The recently-renewed CW series The 100 sees another new episode tonight at 9PM (ET/PT), and the story – titled “Survival of the Fittest” – sees some unlikely and new pairings within.
Now, I’m not talking about romantic pairings — sorry, “Bellarke” shippers — but more in the sense of people working together. For example, who could have expected to see Murphy spending much time around Jaha without one of them starting to punch the other? Or in Season 1, could we have envisioned a time when Lincoln and Bellamy would work together on something? Combine all this with Clarke working with Lexa — okay, so we might’ve seen a good leader like Clarke working with someone coming — and it’s a smorgasbord of team-ups. And just wait until you see what kind of an offer Octavia gets.
More importantly, the show successfully combines character growth and moments with advancement of the season’s overall arc. Things happen – as they always seem to do on The 100 – and as this season comes closer and closer to the endgame, that’s very good news.
Not every fan-favorite character makes it into this week — don’t expect resolution to what’s going on with Monty just yet, and I don’t recall seeing Abby in this hour, either — but the other great thing about The 100 is that you don’t feel you’re missing something if not everyone is present.
I like that even though the show is something like 23 episodes in, the characters are all still learning and growing. It’s not just a “pretty young people get stuck on Earth and die off Hunger Games style” – though there is some pretty, and there is some death. The influx of the “grown-ups” this year – as well as these alliances previously mentioned – also add new layers to the characters. Some of the growth is subtle, but it is there. The show also is successful at introducing new threats. One threat in tonight’s show – a suggestion from The CW’s Mark Pedowitz, actually – could be so successful that they might end up playing a villain on The Flash sometime later.
If there’s any complaint at all that I have about tonight’s episode, it’s that The 100 is so serialized you’ll probably want to catch on from the very beginning to totally “get” it. Fortunately, thanks to things like Netflix and streaming on the official CW site, you can get caught up. Jumping on to The 100 is not a “lost cause” as the show already has been picked up for a third season, which means Jason Rothenberg and his talented writers, crew, and cast will not just leave us hanging at season’s end with no eventual resolution. But do catch up, so you can watch “Survival of the Fittest” and other episodes live like the rest of us — you will be glad you did.
And one last thought: Can someone make Richard Harmon’s Murphy a series regular already? Thanks.
The 100 “Survival of the Fittest” airs tonight (January 28) at 9PM ET/PT on The CW. Find some preview images below:
