As I was preparing one of the paragraphs in this review, specifically talking about the relationship between Anya and Clarke (and thus the Grounders and the 100), I’d written out the lyric that is now the title of this review before realizing why and where the reference came from. The song “Live and Let Die” feels so ingrained in this episode and the show in general. While I haven’t particularly loved that all of our characters are spread out and disconnected, it has created a situation where alliances and relationships are evolving weekly.

Bellamy and Finn’s changes are a great juxtaposition. When we first met Finn, he was goofing off, floating through the drop ship during re-entry. Most of last season, he was advocating a peaceful approach with the Grounders. Now, he is a cold-blooded murderer. These were the kind of actions that we could have expected out of Bellamy, the boy general of the 100 last season. While his tactical prowess has grown, it’s more his natural leadership that’s the most striking change. While I could still see this Bellamy telling Raven that he’s not the guy to talk her out of revenge sex – he’s not going to change that much – but he is a very different man than the boy he was.

Octavia is on a different path – quite literally – from her brother, but her evolution is no less dynamic. Holding Nyko hostage was one thing, but her (admittedly poor) stalking of Indra’s hunting party was rather badass, but none of that compared to her in battle. She’s got a long way to go before she’s the skilled warrior that the Grounders are, but the respect – albeit grudgingly from Indra – she was shown establishes that she’s on her way. It will only be a matter of time before she’s reunited with Lincoln, whose showing up as a prisoner of the Mountain Men probably wasn’t the big surprise it was meant to be.

Has the ground changed Marcus Kane? His character arc has been a little less clear than others. I was pleased that he did not devolve into a simple mustache-twirling antagonist in season one, as he easily could have. Once we got to know the then Councilor, he was a man who was not afraid of making hard decisions, but one that found himself at the center of those decisions more often than he probably should have. Now acting-Chancellor, there’s no avoiding them. I understand his decision to follow the provisions set forth in the Exodus Charter in Abby’s very public punishment, and his choice to lead a diplomatic mission. But are these changes or was he always this way? If the character had been a smidge more tightly-drawn last season, it would be easier to tell.

An aside: We’ve not seen the last of Major Byrne, who advocated Abby’s punishment. If she stays behind at Camp Jaha where Abby is now in charge in Kane’s absence, they have set up a very interesting dynamic. Not only do they have their more recent conflict, the deep-seeded rivalry between the “Haves” and the “Have Nots” on the Ark is destined to come into play again.

To that end, I’m also curious about the Exodus Charter. With 100 years to sit around, the people of the Ark obviously had a lot of time on their hands to plan for their return. However, the Earth that they have found themselves on is quite different than what they expected. Will the rifts that divided them in space crack through the laws that they established in a (literal) vacuum? Or will the adversity the found on the ground be the crucible that brings them together? Regardless, the myth of Jaha will grow. Will the man find his way back to his people, and more importantly, is he the kind of leader his people need?

Notes & Quotes

• According to Wikipedia, Paul McCartney can’t remember the exactly what the lyric from the song is, so don’t jump on me for getting it wrong in the title.
• “There is no ‘we.’” – Anya
• I love Adina Porter; if you only know her from True Blood, you’re missing out. Her role on The Newsroom is smaller, but she is very good (as is everyone in the secondary cast, but you already know about my love for that show).
• Do the shirts that Jasper and Monty wear in Mount Weather remind anyone of Hypercolor tee shirts?
• There are some nice parallels between the 100 establishing themselves last year and their parents doing so this year. Nice touches and subtle enough that we don’t feel like we’re watching the same arcs repeat themselves.

Jason Rothenberg and the rest of The 100’s production team spent the entire summer dancing around questions about the fate of the myriad characters last season’s finale left in significant danger. Isaiah Washington, who plays Chancellor Jaha, was even more dodgy (remember the beginning of this video?). Last week’s premiere cleared up the disposition of Bellamy, Finn and Raven – to an extent – but this week covered the last man in space.

