The Grounder Gazette: the 100 in the Media

[Lady Calypso]

14 minutes ago, kariyaki said:

The show doesn’t do that, though, the network does. So maybe the CW hasn’t got their people able to work remotely or want them to come in or… whatever the reason may be. 

Well, clearly they ARE, at least now, because Jason is seeing the latest cut of the trailer. They're just taking their time. I just assume that the network would want a trailer to come out sooner, rather than later. 

[Bort]

1 minute ago, Lady Calypso said:

Well, clearly they ARE, at least now, because Jason is seeing the latest cut of the trailer. They're just taking their time. I just assume that the network would want a trailer to come out sooner, rather than later. 

Maybe for a show that they’re hoping to promote for years to come. But this is the last season. I can certainly understand shows making their swansongs being on the bottom of the promotional list. 

[quarks]

Honestly, I'm more inclined to blame this on the CW's usual inept marketing. Pretty much all of their shows, with the arguable exception of maybe Riverdale, have been poorly marketed. To the extent where I, a fairly regular viewer of CW shows and their trailers, can only tell you that Katy Keene is about someone whose hairstyle can be stolen with by curling the hair, applying hair spray and then blow-drying it, which if very helpful from a fashion standpoint is perhaps not exactly an incentive to watch the show, and where I have lost count of the number of people who have assured me that Roswell and Legacies are Netflix, not CW shows.

So not having a trailer for the final season of one of their more successful series seems right in character.

[Lady Calypso]

Well, we don't get a trailer...but we DO get the opening sequence!

Which is better than nothing, since Jason has said that the trailer won't be out until next week.

[ottoDbusdriver]

On 4/29/2020 at 5:33 AM, CooperTV said:

“From The Ashes” — (8:00-9:00 p.m. ET)

SEASON PREMIERE – Clarke (Eliza Taylor) and her friends attempt to rebuild Sanctum as a new threat rises in the woods. Bob Morley, Marie Avgeropuolos, Lindsey Morgan, Richard Harmon, Tasya Teles, Shannon Kook, JR Bourne, Shelby Flannery and Chuku Modu also star. Ed Fraiman directed the episode written by Jason Rothenberg (#701). Original airdate 5/20/2020.

“The Garden” — (8:00-9:00 p.m. ET)

MYSTERIOUS PAST – Echo (Tasya Teles) and Gabriel (Chuku Modu) learn more about Hope (Shelby Flannery) and her mysterious past. Eliza Taylor, Bob Morley, Marie Avgeropuolos, Lindsey Morgan, Richard Harmon, Shannon Kook and JR Bourne also star. Dean White directed the episode written by Jeff Vlaming (#703). Original airdate 5/27/2020.

“False Gods” — (8:00-9:00 p.m. ET)

UNEXPECTED THREAT – As Raven (Lindsey Morgan) faces an unexpected threat, Clarke (Eliza Taylor) must keep the peace among opposing factions in Sanctum. Bob Morley, Marie Avgeropuolos, Richard Harmon, Tasya Teles, Shannon Kook, JR Bourne, Shelby Flannery and Chuku Modu also star. also star. Tim Scanlan directed the episode written by Kim Shumway (#702). Original airdate 6/3/2020.

“Hesperides” — (8:00-9:00 p.m. ET)

OUTSIDERS – Mysterious outsiders arrive with news of Clarke’s (Eliza Taylor) missing people. Bob Morley, Marie Avgeropuolos, Lindsey Morgan, Richard Harmon, Tasya Teles, Shannon Kook, JR Bourne, Shelby Flannery and Chuku Modu also star. Diana Valentine directed the episode written by Sean Crouch (#704). Original airdate 6/10/2020.

The 100 - Episode 7.01 - 7.04 - Press Releases

 

Even the episode descriptions are duller than dishwater.

[CooperTV]

 

[CooperTV]

 

[ottoDbusdriver]

3 hours ago, CooperTV said:

 

Wormholes to other planets -- real original idea there show writers -- so should we just rename the show Stargate SG-Dumb ?

Edited May 9, 2020 by ottoDbusdriver

[CooperTV]

The season 7 poster. No Bob Morley. He's also barely in the trailer.

[quarks]

For a moment I thought the poster showed a terrified cat clinging to Clarke's leg. 

[ottoDbusdriver]

3 hours ago, quarks said:

For a moment I thought the poster showed a terrified cat clinging to Clarke's leg. 

The tag line is: "It doesn't end here."

Please let it end.  Please.

[CooperTV]

14 hours ago, ottoDbusdriver said:

Please let it end.  Please.

Thankfully, they announced season 7 being its last in 2019!

[CooperTV]

 

[CooperTV]

Tumblr speculations about Bob Morley's absence in the trailer, in the promos and in the countdown pictures for the premiere:
 

Quote

 

Oh goodness, okay. I’ll do my best to recap, but finding sources is gonna be impossible because it’s pretty much all rumors.

If anyone wants to jump in and fill in the gaps, please feel free!

Sometime last year, Bob Morley left a convention early. I don’t know why - I know he’s had some personal health issues (a knee injury, mental health struggles, etc,) and I think the con became overwhelming for him. Richard Harmon stepped in to fill the remainder of his slots. 

Rumors started up that JRoth and Bob feuded over his early departure from the convention - that JRoth found it unprofessional and ripped Bob and new one. Bob lashed back. That’s allegedly where the bad blood starts. It has supposedly continued up ‘til now.

