By: J.D.
The 100 has consistently proven itself against a lot of odds. Starting off rather weak in the first season, it was gone to incredible lengths to become one of the best shows (in my opinion) on television. Its a show that has repeatedly challenged the morals of its characters in gruesome ways you don't find on regular television. While the season 3 premiere isn't perfect, it starts setting up what could be the most heartbreaking, and terrific, season yet.
Starting 3 months after the destruction of Mt. Weather, life for the Sky People has begun to return to semi-normal. They (finally) have a truce with the grounders, and are starting to rebuild their society. The 100 has always excelled in world building, and this episode continues this trend. Everything just looks so real, especially for a CW show. It feels like this is a world actually being lived in, as opposed to a set for a television series. Its this immersion that really lets The 100 stand out from the crowd.
Other highlights of the premiere are an RV trip with Bellamy, Raven, and the gang going on an expedition. Jamming out to an old MP3 made me light up with a smile. Its small moments like these that we remember that these are just kids. While they have been through hell and back, they still have time for a little bit of fun. Jasper is still recovering from the disaster at Mt. Weather and music seems to be his outlet. He has become a drunk, and quite a few times during the episode he has violent freak-outs, which would normally be out of a character for such a mild guy.
Jaha and Murphy also have problems of their own searching for the City of Light. Being locked in a room for 83 days would be enough to torture anyone, and you could see the toll it took on Murphy. Finding out that Jaha was the man who imprisoned him in their probably didn't help either. This led to loads of tension when Jaha claimed he had found the City of Light, and all Murphy had to do was take a little pill esque thing, which he refused. The City of Light is easily one of the biggest mysteries of this series, and being able to access it with apparently just a pill made it that more intriguing.
During the 3 month transition, Clarke has also changed quite a bit. Being hunted by practically everyone (and i mean everyone), she has no choice but to hide, except showing her face to one shopkeeper which she does trading with. This leads to a very cool scene about the shopkeeper lying about Clarke's identity to protect her, because the shopkeeper definitely has a crush. This is all in vain, unfortunately, because the men looking for her wait outside the shop for her.
While not the strongest season premiere ever, this is an episode thats lays the foundations for the season to come. There i still so much mystery surrounding the City of Light, the instability of Jasper after his girlfriends death, and the hunt for Clarke, that i can already see this season becoming another great edition into CW's stellar lineup.