I’m always cautiously optimistic that each new CW series I review will impress me with its originality.
And I’m always disappointed.
It’s not much different with “The 100,” which premieres March 19 on the network known for good-looking young actors (no protagonist over 25) battling (insert genre here) and falling in love — all underscored by a moody, acoustic-driven soundtrack.
And while “The 100” doesn’t stray far from this formula, it does boast a unique plot contrivance that — if given room to grow — could differentiate this series from its homogenous CW stablemates.
But that’s a big “if.”
“The 100” opens 97 years after a nuclear war obliterated all life on Earth — save for 400 people living on 12 space stations at the time of the apocalypse. Now, three generations later, the space stations are linked together into one ginormous “Ark” housing 4,000 people, all of whom have lived their entire lives in space.
With the Ark in danger of dying out in a few months’ time and killing everyone on board (due to some unspecified design flaw) its leader, The Chancellor (Isaiah Washington), orders 100 of its prisoners (all over 18) to be sent back down to Earth to see if the planet is inhabitable — either sacrificing themselves or becoming life-saving hero pioneers.
Among “The 100” who (forcibly) make the journey are The Chancellor’s one-legged son, Wells (Eli Goree); Clarke (Eliza Taylor), the teenage daughter of the Ark’s chief medical officer, Abby (Paige Turco); daredevil Finn (Thomas McDonnell); and the brother/sister team of Bellamy (Bob Morley) and Octavia (Marie Avgeropoulos).
The show picks up a bit of steam once the prisoners’ space craft crash-lands on Earth, and “The 100” — OK, “The 98,” since two are killed on impact — are now freed from their previous constraints and experience life on land for the very first time. They divide into groups a la “Lord of the Flies,” meaningful glances are exchanged and, yes, even love is in the (radiated) air for several of them.
I’ll say this: if all life on Earth really was obliterated only 97 years before, it’s made a remarkable comeback. The forests are lush (with glow-in-the-dark plant life) and the air breathable, somewhat surprising given the huge levels of radiation you’d expect from a catastrophic nuclear war. There are nods to the life-destroying apocalypse and its fallout — a grazing deer has two (genetically mutated) faces, and there’s some ferocious, other-worldly aquatic life — but otherwise these kids could be hiking in the present-day Rocky Mountains.
The acting here is OK, given the material and its constraints. And, of course, since it’s The CW, there’s a gratuitous semi-disrobing scene (no nudity, but enough to titillate the 14-year-old boys who’ll be watching).
I just can’t shake the feeling that I’ve seen it all before — and that “The 100” is another piece of The CW’s generic series puzzle.