Before all of this happened, Bob Morley and Eliza Taylor got married. It was a big deal within the fandom, because many people made the connection that Bob and Eliza fell in love while portraying Bellamy and Clarke. For many, it was affirmation that there is a romantic connection between the two characters, that perhaps, it might even indicate that Bellamy and Clarke are endgame and will become canon.

Then, Bob tweeted this:

Many in the fandom suspected that this (very vague) tweet was in reference to the Bellamy/Clarke dynamic in The 100. It fits the timeline (the show had been in development for about six years at this point,) and JRoth has often poked at B/C shippers by saying they “misinterpret” the Bellarke dynamic as romantic.

From this point forward, Bob’s twitter becomes, almost exclusively, about his struggles with depression, and about connecting others in the same boat with resources. He mostly uses the platform to raise awareness about this, and other issues important to him, like the Australian bushfires from last December. 

The next time we get anything like a subtweet about the show, it’s this:

Many fans saw this as Bob (1) asserting that he is, in fact, the lead of the show, despite potential pushback from JRoth and (2) he’s a unique lead on The CW, making him even more valuable. Fans begin to speculate that JRoth is no longer treating Bob as the lead, and has sidelined his storyline. (This is also around the time that the scripts for s7 were being written, hence people making the connection to BTS drama.)

The next big hint we get is in the promos. Bellamy is featured in the trailer even less than characters like Echo and Murphy, who were normally considered supporting characters, at least compared to him. Bellamy doesn’t even get a line in the trailer. Bellamy is missing from the poster. Bellamy isn’t featured in ANY of the countdown shots (maybe they’re reserving him for the Show Day picture, that remains to be seen.)

Actors do get residuals from their likenesses being used in promo materials. So cutting Bob out of the promo material would be an effective and easy: “fuck you, you get less money” from JRoth.

Furthermore, both Bob and Eliza have been very, very quiet on social media about the end of the series. Given that this is the end of a seven-season show where they were both the leads, this is suspicious. Their silence indicates that they do not agree with the end of the show, they no longer feel an attachment to it, and they don’t care to do promotion for free. It implies that they’ve gone sour on the whole experience, and want to put it behind them. There are rumors that Eliza had a miscarriage (she might have said as much, Idk) sometime last year, and that Bob’s depression got a lot worse because of it. That alone could be enough to warrant some silence on social media, which is notoriously negative.

This is all heavy speculation. Maybe absolutely none of this is happening - maybe JRoth was super understanding to Bob when he left the con; maybe Bob’s tweets had nothing to do with Bellarke, or with his dissatisfaction behind-the-scenes; maybe the lack of Bellamy in the promo is a super intentional way to build buzz around the final season. After all, if he’d been in the promo, people would just see it and move on, like we usually do. Not including him has gotten a lot more people to talk about what might be going on with Bellamy. And maybe the only reason Bob and Eliza have been quiet about the show is because they’ve got some serious stuff going on in their personal lives, and can’t spare the energy to do the promo for free.

But… if you add it all up, and it starts to look quite a lot like Bob pissed off his showrunner, and JRoth severely cut his role down in the final season because of it.

I might be missing some things, but that’s the gist, as I remember it. It’s been going on for so long now, I almost forgot that there was a time when Bob and JRoth didn’t appear to hate each other, lmao. If anyone reading this has anything to add, feel free!

I hope this made things a lil clearer, sorry it’s so long!

 

 

[Lady Calypso]

Premiere recap from the showrunner and why Bob Morley will be absent for a few episodes

Quote

His disappearance is “going to play a huge role in the season,” showrunner Jason Rothenberg tells TVLine. “It’s the mystery people are trying to solve. It’s the thing that’s going to be driving so many of our characters this season — to find him and hopefully save him.” And while he promises that “we will see him again,” Rothenberg also clarifies, “Bob [Morley] asked to take some time off this season, and we honored that. We were able to write around it.” 

 

[quarks]

I continue to believe that maybe - just maybe - the CW should seriously consider sticking with shorter seasons, given that even the actors on shows with shorter seasons are regularly complaining of exhaustion. 

[CooperTV]

3 hours ago, Lady Calypso said:

Premiere recap from the showrunner and why Bob Morley will be absent for a few episodes

 

I personal;ly don't believe a word he's saying after his feud with Ricky and his behavior at ComicCon 2019.

[quarks]

Just now, CooperTV said:

I personal;ly don't believe a word he's saying after his feud with Ricky and his behavior at ComicCon 2019.

I think that's fair, but given the number of CW actors who have complained of exhaustion (or, in the case of that one Riverdale actor, boredom) I think it's also quite possible that after 7 seasons of this Bob Morley really is exhausted. 

[CooperTV]

14 hours ago, quarks said:

I think that's fair, but given the number of CW actors who have complained of exhaustion (or, in the case of that one Riverdale actor, boredom) I think it's also quite possible that after 7 seasons of this Bob Morley really is exhausted. 

Apparently, Bob is exhausted, and also tired of JRoth's baiting, haha.

 

[CooperTV]

The 100 Season 7 Character Photos

[Lady Calypso]

Bob Morley's ex girlfriend speaks out about their relationship

Just to be warned, there's talk of abuse in the post.