Unfortunately, I found the Jaha storyline to be a rare misstep by the writing team. It was obvious early on that the infant was a hallucination brought on by oxygen deprivation. Hell, even in the final scene last week Wells’ picture was up on his father’s monitor as we first heard the baby’s cries. It was a weak way to move Jaha beyond his “the captain goes down with the ship” mentality, and motivate him to finding a way to get down to the planet.

Despite his protestations at Comic-Con, I didn’t buy into Washington attending the convention to promote the show if he wasn’t going to be involved (Though Arrow and Caity Loitz have me rethinking that mindset). Regardless, Jaha now has two feet firmly planted on terra firma. He’s still separated from his people – the temp effects available in our screener gave no hint to his location beyond it being in a sandy desert – but that’s something that has to be resolved eventually (else why bother bringing him back?).

The 100 doesn’t seem to be the kind of show to shy away form the consequences of the tragedies that befall our characters. Raven’s operation left her without the use of her leg. Unless Abby Griffin has some miracle cure hiding in another part of the wreckage, Raven is going to have a great deal of difficulty adjusting to her new normal. And really, if some miracle occurs like Hal on Falling Skies (or Maggie on Falling Skies for that matter) we are all worse off for it.

You can take her legs, but you cannot take her spirit. Reminding Finn – and to a certain extent the audience – that the bond between the remaining 100 is more important than following the rules of a society that banished them to an unknown fate. We as an audience might like Abby or Jaha or even Kane to a certain extent (Though I wonder how he will react next week to the prison break) … but the core of this show has always been about the teenagers sent to the ground. Finn, Raven, Jasper, Monty, Bellamy, Clarke … the children that were cast into an unknown hell bonded and became their own dysfunctional family. There was never any doubt that they would go searching for the others, it was just a matter of time. That it was Raven who prompted them – and Abby that supplied them – was a nice touch.

Clarke keeps pushing and pushing, despite everyone around her urging against it. Jasper can say “someone’s got to keep her out of trouble” but he’s a bit busy with his new lady friend. Instead, Clarke discovers the Mountain Men’s secret (or perhaps just the first). I’m no doctor, but I am sure with years of research and experience, the inhabitants of Mount Weather could have found a way to buoy the immune systems or whatever they would need to do to develop a resistance to the radiation that didn’t include (medically) sucking the blood from Grounders.

Notes and Quotes

• That opening title sequence is amazing, isn’t it? Rothenberg promises that it is full of easter eggs, so I’m sure someone will have it uploaded and examined by the time I’m eating my cereal tomorrow morning.
• Felix Gaeta. Ellen Tigh. Tory Foster. The 100 has been filled with Battlestar Galactica alums from day one. This week introduced Ty Olsson (Captain Aaron Kelly) as a grounder friend of Lincoln’s.
• “Ai laik Okteivia kom Skaikru; and you have something I want.” – Man, Marie Avergopolous – and Octavia — certainly has become a badass.
• “Only patients are allowed in medical,” I’ve seen that scene twice now, and both times Clarke had me cringing and pulling myself into the fetal position.

Previously on The 100: What. The. Fudge. Critics can talk about Scandal, they can talk about The Walking Dead, or they can talk about a host of other much-hyped shows that provides shocking twists and turns, but for my money, The 100 has them all beat.

I was describing the show to a friend this summer, trying to explain how the show kept ramping up the action. I told her there was a big shocking moment at the end of the pilot that left audiences jaw-dropped. Then Clarke topped it at the end of episode two. Then Charlotte topped it once and then once again in the following episodes. There’s nothing like The 100 on television anywhere, and I’m damn glad the show is back.

I talked to the cast and crew at San Diego Comic-Con this summer, and I was particularly struck by something showrunner Jason Rothenberg said. The full quote is in the video below, but he basically didn’t think that the show deserved its reputation for killing off characters; other than Wells, none of the characters killed was portrayed as a regular character. Rothenberg implied that since the show received that reputation, they were going to attempt to live up to it in season two. Boys and girls, if that statement does not scare you, you are not paying close enough attention. There’s an influx of characters on the ground with the return of the Ark, the Mountain Men (People?) and more Grounders. More characters to track makes it considerably easier to chop off a couple here or there as the story allows.

The end of last season left most of our characters a scattered, battered, bloody mess, separated and in a heap of trouble. Clarke, Monty, Jasper and 45 others have found themselves in relative safety in the welcoming arms of the denizens of Mount Weather. It seems that some aspect of the American culture and government were saved from the holocaust, but are now trapped by the radiation their bodies were protected from. Mount Weather’s comforts – including power from Philpott Dam (which in reality is a three day walk from Mount Weather) – are too good to be true. Other than Clarke’s feeling of unease, it is impossible to pinpoint exactly what is off about Mount Weather, but something obviously isn’t right.

The finale and premiere have introduced a variety of game-changers, none of which are going to be as impactful as the landing of the Ark. Kane saving the boys was a hint of the safety that the returnees (can the show come up with a cool name for them stat?) represent, but Bellamy’s arrest proves that whatever trials they experienced on the Ark, they will likely never comprehend what the 100 experienced on the ground. The politics of the myriad groups now on the ground are going to play a major role in the story arcs this season, but none will be trickier than the reintegration of these two groups … if it is even possible.

One of the other things Rothenberg mentioned in our conversation was the possibility of learning more about Murphy, and how that might humanize him a little. He obviously was referring to his conversation with Raven in the drop-ship. Rothenberg was clear to say that Murphy wasn’t necessarily going to be redeemed, something I think is impossible. I don’t particularly care that he had a particularly good childhood; very few of the 100 did. Bellamy was hard on everyone early on for the right reasons without realizing it, but Murphy was a sociopath. It’s hard to embrace someone who urinates on someone who just wanted a water break. Raven wasn’t there for the worst of things. She might show a little mercy, but it is doubtful others will.

The return of the Ark, the mysteries of the Mountain Men, the savagery of the Grounders and the resolve of the 100; so much of what we learned last season will soon be disproven. Our heroes are going to face challenge after challenge that continues raise the levels of WTF in ways that the first season couldn’t even begin to prepare us for.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=UnrZ4Lzi4Qc

• I have seen the first three episodes of the season, so it is admittedly difficult to dance around what I already know. A smarter man would have stopped in between episodes, but I was too damn excited.
• One of the few truly “fun” things that The 100 gets to explore is the relationship between Jasper and Monty, and tonight’s cake/pie interchange is a great example.
• There were several WTF (and for the record, the F stands for “fudge”) moments, but Kane shooting Tristan through the head was the first of several times that got me off the couch.
• Speaking of which … how did a politician on a space station become such a great shot and a tactical leader?
• Some of the casting cross-over is due to where the show is filmed, but the show adds a Cylon tonight in Rekha Sharma (Kate Vernon appeared and was too-quickly killed last season) and will add another Battlestar vet next week.
• We’ll get more into Octavia and Lincoln next week, but I am really interested in where their story is going. Ricky Whittle was one of two recurring actors upgraded to regulars this year (Lindsey Morgan) and was extremely entertaining at SDCC – I’ll be sharing that video in a week or two.

The 100 was probably my favorite new show when I reviewed the 2013 pilots last summer. Nothing could have prepared me, however, for what was to come when the series got to Episode 3 (Or Episode 4 … or Episode 5; at some point I had to stop counting). Jason Rothenberg and his team are right up there with Shonda Rhimes’ Scandal in terms of telling a fast-paced, dark story that is less like a television show and more like — if you’ll forgive the cliche — a roller coaster ride (and a damn fine coaster, too. Not one of those kiddy-coasters, but one you lose your lunch just looking at from the bottom).

We sat down with the cast and crew at San Diego Comic-Con earlier this summer. They told us what they could about the upcoming season, which was unsurprisingly very little. Isaiah Washington was particularly obtuse (tongue-in-cheek … to an extent). If you had asked me this summer, I would have said that just by his appearance at the Con one could figure out his fate … but then I’m reminded of our conversation with Mark Guggenheim about how many episodes Caity Loitz was going to be in, and I start to hedge those bets.

Here is what we learned from our conversations:

Jason Rothenberg

• Rothenberg isn’t sure the show really earned the “Is Anyone Safe” reputation it received in the first season. “We didn’t really kill that many important characters … we killed Wells.” But the writers try to treat violence in a real way. Wounds are impactful, and characters don’t heal by the time the next episode comes around. “That said, this year? No one is safe. We got too much credit last year, so this year I need to earn it.”
• Managing what the writers and actors can say before an episode airs is tough. There’s a balance between needing to answer questions to media to help build hype and revealing too much. Rothenberg, “I know if I was a fan of the show and I read online, ‘Oh this guy’s going to live’ … I’d be like ‘eh, OK.’ I want to be surprised when I watch it.
• Murphy is a character whose backstory is going to be revealed a little this season. “We’re going to start to peel back the layers.” Rothenberg compares episode six that explained where Bellamy was coming from as something they are going to try to do with the most hated of The 100. “I feel like [Murphy] on some level was underserved as a character last year … There’s a reason why he is the way he is.”
• Rothenberg loves all of the characters, but particularly likes writing for Clarke, “Eliza is just so good, anything I write she shows me what it really means.”
• All of the characters are scattered. The survivors from the Ark have landed in different places; the original 100 – or what’s left of them – are separated. “One of the things that this season is about is figuring out ways to get the people back together. Reunions are a key storyline.” The adults from the Ark finding their children – and finding them changed – will be an important arc. Rothenberg stopped short of saying whether or not Clarke and Abbey will be reunited, but at least they’re on the same planet now.
• Rothenberg doesn’t think that they will ever show the story of the apocalypse on the planet, but is interested in showing how the people of the Ark came together. “It’s a big episode, where big = expensive, so I’m not really sure when it’s going to happen, but it’s something I’d like to do.”

 Eliza Taylor / Clarke Griffin

• Taylor “kinda knows where Clarke’s going,” but they’re only given scripts a couple of days in advance of shooting. Plus? The story is always changing.
• “Being able to play someone who is smart and strong and soulful is just fantastic.”
• Taylor has been focusing on her physicality this season, especially after watching last. “I’m a girly-girl really,” and that’s something that Clarke isn’t. There were scenes last year where she felt she put a little too much of that into play, and she doesn’t want to repeat it.
• She’s looking forward to the hypothetical reunion with her mother (she thinks it will happen, but again, she hasn’t read ahead). “There’s a lot of tension there, but also they’ve both changed so much individually, it will be interesting to see if they recognize one another.”
• When asked about whether Clarke will continue to evolve in the same direction we saw in Season One, Taylor was confident she would. “She’s on that path, there’s no turning back. She’s definitely blurring the lines,” doing those morally questionable things that being a leader forces her to take on.

 Devon Bostick / Jasper Jordon

• Bostick is really excited to explore “the new world that is Mount Weather.” It sounds like the mystery that is this new locale – which Rothenberg assures us we will understand in the first moments of the season – will change the fabric of the world these characters live in.
• Bostick loves playing Jasper. He took to the character immediately when he read the pilot script, though he was shocked to see him die in the end. “He was the only guy having fun, just enjoying Earth for the first time … he’s goofy, but there’s a lot of heart to him.” But playing the transition is interesting. Jasper has PTSD from being speared, and has become a very different person. He’s running into battle, when he should probably just stay in camp.
• Jacktavia: Octavia slipped out of Jasper’s hands, which did challenge how Bostick approached the character. “She was a motivation to be doing the crazy things, because ‘she’s gonna dig it.’” It was a good beat to play, that despite Jasper’s affection, she was taking advantage of him. But now, “She’s a Grounder-pounder as they say around camp.” You can tell that Jasper’s sense of humor is very much born in Bostick’s.
• No one will say if Bellamy is alive or if Jaha is dead. Usually, you get a pretty good indication of such things by the show’s marketing in advance of the season; for example Isaiah Washington attended the Convention where Bob Morley did not. In this case, I’m not sure that’s a definitive clue.
• The interactions of the various factions on the ground will be a big part of the season. “The politics of the different societies; we’re going to explore how they all relate and who stands where,” teases Bostick, who was walking a tight line on what he could say and what he should not.
• That Mount Weather was a big part of the premiere and the finale was done intentionally. It was their goal originally, as the adults on the Ark told them that is where they could find safety. In the season finale, they learned just how wrong they really were. Bostick tells us, “We were wrong about the Grounders; now we’re wrong about the Mountain Men.”

