The 100 producer Jason Rothenberg breaks down the show’s new season

The CW The 100 is a Trojan in regard to television programs. Invite viewers with the promise of the action adventure ALREADY post-apocalyptic, and then sneaks in impossible moral riddles, built around a simple thesis: "Who we are and who we should be to survive are very different." The show is ready 97 years after a nuclear apocalypse, when the descendants of the survivors who live aboard a group of international orbital stations discover that their home is running out of oxygen. The human race is headed for extinction if they can not return to Earth. Then to determine if the planet is survivable, they send their most expendable population, their juvenile delinquents.

The good news is that Earth is survivor. The bad news is that it is populated by warrior and tribal descendants of those left after the bombs fell. Those survivors have transformed ancient technology into a brutal and bloody religion that is particularly hostile to outsiders. Each new season of the show is an independent chapter that tests the limits of human resilience and moral relativism.

The fourth season ended in 2017, with a second environmental apocalypse that dispersed the characters. The fifth season, which was launched at the end of April 2018, begins six years later and concentrates on re-joining them slowly. The premiere, "Eden", tells the discovery of a valley that somehow prevented the new calamity. The trip to him is difficult and unique for the female protagonist, Clarke Griffin. This raised some interesting writing and production challenges for executive producer Jason Rothenberg.

"First of all, there is no dialogue, so we are writing the script, and there is only one description for endless and endless pages," says Rothenberg. "Of course there is a voiceover, but a voiceover is something that I tend to write as a continuous monologue, it was a challenge, it was exciting, like writing a movie, and in terms of production, it's also totally different. , we took a small skeletal team, the rover, and Eliza [Taylor, who plays Clarke] to a place called Ashcroft, about a hundred miles from Vancouver.We were literally in a place devastated by a forest fire.That is why there is a lot of scope for that series of scenes It was tragic for the area, but it turned out to be beneficial for the series because it feels like a world that has just gone out It's something that gives you a premiere episode, because you have a little more money, a little more time , etc. "

In The fifth season of the 100 Rothenberg plans to change the dynamics of the character tremendously, both in flashbacks and in the current story. Since season 2, the relationship between Octavia (Marie Avgeropoulos) born in space and Grora (Adina Porter) has been one of the nuclei of the show. Like many characters in The 100 began in a confrontational relationship, and finally found mutual trust and love. By the end of the fourth season, they have developed a mother / daughter style bond. The last episode of season 5, "Red Queen", examines their relationship as Indra's birth daughter, Gaia (Tati Gabrielle).

"Episode 2 was an episode really, very difficult to do well, and it took a long time," says Rothenberg. "We broke it, relaunched it and relaunched it again, for me it was important to have Indra with these, almost two daughters, and at the beginning of 502, the way [Indra is] tries to guide Octavia is to rub his real daughter, Gaia, In the course of the season, that continues, Indra's trip this season is really interesting, and finally, he will have to count on what he has created in Octavia, Gaia also plays an important role in that. that people need a commander, but their beliefs are firmly rooted in the tradition of the Flame [an AI the grounders worship as a cornerstone of their religion] so it will not just stand still and let someone be a false commander "





Courtesy of The CW [19659008]" I think Tati found levels as an actress, "says Rothenberg. "She is very young and, therefore, naturally good, but we press to put her on the ground even in her voice We need her to feel that she has this weight and authority beyond her short years on the planet She is one to look at. She's special. "

In addition to telling a well-crafted, brutal and thematically rich story," Red Queen "is also a farewell to one of the original cast members. In May of 2017, shortly after the end of the fourth season, the news came that Isaiah Washington would not return as a main character in the show. Washington plays Thelonious Jaha, fallen leader of Sky People, born in space. "I really wanted the last episode of Jaha to be shocking, emotional and special," says Rothenberg. "I feel Jaha's pairing with Octavia was surprising and surprising."

Another focal point for The 100 is the connection between the co-directors Clarke and Bellamy (Bob Morley). When asked if there was additional pressure to correct the meeting between Bellamy and Clarke ("Bellarke"), Rothenberg laughs. "There's always pressure to get all okay, so I did not feel more with that," he says. "It's a responsibility for two of the most important characters in the show, obviously Bellamy believes that Clarke is dead – for that reason alone, we know that the meeting will be powerful, but because of the way this program is, it moves so fast that there's no time to talk about what it really means, the story keeps moving forward, and the conflict is in full flight, and they have to keep moving forward, I feel it's a big meeting, of course, complicated by how different they are now. "

The fifth season of The 100 is broadcast on Tuesdays at 9PM at The CW. The last five episodes are available for free streaming on The CW's website .

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