5) The 100

The 100 was definitely a surprise hit for me. This mid-season addition to The CW line-up didn’t strike me as having the potential to beat out any of its competition, but has far surpassed any of my expectations.

The kitschy concept of a group of teens being sent down to Earth post-nuclear calamity as guinea pigs to test out if the ground was inhabitable seemed redundant, and the acting in the pilot left something to be desired. But, that’s where my complaints ended.

The 100 turned out to be less of what you might expect from the average teen drama and instead serves as testament to the transition that the network is making toward being a more comprehensive source of programming. Although the show focuses on the larger issues of survival, it does satisfy its target audience by including a fair amount of relationship drama and sexual tension among the characters. This isn’t something that is exclusive to this genre, but it does seem to occupy a more substantial portion of the narrative.

The relationship between Clarke (Eliza Taylor) and Bellamy (Bob Morley) that is continuing to unfold in the second season is the most dynamic by far. As the two leaders of what once was the collective of 100 teens, they share a sense of responsibility for everyone that is displaced by the mountain men and grounders. Their emotional attachment is more of an afterthought, but weaves itself into the story fairly organically.

Season two has taken the show to a more complicated level by introducing several new sects of people living on the surface, as well as the arrival of the adults, who in season one were restricted by their lack of proximity. The way they are trying to now restrict the remaining 100, who at the beginning of the show were considered disposable, has created an internal conflict that the writers look to be saving for a rainy day.