 Lindsey Morgan / Raven Reyes

• “If you think Season One was nuts, Season Two is definitely … ‘Get Ready.’” The intensity jumps off from the first minute back.
• Morgan appreciates how well the writers are in tune with what the actors are doing and what they bring to their characters: “They can see what we shine in, and what’s our strengths as actors. They’re also very curious … they always try to stretch us and surprise us.” They pushed Raven a great deal last year, exploring her character beyond just a normal guest star (the character and Reyes’ work was rewarded with a promotion to the regular cast this season).
• While talking about the writing surprising her, someone asked if there was a moment in a first season script that surprised her. “Bellamy … I mean, where did that come from?!?” Where the producers will give warnings about major plot points – most specifically to an actor if their character is going to die in a script, they let her find out this particular character beat on her own. “I was just reading the script going, ‘Oh, this is good! This is … WHAT?’” Raven was always intended to die, but the writers kept pushing that death back. When Morgan read scene where Raven and Bellamy hook up, she figured that such a shocking, raw moment would be an interesting final beat before the character was supposed to die in the next episode.

 Marie Avgeropoulos / Octavia Blake

• Avgeropoulos was able to enjoy Comic-Con this year much more than last year for several reasons. She explained that it is easier to talk about a show people have seen – and become a fan of – than last year, where she felt like they were promising that the show was amazing. Plus, managing the Convention while on crutches, as she was forced to do last year, is much harder than you’d think.
• While social media has been a part of the show’s early success, she hadn’t really participated much before. “It’s the only place you can get a marriage proposal and a death threat in the same day.”
• “Season Two? It’s much darker and will push the envelope and show viewers even more than Season One.” She tells us that what we think is happening is the exact opposite from what is actually going on. We will obviously be meeting new characters, who “survived – or not – the effects of the radiation.”
• Avgeropoulos is comfortable with the character at this point, “It’s like when you turn the key in a car and put it into drive and it’ll just do its thing.”
• “I think Jasper is desperately trying to get out of the friend-zone.” But the Lincoln/Octavia story is more dynamic. She identifies with Lincoln for several reasons, and that the 100 had wrongly accused him was one of them, as she has familiarity with that. “Her only crime was that she was born.”
• Octavia is separated from the 100, both physically and emotionally. Her time with Lincoln will be difficult once they encounter other Grounders who won’t welcome her with open arms, and how the 100 react if and when they reunite will surprise her as well.

 Ricky Whittle / Lincoln

• “Season One was really like Disneyland [compared to this season.]” His hashtag for the season is apparently, #justgotdarker.
• In preparing for this season, Rothenberg and Whittle’s discussions have lead him to doing a great deal of reading and research on “something,” which he obviously couldn’t share. “The material I’ve been given, I feel very honored to be trusted with … I’m going to have to go there, I’m going to have to ‘go there.’”
• Whittle has put a great deal of time and energy into crafting his performance. You can tell he has embraced not just the assignments the producers gave him, but everything that role entails. He obviously (yeah, ladies … it’s obvious) spent time in the gym, but it goes beyond that. He works with a vocal coach to get his accent right. His work with an acting coach lead him to lobby the writers to give him less dialogue, as he thinks that’s how Lincoln would be. “I don’t want dialogue. Keep that mystique, keep him silent. He doesn’t need to answer you.”
• The one assignment he would share with us? Horse training. He’d ridden before, but wants to take it to a new level. The stunt coordinator owns his own ranch where he worked with Joseph Gatt and Dichen Lachman last season.