So, I've followed Bob's ex, Arryn, well before I became a fan of this show. And with knowing how Bob was with Arryn through to Valentine's Day 2019 and then married to Eliza at the beginning of May 2019....I kind of believe Arryn here. Even if I wasn't a fan of Arryn, I know that last year's stuff rubbed me the wrong way and for a reason. Who would break up with their long term girlfriend only to marry another woman not even three months later if there WASN'T more to it? 

So, yeah, this entire thing just sucks if it's true (which...at the very least, the affair stuff is believable, even if it was just an emotional affair). 

Edited July 5, 2020 by Lady Calypso

[quarks]

It kinda feels as if everyone in the entertainment/genre industry has decided to take the months of June/July to issue statements like this. 

(I am exaggerating but it doesn't feel like I'm exaggerating that much.)

 

[CooperTV]

Considering we've had like, four other supposed "abuse" accusations from different people to some Internet celebs recently, I wonder the actual legitimacy of random claims done by any person right now. The word abuse should also not be used outside of court of police proceedings.

Arryn Zech wanted her bad relationship framed as "abuse"? She sure as hell should prove that in court, not in the court of public opinion, and not the year and the half after the fact when it had been supposedly going on. Otherwise I'm forced to think she wants hype, she has an axe to grind and she wants attention.

[Lady Calypso]

6 minutes ago, CooperTV said:

Considering we've had like, four other supposed "abuse" accusations from different people to some Internet celebs recently, I wonder the actual legitimacy of random claims done by any person right now. The word abuse should also not be used outside of court of police proceedings.

Arryn Zech wanted her bad relationship framed as "abuse"? She sure as hell should prove that in court, not in the court of public opinion, and not the year and the half after the fact when it had been supposedly going on. Otherwise I'm forced to think she wants hype, she has an axe to grind and she wants attention.

To be fair to this particular situation, at the very least, the cheating allegations are more likely to be true with how fast Bob ran to marry Eliza after ending a three+ year relationship. I'm of the mind that no person would run to get married not even three months after ending a long term serious relationship if they weren't already in some sort of relationship with the person beforehand. And abuse is harder to prove in court. Even with evidence, it's a lot harder to prosecute, and emotional abuse is damn near impossible to prove. So Arryn would have no chance to take this to court because it wouldn't be worth it. 

Not that any of us could know what the truth is, but I do lean toward believing Arryn. I never really got a great vibe from Bob Morley to begin with and a few of his costars have already unfollowed him on social media (such as Jessica Harmon and Lindsey Morgan). So I can believe, at the very least, Arryn and Bob had a terrible relationship, especially near the end. Hopefully he IS becoming a better person but I fully believe that their relationship was far from healthy and Arryn believes that she was emotionally and mentally abused (which, again, is much harder to prove in court). And I don't think she came out with this with the intent to completely destroy his career, not in the way that some other celebrities have in recent years (such as the Amber Heard/Johnny Depp mess of a situation). Apparently, she was on a stream to discuss some of the abuse she sustained in her past relationship but she didn't initially go into full detail. But the Beliza/Bellarke stans harassed her, as they've done multiple times in the past, and that's when she made this post. 

I think Arryn has every right to talk about her personal life if she chooses to, just like Bob has every right to tell his side of the relationship. The unfortunate part is how prolific her relationships have been, especially with Bob, so it's not hard to connect the dots, even if she HAD gone vague and never named names. So, I support Arryn while also choosing not to send hate toward Bob. But boy, does he need to make a statement at some point. He's just as open to say what actually happened in their relationship.

[quarks]

19 minutes ago, CooperTV said:

She sure as hell should prove that in court, not in the court of public opinion, and not the year and the half after the fact when it had been supposedly going on. Otherwise I'm forced to think she wants hype, she has an axe to grind and she wants attention.

Most of the similar statements have focused on events that happened a year or more in the past. In at least some of the accusations (against Sam Sykes and Scott Allie, for instance) the allegations are discussing events that happened five, six or more years ago and are only getting brought up now.

My speculation is that people are issuing these statements right now less for attention and more because a) coronavirus is giving many of us a chance to brood on past events, b) the con season has essentially been completely cancelled for 2020 and possibly 2021, meaning that there's no chance of physically running into the accused people for several months and probably a year or so - in contrast to last year, where, there was a good chance of running into X person about two weeks after saying something about X person on Twitter, and c) herd mentality.

I would not be at all surprised to learn that all three factors helped lead up to this: she's had the chance to think over the relationship, she knows she's not going to run into any of The 100 cast members or fans at a con or anywhere else for several months at least, and she's probably seen at least some of the other statements flying around, making this a relatively safe time for her to issue this statement and hope to find support.  I think it's also quite possible that she was too emotionally raw at the time of the breakup to make any type of public statement.  So I find her timing perfectly understandable, even reasonable, even if the breakup was more than a year ago.

With all that said, it's pretty hard not to notice this:

"When I told him that I was sexually assaulted at a convention, he got furious at me for "cheating" on him."  ["He" is Bob Morley here.]

This sexual assault is not mentioned again.

I don't need victims to speak out about their sexual assaults, much less give details. And I assume she has very good reasons for being willing to name Bob Morley and not her alleged assaulter - especially since sexual assault can be and frequently is extremely painful to discuss. 

Nonetheless, I do find it mildly alarming that in the midst of an overall conversation about sexual assault and safety at pro and fan run conventions, that the most serious accusation here, by far, not only goes unnamed, but gets turned into emotional abuse from someone else. And it's also hard for me not to notice that this pattern is repeated just a couple of paragraphs down, where her allegations of harassment from fans turn into another example of the emotional abuse she received from Morley.

