If you've hung out with me in person, or are following me on any form of social media, you might have heard me talk about or seen me post about a certain show ... a certain show about a group of juvenile delinquents who are sent back to Earth 100 years after humans left the surface to escape the affects of nuclear war.
Officially:
The series is set 97 years after a devastating nuclear war wiped out almost all life on Earth. The only known survivors are the residents of twelve space stations in Earth's orbit prior to the war. The space stations banded together to form a single massive station named "The Ark," where about 2,400 people live. Resources are scarce and all crimes, no matter their nature or severity, are punishable by ejection into space ("floating") unless the perpetrator is under 18 years of age. After the Ark's life-support systems are found to be critically failing, 100 juvenile prisoners are declared "expendable" and sent to the surface in a last ditch attempt to determine if Earth is habitable again. (via)In case you're more of a visual learner, here's the season one trailer:
I've long been a fan of teenage soaps, particularly those that air on the CW. But I'll freely admit that I didn't see the appeal of The 100 when it premiered last Spring. I share recapping duties for the show over on Forever Young Adult, and neither Sarah (my co-recapper) nor I liked the show much at first. In fact, it wasn't until about halfway through the first season that we realized that we had gotten completely sucked in without even noticing. And it was around that same time that we realized that the CW had created something really special.
Fast forward to the end of the second season—which was AMAZING—and we've both become full-blown fanatics. In fact, Sarah wrote an excellent post on the show's appeal: "100* Reasons To Watch The 100." I agree wholeheartedly with her sentiments.
*Or 5.
Obsessed? No way. Yes way.
The 100 features:
- Action
- Badasses (Of both the male and female persuasion.)
- Comedy
- Drama
- Enemistry
- Friendships
- Gorgeous scenery
- Hot people (It is the CW after all.)
- Intrigue
- Jokes
- Killing (That's not exactly a selling point, but I figured I should put a warning out.)
- Language (The guy behind the Game of Thrones languages created one for The 100, too.)
- Machinations
- Nerds
- Original storylines
- Peace Treaties
- Quality relationships
- Romance (#BELLARKE FOREVER.)
- Sexy Times
- Traitors
- Undertakings, Epic
- Visions of the Future
- War
- (e)Xcitement
- YA Novel Inspiration (The books are very different. Fun reads, but the show is so much better.)
- Zoological oddities
Basically, I could go on forever about the reasons I love this show. But I hope that by now you're interested enough (if you're not already sucked in like I am), to want to check it out on your own.
Season one is available on Netflix. Season two's not yet on free streaming, but you can buy the episodes on Amazon or iTunes. (I'm sure there are, uh, less official places you might be able to find it, too.) A word of warning (I mentioned this above, but it bears repeating): The show can be hard to get into. But I promise you, it's so worth it!
If you're already a fan, let me know in the comments! I'd love to discuss. And if you're not yet a fan, come back and discuss once you've had a chance to check it out.
