The Netflix Sci-Fi Thriller Series Gives Fans Plenty To Binge
The sci-fi television drama The 100, available to stream now on Netflix, tells the story of Earth after a major nuclear disaster. To survive, humans have left Earth for a space habitat known as the Ark and, a century later, have decided to send 100 people back to the planet to determine whether it is still habitable.
The people chosen are juvenile delinquents who, upon their arrival on Earth, discover the descendants of people who survived the nuclear disaster.
100 Episodes To Binge
Based loosely on a series of young adult novels by Kass Morgan that shares the same title, The 100 premiered on the CW in 2014 and reached its conclusion in September of 2020. Fittingly, the entire series consists of 100 episodes. Those episodes comprise seven seasons, which were overseen by Jason Rothenberg, who created the series and wrote many of its episodes.
Jason Rothenberg Created The Show
The 100 was Jason Rothenberg’s first series to come to fruition, though he had previously been at the helm of The Body Politic, a series that did not make it past the pilot stage. The idea was originally sold to the WB and a pilot was ordered after the network became the CW, but the network decided not to move forward with the project despite critical acclaim for the pilot. Still, this laid the groundwork for collaboration between the CW and Rothenberg for The 100.
The 100 was filmed in and around Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, beginning with its pilot episode in 2013. In August of that year, the first season began production after receiving a green light from the CW. After wrapping production on the first season in January of 2014, the series maintained a similar schedule for the rest of its run.
A New Language Was Created For The Show
Though Covid restrictions shut down production on all Warner Bros. television shows in 2020, The 100 had already completed filming and so was able to move forward with its seventh and final season. One of the unique features of the series is the creation of the Trigedasleng language, which is spoken by the survivors on Earth, who are known as the Grounders. Compared by Jason Rothenberg to Creole English, the language was developed by David J. Peterson, creator of the Valyrian and Dothraki languages for Game of Thrones.
Since The 100 depicts the Grounders as people who have been living on Earth for 97 years since the nuclear disaster, there was much discussion among the production team regarding how this language developed so quickly. It was determined that Trigedasleng, known as “Trig,” was created intentionally to differentiate between Grounders and outsiders. This sets up the tribalistic mentality that is at the center of the narrative development of the series as survivors from the Ark come into conflict with the Grounders.
Ranked As One Of The Best Sci-Fi Shows Ever
The 100 holds an overall Rotten Tomatoes score of 93 percent, with its first season showing its weakest reviews at a 76 percent approval rating, though several of its later seasons hold 100 percent ratings. In 2016, Rolling Stone named it as number 36 on its list of the “40 Best Science Fiction TV Shows of All Time.”
The series was nominated for multiple awards, including a Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Special Visual Effects, ultimately winning an MTV Fandom Award for Fan Freakout of the Year and a Saturn Award for Best Youth-Oriented Series.
Watch The 100 On Netflix
If you’re looking for a binge-worthy series with a strong track record and enjoy science fiction that explores the human condition, you can stream The 100 on Netflix now.
