When The 100 debuted on the CW in 2014, it was a breath of fresh air for the network. Not much of the audience was familiar with the new series of books that inspired it. Much of the network's programming revolved around the Supernatural storylines of the Winchester Brothers, The Vampire Diaries, and, of course, the expanding Arrowverse.
With its post-apocalyptic setting and its science fiction premise of getting back to a potentially dangerous Earth for humanity's survival, The 100 sucked viewers in right away. With its seventh (and final) season, the series focused on the importance of unity — as it had through much of its run — but its setting included multiple planets beyond Earth. There was a lot to love about the final season, but also a lot that could have been changed to serve the story and the audience.
LOVE: The Return To Earth
The sixth season of the series took the audience far from Earth. Sanctum became the main setting, and season 7 added four more planets to the mix. Hopping from planet to planet thanks to the anomaly stones made for some varied storylines, but it was a nice touch to bring Earth back into play as well.
After humanity has been gone from the planet for 125 years, maybe even more thanks to time dilation, the planet had begun to heal from all the damage done. It's where the characters got to return and finally feel like they were home.
CHANGE: Sheidheda's Prolonged Survival
One of the biggest mistakes Indra made repeatedly in the season was not getting rid of the dark commander that caused so much trouble. In addition to wanting to go after Madi, Sheidheda held a grudge against Indra and wanted to control all of Sanctum. That should have all set off warning bells for her.
She initially couldn't execute him because she didn't want to make him a martyr. Indra, however, made the mistake of not only allowing people to continue believing he was Russell, but leaving him critically injured to die without making sure he was. It prolonged his life — and his sidelining of the bigger storyline — for much of the season.
LOVE: The Prequel Episode
Because of production shutdowns and delays due to COVID-19, many networks had to rethink their upcoming television seasons. Not all decisions have been made about which new shows could join the ranks. One of those potential series was a prequel for The 100.
The season 7 episode "Anaconda" gave the audience a glimpse at just what that prequel could include. In addition to main character Callie Cadogan, the daughter of the Second Dawn cult leader, there were also a lot of connections to Grounder culture that left fans intrigued.
CHANGE: Lengthy Character Separations
One common criticism of the season is that the main characters don't actually get to spend much time together. Indra, Emori, and Murphy are left to hold down the fort at Sanctum while Octavia and Echo end up on Bardo, and the rest of their friends are scattered all over the place.
The main group of characters that the audience has grown to love over the years spent most of the 16 episodes separated from one another. They didn't unite until the last batch of episodes, and even then, they weren't all on the same page. It was frustrating for the audience. Uniting them sooner would have done wonders.
LOVE: Murphy And Emori's Relationship
When the series first began, John Murphy was a bit of a scoundrel. He just did whatever he wanted. Slowly, that changed over the course of the show, and a big part of that change was him meeting Emori in the second season.
A lot of Murphy's "cockroach" behavior, as Raven would call it, was because he was afraid to die. He cared only about his own life. As his relationship with Emori matured, he cared more about her than himself, proving it time and again in the seventh season. Murphy frequently made sure Emori was in a position to save people while he made himself the bait or the distraction. They became one of the best relationships in the series.
CHANGE: Diyoza's Screen Time
From the moment she debuted in the fifth season, Diyoza was a fascinating character. She was someone who had already been through the same things as Octavia and Clarke. Diyoza had fought for her beliefs and been branded a terrorist for it.
Living isolated with her daughter Hope and "Aunty O" only reinforced Diyoza's belief that someone couldn't live the life she had forever. She wanted peace. Her relationship with Octavia, and her helping Octavia to grow, was one of the most compelling parts of the season. It's a shame Diyoza didn't get to feature for a little bit longer.
LOVE: Raven And Octavia Save The Day — A Lot
Since the beginning, Clarke has been seen as the show's hero, but that's not entirely true. Her actions haven't existed in a vacuum, and the final season really demonstrated that Raven and Octavia were just as heroic as Clarke; they just chose to do things a little differently.
Octavia, always the one caught between multiple groups, tried to find a way for humanity to unite. Before, she had used the guise of Blodreina to do horrible things in the name of unification. In the seventh season, she learned from those mistakes.
Raven, having been hard on Clarke for the last few seasons because of the other woman's violent decisions, was placed in a position where she had to carry out some dark deeds herself. It weighed on her, but the guilt only made Raven more certain that humanity deserved another chance.
CHANGE: Madi And Clarke's Final Scenes
When Clarke became a mother by adopting Madi at the end of the fourth season, she also became singularly focused. No one was as important as Madi, not even the rest of the human race. It's completely understandable for a mother to want to give her child the absolute best, but in the case of Clarke, she was blinded by her concern for Madi.
Clarke and Madi's final scenes in the seventh season were heartbreaking and didn't provide much closure for the audience. Clarke focused for so long on keeping Madi safe and creating a world Madi could grow up in only for all of that to vanish when the two fought about Madi giving the Disciples the information they needed. Madi didn't get to grow up as she became a member of the light beings' collective consciousness and chose to ascend. The future Clarke wanted for her daughter never even came to pass after all of their arguing and tragedy.
LOVE: Clarke Failed
There's one thing the audience knew for sure during the run of the show: no matter how many bad choices she made, Clarke Griffin was the hero. She was expected to succeed. Over the last few seasons, however, Clarke's choices became more selfish, and her attempt to take the final test for all humanity was a failure.
All of Clarke's bad decisions were born out of her idea that she bore the guilt so the others didn't have to. Clarke knew for a long time that the blood on her hands would come back to haunt her. If she passed the test after continually seeing the worst in humanity and allowing herself to become it, this wouldn't have made sense for the show.
CHANGE: Bellamy's End
The 100 was never shy about placing its main characters on opposite sides of a fight — or killing them. By placing Bellamy and Clarke on opposite sides in the final season, however, it made it more difficult to reconcile Bellamy potentially teaming up with her again.
Clarke decided that Bellamy was the biggest threat to Madi when he wanted to take the sketchbook of her memories to Cadogan. That was the last straw, and despite Bellamy's assurances that he would keep Madi safe, she shot him. How differently could the show have played out if Bellamy was by Madi's side when Cadogan dug around in her brain? Bellamy's presence would have been a welcome one in the final episodes.