This year, WonderCon took place at the Anaheim Convention Center Friday, March 23 through Sunday, March 25. Josh and I both had to work on Friday, so we didn’t arrive until late afternoon. We were both hungry, so we stopped at the food trucks to grab some grub. Oddly, you had to show your badge to get into the food truck area. That was new. In the past, anyone could go to the food trucks. Then once you got near the fountain area, you had to scan in with your badge.
After we finished eating, we went over to Hall D to pick up our lanyards and WonderCon programs. There were supposed to be bags to pick up too, but I guess they were out. The area was pretty empty, since badges were mailed ahead of time this year, if you ordered them early enough.
Then we headed over to the new building, ACC North, for Marvel’s Cloak and Dagger panel. However, it was now 4:30pm by this time, and the panel was scheduled to start at 4:45pm, so the line was pretty long by the time we found our way over to the room, North 200A. They slowly let people in, but by 5:20pm it was evident that they were full. We ended up about 25 people away from being let in. Oh well. The 100 panel was scheduled in the same room at 6:00pm, following the Cloak and Dagger panel, so I stayed in line. Josh, not being a fan of The 100, decided to go wander around the Exhibit Hall.
After the Cloak and Dagger panel finished up, it seemed like 3/4 of the room had left, so it took awhile to clear everyone out before they let others in. I ended up in the 4th row in the right section.
The panel started off with us getting to watch the first 15 minutes of the Season 5 premiere. You can skip ahead to the panel discussion section if you don’t want any spoilers.
First 15 Minutes of The 100 Season 5 Premiere
We pick up 42 days after Praimfaya, when Clarke climbs out from her hiding place. It appears that the ocean no longer exists, it’s just a barren desert. She finds where the Rover was buried by sand and digs it out, then drives. While driving, she sees a storm off in the distance.
Clarke makes it to Polis, but the tower is just ruins.
Cut to the intro for the show, and when it gets to the part where the tower is, the tower disappears.
Clarke tries to dig through the rubble, and bangs on the bunker doors, to no avail. But then everything caves in, and she barely makes it out before being crushed. She provides some voiceover while driving to Arkadia, where she hopes to find some food.
She doesn’t find food. Instead, she finds a toolbox that belonged to Jasper. It contains Maya’s iPod, Jasper’s goggles, and a note to Monty.
Clarke then broadcasts a message on the radio. She hasn’t had any water for 2 days. She tells Bellamy, “Don’t feel bad about leaving me here. You did what you had to do.” Then she drives away.
Luckily, it begins to rain, so she finally gets some water. When a bug splatters on her windshield, she eats it. Then she eats all the dead bugs that have splattered on the front of the Rover. However, a big dust storm catches up to her, and she takes shelter in the Rover while it passes. But then, the Rover won’t start.
Clarke is forced to abandon the Rover and walks through the desert, eventually passing out. She is awoken by a vulture trying to eat her. She freaks out and scares it off, but then tries to follow it, wanting it to show her where it lives. While trying to follow, she trips and rolls down a sand dune and begins freaking out in frustration. She pulls out her gun, holds it to her head, and is about to pull the trigger — when she sees the vulture again.
Clarke follows the vulture once more, and this time, it leads her to a lush green valley (which Jason Rothenberg refers to as “Eden” later on in the panel). She thanks the bird, then shoots it.
The 100 Panel Discussion
The panel was moderated by none other than Zach McGowan, who played Rowan. Panelists included Showrunner Jason Rothenberg, Christopher Larkin (Monty), Lindsey Morgan (Raven), Bob Morley (Bellamy), Richard Harmon (Murphy), Tasya Teles (Echo), Sachin Sahel (Dr. Eric Jackson), and Jarod Joseph (Miller). Eliza Taylor (Clarke) was unable to attend due to being sick.
Zach McGowan jokingly asked Jason why he killed Rowan, to which Jason said it was just his time to die. Jason Rothenberg gave us a quick rundown of where we are in Season 5. It picks up 6 years after Praimfaya, and the bunker is “batsh*t crazy.” Clarke’s clan is now Madi, to whom she has become a Mom, for all intents and purposes. There are two armies that want Eden (the lush green valley). So it comes down to whether they can learn to share it and live in peace, or fight for it. As is human nature, it’s going to come down to a fight.
Zach pointed out that everyone except Monty grew facial hair, to which Christopher Larkin admitted that he cannot grow facial hair. He talked about how you’re either going to love or never want to see the people you’ve been stuck with for six years. Christopher said that for Monty, space was more of a chance for a respite and peace. Regarding whether he and Harper make it, Christopher commented, “Either way, I hope they gave it their best shot.” He also joked about how he has had six years to perfect the algae that they eat, and Jason chimed in that the awfulness of the algae is a running joke all season.
