The 100 creator explains the series finale

TV Insider

“Obviously, for seven years, we've been making a show that was saying one way or another, that tribalism is bad," says Jason Rothenberg. "And that as long as we perpetuate this cycle of violence against the other—whether it's another country or another group of people or whatever the case may be—then we're doomed.” Rothenberg also faced the challenge of making his directorial debut with the series finale at the beginning of the pandemic. Rothenberg says of directing: “I have to say that as a first-time director, this is the way to do it: Where you're directing your own show with people who you love that have worked with you for seven years, that are delivering for you and for each other…I don't know if I'll ever have the experience again in that way.”

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• Jason Rothenberg on The 100 prequel: "I wish I had good answers for you," he says. "What I can say is in terms of whether or not it’s going to happen is that there are discussions that are still happening at the highest level. You know, I think probably I’d be talking out of turn if I mentioned where those conversations were happening, unfortunately, but there is a chance, a good chance, I guess, that it could come back. I wish I had news this week, it would be great to announce it this week, I don’t think that’s going to happen."
• Did Rothenberg want to avoid being too preachy with the series finale?: "Depending on a person’s perspective on religion, there’s certainly a religious interpretation that one can draw from the finale," he says. "That wasn’t my intention."
• Rothenberg says he approached each The 100 season as a movie: “For me, every season was designed to be almost like a new show and a new story,” says Rothenberg, who was pitched the series by The CW and wrote the pilot at the same time Kass Morgan wrote her young adult novel, on which “The 100” is loosely based. “I approached it as a feature writer coming into television for the first time, as each of these seasons was a movie broken down into 13 or 16 parts. That’s why the show changes so drastically season to season, which is one of the things I love about it.”