(The 100) Appreciating the fact this show was so serious and weighed moral choices, especially for a CW network show. Looking back no wonder it had me!
It’s rare to find a show that balances pure entertainment with genuine philosophical weight as well as The 100 does. I was actually revisiting some of the themes recently and realized how much of the character development had slipped my mind.
The emotional arc for someone like Jasper is a standout, but the heavy lifting really comes down to the impossible choices Clarke and Bellamy have to make. They carry so much of the burden for the group.
Honestly, it’s hard to say if any moral dilemma in the series ever topped the Mount Weather arc.
The sheer scale of that decision was brutal. I’m curious—which of the show's moral quandaries stuck with you the most?
The Blood Reina arc in the bunker with the fighting pits was pretty wild
35
htackunMar 25, 2026
+7
Blood Reina is still the most badass title ever
7
petare33Mar 25, 2026
+10
That season was kinda where I fell off, but I won't ever forget the flashbacks to "The Dark Year". That shit was scary. That one episode puts another show I won't name with similar subject matter to shame.
10
Balla_CallaMar 26, 2026
+1
Name it
1
JamStan1978Mar 25, 2026
+23
Genuinely one the best shows ever if you pretend season 5 is the end. Season 6 is actually one of my favorite seasons in the show but its so closely connected to season 7 that it cant end on its own as a standalone while season 5 ending could work as an ending.
23
CocoBangBallMar 25, 2026
+13
Really good show. It kind of lost me after the time skip and I never finished it but I may go back and watch it again sometime. Seasons 2 through 4 were all really good
13
No-Inevitable981Mar 25, 2026
+4
For sure worth it, but I hear you on time skips. Not my favorite story element usually.
4
mikaydMar 25, 2026
+7
Say what you like but Clarke is a Mass MURDER, like she knows MURDA. On two separate occasions she has murdered Two large groups of people. I love her but man she shouldn’t sleep so well at night.
7
wrosecransMar 26, 2026
+2
It's pretty wild how the show goes from a perfect hair CW teen love triangle show, to having the highest possible body count in the universe.
Clarke literally busts into a cosmic astral plane to murder a dude, _in the middle of humanity being judged by higher beings_ because murdering all the people in the material realm wasn't enough. (Everybody on Earth was long dead by that point in the show.)
2
jessie_monsterMar 26, 2026
+1
You didn't like when she ended the show with 'eat lead, Space Moses'?
1
mikaydMar 26, 2026
+1
Know I liked that part, I wouldn’t had went with the aliens either.
1
QWERTYSaladMar 25, 2026
+10
The first few episodes of this show were really hard to get through. I turned it off halfway through the first episode on my first attempt. The final straw for me was the kids landing on Earth and saying “We’re back bitches!”
That being said, after those first two episodes the show really took off. Ot didn’t just tease insanity, it embraced it and ran with it. It got crazier and more off the rails with each subsequent season. In the end, that’s what made it work and what made it so much fun.
10
AgentElmanMar 25, 2026
+4
The first two episodes are the basis of the rest of the series.
It starts showing the main characters as kids horrified by the brutal life and death decisions the adults on the station are making.
But the adults are making those decisions for the survival of everyone, and after the kids land on Earth they have to make the same decisions and make more deadly and ruthless decisions then the adults had been making.
4
QWERTYSaladMar 25, 2026
+4
Completely agree, and thats what makes their character arcs so compelling to watch as things get crazier and crazier throughout the show.
The campiness and exaggerated immaturity was probably necessary in the beginning, it just seemed like an apocalyptic version of Degrassi, and I wasn’t down for that.
My wife convinced me to give it another chance, I’m glad she did.
It’s been a long time since I’ve seen it. I’m feeling a rewatch coming on.
4
ShanklyGates_2022Mar 25, 2026
+6
For those of you that haven’t watched and want to understand the basic premise (full series spoilers) >!This is a show that begins with 100 juvenile delinquents being sent to the ground of a post-apocalyptic and believed uninhabitable Earth to try and restart humanity, and ends with all of mankind joining an extraterrestrial galaxy-wide hivemind (this is also presented as a good ending).!< No, i am not joking. That is literally how it begins and ends.
The 100 imo is a show that could do with a reboot/reimagining. It has a great premise, and throughout the show they came up with a lot of really neat and unique ideas. The Grounders culture and lore was also really interesting, imo.
Unfortunately the showrunner was an egomaniac that got waaay too high off his own success and he effectively torpedoed a number of characters/actors storylines for personal reasons. And if you ever read any of the scripts he wrote himself you would immediately understand it was the people around him that made the show what it was. There is a reason he has exactly zero imdb credits since the show ended.
Reboot the series with a competent showrunner and some solid young actors and it could have a real Battlestar Galactica moment. It really does have a lot of good ideas and fun playgrounds to dance around in.
Reign in the crazier bits and keep it a bit more grounded (hehehe) and i think it could be a really solid legit SciFi show as opposed to a punching-above-its-weight CW show.
6
Mexican_sandwichMar 25, 2026
+3
The ending especially wasn’t grounded in reality whatsoever. The rest of it can kinda get a hand-wave pass, considering how silly a lot of it is, but the ending was just… stupid.
3
RiverShardsMar 26, 2026
+1
I was actually really interested in the prequel. I think, if they ever did reboot the series, they could interweave the prequel stuff at some point -- I'd enjoy it tremendously.
Gah. The 100 is such an aggravating series for me. I adore so much of it, but then the bad parts are... horrendous. Truly horrendous.
The show would probably have worked 100x better if they knew where they were going beyond each season's plotline.
I did appreciate how dark the show was allowed to get, especially on the CW.
