This past week I wrote my first recap of a science fiction TV show, CW’s “The 100” Season 3 opener, for USA Today Happily Ever After. (Warning
– spoilers ahead if you haven’t seen the first two seasons or the new season
premiere.) It was an interesting experience to watch a favorite program knowing
I was going to sit down immediately afterwards and try to write a column about
it. I wasn’t going to go for a review or a moment by moment reconstruction of
the show, but more of a conversation with my readers. Did you see that? And
wow, I never expected this! And do you think there’s a deep meaning to the
other thing that happened….
I took scribbly notes to remind myself of certain
points.
·
Bellamy’s not all that into his new girlfriend
·
What book is that she handed him?
·
Creepy drones
·
Octavia on a horse
·
So much for the truce
If you haven’t watched this program, here’s the original description from the
Internet Database of Movies: Set 97 years
after a nuclear war has destroyed civilization, when a spaceship housing
humanity's lone survivors sends 100 juvenile delinquents back to Earth in hopes
of possibly re-populating the planet.
Ok, but that was only the beginning. This show has evolved
into a complex science fiction story, pitting the “Sky People” against the more
primitive “Grounders” (because not all life had perished, as the inhabitants of
the cobbled-together space station Ark believed) and the high tech people
locked inside the Weather Mountain shelter. The latter were defeated at great
cost at the end of Season 2 and a new high tech menace was introduced. An AI
named Alie seems to have caused the EOTWAWKI and now she’s got sinister new
plots. There have been romances of all types, including bisexual. Betrayal and
great, lasting loyalties have been shown. Seemingly key characters have
perished while others are surprisingly resilient. The generations of Sky People
are not always in agreement on the best course of action. The linch pin of the
series is Clarke, a strong young woman from the Ark.
Ok, I admit I love the show, even if I do sit on the edge of
my seat for the whole hour because they do kill characters off with no
compunction.
So as a science fiction author watching a TV show to write a
pithy column, I took great notice of tidbits of foreshadowing that might
otherwise have gone right over my head. I was sad to learn that a character I’d
loved at the end of Season 2 was dismissed with about 5 words. Doing an
internet search later, I learned that basically the actor had other things to
do (good for him though!) and so the character was written out of the show. At
least I never have THAT problem with the characters in my books. They stay
unless I want them to go. I’m
pondering whether a copy of The Iliad
that Bellamy, the main hero, received, has some deep meaning in terms of what
we might expect this season. Of all the books in the world, this is the one
they spend precious screen time handing him??? So it must mean something,
right? Or is it a red herring? And does the passing reference to reversing
contraception now that the people of the Ark are on the ground mean we’re going
to see babies soon?
I love the through worldbuilding, especially when it comes
to the Grounders, who have an elaborate language that sound as if it could have
evolved from English (which they also speak perfectly). Their costumes reflect
their harsh world and strict customs, which they’re governed by in order to
survive but which seem barbaric to the Sky People (and to us).
The Sky People are no angels either though – they used to “float”
people out the airlocks of the space station for all kinds of minor crimes.
They also keep stridently claiming ownership of the Earth, even though the
Grounders are clearly in possession of large swathes of it.
The Weather Mountain people were monsters in a lot of ways…but
again, not all of them agreed and some actively tried to help.
OK, you do have to suspend belief sometimes (animals still
trapped in a zoo 97 years later – WTF?) Two-headed deer but the humans don’t have
radiation damage?
I realized that while romance novels such as I write will
always have A Happily Ever After or at least a Happy For Now ending, the
writers of a TV series want you to keep tuning in week after week, so they aren’t
striving to resolve romantic relationships and keep them resolved. That’s not
meant as a criticism on my part - books
and TV shows serve different entertainment purposes (plus they have sponsors
and a network to keep happy). But it does serve as a helpful boundary for my
expectations.
“The 100” is based on books by Kass Morgan. I tried to read
the books but alas, I’d been imprinted by the TV series, and some of the
characters and plot points have been changed so much, I found it confusing. She recently did a quick Q&A on twitter
(@kassmorganbooks), answering queries from reader/viewers, and she seems pretty pleased with the choices made by the TV producers/writers.
There’s also an
excellent interview with her in the March 2014 “Parade” http://parade.com/272468/sonacharaipotra/the-100-author-kass-morgan-talks-sci-fi-mood-music-and-writerly-rituals/
where she explains how the books came about and “talks scifi, mood music and
writerly rituals.”
That would be my #1 dream, to have one of my books made into
a movie or TV show – FUN stuff. Well, never say never! Can't say more but fingers crossed!
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