes it starts to grow on you.
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