As The 100 returns to The CW for Season 4, let’s take a closer look at what makes the dystopian sci-fi series so freaking good. It goes without saying that The 100 has one of the most attractive casts on TV. That certainly makes it fun to watch, but there are plenty of legitimate reasons to love it, too:
The 100 has really strong female leads and that’s awesome.
There are a lot of great main characters on this show, but we were really excited to see smart, powerful women take charge in Season One and on. Clarke is a good leader (most of the time); Raven is a stubborn, semi-genius mechanic; Octavia is a badass with a sword; and don’t even get me started on the Grounder warriors Anya, Lexa, etc. The best part is that The 100 doesn’t portray these characters, especially the leaders, as infallible. They’re just teenagers trying to do the best that they can with the resources they’re given, which leads us to the next reason you should be watching this series…
The 100 has great, well-developed characters that you really care about.
The 100 is now in its fourth season, and we’ve watched this cast of characters grow mentally and emotionally with each episode that passed. Remember, these kids sent to Earth from the Ark were sheltered delinquents who grew up restricted, albeit protected, with laws set long before they were born. On Earth, there are no laws and no space guards to protect them from the dangers surrounding them. With each death and battle that they have to go through, you can visibly see these teenagers are forced to “grow up” relatively quickly. The show has some great writing, proving to fans that the world doesn’t exist in just black and white. There are a lot of gray areas that lead to hard decisions, especially when real lives are concerned. As you’re watching, you empathize with the characters and can understand the decisions they make.
The 100 will totally give you ALL THE FEELS and we’re not even playing.
Thanks for breaking our hearts, Jason Rothenberg! Although the series has veered away from the emotionally-charged YA books it was adapted from, The 100 still has some tearjerker moments that had us clutching our tissues to our chests. Not to give too many spoilers, BUT… Jaha’s sacrifice, Raven’s close brush with death, Octavia thinking she had lost Lincoln for good, and Finn’s unfortunate fate are just a handful of times where we just could not deal with what was happening. At one point, Lexa says “Victory stands on the back of sacrifice,” a theme repeated in every season. Make sure you have a box of tissues ready before you start this series.
The 100 takes a unique approach to romance that’s totally not cliche or cheesy.
Thank goodness, this is one dystopian series that tries to keep away from the romantic cliches. The show definitely has romantic relationships — there’s a brief triangle at the beginning with Finn, Raven, and Clarke — but The 100 is not about a guy and a girl trying to save the world and falling in love with each other along the way. It’s about the crazy heat of battle, finding your inner strength in tough times, learning how to rely on your friends and family, and just trying to survive in a strange new world. Of course, like every show out there, there are popular ships, like Bellarke (Bellamy/Clarke), Linctavia (Lincoln/Octavia), Clexa (Clarke/Lexa), and so on. In fact, critics and fans have complimented the series on its approach to sexuality in regards to Clarke’s romance with Lexa, the Grounder commander.
The 100 is full of complex world-building and that’s super nerdy and fun.
The 100 takes place 97 years after a nuclear war and the only (known) survivors were 400 people living in space. When the 100 juvenile delinquents are sent to earth, they enter into a whole new world that has physical aspects similar to the Earth they read about and studied on the Ark, but it’s basically uncharted and dangerous territory filled with human survivors that the space station didn’t know about. The survivors, so far divided into two groups known as Grounders and Mountain Men, have a completely different culture, style of dress, and even language from what the Sky People (people from the Ark) know. It’s been interesting to see how the showrunners have approached the concept of building a new civilization on Earth.
The 100‘s Season Four premiered Feb. 1, and we’re expecting plenty more profound moments, along with some shocking twists to keep us on our toes. Will Bellamy and Octavia make up? Is A.L.I.E. gone for good? Will they successfully fix the nuclear plant breakdowns? These questions and more will, hopefully, be answered.