The 100‘s epic post-apocalyptic world, compelling characters, and high-stakes plotlines made for some of the most gripping television in recent years. But what fans didn’t see was the drama, scandals, and accidents that occurred behind the scenes. From cast member firing to on-set injuries, there was no shortage of drama that played out off-camera during the show’s seven-season run. If you’re one of the fans who miss the show and want to know more about what happened behind the scenes, buckle up because we’re about to take you on a wild ride.
#1 Steve Talley’s firing
Talley recurred as Kyle Wick in the second season of The 100. Though Kyle was introduced as a love interest for Lindsey Morgan’s Raven Reyes, a potential romantic relationship between the two didn’t really happen, as Talley was seemingly fired from the series. Series creator Jason Rothenberg initially said that Talley was not returning to the series because “he’s a busy actor,” but it appeared that Talley was axed from the show after he was exposed for making racist comments on his Twitter account, which included an apparent joke about his pseudo-KKK membership. The Twitter account in question was not a verified account, but multiple actors and writers from the show had tweeted at it during Talley’s stay with the series.
#2 Bob Morley’s abusive behavior and cheating allegations
Morley, who played Bellamy Blake on the show, had been accused of abusive behavior by his former girlfriend, Arryn Zech. In a two-page statement that she posted on Twitter in July 2020, Zech claimed that the actor “emotionally and verbally abused” her.
In the since-deleted tweet, Zech said she was “gaslit, manipulated, and isolated” by Morley for three and a half years, admitting that there was a time when she thought that this would be the life she’d be living forever. “But then he cheated and ended it with me,” wrote Zech, “just as he’d cheated and ended it with his girlfriend before, with the same girl, no less.”
Though Zech didn’t name the “girl” that caused their split, several news outlets identified her as Morley’s now-wife Eliza Taylor, who plays Clarke Griffin on The 100. Morley and Eliza, who got married just four months after his split with Zech, allegedly had an affair when she and Morley were still together. Zech claimed she caught them having an affair on surveillance cameras.
#3 Eliza Clarke, Marie Avgeropoulos, and Dichen Lachman’s on-set accidents
Clark was injured while shooting the pilot, while Avgeropoulos, who plays Octavia Blake in the series, almost got one of her eyes poked out with a spear while doing an action scene. Dichen Lachman also had her fair share of injuries, as the actress, who recurred as Anya in the first two seasons of the show, got her nose broken while filming season 2, episode 3, titled Reapercussions.
#4 Bob Morley breaking his hand
Morley broke his hand while filming season 3, episode 11, titled Nevermore. Morley was meant to hit a tree, which unfortunately took a bad turn for him. It was up to him how hard he should hit the tree, but he went all out and broke his hand.
#5 Bob Morley damaging his vocal cords
Bob Morley suffered damage to his vocal cords after filming a scene at the end of season 1, in which his character was almost hanged by Richard Harmon’s John Murphy. This explains why his voice sounded a bit strained during his speech in the We Are Grounders – Part I episode.
#6 The 100’s Trigedasleng vs. Game of Thrones’ Valyrian
Trigedasleng, the language that the Grounders speak on The 100, has so many similarities with the Valyrian language from Game of Thrones that some fans quickly accused The CW series of just copying the fictional language from the hit HBO series. The similarities, however, lie in the fact that both fictional languages were created by linguist David Peterson.
#7 Richard Harmon admitting that sharing a scene with Jessica Harmon can be awkward
Though Richard and Jessica ― who recurs as Niyla on the show ― are siblings in real life, Richard revealed during a panel interview in 2018 that it can be very inconvenient for him to be in the same scene with Jessica. “We do have a lot of fun together as brother and sister but I wouldn’t be the same if we were both on set. I don’t work like that,” the actor said.
#8 Lindsey Morgan almost didn’t become part of the cast
Raven was a completely different character before Morgan joined the show. In an interview, Morgan revealed that the original iteration of Raven was removed from the first episode of the series, only to be reconceived for the second episode. “Raven was supposed to be Finn’s (Thomas McDonell) mother. They took her out of the pilot because I think it was too long. They were like, ‘Oh, we don’t need this character,’” the actress shared. “And then they decided to bring her back as his girlfriend. If you read the pilot script, it’s still in there.”
Morgan was only supposed to appear in five episodes and was meant to be killed off in the first season. But because fans love her character so much, the producers changed their original plan for the character and promoted Morgan as a series regular.
#9 Marie Avgeropoulos saying she’d miss the show big time
Avgeropoulos has had a number of dramatic scenes on the show, but it seems that the most heartbreaking thing she experienced during her The 100 journey was leaving the show without giving a proper goodbye to the entire cast and crew.
“There are a lot of things I’m going to miss about the show, especially because I feel like we didn’t get to send each other off,” Avgeropoulos told Wonderland Magazine in May. “We finished filming The 100 the day before the worldwide lockdown, and it felt like I spent seven years of my life playing Octavia Blake in an artificial post-apocalypse universe to walking straight into what feels like a real-life apocalypse. I didn’t get to say goodbye properly to my castmates or thank the writers and producers that gave me this opportunity that completely changed my life.”
About The 100
The CW’s hit sci-fi series, The 100, is one of the best TV shows that captured the attention of viewers with its intense survival story set in a post-apocalyptic world. The show, which premiered in 2014 and ran for seven seasons, followed a group of 100 juvenile delinquents sent from a space station to Earth 97 years after a nuclear apocalypse.
Premise
In The 100, the human race is on the brink of extinction due to a nuclear apocalypse. The only survivors are those who were aboard a space station called the Ark at the time of the disaster. The Ark is running out of resources, and the only way to ensure the survival of humanity is to send 100 juvenile delinquents to Earth to see if it is habitable. What they find is a world filled with danger and inhabited by various clans, like the Grounders, the Reapers, and the Mount Weather dwellers called Mountain Men.
Throughout the show’s seven-season run, the characters faced numerous challenges, including the struggle for resources, battles with the inhabitants of Sanctum, and the discovery of new groups such as the Primes and the Children of Gabriel.
Themes
The 100 tackled many themes throughout its run, including survival, leadership, morality, alliance, betrayal, and the consequences of one’s actions. The show also explored the concept of power and its corrupting influence, as well as the idea of belonging and identity. Another theme that was central to the show was the idea of sacrifice and what one is willing to give up to save others.
Cast
The 100 had a talented and diverse cast, including Eliza Taylor as Clarke Griffin, Bob Morley as Bellamy Blake, Paige Turco as Dr. Abby Griffin, Christopher Larkin as Monty Green, Marie Avgeropoulos as Octavia Blake, Lindsey Morgan as Raven Reyes, Richard Harmon as John Murphy, Isaiah Washington as Chancellor Thelonious Jaha, and Henry Ian Cusick as Marcus Kane.
The show also introduced new characters throughout its run, such as Charmaine Diyoza (Ivana Milicevic), Sheidheda (JR Bourne), Madi Griffin (Lola Flanery), Adina Porter (Indra), Alica Debnam-Carey (Lexa), Shannon Kook (Jordan Green), Tasya Teles (Echo), and Shelby Flannery (Hope Diyoza).
Standout episodes
The 100 had many memorable episodes throughout its run. Below are some of them:
- Pilot, the show’s first episode, set the tone for the series and introduced viewers to the main characters.
- We Are Grounders, Part 2, the season one finale, featured a tense battle between the Sky People and Grounders.
- Thirteen, an episode in season 3, revealed the backstory of Lexa (Alycia Debnam-Carey) and the Flame.
- Die All, Die Merrily, an episode in season 4, featured a brutal fight for survival in the fighting pits of Polis.
- The Dark Year, an episode in season 5, explored the dark history of Wonkru and the choices leaders make during times of crisis.
- Anaconda, an episode in season 7, served as a backdoor pilot for a then-planned prequel series. The episode takes place 97 years before the events of the first season and focuses on the Second Dawn, a doomsday cult led by Bill Cadogan (John Pyper-Ferguson).
- Hesperides, an episode in season 7, revealed the anomaly is a bridge to other habitable worlds. It is a wormhole and a transit system that connects Sanctum, Skyring, Bardo, Nakara, Etherea, and Earth in the Milky Way Galaxy.
- The Queen’s Gambit, an episode in season 7, revealed the truth about the Primes, the mysterious leaders of Sanctum who have been resurrecting themselves by using the bodies of other people. In the episode, Emori (Luisa D’Oliveira) tried to heal Sanctum’s old familial wounds.
- The Last War, the series finale, featured the final battle to save humanity.
Who created The 100?
Loosely based on the young adult novel series of the same name by Kass Morgan, The 100 was developed for television by Jason Rothenberg, who also served as an executive producer throughout the show’s run.
Over the course of the show’s seven seasons, the showrunners and executive producers changed several times. For the first four seasons, Rothenberg served as the showrunner alongside executive producers Leslie Morgenstein and Gina Girolamo. In season 5, Rothenberg continued as showrunner, but Morgenstein and Girolamo were replaced by new executive producers Kim Shumway and Jae Marchant. In season six, Shumway became the showrunner, with Rothenberg stepping back to an executive producer role.
For the seventh and final season, Rothenberg returned as showrunner and was joined by executive producers Leslie Morgenstein and Kim Shumway. In addition, several other executive producers worked on the show at various times, including Elizabeth Craft, Sarah Fain, and Aaron Ginsburg.