If nuclear doomsday becomes our reality

‘The 100’ TV show review

By Sonam Kaloti, Arts Editor

The 100 is a post-apocalyptic television series set 97 years after a nuclear catastrophe wipes out almost all life on planet Earth.

On a space station called the Ark, about 4,000 survivors remain on board. However, as the Ark’s resources begin to dwindle, harsh laws are put in place by the leaders of the station. Most crimes committed by adults on the station result in the criminal being “floated,” a euphemism for releasing said criminal to their death in open space. Juvenile delinquents are detained, most of them sentenced for life.

With resources dwindling at too rapid a pace, leaders of the Ark come up with a plan to send 100 of the juvenile detainees to the Earth to determine if it is habitable. The series then closely follows a group of these adolescents—mainly, Clarke Griffin (Eliza Taylor), Bellamy Blake (Bob Morley), Octavia Blake (Marie Avgeropoulos), Jasper Jordan (Devon Bostick), Monty Green (Christopher Larkin), Raven Reyes (Lindsey Morgan), Finn Collins (Thomas McDonell), John Murphy (Richard Harmon), and Wells Jaha (Eli Goree).

Many of these characters have parents on the Ark’s council, so being sent to the ground feels like a form of betrayal. Most of the people sent to the planet survive and are met with a radioactive Earth, home to glowing trees and mutant animals. Unaware of Earth’s current conditions, the teens must work together to learn how to live on this new territory, whilst encountering completely new situations.

Unsurprisingly, the group is met by other civilizations who had survived the nuclear disasters and remained on Earth. These tribes, called “Grounders,” have vicious ways of life and brutal forms of leadership determined by who triumphs in hand-to-hand combat. The young adults sent down from space are named “Skaikru,” derived from “Sky People,” by the Grounders. Struggles between clans for control is quickly characterized by spilled blood and revenge tactics, beginning a war among the tribes.

Skaikru itself divides due to differing leaders and beliefs. However, this is only where the series begins as Skaikru finds itself tackling much larger obstacles—such as cannibals, genocide, AI that can control humans, and further nuclear threats.

With many major governments constructing colossal nuclear weapons, the events of The 100 seem plausible for the future of planet Earth. Large amounts of radiation would devastate humanity as well as all other life on the planet. Underground bunkers already exist for such doomsday cases, such as the command facility and relocation site Mount Weather, which also has a role in the show. If the world’s governments are already preparing for nuclear destruction, that in itself could be an eerie foreshadowing. The 100 may just be a television show for now, but it could be our reality in the future.