I hope I'm making sense here; this is a pretty fraught topic. 

[Aeryn13]

1 hour ago, Lady Calypso said:

But boy, does he need to make a statement at some point. He's just as open to say what actually happened in their relationship.

I don`t think he needs to do this at all. The internet feels way too entitled about celebrities lifes already. If celebs aren`t involved, noone cares about dirty relationship laundry. I believe social media is removing way too many filters from people`s lifes in general. 

[Lady Calypso]

54 minutes ago, quarks said:

I would not be at all surprised to learn that all three factors helped lead up to this: she's had the chance to think over the relationship, she knows she's not going to run into any of The 100 cast members or fans at a con or anywhere else for several months at least, and she's probably seen at least some of the other statements flying around, making this a relatively safe time for her to issue this statement and hope to find support.  I think it's also quite possible that she was too emotionally raw at the time of the breakup to make any type of public statement.  So I find her timing perfectly understandable, even reasonable, even if the breakup was more than a year ago.

This, and also, had she made a statement any sooner, she likely would have been made to look like she was saying this out of spite for their painful breakup. She couldn't say it last year when Bob and Eliza got married, because she'd definitely look like a jealous, bitter and spiteful ex. And every person takes their own time to talk about what they've gone through. There are so many celebrities who take years before they can discuss what they've gone through in past relationships. 

It's such a difficult topic to talk about, for sure. 

5 minutes ago, Aeryn13 said:

I don`t think he needs to do this at all. The internet feels way too entitled about celebrities lifes already. If celebs aren`t involved, noone cares about dirty relationship laundry. I believe social media is removing way too many filters from people`s lifes in general. 

That's fair. He technically doesn't need to at all. We aren't owed anything. I would imagine Bob is trying to deal with this privately and hopefully, him and Arryn ARE dealing with all of this in some capacity. Both of them should move on and heal and grow separately from this. I imagine Bob might just deactivate his social media again...which, if that's best for his mental health, he should do that. 

[CooperTV]

 

1 hour ago, quarks said:

I think it's also quite possible that she was too emotionally raw at the time of the breakup to make any type of public statement.  So I find her timing perfectly understandable, even reasonable, even if the breakup was more than a year ago.

I remember Aryn's mother liking death threats towards Eliza Taylor on Twitter. It's that kind of shitshow.

2 hours ago, Lady Calypso said:

To be fair to this particular situation, at the very least, the cheating allegations are more likely to be true with how fast Bob ran to marry Eliza after ending a three+ year relationship. I'm of the mind that no person would run to get married not even three months after ending a long term serious relationship if they weren't already in some sort of relationship with the person beforehand. And abuse is harder to prove in court. Even with evidence, it's a lot harder to prosecute, and emotional abuse is damn near impossible to prove. So Arryn would have no chance to take this to court because it wouldn't be worth it. 

I think if your SO of three + years cheats on you with his BFF and after your break up, marries her, there was something wrong with your relationship from the start. Just saying.

She can't prove anything, and she has biased view on the situation because she's a classic woman scorned. So she's decided to make herself a victim by phrasing her accusations as vaguely as possible and sic Twitter mob at her ex she had bad relationship and the bad break up with. I read the statement two times already, and I couldn't figure out how tense moments in not very good relationship (Bob and Arryn had been having issues for years, it looks like) constitute as "abuse".

Of course there's no going to be any proof about that supposed "emotional abuse". Since "abusive ex" ran away from her as fast as he could the moment "the other woman" (Eliza) became available, it seems.

3 hours ago, Lady Calypso said:

He's just as open to say what actually happened in their relationship.

Like he would ever repeat those Tumblr rumors that claim Arryn used to call Eliza, so she would handle Bob's psychological issues and break-downs. Arryn is in great position here because Bob and Eliza don't want to be involved in this in any way, and their justifications, explanations, placating, will be seen as admittance of a fault in the court of public opinion. I don't think they own Arryn this. She's not Bob's ex-wife of 25 years and she's not a mother of his four supposed children.

[KittenPokerCheater]

In the world of 'stans and uber fans, accusations and threats from them get hurled around twitter and places like confetti, so it is no wonder that a lot of celebrities don't post (or post infrequently).  The court of public opinion can be a nasty place.  

I don't see how taking the breakup to a public forum is helpful for anyone especially for Aryn, who is clearly very hurt. Unless his behavior points to a pattern of abuse (ie, more than one woman telling their story), it seems it was a bad relationship left a lot of hurt and anger between them both.   I hope she finds the happiness she wants and deserves.

And I wish the same for B and E. They've known each other for 7 years, so  they must know each other very well enough by now so that it is not exactly spur of the moment.
 

[quarks]

5 hours ago, CooperTV said:

 

I remember Aryn's mother liking death threats towards Eliza Taylor on Twitter. It's that kind of shitshow.

Ouch.

That I didn't know.

5 hours ago, CooperTV said:

 

Of course there's no going to be any proof about that supposed "emotional abuse".

Fair/true enough. My main point was that the timing of Aeryn's statement also isn't proof one way or another. And my secondary point was my concern that although her statement contains three separate allegations (sexual assault at a convention from an unnamed person, harassment from The 100 fans, and emotional/verbal abuse from Bob Morley) it focuses on the third to the point of turning the other allegations into further allegations against Morley. That, I think, is a problem, especially since she made this statement in the midst of a greater conversation about sexual assault and harassment at conventions. 