Lindsey Morgan talked about how Raven has always felt to her like Q from James Bond, and that she is Bellamy’s “right hand man.” Although Raven has never really been in the role of leader, Lindsey pointed out that Raven has opinions, and she would be interested to see her in that role.
Bob Morley mentioned that his beard took all of the hiatus to grow. He explained that the group that went into space is now known as Spacekru, and that he is co-captains with Raven.
When asked how Murphy sees himself, Richard Harmon said that Murphy is as hard on himself as the audience is, but that he is a “cutthroat survivalist.”
Upon talking to Tasya Teles, Zach McGowan told her, “You are unbanished!” She talked about Echo having finally found friendship in space, which was new to her because she had always lived her life “in duty” — at which point the panel began cracking up at the mention of the word “duty.”
Jason pointed out that one of the cool things about Spacekru is that they teach each other and learn from each other. For example, Echo teaches them how to fight. Jason revealed that we could expect a really great Raven fight scene early on. Additionally, Monty teaches farming, and Raven teaches Emori how to do “Raven stuff,” so Emori becomes Raven’s sidekick. As for Murphy, he doesn’t really do much and doesn’t carry his weight.
Moving on to Sachin Sahel, he commented, “If you are not Onekru, you are the enemy. So choose.” He also teased, “You are not prepared for what you’re going to see in the bunker,” describing it as “terrifying.” He further elaborated that when you throw all those factions together, there’s going to be turmoil. Jason had to send out an email to everyone in the bunker scenes, explaining the backstory of what they’ve been through, because they were all acting like it was so much fun. Sachin said the email changed how they all felt, making it feel like a completely different show and location to them.
Jarod Joseph talked about how Miller has a vulnerability to his character because of love, but said that Miller lightens up a little bit this season.
The panel was opened up to audience Q&A.
Regarding Skaikru vs. the Grounders in the bunker, we learned that they are all Onekru, there is no Skaikru. The prisoners that show up are now the enemy. Sachin once again said the line he said earlier, “If you are not Onekru, you are the enemy. Choose.”
When asked about the “space invaders” that arrive, Jason revealed that they are maximum security prisoners from our time that had been in cryogenic sleep and sent to mine an asteroid.
As for the number of episodes, Jason talked about how 13 is manageable, and commented that he blocked the season they did 16 episodes out of his memory. Bob chimed in, commenting that if they do too many episodes the crew would burn out. Lindsey agreed, pointing out that they are at the mercy of the elements in Vancouver, where they film the show — and where it rains a lot.
An audience member asked about whether there would be any resolution to characters who had been separated, to which Jason reluctantly replied, “I think you’ll be happy?”
Lindsey answered that they still keep in touch with people who are no longer on the show, as they make fast friendships. However, as for dead characters coming back, Jason explained that “Dead on the show is dead.” He conceded that they might show up in flashbacks sometimes, but couldn’t say specifically if we would see anyone.
Regarding what Spacekru does in their free time, we learned that Echo and Murphy have become good friends and that Echo has become Murphy’s therapist. Jason also commented that a lot of people have sex in space, pointing out “zero G.” But then he quickly apologized, telling us his 9 year old was in the audience.
As for the weirdest thing they had to eat on set, they talked about Monty’s algae, which was basically oatmeal with green juice. Lindsey also recalled a chip she had to eat that got caught in her throat, and she didn’t have any water to wash it down.
Bob talked about the grief and guilt that Bellamy feels about Clarke. We also learned that Raven was supposed to get a tattoo as a way of honoring Clarke, but they didn’t end up doing it. However, they talked about how Spacekru’s goal was to not let what Clarke did for them be in vain.
Additionally, the panelists talked about some of the best improv moments from the show. One example was Season 4 when Devon (Jasper) slides in, doing the Tom Cruise from Risky Business slide. Lindsey confessed that she thinks she bit Eliza for real during the A.L.I.E. storyline. Christopher revealed that when Jasper landed on the other side in the pilot, Monty fist pumps, so when he cracked the code at Mount Weather, he threw in 7 or 8 fist pumps.
At that, the panel ran out of time, and I met back up Josh and we headed home for the night. Click here to continue to our coverage of Saturday at WonderCon 2018, starting with the Batman Ninja and Ready Player One panels!
You can view more of our photos from The 100 panel at WonderCon 2018 below.
