DVD Review: The 100: The Complete Third Season

The 100: The Complete Third Season hits DVD tomorrow (July 19) at great stores and Amazon.com. The set includes all 16 Season 3 episode as well as a good amount of extras.

In addition to the DVD release, the Warner Archive is releasing a Blu-ray version; this review is for the DVD set as we were not provided with a review copy of the Blu-ray.

So, how’s the set?

The Episodes: As mentioned, there are 16 episodes in Season 3, and of course, it’s best to start watching The 100 from the very beginning. With that said, it is interesting to see how the show has evolved over the years; the show it had been in Season 3 was certainly different from what it was the previous year, and it was definitely different from what it was a year earlier. There’s an almost religious aspect of the season with the City of Light as we learn more of what ALIE was, and the look of some ships is completely different from, say, what we’d see in Season 1. Some people have said The 100 is an heir in a way to a series like Battlestar Galactica; beyond some actor connections, it is fair to say that this comparison is true.

What The 100 also is, though, is one of the best shows on broadcast television. Some might overlook it as fluff because it is on The CW, but it is hardly fluff. Instead, it is a mix of a lot of great things.

Season 3 had some controversial story choices but I still admire the balls that the creators of the show take. Even though The 100 is based on a book series, they definitely didn’t stick to that plan, and I especially like the way the show has included LGBT characters… though I’m not happy with that one LGBT couple’s fate, I respect that hard choices have to be made, especially when an actor or actress is committed to another TV series. I just wish it hadn’t happened at the point that it did, as that pairing was one of my favorites, and I do wish there was a way to undo what happened. Mostly, though, I like that characters can be diverse without it being a big deal; they are who they are, and they love who they love. (How’s that for not spoilery?)

Beyond the writing and acting, I have to commend the people who create the visual look of The 100. The sets are fantastic and so much thought goes into the Grounder design and culture… it makes it a more immersive experience and world. The CW has a gold mine in this show and I’m not even 100% sure that they realize it. Perhaps they do, considering the effort taken in giving us extras.

The Extras: Being a Warner Bros. release, we get a Comic-Con panel as an extra, which is pretty good, though I could smell some drama coming from certain areas of the panel. There are a lot of great questions from fans, and Eric Goldman was – as always – a fantastic moderator.

Additionally, there are features about Polis and Arkadia, a look at the production choices behind the Ice Nation, a featurette about the season finale, a spotlight on Clarke’s Wanheda journey, and stunts pre-vis. While I respect the work that goes into doing stunts pre-vis, we’ve gotten that before and it didn’t excite me much. The highlights for me were probably the Wanheda and Polis features, with the production designer James Philpott explaining what went behind the creation of the tower at the Grounder capital. Some great stuff.

Deleted scenes are available for the episodes “Wanheda: Part One,” “Watch The Thrones,” “Hakeldama,” “Stealing Fire,” and “Nevermore.”

The world of The 100 is so rich I’m sure there could have been a lot more, but I don’t think any buyer of the DVD set would feel cheated by it, as there’s quite a selection of extras here.

The Packaging: The packaging looks cool but I admit, the inner sleeves broke and now it’s a pain to close it. Really cheap materials, though of course that doesn’t affect how one would watch the episodes.

Is It Worth It? Again, I do wish that the Blu-ray version had been the regular release so the visuals could be seen at an incredible dimension, but ultimately? It definitely is worth it, as time and effort were put into these extras.

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