However, I'm also someone somewhat involved in that greater conversation, so my "hey, maybe we should focus more on this sexual assault at a convention, and, also, the fan harassment" is also a biased response, and quite possibly unfair to everyone involved in what can probably be kindly described as a very messy situation. 

I'll just add that I don't think throwing vitriol on Twitter at any of these people is particularly helpful right now, but Twitter is, well. Twitter.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Comic Con is going to be free online this year due to COVID-19. This panel hasn't been assigned a time slot yet so be sure to check the Comic Con website for the schedule.

Quote

TV Guide's Fan Favorites
Featuring Hale Appleman (The Magicians), Chris Chalk (Perry Mason), Robbie Amell (Upload), Kennedy McMann (Nancy Drew), Jeri Ryan (Star Trek: Picard), Richard Harmon (The 100), Lindsey Morgan (The 100), Harvey Guillen (What We Do in the Shadows), and Alex Newell (Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist). 

[tv echo]

The 100 presence at Comic-Con@Home (SDCC's 2020 virtual event)...

Friday Schedule
https://comiccon2020.sched.com/event/d3ua/tv-guide-magazine-fan-favorites?iframe=no&w=680&sidebar=no&bg=no 

Quote

Friday, July 24 • 6:00pm - 7:00pm
TV Guide Magazine Fan Favorites
...
The magazine entirely devoted to TV, hosts its 11th annual gathering of stars we adore from across the television galaxy to trade stories of fan encounters, backstage tales and the importance of representation for fans of every walk of life. This year's don't-miss lineup, moderated by TVGM senior writer Damian Holbrook, includes Hale Appleman (The Magicians), Lindsey Morgan and Richard Harmon (The 100), Robbie Amell (Upload), Kennedy McMann (Nancy Drew), Alex Newell (Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist), Jeri Ryan (Star Trek: Picard), Harvey Guillen (What We Do in the Shadows), Chris Chalk (Perry Mason), and Ashleigh Murray (Riverdale, Katy Keene).

^ Watch When Available: 
https://www.comic-con.org/cciathome/2020/video/x4X505oQZpE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4X505oQZpE
 

Sunday Schedule
https://comiccon2020.sched.com/event/d5yl/the-100?iframe=no&w=680&sidebar=no&bg=no

Quote

Sunday, July 26 • 12:00pm - 1:00pm
The 100 Special Video Presentation & Q&A
...
For six seasons, The 100 have fought to survive against unimaginable odds. In the seventh and final season, these heroes are faced with obstacles that they’ve never before had to confront, including that of time. Pushed to their physical and emotional limits, they come to terms with decisions they have made throughout the years and find answers to questions not only about themselves but also about what it means to live--and not just survive. To find out what’s in store this final season and how their journey may end, join series stars Marie Avgeropoulos, Lindsey Morgan, Richard Harmon, Tasya Teles, Shannon Kook, JR Bourne, Shelby Flannery, and creator/executive producer Jason Rothenberg for their final Comic-Con appearance. From Bonanza Productions in association with Alloy Entertainment, Warner Bros. Television, and CBS Television Studios, The 100 airs Wednesdays at 8/7c on The CW. Connect with The 100 on Instagram (@cw_the100), Twitter (@cwthe100) and Facebook (CWThe100).

^ Watch When Available:
https://www.comic-con.org/cciathome/2020/video/tHgcAGZhjdI
https://youtu.be/tHgcAGZhjdI

ETA: Updated this post on July 17, 2020.

Edited July 17, 2020 by tv echo

[tv echo]

Updated information on The 100 virtual panel at Comic-Con@Home has been added to above post.

Edited July 17, 2020 by tv echo

[CooperTV]

Aaand Eliza says the cheating accusations are a lie. So people got their explanation. Although it doesn't seem to be an admission of any kind or even asking for forgiveness they expected to see.

Edited July 20, 2020 by CooperTV

[tv echo]

-- Moderator Damian Holbrook: "It is the final season [of The 100] and we don't want to spoil anything, but this will - this will probably run close to your finale... How do you feel about where your characters landed at the end of the show?"

Spoiler

Richard Harmon: "I got what I wanted." 
Lindsey Morgan: "Yeah. Richard's is pretty good."
RH: "Yeah. I pitched it to them near the beginning of the season and I just thought it was just a crazy idea that he wouldn’t listen to. And then the finale episode got written, and he was like, 'Went with your thing.' Couldn’t believe it. I was very excited, so I’m obviously very grateful that I got to go out kind of the way that I wanted to go out."
Mod DH: "And Lindsey?"
LM: "I think I got to go out in the only way that Raven Reyes could've gone out... I didn't know what they were going to do or I had no idea what I wanted, and they told me what was happening. I was like, 'Yeah, that's good, guys. I'm into that.' I like that."

TV Guide Magazine Fan Favorites | Comic-Con@Home 2020
Comic-Con International    Jul 24, 2020

Quote

The magazine entirely devoted to TV, hosts its 11th annual gathering of stars we adore from across the television galaxy to trade stories of fan encounters, backstage tales and the importance of representation for fans of every walk of life. This year's don't-miss lineup, moderated by TVGM senior writer Damian Holbrook, includes Hale Appleman (The Magicians), Lindsey Morgan and Richard Harmon (The 100), Robbie Amell (Upload), Kennedy McMann (Nancy Drew), Alex Newell (Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist), Jeri Ryan (Star Trek: Picard), Harvey Guillen (What We Do in the Shadows), Chris Chalk (Perry Mason) and Ashleigh Murray (Riverdale, Katy Keene).

