1.1 Pilot & 1.2 Earth Skills Judging only from the first two episodes, which chart the journey of a hundred juvenile delinquents to a future Earth thought inhabitable, The 100 certainly isn’t going to change the face of television, but it’s pleasingly harsh and surprisingly dark despite the CW-esque young cast and focus on romance. The pilot is economical in setting up the situation of these people, with the show set 97-years and three generations after the aforementioned apocalypse where supplies are running low and oxygen running out. The immediacy of this problem will definitely serve the show well, and provides the high stakes necessary to make things interesting. To test whether they can return to Earth by the three month deadline when life support fails, the government have decided to send 100 of its young offenders down to test the waters. If they survive, then humanity can return to their home planet but, if they all die from radiation poisoning, then at least there’s a hundred fewer people breathing that precious oxygen. If this sounds ruthless, it doesn’t end there. We quickly establish that all crimes, large or small, are now punishable by death, and citizens are only permitted one child per family. All of the young characters have been scorned by this regime one way or another, making them ripe for rebellion. While Clarke, our young female protagonist whose father was executed (or ‘floated’) for uncovering the flaw in the Ark’s structure, is a completely uncharismatic lead, the supporting players are far more intriguing. There are Octavia and Bellamy – the only two siblings in existence, the former kept under the floorboard for sixteen years of her life – who immediately stand out, as well as love interest Finn, and Wells, who serves as our obligatory upstanding citizen. And although we might be focused on Earth a lot of the time, on the Ark we get to enjoy the stellar cast of Henry Ian Cusick, Paige Turco and Isaiah Washington, all attempting to unseat each other and take control – it could easily be a show by itself. It might not be striving towards aspirations so lofty, but there’s a definite argument for The 100 trying to tell the story of today’s disaffected youth, and the way it moves forwards with this – whether as an allegory for those who go against what they’re told or a genuinely interesting discussion about the modern ‘lost generation’ and how they’re treated – will determine whether the show has anything relevant to say about our own world. It could be pretty people making out, or it could be as biting and smart as all the best television sci-fi tends to be. Follow our Twitter feed for faster news and bad jokes right here. And be our Facebook chum here.