Isaiah Washington / Counselor Jaha

• Talking with Washington was an interesting experience, much different from how he was last year. The whole conversation was, I hope, just tongue-in-cheek … cheekiness. Just a couple of quotes (which were repeated often) will sum up the experience (and I’ve left most of the beginning of the conversation in the highlight clip above):
• “I’m a walking cliffhanger, and I can’t tell you a thing.”
• “No, I can’t talk about it.”
• “Can’t talk about that.”
• “It’s so disappointing, I feel like I’m letting everyone down. I ran my mouth non-stop last [year].”
• “Yeah … it’s gonna be intense.”
• “You will be in alignment with Jason Rothenberg’s decisions on Counselor Jaha’s fate.”

Comic-Con is what you make of it.

And, being the event comes but once a year for a brief portion of a week, it’s best you hit the floor with all thrusters at full when you descend on San Diego.

Plans in place, I did just that Friday …

• My day started with a tradition I maintain every year at Comic-Con, a visit to the San Diego Blood Bank for my annual donation. With my partner in crime Ivey in tow, we made the short trek to do our thing. Lo and behold, the same gentleman who poked and prodded me last year — Ramon — drew from me once again. I think the two of us are becoming “a thing” …
• I got the opportunity to do quite a few interviews Friday, all of which will be posted in some form or another in the coming week. Included in those Q&As were a comic property (Eric Powell of the popular comic The Goon), a couple television show press rooms (Falling Skies which had to be cut short due to scheduling conflicts and The Walking Dead) and something new I wanted I sought out to learn more about, God Is Disappointed In You by writer Mark Russell and Shannon Wheeler of Too Much Coffee Man fame.
• Ivey sat down with the cast from Dominion, or putting it another way: Ivey sat down with Giles and Charles Widmore … and David from Kings and Doreah from Game of Thrones.
• I caught an extended look at iZombie in one of the spacious meeting rooms, something I thought might be packed to the gills. To my surprise, I was able to walk right in, unlike Thursday with the Toy Story That Time Forgot. (That panel was stuffed to capacity. You win some, you lose some.)
• In a stark contrast to last year’s The 100 press room, Ivey said series star Isaiah Washington was comically tight-lipped about what is coming up for his character on the show this year … but in all honesty, his being in attendance is a spoiler in and of itself.
• Do I have to mention there was a gaggle of photos taken and the Con floor traversed in search of personalities and old friends? Naturally.

Busy as the day was, there were still evening parties to attend.

• En route to the Warner Bros. fest, I bumped into a crowd of luchadores (Mexican wrestlers) going the opposite direction. Every year we hook up at some bar or restaurant in San Diego’s Gaslamp to enjoy pitchers of cerveza and offer photo opportunities to any passersby. (The kicker is the fact these guys are real luchadores from Tijuana. I’m the token gringo of the bunch who they’ve welcomed with open arms as a brother.) I told them I would seek them out a bit later in the evening.
• The Warner Bros. party Ivey and I attended was located at a spacious, open air rooftop of The Hard Rock. This shindig boasted more talent than you could shake a stick at. Talent from The 100, Mike Tyson Mysteries (including Iron Mike himself), The Vampire Diaries, iZombie The Flash, Arrow, Person Of Interest, Gotham, The Originals and The Following mingled about. There could very well have been more but, with a list like that, it was dizzying enough keeping track.
• Post party, Ivey headed back to the hotel while I went on the hunt for my wrestling brothers. I was unsuccessful … but I did wind up at an after-Eisner Awards festival with full of talent and fellow writers.
• Missed opportunity of the evening was The Last Ship party on the USS Midway. Wouldn’t it have been cool to have been rubbing elbows on an aircraft carrier? A wish for another time.
• Of a few things Ivey was involved in, he realized a dream this year which was unfulfilled in 2013: A photo opportunity on Game Of Thrones very own Iron Throne. Geek nirvana for certain.
• Additionally, he commandeered some pretty cool GoT swag — exclusive T-shirts HBO distributed at their Survive the Realm Experience. Artist Robert Ball, of GoT/HBO’s “Beautiful Death” series earlier this year, was the creator with a different piece debuting each day of The Con. Pretty cool swag if I do say so myself.