 

Edited July 27, 2020 by tv echo

[tv echo]

Surprise cameos by Eliza Taylor, Bob Morely and other cast members not on panel...

The 100 Special Video Presentation & Q&A | Comic-Con@Home 2020
Comic-Con International   Jul. 26, 2020

Quote

For six seasons, The 100 have fought to survive against unimaginable odds. In the seventh and final season, these heroes are faced with obstacles that they’ve never before had to confront, including that of time. Pushed to their physical and emotional limits, they come to terms with decisions they have made throughout the years and find answers to questions not only about themselves but also about what it means to live--and not just survive. To find out what’s in store this final season and how their journey may end, join series stars Marie Avgeropoulos, Lindsey Morgan, Richard Harmon, Tasya Teles, Shannon Kook, JR Bourne, Shelby Flannery, and creator/executive producer Jason Rothenberg for their final Comic-Con appearance. From Bonanza Productions in association with Alloy Entertainment, Warner Bros. Television, and CBS Television Studios, The 100 airs Wednesdays at 8/7c on The CW. Connect with The 100 on Instagram (@cw_the100), Twitter (@cwthe100) and Facebook (CWThe100).

Deadline article about this panel:
‘The 100’ Creator Says Prequel Will “Fill In A Lot Of Blanks”; Familiar Faces Drop In To Say “May We Meet Again” As Sci-Fi Series Nears End – Comic-Con@Home
By Dino-Ray Ramos    July 26, 2020
https://deadline.com/2020/07/the-100-comic-con-at-home-the-cw-jason-rothenberg-marie-avgeropoulos-lindsey-morgan-richard-harmon-tasya-teles-shannon-kook-jr-bourne-shelby-flannery-1202995393/

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As The 100 nears the end of its seven-season run, the creator and executive producer Jason Rothenberg was joined by cast members Marie Avgeropoulos, Lindsey Morgan, Richard Harmon, Tasya Teles, Shannon Kook, JR Bourne and Shelby Flannery in a pre-taped panel for Comic-Con@Home to reflect about their time on the CW sci-fi series. In addition to that, Rothenberg gave audiences some vague hints about the backdoor prequel pilot to the series which aired earlier this month.

“We definitely started the season wanting to make sure we didn’t leave anything on the field,” said Rothenberg about wrapping up seven seasons. He added that he recognizes the series leaves a lot of unanswered questions throughout the seasons that he wanted to answer and said that the prequel episode helped “fill in a lot of the blanks”. For example, he pointed out that the episode addressed why the bunker was empty when they opened it in season four.

“The ending of a story is the moral of that story and we really wanted to say something with this season,” he said. “When people see how the story ends they will perhaps they’ll look at the whole series differently.” He continued to say that the show is not just saying people are awful and that they would kill anyone who takes their stuff. “That’s unfortunately human nature,” he adds. “We are making a statement on that.”
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After cast members talked about their character growth, the panel was filled with surprise cameos from cast members who weren’t able to make it and some familiar faces from past seasons of The 100 — many of whom were killed off the show. This includes Chuku Modu, Eliza Taylor, Bob Morely, Sara Thompson, Alessandro Juliani, Christopher Larkin, Chelsey Reist, Eli Goree, Michael Beach, Zach McGowan, Nadia Hilker, Isaiah Washington, Alycia Debnam-Carey and Paige Turco. Many of them ended their surprise appearance with a “May we meet again”, which holds more emotional weight now during the pandemic.

Edited July 27, 2020 by tv echo

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Edited July 29, 2020 by CooperTV

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I mean….it’s nothing we didn’t already know, right? That’s the smallest amount of comfort I can offer to the baited and bruised Bellarke fans of the world. The writing has been on the wall for quite awhile now. But anybody saying we weren’t baited and led on are lying to themselves. Because we were. So, the question remains: what was the point?

Bait.

 

 

The Bellarke Of It All: What Was the Point?!

Edited August 19, 2020 by CooperTV

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“Social media has been an amazing tool for me to spread awareness towards the matters I’m passionate about, but there’s one thing that I feel has gotten lost on social media, especially in these trying times, and that is kindness.”

One of the more prominently negative trends currently taking place on social media, is cancel culture.  This entails increasing one’s social status, virtually by shaming and belittling others. 
 

“People online essentially think that they can be judge, jury, and prosecutor of the human being, and it’s quite terrifying.  There are so many people trying to do good in the world, and the negativity is drowning out those voices.”

Eliza Taylor's new interview

Edited August 28, 2020 by CooperTV

[tv echo]

Edited September 10, 2020 by tv echo

[CooperTV]

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If this final season has shown us anything, it is that the show has no idea who its main characters are. Even worse, The 100 can't figure out how to properly explore and respect its crucial characters.

The stories that are being told don't match up with the characters playing them out, and it all starts with Bellamy Blake.

First, they erased Bellamy Blake (and Bob Morley) from the narrative as if he wasn't the male lead who created most of the storylines in previous seasons. Then they only brought him back around for a fake death and a flashback to benefit someone else's story arc. 

It was never about him; it was about how he could benefit the current episode's plot.