1
SpiritedOwl_2298Mar 25, 2026
+4
It’s true, as imperfect as the show was it was really successful at constantly surprising me and you just don’t get writing that feels like this anymore. Clarke killing Finn herself will always be seared in my brain, the stakes were always so clear and well established and the characters were all trapped in that world with impossible choices
4
No-Inevitable981Mar 26, 2026
+2
I totally didn’t have to look up who he was!
Lmao I need a rewatch I think, you’re so right. It’s such a great show!!!
2
MoooneyMar 25, 2026
+11
Seeing this ridiculous teen drama referred to as 'so serious' was not on my bingo card for today.
11
JamStan1978Mar 25, 2026
+13
The 'teen drama' was only the first couple episodes. After that it got much darker and more serious.
13
slapshots1515Mar 25, 2026
+10
Well. Yes and no. It did legitimately get more serious, but it also had a *ton* of teen drama still, and later seasons jump the shark so hard that by the last season the shark isn’t even in view anymore. Still enjoyed it, but there’s plenty of drama.
10
No-Inevitable981Mar 25, 2026
-16
Please, tell us more about the expanse or rings of power is more serious lmao
-16
IrrelevantPuppyMar 25, 2026
+5
Expanse is definitely more serious and mature than the 100, but I think your point still stands and the comment you’re replying to is obviously deliberately being mean.
5
No-Inevitable981Mar 25, 2026
-14
It’s all fiction and even if they have seen it and that’s their opinion, I think it’s factually wrong compared to what they’d likely suggest as better.
-14
IrrelevantPuppyMar 25, 2026
-1
Don’t take it personally. I think the truth is that the 100 is written for a younger audience than the expanse (I know that was just an example) even after it matured. But that doesn’t mean it’s not serious or good. It IS serious at times and to say it’s not is just ignorant, just means you didn’t watch it or pay attention.
It’s just some guy trying to be snarky on reddit. Forget it don’t let him trigger you. He might not have been trying to bother you, was probably just trying to be funny You have a good insight, you’re fine.
-1
CosmackMagusMar 25, 2026
+2
One thing I liked about this show was that, eventually, it heavily changed up the status quo every half season. If I wasn't that into the new direction, I just had to wait a bit and it would change again.
2
No-Inevitable981Mar 25, 2026
+3
I love that as well. Also, 22 episodes a year! People forget how much work it was back then.
3
m0nk_3y_gwMar 26, 2026
+1
> 22 episodes a year!
Most seasons were 13, but apparently three were 16
1
No-Inevitable981Mar 26, 2026
+1
Ohhhh I’m misremembering then. I think maybe some of the other CW shows were like TVD but maybe I’m just wrong. Thank you!
1
kinisonkhanMar 25, 2026
+3
As a fan of Stargate SG1, I was kinda shocked to see how The 100 mimicked SG1 in the last 2 seasons where they do a complete reboot of the show.
3
XanninMar 25, 2026
+2
They only had 100 land, and I am pretty sure 135 of them died by the end of the first season.
2
relephantsMar 25, 2026
+2
Excellent show
2
Kazen_OrilgMar 25, 2026
+1
Came for the ridiculously stacked cast of hotties, stayed for the story.
1
KCatthestripeMar 25, 2026
+1
Started watching the show during a blizzard and was about to stop at the end of episode three… and then the end of episode three set the tone for the rest of the series and I was hooked.
1
jessie_monsterMar 26, 2026
+1
I love that it always came down to 'do a genocide'.
1
iamacannibalMar 26, 2026
+1
The 100 is like 3 shows in one. I love it but not everyone does
1
DeathbyHappyMar 26, 2026
+1
I just wish they had stuck the landing. That last season almost kills any desire I have for a rewatch
1
throwaway112112312Mar 26, 2026
+1
One thing I like about this show is that main character Clarke is a terrible person presented as a tragic hero, but she goes through so much shit for her actions you as a viewer feel satisfied. She mass murders for fun and then plays the woe is me card at every turn, but story punishes her very harshly as well, which I appreciate.
Honestly, there are tons of wrong with the 100 but it is a great watch. It flows fast, has a big group of characters so you can always find someone to support, and it has batshit insane anime-like concepts that other TV shows don't go near (like the whole ending). I highly recommend anyone who is into sci-fi shows that take weird turns at each step.
1
seeitshaveitsortedMar 26, 2026
+1
Ahh this was such a good show until it fell into TWD’s trap of villain of the season.
The political intrigue in the first bunch of seasons was much more interesting than the new Big Bads.
1
IrrelevantPuppyMar 25, 2026
+1
I don’t remember everything. I remember the beginning being pretty terrible, cheesy. It lost me on the first try but I came back to it and something hooked me even though I was cringing. Then it got really good and even developed some interesting layers.
How do you think it is on rewatch?
I’d be curious to hear what it was like working on this show.
1
RarelyReadRepliesMar 25, 2026
+4
I agree about season 1 cheesiness, and it does hold up pretty good on a rewatch. However, I think the best ending is just stopping when Monte's storyline concludes.
4
RiverShardsMar 26, 2026
+2
Yes. The end of season >!five!!Josephine taking over Clarke!
2
RarelyReadRepliesMar 26, 2026
+1
I agree that season six has some highlights, and I actually really enjoyed the first few episodes or so. I feel like it's a gradual decline in quality after that, then a rapid decline with season 7. I just think the season five ending was pretty much perfect.
It was pretty wild how reckless they were when they first landed on a new planet. Definitely felt like a slight plothole. Then again, maybe they're meant to be idiots?
1
IrrelevantPuppyMar 25, 2026
+1
Yes, again I don’t remember the details, but there was a distinct point I had to stop watching because it lost me. That was probably it
45 Comments