WFB at Comic Con 2016 – Interviews with “The 100”

As many of you already know from our “Supernatural” interviews, Nightsky and I attended San Diego Comic Con this year.  We were there as members of the press, my eighth year in a row, but the very first year for Nightsky.  Was her mind blown with the amount of press rooms and celebrities we got to interview and meet? Oh yes.  It was fun to watch.  🙂  But this also meant that we came home with gads of interviews and material about not only “Supernatural” but many other shows too, especially those featuring “Supernatural” alumni like “The Magicians,” “Frequency,” and “Timeless.”  

After putting a lot of this material together, we decided it was too good not to share on The Winchester Family Business.  If you think about it, these other shows can be connected to “Supernatural” in some way.  They can be connected by former actors, fellow shows filmed in Vancouver, or just sister shows in the Warner Brothers family.  They all fit somehow, so they will be getting some attention here.

This is also to kick off a new feature you’ll be seeing more as the new TV season progress, “The Extended Family.”  “Supernatural” has gotten way bigger than it’s own realm.  Creative people who were one way or another involved with SPN are now expanding out to other shows, and we thought it would be interesting to share their projects as well.   Or you might see news and reviews about shows friendly with “Supernatural” actors like “Arrow,” “The Flash,” and “Legends of Tomorrow.” Actualy, the rules are kind of loose.  One thing is for sure, “Supernatural’s” influence in the TV world is a lot larger than you think.


For our first feature, Nightsky and I were honored to be part of the press room of one of my favorite shows – featured promeninently on our sister site TV For The Rest of Us – “The 100”. This is a show filmed in Vancouver and produced by Warner Brothers.  

Overview – “The 100”

For those not familiar with the show, “The 100” takes place 97 years in the future.  Much of the earth was destroyed by nuclear bombs and the survivors are living in space on a station known as “The Ark.”  The space station is dying though, so 100 juvenile dilequents are sent to earth in hopes that they discover earth is survivable and ready re-colonization.  

That was pretty much the Pilot, which was awesome.  This premise has opened up a world of possibilities story wise, and this show has been able to develop very complex, very exciting, and very emotional stories as a result.  The plotting is very serialized, which works to its advantage given it’s shorter seasons.  Season one only had 13 episodes, seasons two and three each had 16 episodes.  Because of the show’s serial nature and appeal to younger viewers, it has become one of the most popular shows on Netflix for The CW.  

Another reason for the popularity of “The 100” is it’s strong female characters.  The lead character is a young woman who has been forced to take charge almost immediately after hitting the ground, Clarke Griffin (played by Eliza Taylor).  She is surrounded by her headstrong mother, one of the leaders of The Ark, Abby Griffin (played by the very versatile and awesome Paige Turco).  Two of her friends in the core group, Raven (Lindsey Morgan) and Octavia (Marie Avgeropoulos) also are female characters with important roles.  Then there’s the leader of the “Grounders” (those that were left to survive on earth) Lexa, played by Alycia Debnam-Carey, aka Clarke’s ally and eventual lover, and Lexa’s fearsome lieutenant Indra, played by the equally awesome Adina Porter. 

There are some really strong male characters too!  The “Ark” survivors are led by the very wise and quite handsome Marcus Kane (Henry Ian Cusick), who ascended to Chancellor once the Ark came crashing to the ground at the end of the first season (you should really catch up on Netflix, because the way that whole story played out was spectacular).  There’s also the old Chancellor, Thelonious Jaha (Isiah Washington) who ends up on one very strange misison of his own.  Then there’s a few of the 100 surivivors that we’ve really grown attached to, Bellamy Blake (Bob Morley), Monty Green (Christopher Larkin), and Jasper Jordan (Devin Bostwick).  I don’t even know where to begin with John Murphy (Richard Harmon), who went from annoying bit player to season one to a massive role in season three that’s quite extraordinary.  His is the story of the “improbable turn” in this fight for survival.   

