Who we are and who we need to be to survive are very different things.

It’s not a secret that the 100 is one of my favorite shows and I never expected it to be. I vaguely remember when it first came out but I just wanted the commercial to be over to return to Supernatural. It never caught my interest. Then one day on Netflix I was bored, just flipping through every damn category, and the 100 was under recommendations. At the time I didn’t know it was the same show I saw on the CW months before.

The show is based off a book series (of the same name) created by Kass Morgan and Jason Rothenberg developed it. It first premiered March 2014.

The premise: almost 100 years after a nuclear war wiped out most life on Earth the survivors took to the sky to escape the radiation. The space station, now called The Ark, held over 2,000 people until a problem arose. Because of this problem the leaders of The Ark sent 100 delinquents to Earth to see if they could return there. Why a bunch of teenagers? Well on The Ark, even small crimes are punishable my death (or “floating,” which is pretty self-explanatory) but no one can be killed before the age of eighteen. These teeangers lives are expendable and even their own parents send them down.

When they get to the ground they come across some typical problems a big group of people can have: different people want to be leaders, many have different views, and of course it’s 100 teenagers now free from their jail cells. However even more problems arise they never even gave thought to: animals, finding food and water, and discovering people did survive the radiation and have been living on Earth this whole time. The group only encounters the people who live in the woods (they’re only in a small part of the US, there are many other people out there) called the Grounders.

Stepping aside from the plot, why should you watch the 100? For starters it’s post apocalyptic if you’re into those kind of shows. It’s not zombies or infected people, although some were affected by radiation which causes some physical abnormalities.

What did it for me were the characters and how the writers were able to avoid stereotypical cliches. The women are a huge part of the show. They’re leaders, engineers, doctors, and basically kick ass. You may feel a certain way towards some at the beginning, but everyone goes through a development from the horrible things they’ve witnessed and done (referring to the quote above.) Each of them have done things just to survive and even you have to question your favorite character.

Those women though, they’re written so well.

There’s also the diversity from hispanic, black, asian even to the sexualities. The main character is openly bisexual and there’s another many believe to be asexual. A teenage lesbian is the leader of all the Grounder clans.

Another thing, which I loved, is the way they avoid a love triangle. Instead of the girls hating each other and fighting for the boy’s affection they become friends and one immediately backs off.

The relationships, something I’m never a huge fan of, are something I actually like. Most work well together and develop over time. Sure there are a few different relationship wars involving the main character and who she should be with, but for me, she never needed to be with anyone. None of these characters are there solely for relationship purposes. Everyone has their own story and problems. I find it more fun to watch friendships develop and when those friendships are at risk, it’s more heartbreaking than a couple breaking up.

Spoiler alert people do die, so don’t actually become too attached.

Each season progressively gets darker with more at stake. The first episode of the show starts off with a positive note only for it to end on a bad one. To be honest, most of them do. These characters go through hell and never seem to get out.

Being on the CW I know a good many people assume it’s a show filled with relationship problems and whiny characters. I can tell you I thought that at first. I didn’t want to give it a chance, but once I did I wanted everyone to watch it. It deserves more attention than it gets.

Season one is currently on Netflix and I’m sure season two will be coming soon, but seeing as season three isn’t appearing until 2016 there’s plenty of time to catch up.