Note: Full spoilers follow for The 100: Season 1.

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Despite offering plenty of notable series like Supernatural, Arrow, Nikita and -- Yes, naysayers -- The Vampire Diaries, the CW still has to overcome a stigma as a network only interested in cliché, high school romance plotlines between incredibly good looking people. It’s a reputation the network certainly fed into for many years during the Gossip Girl era and truthfully, it still hasn’t rejected completely. Yes, there is a CW actor type, they certainly like to aim their shows around young protagonists and while romance is a part of pretty much any drama you can name, on a CW show, it probably gets more time and importance than usual, including in all the shows I just mentioned.Still, it gets frustrating when you see people dismiss a show because of the network so quickly, especially when there have been several series that would be appreciated by many who are so quick to scoff. The 100 was the latest in the CW’s expansion into a ton of genre projects in recent years, and had to overcome many of these hurdles going in, with the assumption being that, sci-fi trappings aside, this would be a show about Young Beautiful People in Love, who just so happen to be in the future, or something.There was a lot more to The 100 than that though. Using the book by Kass Morgan as a springboard, executive producer Jason Rothenberg told the story of a future where the remnants of humanity were struggling to survive, with almost no time left onboard a space station that could no longer sustain them. The society here had become incredibly harsh as a matter of survival – executing all adult criminals, no matter the severity of their crime. The juvenile delinquents -- not executed, but still locked up regardless of what crime they committed -- sent down to the surface as the show began, were, in theory, going to test if the Earth was livable again, but really were sent away because less people meant a little more time left on the space station and these kids were seen as expendable.This was a compelling set-up for a series, and the show quickly showed a lot of promise, with a confident tone, as we followed the parallel storylines in space and on the ground. There were clear influences for both scenarios, with the kids thrust into a Lord of the Flies-inspired situation, left to fend for themselves and find out whether they would band together or quickly turn on one another. In space, there were echoes of Battlestar Galactica, as we saw some very harsh decisions have to be made in the name of humanity’s future. As far as influences go, these are pretty great ones and The 100 delivered a lot of strong storylines following both groups.Early on, the teen characters were hard to get a grasp on, but that changed pretty quickly. The struggle between Bellamy (Bob Morley) and Clarke (Eliza Taylor) over who would lead the group and the two eventually understanding each other’s point of view was interesting, while other prominent members of the group like Octavia (Marie Avgeropoulos) and Jasper (Devon Bostick) began to show different facets – a flashback to Bellamy and Octavia’s childhood was a highlight and something that I’d love to see for more of the characters. Raven (Lindsey Morgan) was a cool, likeable inclusion into the show as well, though unfortunately, her arrival also signaled the worst aspect of Season 1……the Clarke/Finn/Raven love triangle. There’s nothing wrong with love triangles, and some really amazing stories that aren't about a love triangle, from Star Wars to The Dark Knight, include love triangle elements (think about it, guys!). But the one here was handled really poorly, with Clarke and Finn (Thomas McDonell) acting as though they had a long, meaningful history together, rather than having just met, gone through some scary stuff, and hooked up. A lot of otherwise-strong scenes would suddenly have a jarring moment where we were reminded of this storyline, as Raven would notice Finn and Clarke looking at each other in the middle of seemingly every crisis thrown at the 100. It didn’t help that Finn was kind of a dud as a character – the only one of the main group who never really made an impact.Still, even while that element flared up too much, there was plenty of other storylines to make up for it. We got a far more interesting love story with Octavia and the Grounder, Lincoln (Ricky Whittle) – who did what he could to save the group in the middle of one of the most exciting episodes, as a group of Grounders hunted the kids in a scenario straight out of Predator. Meanwhile, these kids had to deal with a lack of resources, growing threats around them and questions of just how far they were willing to go themselves, including the conflict over torturing a prisoner for information.Up on the Ark, there was some incredibly intense storylines as well. The crisis at hand was never backed away from, and we saw Jaha (Isaiah Washington), Kane (Henry Ian Cusick) and Abby (Paige Turco) have to deal with some horrible decisions, with no easy outs, as it became a simple numbers game – kill many now or see everyone perish. It was Kane who especially stood out here, going from a seemingly power-hungry villain in the premiere to a very nuanced, conflicted character who ultimately was willing to make the same sacrifice he had called upon others for.The only big misstep on the Ark was the plotline involving Diana (Kate Vernon). Once she was introduced, it became fairly obvious she’d be the one behind Jaha’s assassination attempt, which was fine… but then both she and all her followers were killed, right on the heels of her stealing a ship and leaving everyone behind on the Ark. While her actions had consequences onboard the Ark, it still seemed very odd to just take her away as an antagonist with no satisfying resolution.The 100’s producers promised the show would be a brutal one, with plenty of casualties along the way. This was certainly true and there were some incredibly memorable, jarring deaths, including Wells being killed by a little girl, Charlotte, who would ultimately then meet her own tragic end. However, Wells aside, it is notable that the season ended with all the other regular characters still alive or at least potentially alive, which did lesson the “Anyone can die at any point!” feel it seems they were going for.Overall though, The 100 offered a confident and compelling first season. Starting on a solid foot, the show got stronger as it went along and delivered plenty of notable and clever moments throughout the season, and it was clear by the finale that Rothenberg and his writers weren’t afraid to really mess with their initial dynamic in exciting ways.