Comic Con 2016

These are the press room interviews we did with the cast of “The 100” in order of when we spoke to them.  Most of the actors really don’t know what’s happening in season four since shooting hadn’t started yet and they had only read the first script.  EP Jason Rothenburg has some details though!  He told me later after our interview that they are only renewed for 13 episodes in season four.  So yes, I’ll issue a spoiler alert warning for those that know the show.  

Oh, and for you “Supernatural” fans, you’ll see an actor connection in the last interview featured.

Christopher Larkin – Monty Green 

This is our first interview of the session, and the first time I’ve had the honor to interview Christopher since it was his first appearance at Comic Con.  A lot of firsts!  

Richard Harmon (John Murphy) and Henry Ian Cusick (Marcus Kane)

Okay, fan girl flail here.  This is one of my favorite interviews from the entire weekend.  This was kind of a dream interview for me, since Murphy and Kane are two of my favorite characters and never on screen together.  I spent a lot of time focusing on them in my reviews this season!  Henry especially wows me with that Scottish accent of his.  I so wish he used it on this show like he did Lost!  Ah well, I digress.

This was my first time meeting Richard Harmon (John Murphy) as well, and he is the polar opposite of his dark character on “The 100.”  He was the sweetest, polite, funniest person to those of us at the table, even starting the whole thing by walking around the table and shaking our hands.  He talked about Murphy in season three, who out of all the characters had the biggest and most significant growth.  Not bad for his first season as a series regular!  

Eventually, Henry Ian Cusick (Marcus Kane) came to our table, taking a seat before Richard even finished.  They ended up talking with each other for a bit, and it does make you ponder, just how many scenes has Kane and Murphy had together?  It can be counted on one finger I believe.  They seem to get along great off screen though.  Richard then said his goodbyes and we got a really great interview with Henry too.  The only other time I interviewed Henry was the very first “The 100” press room four years ago, and he was so shy and soft spoken! This time, he was confident, laughing and joking with us, still looking great and answering with great poise some tough questions about plots that were well beyond his control.  

Executive Producer (and overall creative Czar) Jason Rothenburg

I’ve got to say, I’m pretty proud of Jason Rothenburg right now.  No doubt, he’s had a really rough year.  Season three had some controverial decisions, and the very vocal fanbase turned on him for those choices.  He’s already lived through the whole “Clexa-gate” (for those not familiar with the show, just watch on Netflix or Google “Clexa”, you’ll get it).  In this interview, a reporter at our table had a bone to pick about season three in general, and her #1 topic was the downward spiral of Bellamy.  Rothenburg spent a lot of time during this session explaining the reasoning behind Bellamy’s direction.  I’ve certainly been critical of that choice in my reviews, even though I defended “Clexa.”  After listening though to his defense, I can say I’m satisfied with his answers regarding Bellamy.  He did admit that perhaps the horrific choices that Bellamy made were a little rushed, and also conceeded to the overall darkness of the season, aka not giving the team enough wins and taking away the comic relief of Jasper and Monty.  All in all, I came away from this session much happier, and now I’m ready to see what he has in store for season four.  

Oh right…SPOILER ALERT!  He does share some interesting bits about season four too, more than anyone else.  He seems to know the plan, and it sounds like it’s going to be a heart clencher.  

Eliza Taylor (Clarke Griffin)

Eliza is always so sweet in her interviews.  She’s an Aussie (as is fellow co-star Bob Morley) but you don’t see any of that accent in the show.  She talks about working with her pal Alycia Debnam-Carey (Lexa).  

Lindsey Morgan (Raven Reyes)

Lindsey is also a sweetheart, and very bubby and vibrant in this interview.  That’s a total switch from her very smart yet broken character, Raven.  

Marie Avgeropoulos (Octavia Blake)

Trivia question!  What “Supernatural” episode was Marie in?  Answer after the interview, which does have some season four spoilers in it.  Octavia is going to some pretty dark places after what she did at the end of the finale.  

Still not sure what “Supernatural” episode Marie was in?

Season Four’s “After School Special”

So, how many “The 100” fans do we have out there?  Tell us how you found the show if you are!  “The 100” will be back at The CW this midseason for season four.