by Hayley Charlesworth and Leah Stone
Another fantastic episode of The 100 aired in the UK last night, and what an episode it was. The series may well be one of the best post-apocalyptic shows of all time, following a group of humans, nicknamed “Sky People” as they try to return to earth after being stuck in a Space Station for generations after a nuclear war wreaked havoc on the planet below.
I’m With Geek was fortunate enough to get an interview with the creator, executive producer and writer of the show, Jason Rothenberg. The first half was posted a few weeks and now we are pleased to announce the second half of this brilliant interview.
If you have yet to watch the latest episode, please be warned SPOILERS LOOM!
Another fantastic episode of The 100 aired in the UK last night, and what an episode it was. The series may well be one of the best post-apocalyptic shows of all time, following a group of humans, nicknamed “Sky People” as they try to return to earth after being stuck in a Space Station for generations after a nuclear war wreaked havoc on the planet below.
I’m With Geek was fortunate enough to get an interview with the creator, executive producer and writer of the show, Jason Rothenberg. The first half was posted a few weeks and now we are pleased to announce the second half of this brilliant interview.
If you have yet to watch the latest episode, please be warned SPOILERS LOOM!
Obviously, the big cliff-hanger in the midseason finale was Finn’s death at the hands of Clarke. How will his death change both the show and Clarke’s character when it returns?
Obviously Finn’s death is going to be hugely impactful on everybody’s lives and it’ll be hugely important in terms of the relationship between the Grounders and the Sky People, and how that affects the bigger problem with the Mountain Men. But specifically with Clarke, it’s something that will haunt her forever, probably. She’s going to have to bury it, she’s going to have to figure out how to make peace with it, if she can, to get the job done. She did it for a reason: partially it was to spare Finn from the awful, torturous death that he would have experienced at the hands of the Grounders, but also, she has her eye on the ball. She has her eye on the mission, and that is to save those 44 or however many are remaining people in Mount Weather, her friends and colleagues from the first season. It’s all about saving their lives, it almost becomes an obsession with her. She will do anything in order to get that job done. The bigger question really for the entire season is how far will you go to get the job done. Is there a point at which you can do too much to save your people? That’s the overarching question. And once you do pass that line, that point of no return, then what? Can you come back from it? I think we’ll watch those themes play out hugely, certainly over the back half of season two and on into season three.
Will Finn’s death change the way other characters see Clarke, particularly Raven, Bellamy and Abby?
I would say that most people will see what Clarke did as something that had to be done because there was no other way. That was a mercy killing on some level. I don’t think Raven feels that way though. Raven will have a bigger problem. Clarke will have issues with Raven going forward that will need to be resolved, but the others probably respect her on some level, and begin to sort of revere her. The journey for Clarke this season is that she’s becoming the iconic leader. She became that at the end of season one for the hundred, but now it’s something bigger. She becomes almost a symbol.
Obviously Finn’s death is going to be hugely impactful on everybody’s lives and it’ll be hugely important in terms of the relationship between the Grounders and the Sky People, and how that affects the bigger problem with the Mountain Men. But specifically with Clarke, it’s something that will haunt her forever, probably. She’s going to have to bury it, she’s going to have to figure out how to make peace with it, if she can, to get the job done. She did it for a reason: partially it was to spare Finn from the awful, torturous death that he would have experienced at the hands of the Grounders, but also, she has her eye on the ball. She has her eye on the mission, and that is to save those 44 or however many are remaining people in Mount Weather, her friends and colleagues from the first season. It’s all about saving their lives, it almost becomes an obsession with her. She will do anything in order to get that job done. The bigger question really for the entire season is how far will you go to get the job done. Is there a point at which you can do too much to save your people? That’s the overarching question. And once you do pass that line, that point of no return, then what? Can you come back from it? I think we’ll watch those themes play out hugely, certainly over the back half of season two and on into season three.
Will Finn’s death change the way other characters see Clarke, particularly Raven, Bellamy and Abby?
I would say that most people will see what Clarke did as something that had to be done because there was no other way. That was a mercy killing on some level. I don’t think Raven feels that way though. Raven will have a bigger problem. Clarke will have issues with Raven going forward that will need to be resolved, but the others probably respect her on some level, and begin to sort of revere her. The journey for Clarke this season is that she’s becoming the iconic leader. She became that at the end of season one for the hundred, but now it’s something bigger. She becomes almost a symbol.
Do you think it’s really possible for the Grounders to maintain a truce with Camp Jaha given everything that has happened?
I think one of the characters will say this eventually, but you don’t make peace with your friends. It’s going to be rough, they’re going to have difficulty in terms of cultural differences. But they have a common enemy and a common goal, which is to get their people out of Mount Weather. Will that be enough to keep those two groups together? That’s really the thrust of the back half of the season. Finn’s death helps get us to a place where we can at least begin to believe it’s possible.
Obviously, that common enemy has been Mount Weather. One thing that is really interesting to watch with the Mount Weather storyline is the character of Dante, who seems to genuinely object to using the 47’s bone marrow. You can kind of see the parallels with Jaha where he is doing what needs to be done to save his people but not wanting to go too far. Could Jasper and the others maybe find an ally in Dante in trying to escape this?
