Advance Review: The 100 Returns Tonight With “The 48”

The season premiere of The 100, which is titled “The 48,” airs TONIGHT at 9PM on The CW, following Arrow. Although seeing Season 1 beforehand is a preferred setup for the jumping on point that is the Season 2 premiere, a “previously on…” segment can hopefully get the audience up to speed.

Warning: Spoilers for Season 1 are discussed within.

When Season 1 left off, Clarke (Eliza Taylor) found herself trapped in a white room… seeing friend Monty on the other side. The Season 2 premiere explores what exactly “Mount Weather” is and what kind of people you will find there. Some of Clarke’s friends see Mount Weather differently than she does; being Clarke, there’s an immediate suspicion.

Outside of Mount Weather, we see what happens when the survivors of the Ark make their ways out. There’s a new leadership under Henry Ian Cusick’s Kane, and there’s not a lot I’m able to say without spoiling the episode about what Kane and Abby find while on Earth. If the season premiere is any indication, there are some new conflicts that arise almost immediately. Meanwhile, just as we left them in the Season 1 finale, Lincoln the Grounder does his best to bring Octavia to safety.

There are several noteworthy performances in the season premiere, and some of them I can’t talk about, again, without spoiling things about who has survived. There’s a fantastic scene between Lindsey Morgan’s Raven and another character that I never would have seen coming. Isaiah Washington’s Jaha is still running out of air on the Ark, and Washington puts forth a great performance being the only one in the scene. I’m glad to see Monty getting something to do, though he still doesn’t have enough lines. And finally, the highest-ranked character at Mount Weather is quite interesting and I’m curious to see more of him.

If I could compare The 100 to anything else in pop culture right now, it would be to something like The Maze Runner which recently did very well in theaters. There’s a big difference here, though: You had to pay to watch that movie; The 100 looks just as good and epic and all you have to do is sit in front of the TV.

Should you watch tonight? Well, you should get the Season 1 Blu-ray and watch that too, but if you don’t feel like doing that, still hop on. You’ll hopefully have the TV on The CW for Arrow already anyway. It’s a well-written show with a great cast and great production values, it’s a bit darker than you’d expect from a show on The CW, and selfishly, as a viewer, I’d like to see more, and that can only happen if audiences tune in.

9PM. Tonight (October 22). Here are some preview images. And below, you can find a trailer: