The 100 has become quite the hit over the past few weeks; combination of Sci-Fi and Survivalist-style show that showcases the complexities of morality, realistic decisions, big picture problems and human relationships without dumbing things down, this show doesn’t pull punches, and it’s not afraid to get gritty!

But don’t make the mistake of calling it a Teen Love Triangle Drama!

Executive Producer, Jason Rothenberg:

JR: My answer about that is: obviously it’s going to complicate things, but the show is not about that. Ever. In my mind, the show is about survival. The darkness that people descend to in situations and when you’re worried about the guy who’s coming out of the woods to throw a spear at your chest or where your next meal is going to come from, you’re really not worried about who’s f*cking who. So that’s why frankly, (ref. episode 5) Clarke is upset, but she moves past it because she knows what’s really important and what’s really at stake. That to me one of the things that makes the show different for the network, is that I don’t play that “love triangle” as a foreground story, it’s fun, it’ll happen, it’s going to get messy and complicated and all that, but it’s always going to be secondary.

Courtney.K: You’ve definitely depicted a more realistic and bleak future than I expected!

JR: I talk about The Walking Dead and Game of Thrones all the time, those are my two favorite shows that are currently on; and that’s the kind of (direction) , I know we’re on Broadcast Television and it’s a little different we have Standards & Practices that are sort of stringent but the network is encouraging and Mark Pedowitz himself is like, (SPOILER ALERT: if you haven’t watched the 5^th episode) after we killed 300 people on The Ark in episode 5 I got an email from him saying “Great! But you guys could go darker” and I’m like ‘How much darker can you get??’

CK:WHAAAAAT?? Seriously!

JR: The thing that I’m excited about now is we’ve sort of rounded the bend in the story of the Season. At first it’s all about the Lord of the Flies dynamic; and it’s always in my mind been, ‘Are they going to be able to overcome their inner conflict with each other in time to save themselves from the bigger conflict that’s out there and coming.” At the end of 5, we see The Grounder, we really begin to tell THAT story now, hard. And by the end of the Season it’s like, Braveheart. Forget about it!

CK: How much conflict is there going to be between The Ark kids and The Grounders? Is there a sense of resentment from The Grounders left behind while everyone else was saved from the Nuclear Apocalypse that left Earth a wasteland?

JR: You could think of it as: WE are invading THEIR territory. We feel like they’re the bad guys because they are coming after “our” people, “our” characters, but we landed in their backyard! We are doing things that are perceived by them as provocative so they are attacking! That specific Grounder, he’s a warrior, you have to ask the question, it’s not like he’s just become a warrior to fight these kids that just landed from Space. They were fighting somebody else before the arrival. And all of that gets revealed! By the end of the season we’ll understand the dynamics on The Ground. Who’s out there, who’s good, who’s bad and who’s worse and who’s REALLY worse!

Honestly, it was such a great round table, it makes me really excited to see what path The 100 continues to take! It’s going to be exciting that’s for sure, and I’ll definitely be watching!!