A pulpy, high-concept post-apocalyptic survival drama that starts as a teen-leaning adventure and gradually mutates into a harsher, more morally tangled sci-fi saga. It’s uneven, but the world-building, escalating stakes, and willingness to go dark make it a strong binge for viewers who like serialized genre TV… Read more
The 100
Where to watch: Buy
TV Show · Sci-Fi & Fantasy · Action & Adventure
Wed
Created by: Jason Rothenberg
Starring: Eliza Taylor, Bob Morley, Lindsey Morgan
Overview
100 years in the future, when the Earth has been abandoned due to radioactivity, the last surviving humans live on an ark orbiting the planet — but the ark won't last forever. So the repressive regime picks 100 expendable juvenile delinquents to send down to Earth to see if the planet is still habitable.
Created by
Jason Rothenberg
Cast
Eliza Taylor, Bob Morley, Lindsey Morgan, Marie Avgeropoulos, Richard Harmon, Tasya Teles, JR Bourne, Shannon Kook
Curator Review
Verdict
A pulpy, high-concept post-apocalyptic survival drama that starts as a teen-leaning adventure and gradually mutates into a harsher, more morally tangled sci-fi saga. It’s uneven, but the world-building, escalating stakes, and willingness to go dark make it a strong binge for viewers who like serialized genre TV with big twists.
Best for
fans of survival sci-fi and post-apocalyptic world-building
viewers who enjoy morally gray ensemble dramas
people who like fast-moving, twisty network genre shows
binge-watchers looking for a long, escalating saga
Skip if
you want tightly plotted, consistently polished prestige sci-fi
you dislike teen/YA-adjacent beginnings
you prefer optimistic or low-meltdown storytelling
you’re sensitive to frequent character turnover and abrupt tonal shifts
Overview
The 100 begins as a straightforward survival premise and quickly reveals a much more ruthless identity. What makes it stick is the series’ appetite for escalation: every season pushes the survivors into new political, ethical, and existential crises, often with a genuinely nasty edge. It’s not subtle, but it is rarely dull.
Worth noting
The show’s early seasons are the most accessible, with a strong hook and a lean, propulsive pace. As it goes on, it becomes more ambitious and more chaotic, sometimes to its detriment, but the best stretches deliver the kind of serialized tension that keeps you clicking “next episode.” The ensemble is a major asset, especially as the series widens beyond its initial teen-survivor setup.
Bottom line
Expect uneven writing, melodrama, and occasional logic-stretching, but also a surprising willingness to commit to consequences. If you like your sci-fi messy, bleak, and emotionally combustible, this is an easy recommendation. If you want elegance over momentum, look elsewhere.
Themes
post-apocalyptic survival, space colonization, moral compromise, youth rebellion, resource scarcity, factional politics, identity and loyalty, civilization collapse