And that is exactly what happened in the end, Bellamy was just there to presumably move Clarke's story along. It will be difficult since Clarke is a shell of the person she used to be, just like Bellamy, but it doesn't matter on The 100 where nothing actually seems to matter these days.

No one said it better than Bob Morley when he referenced feeling battered and bruised, with his character truly getting mistreated at a time when he deserved to be appreciated. 

So much of what The 100 became over the years came from Bellamy. He brought the emotion, the love, and the unconditional essence to every single season of the show. Frankly, the show would be nothing without him, and The 100 Season 7 ended up proving precisely that.

 

The 100 Season 7 Episode 13 Review: Blood Giant

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The 100 season 7, episode 13 “Blood Giant” was written by Ross Knight and directed by Michael Cliett. The episode sees Clarke Griffin return to Sanctum, breeze through a red sun event, kill Bellamy Blake, and skedaddle onwards to Earth.

All in all, an solid sequence of events for a show that seems determined to alienate its viewers ahead of the imminent grand finale.

Sitting down to write this review feels a little bit like an exercise in self-flagellation. At this point, I’m stuck between writing off the show for what already before this episode was a poorly executed, character-destroying, storyworld-breaking final season and shrugging everything that happens off as unimportant because of the inevitable cathartic post-mortem denouement that will render it all moot anyway. (And here I thought it was about the journey.)

Hell, for all we know, Clarke is already in the simulation taking the final test. I mean, she probably isn’t. But she could be. That’s how unstable this narrative has become; that’s how unsafe the viewing experience feels.

The result is that I don’t know if I’m being set up to be angry at something only for the story to be like “gotcha, don’t you feel silly for feeling your feelings?”, or if everything is exactly as it seems and I am once again giving the story too much credit (wouldn’t be the first time). Either way, as a fan and as a reviewer, I lose. And for what? As far as I can tell, no one is winning.

Bur it all leaves me a little lost for how to proceed with this review. I’m lost for how to talk about an episode in which so many out-of-character, plot-driven, contrived decisions were made in order to force a terrible story development in service of an endgame that I’m pretty sure I’m not gonna like.

It’s one thing to pick apart story choices when you believe those story choices were made in good faith – as I certainly have done, and have fervently believed — but I find it very hard to believe that good faith was on the agenda here. However I look at it, it all just feels spiteful, and the result is that I can’t take the story seriously.

 

’The 100’ season 7, episode 13 review: Three to go

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He discovered the book Madi had been sketching her flashbacks in, and figured giving it to Call Me Bill was the best move. Clarke disagreed, so she shot him in the chest, and in the last moments of the episode we saw Bellamy Blake die. 

Strange, seeing it written out like that, isn’t it? You’d think I would give it a bit more fanfare, considering the importance his death held. But… it didn’t, did it? The heart of this show didn’t go out a hero, he didn’t sacrifice himself to save others, he didn’t quietly fade surrounded by grieving loved ones, he wasn’t even on the same side as his squad… no, he died senselessly, needlessly, unceremoniously, and alone.

There were so many ways out of that situation that wouldn’t have ended with the murder of Clarke’s self-proclaimed best friend. The speed with which she decided to end his life wasn’t just disrespectful to the characters (and Bob Morley and Eliza Taylor), it was disrespectful to us. It was a, “Haha, you invested in these characters?? Well, joke’s on you! Don’t you feel SO stupid now??!?!?” Yes. Yes I do. 

And in the end, she didn’t even recover Madi’s graphic novel. It was all for nothing. 

Giving a character a ‘good death’ isn’t only about how they go out, it’s about how the people around them react. It’s about showing how much they were loved, and the impact they had not only on the story, but on the people in the story. 

It’s Monty saying “I love you,” sobbing, as Jasper faded away, it’s Clarke desperately trying to save Lexa, it’s Raven’s scream as Finn was stabbed, it’s Abby begging Kane not to go, it’s Octavia’s rage watching Pike shoot Lincoln, it’s Jackson running to Abby, it’s Bellamy and Clarke’s shocked grief while watching Grandpa-Monty’s message.

Bellamy Blake was the heart of this show, and they killed him alone, with no loved ones except his murderer, who then left. His sister, his girlfriend, his found-family, they will all have to be told of his death second-hand… again. No one wept over his body. No one tried to save him. No one was there to ease his last moments, or even witness them. 

Even the audience only had a fleeting moment with his death before the episode ended, leaving us feeling… nothing. There was no time to process, no time to grieve, no time to truly believe what we saw. Bellamy Blake, the leading man, the heart, was killed as an aside. 

 

The 100 “Blood Giant” Photo-Recap; The Head and the Disposable Plot Device

[tv echo]

5 Character Deaths That Ruined The Entire TV Series
Sep 11, 2020by Reagan Pierce
https://theseriesregulars.com/5-character-deaths-that-ruined-the-entire-tv-series/ 

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Here are 5 dearly departed characters that took the entire series down with them.
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Bellamy Blake — The 100

It’s a really impressive feat of writing to alienate an entire fandom not once, but twice. The 100 lost a significant portion of it’s fanbase when it killed off fan-favorite Lexa, in a move that received worldwide criticism for its employment of the ‘Bury Your Gays’ trope. However, the other half of the fanbase stuck around, and most (though not all) of them did so for one reason: Bellamy Blake. Bob Morley brought the character to life, making him relatable and giving immense dimension to Bellamy’s emotions. People were drawn to the character for many reasons, one of which was his seemingly eternally budding romance with protagonist Clarke. It always felt as though these two were on the cusp of getting together, and the writers made them feel like a slow burn, only to have Clarke kill off Bellamy for seemingly no reason.