I love Ray Berry, I love what he’s doing. It’s hard for me to be impartial, but it’s iconic what he’s doing. There’s a definite conflict within him. He’s drawn this line, he doesn’t want to – we call it getting boned – he doesn’t want to take their bone marrow. But that’s kind of an artificial line in terms of the moral questions, because he’s kind of existed his entire life on capturing this other group of people and putting them in this harvesting chamber, hanging them up on little meat hooks for God’s sake, draining their blood and tossing out their bodies like trash to be fed upon by Reapers. That’s something he’s condoned his entire life, but now suddenly he’s drawing this line, and it does make his character incredibly complicated and interesting. Will he become an ally to our heroes in Mount Weather? It’s a good question. He is someone who is complex and conflicted about what he is doing, and that is something that we will see continuing into the future. The original sin of Mount Weather is what they do to the Grounders, just as the original sin of America is slavery, and that’s something that they in Mount Weather can’t hide from. At the end of the day there’s going to be a reckoning. You’re right in that they do what they need to survive, and that’s the theme of the entire show. On the Ark, they had to do what they needed to to survive, as did the kids in season one. That’s what this show is about. Thematically, this season is about how far will you go to get your people back. If your cause is just, is there a point at which you can do too much to achieve that just goal?
I think one of the characters will say this eventually, but you don’t make peace with your friends. It’s going to be rough, they’re going to have difficulty in terms of cultural differences. But they have a common enemy and a common goal, which is to get their people out of Mount Weather. Will that be enough to keep those two groups together? That’s really the thrust of the back half of the season. Finn’s death helps get us to a place where we can at least begin to believe it’s possible.
Obviously, that common enemy has been Mount Weather. One thing that is really interesting to watch with the Mount Weather storyline is the character of Dante, who seems to genuinely object to using the 47’s bone marrow. You can kind of see the parallels with Jaha where he is doing what needs to be done to save his people but not wanting to go too far. Could Jasper and the others maybe find an ally in Dante in trying to escape this?
I love Ray Berry, I love what he’s doing. It’s hard for me to be impartial, but it’s iconic what he’s doing. There’s a definite conflict within him. He’s drawn this line, he doesn’t want to – we call it getting boned – he doesn’t want to take their bone marrow. But that’s kind of an artificial line in terms of the moral questions, because he’s kind of existed his entire life on capturing this other group of people and putting them in this harvesting chamber, hanging them up on little meat hooks for God’s sake, draining their blood and tossing out their bodies like trash to be fed upon by Reapers. That’s something he’s condoned his entire life, but now suddenly he’s drawing this line, and it does make his character incredibly complicated and interesting. Will he become an ally to our heroes in Mount Weather? It’s a good question. He is someone who is complex and conflicted about what he is doing, and that is something that we will see continuing into the future. The original sin of Mount Weather is what they do to the Grounders, just as the original sin of America is slavery, and that’s something that they in Mount Weather can’t hide from. At the end of the day there’s going to be a reckoning. You’re right in that they do what they need to survive, and that’s the theme of the entire show. On the Ark, they had to do what they needed to to survive, as did the kids in season one. That’s what this show is about. Thematically, this season is about how far will you go to get your people back. If your cause is just, is there a point at which you can do too much to achieve that just goal?
There have been a lot of high-profile deaths in the show so far. Looking back, are there any characters that you regret killing off?
No. It’s sad, and it’s hard for the audience, but I think that’s a good thing. I think it’s good when people experience that loss, and what it really does is it makes you feel like anybody can go at any time, so then you experience the drama as if it’s real and you don’t sit there watching it and say to yourself “that guy’s never gonna die in this episode because he’s one of the stars of the show” and so we don’t have that problem. Game of Thrones and The Walking Dead do that amazingly well, it’s not like we’re breaking ground on this, but maybe we are in terms of broadcast television. It makes the world and the stakes feel real. I don’t regret it creatively. I love what both Wells’ death in episode three of season one did for us, and going forward what the loss of Finn will do for us. I think that both of those were good creative decisions. Ultimately, it’s hard because I like both of those actors quite a bit, certainly Thomas (McDonnell, playing Finn), who was with us much longer than Eli (Goree, playing Wells). There would have been interesting stories to tell with those characters if they had been around, but the loss of those characters impacts the remaining people in ways that I think is positive in terms of the ledger. We get more than we lose from it.
No. It’s sad, and it’s hard for the audience, but I think that’s a good thing. I think it’s good when people experience that loss, and what it really does is it makes you feel like anybody can go at any time, so then you experience the drama as if it’s real and you don’t sit there watching it and say to yourself “that guy’s never gonna die in this episode because he’s one of the stars of the show” and so we don’t have that problem. Game of Thrones and The Walking Dead do that amazingly well, it’s not like we’re breaking ground on this, but maybe we are in terms of broadcast television. It makes the world and the stakes feel real. I don’t regret it creatively. I love what both Wells’ death in episode three of season one did for us, and going forward what the loss of Finn will do for us. I think that both of those were good creative decisions. Ultimately, it’s hard because I like both of those actors quite a bit, certainly Thomas (McDonnell, playing Finn), who was with us much longer than Eli (Goree, playing Wells). There would have been interesting stories to tell with those characters if they had been around, but the loss of those characters impacts the remaining people in ways that I think is positive in terms of the ledger. We get more than we lose from it.
What did you think of the events of the latest episode?
Will you miss Finn?
What predictions do you have for the rest of the series?
Let us know in the comments!
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