Top Ten Tuesday: Ten Things I Love about The 100 (tv show)

Trying something new this week… I thought I’d give the Top Ten Tuesday writing prompts a go. This week’s topic is: “Ten Reasons I Love X.” Since I just finished watching the season finale of The 100, that was immediately what came to mind when I saw this prompt. So, I give you…

Ten Reasons I Love CW’s The 100 (tv show):

1. The writers are consistently and equally cruel to all the characters. — No one likes to see bad things happen to their favorite characters, but good writers know you have to make your characters suffer in order for the really good moments to be emotionally satisfying. What’s great about The 100 is that no character is exempt from this rule. I can’t name one that hasn’t lost someone that they deeply cared about (usually in some horrific way, and sometimes at their own hand due to some awful choice they had to make that had no good solution).
2. No character is 100% “good” (or 100% “bad”). — Similar to reason #1, I love it when books, movies, and tv shows can pull off sympathetic characters that are morally all shades of grey. This is one of the reasons why I love Game of Thrones, and I think The 100 does this equally well.
3. The languages are fantastic. — I love that the same guy (David Peterson) who did all the languages for Game of Thrones also did all the languages for this show. Every once in a while you catch an almost-English word in the Grounder language and it sounds like something that really could have developed over generations in a post-apocalyptic future which makes it feel really authentic. I heard this guy speak about how he comes up with these languages and he is amazing. Seriously. Check out this video if this is at all interesting to you.
4. It’s hard to predict what will happen next. — I love trying to guess plot twists. It’s one of my favorite things to do. But the writers of The 100 do such a great job keeping me guessing, or doing the complete opposite of what I expect will happen, that I’ve pretty much given up trying to figure out where they’re going and I’m just enjoying the ride.
5. I wasn’t expecting (and really enjoy) the AI backstory / plot development. — This is a good example of reason #4, above, and it’s probably a spoiler if you haven’t watched past the first two seasons. I had no idea this would be a thing, but it makes so much sense. When they finally did the flashback shows this season and it all came together, I just loved it.
6. The adults have a lot to learn from the “kids.” — At nearly every turn the adults seem to find a way to mess things up. The original 100, or at least what’s left of them, worked so hard to put a life together on the ground. Then the adults came down and screwed everything up because they thought they knew better. It’s infuriating, and perfect.
7. The Grounders are badass. — Sure, they’re brutal, but that’s how they survived. And did you see Lexa fighting in the season finale? I mean… badass.
8. Lexa. — Speaking of my favorite Commander… Lexa is awesome. RIP.
9. Clarke. — While part of me wishes I could be as badass and coldhearted as Lexa, deep in my heart I know, in terms of leadership, I’m basically Clarke. I know this just like I know that, because of my tendency to put a premium on loyalty, integrity, and “doing what’s right,” I’d definitely be “House Stark” (and probably ended up like Ned and/or Robb). I can totally relate to Clarke and 9/10 times I’d probably make the same (flawed) decisions that she’s made.
10. The diversity! — I know it’s not perfect, but have you seen the diversity on this show? And it’s not a “thing,” it just exists, just like humans exist, in all their colorful and varied forms, abilities, and sexual orientations. Characters aren’t stereotypes. They’re human and multi-dimensional. I don’t really know of another show, or movie for that matter, that’s doing this as well as The 100 does. If you do, let me know. And again I’ll state, they aren’t perfect, but they’re doing a lot of things right and I appreciate that.

I will freely admit that the first season was a little hit or miss, and I don’t really know what exactly kept me watching. I know plenty of people who’ve bailed out and stopped watching it. Probably nothing I say will change their minds. But I’m so glad I stuck with it. This is definitely one of my favorite of all the currently airing tv shows.