Of course, it’s not just ‘shippers’ who are upset. Anyone who has spent time being invested in this show has reason to feel betrayed. Bellamy was the male lead, and his death was all but inconsequential. As stated before, shock value does not equate to good writing. This choice is a slap in the face to the years of development these two characters have undergone. Why now is Clarke suddenly okay with ending Bellamy’s life for a book? Sure, it’s for her daughter, but they’ve been in plenty of similar situations previously and have been physically unable to harm one another in any lasting way. Why now, with only a few episodes left, has this decision been made? And with Bob Morley largely absent from the season’s first half, why even bring him back to do this? Many fans speculate that this move was spiteful on the part of the showrunner towards the actor. There are rumors of tension behind the scenes, and it seems that it may have been decided that simply removing Bellamy/Morley wouldn’t be quite enough to really put the nail in the coffin of this character.

It’s really a shame — The 100 was once a well written show, and had outside factors not interfered, the years of build up could’ve culminated in something special.

Edited September 12, 2020 by tv echo

[KittenPokerCheater]

2 hours ago, tv echo said:

Bellamy was the male lead, and his death was all but inconsequential

This this, a thousand times this!!

I hope that someone out there will spill what was going on behind the scenes, because I would love to know.

 

[CooperTV]

31 minutes ago, KittenPokerCheater said:

I hope that someone out there will spill what was going on behind the scenes, because I would love to know.

It seems that JRoth and Morley had a fight after Comic-Con because Bob who had been excited to work with Eliza in season 7 before that, unfollowed JRoth  on Twitter and and blocked him. When there was no Bellamy to any countdown pictures on Twitter or even any new Bellamy scenes in the trailer, people started to suspect something. JRoth was forced to talk about this and mentioned the mental health issue. Bob stayed silent on the matter all that time.

The other day the rumors came out that Bob asked for a leave at the beginning of the filming that was supposed to be only four episodes. (I'd called those speculations but the person telling them claims they worked on the show). But Jason Rothenberg got so angry at him he basically badmouthed Bob to the CW execs and called him difficult to work with, then later decided to write him out of the season apart from several appearances. Apparently Eliza wasn't happy about the way Bob was treated, hence her weird storyline this season as well.

We know for a fact Eliza Taylor had a miscarriage right before the episode she was supposed to direct (and Lindsey Morgan had to do it instead). Which leaves the question what happened with Clarke storyline before that.

Also JRoth said killing Bellamy off was the last minute decision. But of course it seems like it was very deliberate and spiteful.

[CooperTV]

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But for those of us (i.e. me) who have been steadily defending The 100 through a stream of poor decisions during this final season, Bellamy’s death feels like a slap in the face.

Not only was there apparently no grand overall plan for this character, the show didn’t even care enough to fake it. Perhaps if Bellamy had been part of this season for more than 45 minutes, the choice to make him a true Second Dawn believer could have been fleshed out enough that some aspect of this twist might have felt earned. Maybe if The 100 had shown us a Bellamy so utterly desperate for something to believe in, who so needed to put his burdens down at long last that he would reject everything that had ever mattered to him to do so, then maybe this episode would have at least felt like a tragedy rather than a joke.

Instead, Bellamy’s death seems like nothing so much as more gratuitous torture porn on a series that seems to have forgotten how to do anything other than make its characters suffer.

At this point, I’m not super sure why humanity even wants to survive on Sanctum, or anywhere else for that matter. There’s no joy, no hope, no peace to be found anywhere in The 100 universe. And, though it’s true that the show has never pulled any punches about the grim nature of the world in which its story is set, the circumstances of Bellamy’s death are next-level bleak. Shot dead by his best friend—who loved him more than anyone, save perhaps Octavia—after he threatened to risk her child’s life over a random sketchbook that ended up in the enemy’s hands anyway. There’s so much wrong with all of this that it almost defies description.

Bellamy has spent seven seasons and literally over a hundred years fighting alongside Clarke, believing in her when no one else did and helping her bear a truly incomprehensible burden. He loves her, he trusts her, and he has proven time and again that he’s willing to sacrifice almost anything for her. The idea that he would suddenly put her daughter at risk in the name of a newfound faith he essentially just read off the back of a cereal box is ludicrous in the extreme.

Similarly, Clarke herself has proven that she’s incapable of imagining a world without Bellamy in it—she’s already failed to kill him when the fate of humanity was at stake once before, and even as late as Season 6, she names leaving him behind in Polis as her greatest regret. The idea that Clarke wouldn’t at least try to find another way to protect Madi that didn’t involve murdering the other most important person in her life is insane. At the very least, the Clarke we’ve spent seven seasons watching would have aimed for his hand instead of going for the kill shot right away. (And, you know, actually retrieved the sketchbook that started all of this.)

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In its final season, The 100 didn’t just kill off one of its leads and destroy one of its foundational relationships in the process, it betrayed everything it stood for along the way. Showrunner Jason Rothenberg continues to insist this show is about survival and the dark things humanity is willing to do in its name. But if Clarke’s journey is what survival looks like, who among us would ever want any part of that?

The 100 & The Grand Disappointment of Bellamy Blake

Edited September 12, 2020 by CooperTV

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