Premiering on The CW back in 2014, The 100 is a show that faced likely cancellation twice now. Barely earning its 2nd and 3rd season renewals, it comes as a bit of a shock to see it entering its 4th season. Many might think that the post-apocalyptic theme that defines the show has been overused and is no longer interesting, what with all the movies and television shows that exist within this realm (The Walking Dead, World War Z, Zombieland, and Mad Max to name a few). Defying this assumption, The 100 never fails to surprise fans, somehow switching gears from existing in a post-apocalyptic setting to a pre-apocalyptic setting in just a matter of days with its newest season. Returning just two weeks ago, the show came back from its 9 month hiatus with this exciting new premise.

The 100 began as a show detailing life on a post-apocalyptic planet once destroyed by radiation. Completely opposite from its previous seasons, the 4th season details the lives of a few individuals who want to save the world from another round of radiation. Fighting fire with science, lead characters Clarke, Bellamy, and Raven are the key characters involved with solving the new radiation problem.

If you’ve never seen The 100 before, you likely have no idea what I’m talking about when I mention the “new” radiation problem. The series starts by explaining how a nuclear meltdown destroyed the earth, forcing hundreds of people to relocate onto a self-powered, spaceship-esque arc that orbits the planet in space. Without true land and soil, the arc has found different ways to grow food and create water. About 95 years later, the arc no longer has the power to sustain a healthy life for the people on board and its leaders are forced to make an awful decision. They decide to send down 100 kids, all of whom are prisoners for breaking the law, to see if the earth is habitable. From this, the show is born. Season 1 focuses on the 100 kids that were sent down. Season 2 focuses on the discovery of Mount Weather, a radiation repellant bunker, and the people who live there. Season 3 focuses on the City of Light, a hallucination caused by an electronic being named ALIE. Finally, Season 4 focuses on the realization that the end of the world is coming once again, this time, in the form of even more nuclear plants melting down.

The 100 never fails to deliver action along with the huge amount of drama in every season. There are always well-executed fight scenes alongside heart-stopping emotional scenes between beloved characters. Character development is also a strong occurrence in each and every season, some characters going from committing villainous acts to heroic acts and back to villainous acts again. The best part about the characters is that none of them are perfect. Every character has a flaw (or quite a few) and they figure out ways to live with them. Each person suffers, losing loved ones or being forced to make decisions that they’ll never be able to live with. It’s this aspect of the show that makes it so worth watching. Having characters that are relatable and loveable makes a show more enjoyable.

The main character followed in the series is a 17 year old girl named Clarke Griffin. She’s a natural leader, knowing exactly how to talk to the 100 kids she’s been left on the ground with. She’s smart, kind, and easy to talk to. Like her mother, Abby, she’s also skilled in medical practices that prove to be incredibly useful multiple times throughout the series.

Much like Clarke is another natural born leader named Bellamy Blake. He’s smart, brave, and willing to do whatever it takes to protect his people. Although him and Clarke start off on a bad foot with a fairly rocky friendship, within a few episodes, they form a strong team. They lead their people with grace and wisdom that you wouldn’t expect from a couple of teenagers.

If you’ve never seen The 100, or even ever heard of it, it’s certainly something worth giving a try. Seasons 1-3 are available on Netflix and the first few episodes of Season 4 are available on The CW’s website, so it wouldn’t be hard to catch up to the airing schedule. The 100 premieres new episodes every Wednesday night at 9:00PM. If you’re interested in a wonderful mix of drama, action, and sci-fi thrills, be sure to catch an episode of The 100.