Saturday? Look out: We’re comin’ to getcha …

When I first screened CW’s new shows, The 100 was one I was really looking forward to, and the pilot did not disappoint. Thus, I was eager to talk to the cast and crew at Comic-Con this year. I knew about Eliza Taylor, Marie Avgeropoulos, Jason Rothenberg, Matt Millar and Henry Ian Cusick but either through the confusion that is SDCC or just my own forgetfulness, I was surprised when Isaiah Washington also walked through the door (If you didn’t know, I’m a big Grey’s Anatomy fan).

So sit back and enjoy. I appreciated both Taylor and Avgeropoulos’ takes on their characters, especially how much they both talk about how different — and horrible — their childhoods were. Cusick had several great perspectives on his character Councillor Kane, specifically about the difference between making hard decisions and actually being evil. The last clip is one of my favorites: Isaiah Washington apparently has a great deal of respect for showrunner Jason Rothenberg, and pays him a very high compliment.

Yesterday, at the end of a very long day of San Diego Comic-Con festivities, I shared the highlights of the con’s first jam-packed day.. It was jammed packed, and I was especially appreciative of getting to see the Ender’s Game and Divergent panels in the usually difficult to get into Hall H.

Friday was a much different day. I spent the majority of the day in press rooms, talking to the creators and casts of The 100, The Following and The Blacklist. As planned, Keith and I also attended the Veronica Mars Fan Event – which I live-tweeted at CliqueClackTV – which was pretty awesome. The big surprise of the day was getting a last-minute opportunity to sneak into Hall H for the Game of Thrones panel.

As with yesterday, I just want to go over some of the highlights of the day. Next week when I’ve had more time to process them, I’ll post videos from the roundtable interviews I participated in.

• After two – and a half I guess – years of attending Comic-Con, I finally participated in one of fellow Clacker Michael Noble’s most treasured San Diego traditions: breakfast at Perry’s Café. It’s a little off the beaten path – and certainly not within walking distance of downtown – but my pancakes were outstanding.
• The 100 (Pronounced, for clarification as “the hundred” and not “the one-hundred”) pressroom was first up. It’s always a nice treat when there is a member of the cast there that you didn’t expect, and I wasn’t aware that Isaiah Washington would be joining us. He had some interesting perspectives on his character, especially in the context of President Obama, whose campaigns he’s helped with in the past.
• Next up was The Blacklist which, along with The 100, is one of my favorite pilots of the new season. I spoke with Diego Klattenhoff – who made a comment while in the press line reminding us that he was in Mean Girls – and Megan Boone, who is sure to be one of the breakout new stars this year.
• I’ve been fortunate enough to see the Game of Thrones panel now two of the three years I’ve been at the con. Sadly, the year I missed was the one year they were able to announce casting for the upcoming season. The panel was great, but looking at the actors that were on the dais, the only thing running through my head was, “Dead, dead, going to die, dead, going to die.” The hilariously prepared “In Memoriam” video of all of the characters – including “Baratheon Soldier #680” – probably put me in that mindset. Update: Look what the official Game of Thrones YouTube account just shared:

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=9m4ZPULXJKw

• Last year, The Following’s pressroom was one of my favorites. This year, we had the bonus of having Valorie Curry in attendance. She clarified that last year, while she was at the con promoting the final installment in the Twilight series, she was asked to stay far away from this pressroom for Spoiler’s sake (While I would have love to have spoken with her then, it would have ruined a pretty great reveal in the pilot).
• A long time ago, we used to be friends … with a show called Veronica Mars. The Kickstarter campaign has re-launched the fanaticism. While there was no way I’d be able to make it into the show’s Hall H panel first thing this morning, I did fund in Kickstarter to a level that guaranteed me a seat. Hopefully, I’ll be able to dedicate a full post to the goings on at the event, but in the mean time check out the official sizzle reel Rob Thomas featured at both events embedded below.

• Finally, I guess you’re probably looking for an explanation about the picture at the top of this post. Sadly, I’m not going to be able to provide one for you. There’s just some things that you just have to come to Comic-Con to understand. I will say, if you’re wondering — and I know you are — that my sweet Cap shirt is available here (Hat tip to my buddy Jason Fitchko who did the art) … or, I mean, whoever that masked man wearing the cool shirt is, because it isn’t me. Not even a little

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=LVJhjV3EOY4