← Back to Directory
The 100
TV Series

The 100

2014Action, Drama, Sci-Fi • 7 Seasons

Woke Score
7.8
out of 10

Series Overview

The series is set 97 years after a devastating nuclear war wiped out almost all life on Earth. The only known survivors are the residents of twelve space stations in Earth's orbit prior to the war. The space stations banded together to form a single massive station named "The Ark", where about 2,400 people live. Resources are scarce and all crimes no matter their nature or severity are punishable by death ("floating") unless the perpetrator is under 18 years of age. After the Ark's life support systems are found to be critically failing, one hundred juvenile prisoners are declared "expendable" and sent to the surface in a last ditch attempt to determine if Earth is habitable again. The teens arrive on a beautiful planet they have only seen from space. Confronting the dangers of this rugged new world, they struggle to form a tentative community. However they discover that not all humanity was wiped out. There are people on Earth who survived the war, called "grounders" by the 100. The Ark consists of the space stations previously representing the nations of the UK, USA, Australia, Canada, China, Japan, India, Russia, Venezuela, France, Brazil, and Uganda.

Season-by-Season Breakdown

Season 1

7/10

Set 97 years after a nuclear war has destroyed civilization, when a spaceship housing humanity's lone survivors sends 100 juvenile delinquents back to Earth in hopes of possibly re-populating the planet.

View Full Season Analysis

Season 2

8/10

The second season picks up with the group still scattered and desperate to be reunited. As members of The 100 and new arrivals from the Ark stake out their place in a dangerous and beautiful new world, they are confronted with the physical peril and moral dilemmas that come with reforging a society.

View Full Season Analysis

Season 3

9/10

Reunited with the survivors of the space-station Ark that fell to Earth, Clarke Griffin and her band of juvenile delinquents have faced death at every turn. Though Clarke was alternately challenged, supported and betrayed by her own people and alliances with the Grounders, they could always find common ground in survival. But victory came with a terrible price. The challenges continue in season three as they not only determine what kind of lives they will build, but what it will ultimately cost them.

View Full Season Analysis

Season 4

7.4/10

The fight to survive has torn The 100 apart, turned them against each other, and taken the lives of their closest friends. Last season, our heroes found themselves at the epicenter of both the Grounder world and the struggle for Arkadia’s soul. Despite their best efforts, war appeared unavoidable, until a new, even more dangerous threat – one that had been quietly rising all along – exploded to the surface: ALIE, the A.I. that ended the world, offered relief from pain and eternal life in the “City of Light.” But as her ranks grew, it quickly became clear that she was building an army dedicated to controlling all sentient life on Earth. This was no longer a battle between warring factions; it was a fight for humanity itself. Now, a hard truth lands on the shoulders of those who remain. Will they go quietly into the night, or will they find hope and faith in each other, as they face their darkest chapter yet?

View Full Season Analysis

Season 5

8/10

More than six years have passed since Praimfaya has ravaged the planet and killed most of the human race. As Clarke waits to hear from the group on the Ark, or in the bunker, a prison ship drops from the sky. Are they friend or foe? And what do they want?

View Full Season Analysis

Season 6

7/10

After 125 years in cryosleep, traveling through the stars, our heroes woke up to a new home, a final gift from dearly-departed friends. A place where they can try again. They’re given one simple task: do better. Be the good guys. With this credo in mind Clarke and Bellamy lead a group down to this mysterious world, hoping to start anew, to finally find peace. But old habits die hard and when they stumble across an idyllic society, it quickly becomes clear that not everything on Sanctum is as perfect as it seems. Despite their determination to do better, threats both seen and unseen will once again force our heroes to fight for their lives and the future of humanity.

View Full Season Analysis

Season 7

8/10

After arriving on a new planet, our heroes found a place where they hoped to try again. Clarke and Bellamy led a group down to this mysterious world to start anew, but not everything on Sanctum was as perfect as it seemed. Despite their determination to do better, threats both seen and unseen once again forced them to fight for their lives and the future of humanity.

View Full Season Analysis

Overall Series Review

"The 100" began as a story of youthful survival thrust onto a broken Earth, quickly establishing a worldview where established authority—whether from the Ark in space or the first civilizations on the ground—was inherently corrupt and doomed. Across seven seasons, the series relentlessly explored the harsh reality that objective morality is nonexistent; survival demands constant, often brutal, situational choices where mass atrocity can be justified in the name of protecting one’s people. This core theme of moral relativism remains the engine of the show, driving characters through one apocalyptic scenario after another, from nuclear threats to alien transcendence. A defining characteristic of the series is its strong focus on dismantling traditional power structures. Female characters consistently hold the highest positions of leadership, strategy, and ethical burden, often depicted as more pragmatic, intelligent, and capable leaders than their male counterparts. Furthermore, the show consistently integrates and normalizes non-traditional relationships and identities at the highest levels of political and military command. This progressive structure is often contrasted sharply with the show’s frequent critiques of organized religion, centralized technological control, and any ideology promising easy salvation, framing such movements as tools for manipulation or cultish control. As the series progressed, the focus evolved from factional survival on Earth to grand, existential questions about the nature of humanity itself. Later seasons heavily leaned into themes of colonialism, tribalism, and the inescapable cycle of violence inherent in human nature. While the show championed progressive ideals through its characterizations, its conclusion offers a stark assessment: humanity’s cycle of fighting, tribalism, and self-destruction is so ingrained that the only true way to 'do better' is to end the species’ ability to reproduce. In summary, "The 100" is a bleak, intense examination of leadership under extreme pressure. It champions strong, often morally compromised female figures who fight to protect their chosen families against recurring apocalypses. The series is defined by its commitment to moral ambiguity, its strong progressive leanings in character representation, and its unflinching message that civilization, by its very nature, is a temporary and fragile construct built upon necessary evils.

Categorical Breakdown

Identity Politics7.4/10

Oikophobia8.3/10

Feminism8.1/10

LGBTQ+6.4/10

Anti-Theism8.3/10