The 100 gained a massive following over the course of its seven-season run on the CW, so why did The 100 season 8 never happen, and was it canceled? Did the series come to its natural end? Or were there outside circumstances that led to its cancelation? Here is the real reason behind why The 100 final season was the show’s last, and its impact on the series finale. The 100 takes place nearly 100 years after a nuclear war destroyed all civilizations on Earth. The spaceship housing humanity’s survivors send 100 of its juvenile delinquents back to Earth in the hope of repopulating the planet. But when the group makes it to Earth, they quickly realize that they are not alone. Under the leadership of two of their own, Clarke and Bellamy, the group fights for their survival in a desperate attempt to establish communication with their ship.
This simple yet intriguing premise was spun into seven seasons of deep plot and character development, aptly lasting for 100 episodes. All too often, TV showrunners don’t get to end their shows on their own terms. Networks regularly cancel television shows due to declining ratings or other logistical issues behind the scenes. Or, conversely, they stay in the game for way too long, resulting in overly contrived plot points and exhausted audiences. However, fortunately, neither of these scenarios was the case for The 100 final season. Showrunner Jason Rothenberg was lucky enough to end the show when he wanted and, more importantly, how he wanted, even if that meant no The 100 Season 8.
Why The 100 Season 7 Was The Last One
In May 2020, Rothenberg told Collider that The 100 season 7 was the right time to finally end The 100: “It’s a long time to be telling the story of one group of characters… We also didn’t want to overstay our welcome and be a show that was making episodes into Season 10 and 12, and beyond, just to do it.” He went on to say that he assumed the studio would have allowed them to continue into The 100 season 8 if he desired, but seven seasons already felt like a long time to tell a story about one group of people. Rothenberg explained that The 100 final season was incredibly close to what he envisioned from the get-go. Given the ways in which a show changes on a season-by-season basis, this may not have happened if The 100 continued beyond the creator’s intended end.
This enabled Rothenberg to create a series finale for The 100 that, while wasn’t perfect, honored the show’s original message and core themes. The 100 season 7 was largely considered polarizing, especially when it came to Raven and Clarke’s story. However, with the series finale, got his message across. Humanity is messy but always has the opportunity for improvement. As Rothenberg ended The 100 final season the way he always pictured, this final theme of humanity’s messy potential feels like something he’d been working toward for seven seasons. Rothenberg might have never gotten the chance to share his final message if The 100 didn’t end at the exact moment it did.
Why The 100 Ending On Season 7 Worked
The 100 series finale was a satisfying conclusion that very few other shows get, especially one that has been running as long as The 100 has. Most of the characters (outside of Clarke and Raven) got a fitting end to the character arcs, as Murphy and Emori ended up together, Octavia redeemed herself after being a brutal dictator, and Hope finds peace after killing her own mother. All these endings worked perfectly, but The 100 had the most satisfying ending because it provided an answer to what the whole series had left a mystery, whether or not humanity could survive back on Earth, and the answer is yes, even if it is just a small group of people.
Why The 100 Stopping Before Season 8 Was A Mistake
However, while the series ending how its creator originally intended is great for any show, Rothenberg ending the series before The 100 series 8 was arguably a mistake. Why The 100 ended has been thoroughly explained by Rothenberg, but the series should have continued, or season 7’s narrative should have been stretched over multiple seasons. So much information was thrown at the audience in The 100 season 7 that required major suspension of disbelief, such as the introduction of extraterrestrial life and higher beings. However, if that was gradually revealed over a few seasons, it would have been much better ironed out and had a clear endgame, as opposed to an out-of-character Clarke mercilessly gunning down Disciples.
What The 100’s Cast Did Next
The 100 cast went on to have illustrious careers after The 100‘s final season. Eliza Taylor (Clarke Griffin) had a one-off on Seth McFarlane’s sci-fi series The Orville as Dr. Villka. She also has two other projects in the works, It Only Takes a Night, and I’ll Be Watching. Marie Avgeropoulos (Octavia Blake) has several projects that are in pre-production and post-production, but she most recently appeared in Jiu Jitsu as Myra. Bob Morely (Bellamy Blake) is currently playing Nate in the TV series Limbo, which is in the filming process, and also played Peter in the TV miniseries Love Me.
Ricky Whittle (Lincoln) has had some success in television, as he is now playing Shadow Moon in American Gods. Lindsey Morgan (Raven Reyes) moved on to the Walker: Texas Ranger reboot Walker as Micki Ramirez, taking a brief hiatus from acting after. Richard Harmon (John Murphy) has had a number of roles since appearing on The 100. Most notably, he played Owen Mercer/Captain Boomerang on an episode of The Flash. Harmon also had a stint on Fakes playing the character Tryst. Finally, Paige Turco went on to play Nicole in Books of Blood, after The 100 season 7. The rest of The 100 cast has also continued acting.
Is Jason Rothenberg Working On A New Show After The 100?
For a while, The 100‘s final season wasn’t technically the end, as there was a prequel in the mix instead of The 100 season 8. Unfortunately, the idea was scrapped. The prequel itself was planned for two years before getting axed in 2021. The 100 prequel series was going to be set 97 years before the original, during the end of the world. The 100 prequel show would’ve seen a nuclear apocalypse wipe out most of the Earth save for a band of survivors who come together to live in a now-dangerous world while trying to rebuild from the ashes. Showrunner Jason Rothenburg made a backdoor pilot during The 100 season 7, which was greenlit in October 2019. Unfortunately, the series has been canned, and The 100 creator Jason Rothenberg has nothing else planned.
