The 100 is barreling towards its big conclusion, but not before pulling an Arrow by setting the stage for a potential spinoff. Like its superhero CW neighbor, The 100 is using a backdoor pilot to set up more sci-drama that could inspire a follow-up series. The 100’s showrunner, Jason Rothenberg, says the episode will also fulfill a promise.
If your curiosity is piqued, that is a good thing. The 100 will go back in time for the backdoor pilot airing tonight (July 8). For a quick refresher, the proposed prequel series takes place 97 years (not 100) before the original series, so the spinoff would actually be a prequel that would, accordingly enough, follow the initial survivors of 2052’s nuclear apocalypse on Earth.
When fans finally get to see the backdoor pilot’s peek at the past, they will also bear witness to The 100’s showrunner fulfilling a promise while also answering a lot of the fanbase's questions too. As for that promise, The 100’s showrunner, Jason Rothenberg, told TVLine:
Something I really wanted to do this season was to connect a lot of the dots, or fill in the blanks, whichever metaphor you want to use. We wanted to answer a lot of questions, including why the bunker was empty when they opened it in Season 4. I made a promise to John Pyper-Ferguson back in Season 4 that he was going to be involved with the show for more than that one episode. And I finally made that promise come true… three years later.
It took three years (and the show’s final season), but better late than never, right? Bill Cadogan portrayer John Pyper-Ferguson has to feel good about this. The ep will offer a deeper dive into Pyper-Ferguson’s character, who got first introduced back in The 100’s fourth season. Fans will meet Cadogan’s daughter Callie, playing by Iola Evans, and learn about that empty bunker.
Let us just hope that The 100’s backdoor pilot does not leave fans hanging with any newly introduced questions that can only be handled by a spinoff getting ordered to series. Waiting for answers is not fun. (Just ask those waiting to witness the fate of Arrow’s final season backdoor pilot, whose future remains to be seen.)
Ratings for The 100 have been a bit troublesome, so it will be interesting to see if the backdoor pilot goes the way of Supernatural, which had infamous trouble getting a spinoff off the ground, or The Vampire Diaries with its three-show franchise. Either way, it will be a chance for The 100 to tighten up its mythos and solve some long-simmering inquiries about The 100 itself.
The CW sci-fi drama is coming off of that Bellamy twist and Clarke’s reaction to it, so brace yourselves. The backdoor pilot should be an educational blast from the past as it will allow fans to dig even deeper into its core mythos. A better understanding of that could help with The 100's chances of prolonging its future.
If you think questions about the Season 4 bunker situation, along with Bill Cadogan and his daughter Callie, have been essential to learn the answer to, this will be the episode for you. As for fans hoping for happy endings when The 100 concludes, stay tuned. The 100’s showrunner has said it will be the drama’s “version” of one, but it's hard to tell exactly what that means at this point.
New episodes of The 100 air Wednesdays at 8 p.m. ET on The CW. The sci-fi drama is among this summer’s premieres. You can currently stream past seasons of The 100 on Netflix, along with lots of new 2020 content.
