Among the better series to debut this Spring was CW's The 100. The sci-fi drama was featured with a panel at Comic-Con last week, and we had the opportunity to sit with the cast and creator Jason Rothenberg to talk about what's ahead. Everyone was careful to avoid major spoilers, but we were able to get some interesting tidbits about Season 2.
Just as a refresher, when Season 1 left off -- spoilers if you aren't caught up, obviously -- people on the Ark returned to Earth, while the fight between the 100 and the Grounders leads to chaos, possibly some major casualties, and the capture of Anya, Clarke, Monty and others. The season ended with Clarke waking up in some kind of secured facility. Monty is locked up in the room across the hall. The place is called "Mount Weather Quarantine Ward" and that's about all we know about it so far. But it sounds like Season 2 will fill us in on this mysterious place.
Mount Weather will be revealed right away - Jason Rothenberg says Season 2 picks up with Clarke at Mount Weather. The clip that was shown during the panel reveals Clarke's reaction to being incarcerated, and from the sound of it, it's a very drastic (and violent) one. The clip cuts out with Clarke getting to see what's outside that facility. So it sounds like we won't have to wait look to see where she is.
Multiple stories will converge. - Season 1 left off with the characters divided in the end, with some being locked up at Mount Weather, some coming down from space, and some elsewhere. Jason Rothenberg says reunions are a key storyline in Season 2.
Expect more politics and a focus on different societies - "We're going to explore how they all relate and who stands where," Devon Bostick says, referring to the different societies featured within the series. "What's really going on here. What do the mountain men do? What are the Grounders all about? Who are they?"
The Ark is basically gone, but Mount Weather is kind of like an underground spaceship - In terms of the tone of the series, and the contrast between Earth and elsewhere, it sounds like the underground facility will replace the ark. "We'll have a similar cutting device, where we can cut from the wild untamed Earth and this claustrophobic environment in Mount Weather, which is really what the ship was last year. So, it feels like the same show, it's just a very different place that we're going to."
We'll learn about the other groups... and a war that's going on.
It sounds like Lincoln and Octavia's story will better introduce us to some of the other societies in this world, the Grounders included. "We're going to see the Grounders through Lincoln's eyes and through Octavia's eyes," Ricky Whittle tells us. "And that's going to help us get into the world and help the audience learn more about this culture. We aren't necessarily evil, we aren't necessarily bad as Grounders. As in any society, you have good people and you have bad. You have people who want will peace and people who won't want peace."
Whittle also mentioned that we'd be getting to know the "Boat People" and the Mountain Men better in Season 2. "Through Lincoln and Octavia, you're going to learn more about the world that the 100 have landed in and the war that's currently going on."
"Octavia is headed toward definitely morphing into a Grounder," Marie Avgeropoulos says. "You're going to see what the real Grounders have to say about that, and if and when they accept her with open arms or not. And her people are going to have opinions about her doing that as well."
At some point, we might get to see a flashback of when the space stations come together to form the ark. - Jason Rothenberg says he really wants to tell the story about the space stations coming together, but it's an expensive story, so he's not sure when it'll happen.
Raven's in for a different kind of breakdown.
In Season 1, Raven was challenged emotionally. Lindsay Morgan says that, "In Season 2 already, she's challenged with a different kind of breakdown." She wouldn't say what kind, but we're wondering if it's some kind of a physical situation.
"I think it's fascinating because Raven is such a capable person. Always in control, always knows what to do," Morgan goes on. "I think it's fascinating watching someone like that get confronted with new obstacles and challenges and having to really find in her soul, 'how do I beat this?' So, she may be broken, but I think it's a beautiful thing because you get to see her rebuild herself. And you're going to see that in a new light in Season 2."
Season 2 will be even darker - Ricky Whittle credits CW and WB for letting the series push the line in the first season, noting how dark the series is by comparison to some of the other shows on the network. And from the sound of it, Season 2 will be even darker. "It's really exciting," Whittle tells us. "It's going to go really dark. But we're going to keep it real."
Big twists ahead! - "We're going to keep flipping it on its head," Ricky Whittle teased. And later, Marie Avgeropoulos also hinted at a potential twist, saying, "What you think is happening, it's the complete opposite." She went on to talk about some of the other groups of people involved in Season 2. "You're going to meet a whole new group of people that survived, or not, the radiation and the effects of the nuclear apocalypse. And The 100 also has the adults that came down." Avgeropoulous says we'll get to see how the adults who came down deal with their new surroundings.
We'll get more of Murphy's story - Jason Rothenberg says there's a bit more to Murphy than we realize. "There are certain people like Murphy who I feel on some level was undeserved as a character last year. Who was just purely a douche bag and this year, we're going to start to peel the layers and understand him and figure out that there's a reason why he is the way he is. And maybe some people, when they hear that story -- not a flashback -- will sympathize. They can never trust him, but maybe they can understand him. That's the goal."
Clarke and her mother may not recognize one another if/when they reunite. - Will Clarke reunite with her mother? "I think they will. They must," Eliza Taylor says. "I think it would be really interesting to see if they did. Because there's a lot of tension there, but also they've both changed so much individually. It will be interesting to see if they recognize one another because they've just been through so much."
Wait, are they really incarcerated? - "We're kind of incarcerated again, or are we?" Devon Bostick notes, referring to Mount Weather. Is he just teasing us, or is there some kind of twist at work here?
Get ready to be on the edge of your seat! - We've heard Season 2 will be darker, and from what Lindsay Morgan says, it sounds like it'll be even more suspenseful too, "If you think Season 1 was nuts, Season 2 is definitely... get ready!"
Bonus trivia! Why did Ricky Whittle ask for fewer lines? What part of preparing for the role makes Eliza Taylor cry? And was Raven supposed to die in Season 1? Those questions answered after the jump!
Ricky Whittle asked for fewer lines for Lincoln
Whittle spoke about bulking up for the role of Lincoln, and working with a vocal coach to master an American accent. But when it came down to it, he preferred fewer lines for his character, in an effort to keep up the mystique and keep everything in his eyes. "I spoke with the producers and the writers about cutting down his dialogue. As an actor, you want to speak more, but I was like 'no, I don't want dialogue.' Keep that mystique, keep him silent. He doesn't need to answer you. Lincoln's going to go this way, they're going to argue. I'm not going to explain to you why I'm going this way. I'm going to go this way, if you follow, you follow. If you don't, you're probably going to die. But I don't care, I'm going this way. It's that sort of mystique that I wanted to keep."
Raven was supposed to die in Season 1 - Lindsay Morgan lived in a hotel for months because Raven wasn't supposed to survive the first season. Morgan talked about the risks the writers took with the character, saying, "I think that's a big reason why they really kept pushing her in every episode, because this one could have been her last, this one could have been her last, this one could have been her last. So the Bellamy hookup was so shocking and so raw and vulnerable for her. I think they wanted to push the character of Raven because she was supposed to die in the next episode, so that's kind of let's see what she can do, let's go all out if this is the end."
Eliza Taylor's working on her physicality. Taylor says she's very girly and Clarke isn't, so she's trying to work on her physical behavior. Taylor's cried in training sessions because she doesn't like running.
The 100 returns for Season 2 on Wednesday, October 22 on CW.
