When we visited the set of The CW’s The 100 last fall, no one would spill too many secrets, but we did get a chance to chat with Bob Morley and Marie Avgeropoulos, who portray siblings Bellamy and Octavia Blake, respectively. While there are many twists and turns ahead, one thing is certain: the more things change, the more they stay the same.
If at first (or tenth) you don’t succeed, move to a new planet and try again? That’s pretty much the new mindset on the show, which returns Tuesday, April 30th with their sixth season. Last year, the show drastically rebooted itself (again) when the remnants of humanity finally succeeded in making earth unlivable for anyone and hopped into cryosleep to follow the tracks of their forebearers to a new, hopefully better planet.
The season five finale saw the emotional departure of Monty and Harper, who elected to stay awake and be happy together and help their friends to find a new world. It was a rare happy ending for a pair on the show, even with their decision to also freeze their son, Jordan (Shannon Kook), who will now join the main adventure as the fractured remnants investigate their new digs. It was a big leap, even for a show that’s nuked humanity multiple times.
The season six premiere sees a disparate group of survivors heading down to the ground of the new planet (called either Alpha or Sanctum, depending on who you ask) to see if they can make a life there, while others fight to survive and overcome years of conflict above. If that sounds familiar, that’s because it’s a pretty conscious echo of the original pilot of the show. The characters themselves are well aware that they’re repeating history, but this time they want to take Monty’s final admonition to “do better here” to heart.
Bob Morley as Bellamy in The CW’s The 100. (image: Katie Yu/The CW)
“The exciting thing about this season is there’s a whole kind of new adventure and a whole new group of people,” Morley shared. “Bellamy obviously has ties to spacekru,” but there are new people to work with, both old friends and former adversaries. “It’s very much about exploring this new world, it’s not necessarily old alliance that are hanging around as much.”
This includes Clark (Eliza Taylor), who, along with Bellamy, serves as a de facto leader as the survivors explore the planet—not that anyone is happy about that, given how Clark sold many of her friends out last year and her noted history of leading people into terrible death. Clark and Bellamy “still have to kind of resolve what went down last season,” Morley said, which was A Lot.
“They have to figure out a way to be able to get through that … It’s really taking in that mantra from Monty,” which was, simply, to be the good guys for once. “It’s a work in progress, as it is for most seasons—that challenge of trying to do the right thing and even trying to define what the right thing is.”
Things are also strained with Octavia, what with her transformation last season into a brutal and bloodthirsty “Red Queen” that managed to lead Wonkru into a slaughter and alienate … everyone. Avgeropoulos summed it up succinctly: “There’s a lot of animosity towards Octavia.” Understatement.
“Octavia didn’t want to become the red queen,” Avgeropoulos added, explaining that Octavia did what she felt had to be done to keep her people alive. The consequences of those decisions will certainly haunt her as season six starts, and the journey won’t be easy.
“Octavia spends a lot of time this season dealing with her own inner demons,” Avgeropoulos said, adding, “The group also has a lot of ill feelings towards Octavia.” When asked about the brother-sister relationship with Bellamy, Avgeropoulos replied with a hearty “oof!” before adding, “This season will be very interesting for Bellamy and Octavia, since they were at such odds last year.”
Marie Avgeropoulos as Octavia in The CW’s The 100. (image: Diyah Pera/The CW)
Morley agreed, saying, “It takes some time to even be able to address the situation between the two of them, and I think they both have a lot of their own healing they have to do before they can even start to speak to each other on terms where it’s amicable.” Then again, as Morley noted, the relationship has “never really been that healthy,” but Avgeropoulos countered that: “That’s the fun part about The 100, it’s all these unhealthy relationships, and how they cope.”
Coping is probably a generous term for how people are doing as they wake up from one hundred years on ice to explore a new planet with new dangers and new threats—and boy are there threats. The planet itself is pretty hostile in surprising ways we can’t spoil, but there’s also the matter of its occupants, descended from the colonists that blazed the trail our heroes followed there.
Later in the season, we’ll meet Russel, played by genre favorite J.R. Bourne. Though the terrain still looks like beautiful British Columbia, the new planet exists in a binary system, in view of a red and a yellow sun, which causes … complications. Morley ominously teased, “It definitely has an effect on the planet when there’s the eclipse, and the people living there.”
“This planet is completely different from the earth that we knew before,” Avgeropoulos expanded, saying, “There’s a lot of challenges that come with this planet.” But she’s interested in how this season will focus on more “sci-fi elements.”
While there’s five seasons of backstory and betrayals to catch up with, season six does seem to represent a fresh start for The 100, and possibly a good place for new fans to jump in. It will also feel like a reboot for established fans, as well. “It does feel like the show is being recreated,” Morley said. “It’s once again building a world … It’s different for sure, but it’s exciting.”
Avgeropoulos agreed, noting that on this show, “The story … changes completely every season.” This isn’t the first reboot or time jump The 100 has done, and fans old and new can rest assured that the core relationships and drama of the show are still there on season six. “It’s another rebirth onto another world,” Avgeropoulos teased, and it will definitely be an adventure.
The 100 season six premiere Tuesday, April 30th at 9:00 pm on The CW.
(featured image: The CW)
Jessica Mason is a writer and lawyer living in Portland, Oregon passionate about corgis, fandom, and awesome girls. Follow her on Twitter at @FangirlingJess.
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