A Decade Later, The 100 Is Still Haunted by Lexa’s Death

It’s hard to believe it’s been 10 whole years since The 100 Season 3 Episode 7, still one of the most controversial hours of TV throughout my 12 years in this industry.

The CW series delivered a legitimate gut punch when it killed off Lexa (Alycia Debnam-Carey).

Lexa died at the hands of Titus, her advisor, after a stray bullet meant for Clarke.

There’s been no shortage of debate about the optics of her death and how it fed into one of TV’s most criticized tropes: bury your gays.

The backlash was so loud that series creator Jason Rothenberg later apologized and acknowledged the show’s role in reinforcing it.

But by then, the damage was already done. Lexa wasn’t just another character.

She was one of the most compelling parts of The 100, not just because of Clarke, but because of who she was in her own right — a leader with a completely different moral center than anyone else on the show.

That relationship could have been something long-running and meaningful, but instead it was cut short in a way that still feels fundamentally misjudged.

Debnam-Carey was leaving for Fear the Walking Dead, so the exit needed to happen quickly. That much is clear.

But even with that in mind, it’s hard to look back and not think there were better ways to handle it.

The 100 Could Have Done a Better Job Overall

Send her off on a mission. Keep her off-screen. Anything that didn’t end with a moment that so many viewers still associate with frustration and disappointment.

It wouldn’t have been perfect, especially given how central she’d become, but it would have avoided a lot of the fallout that followed.

Looking back, it still feels like one of the biggest missteps I’ve seen in over a decade covering TV.

Because Lexa’s death didn’t land as bold storytelling or shock value, it felt like a move designed to prove no one was safe, without fully thinking through what that meant in context.

And that’s where it falls apart.

The 100 didn’t need that kind of shock. The 100 Season 3 had already proven how high the stakes could be without it.

The show had evolved into something sharper, darker, and more confident than most of its CW peers.

At the time, the network was full of interchangeable young-skewing dramas. The 100 wasn’t that. It was a post-apocalyptic series that kept reinventing itself.

Lexa’s death didn’t add to that evolution. It derailed a good show that would have continued to gain steam if not for such a damaging, poorly thought-out creative decision.

Yes, The 100 continued for another four seasons, but my investment, or the investment from the rest of the returning viewers, was just not the same.

It’s wild to think how big The 100 could have become, even following its initial airing on The CW.

We hear a lot now about shows finding second lives on streaming years after their finales, but The 100 feels like one of those rare cases where that hasn’t happened — and probably never will.

Because no matter how strong it got in other moments, it will always get back to Lexa.

Not just her death, but the way it was handled, and the way it reshaped how a lot of people viewed everything that came after it. And that’s the part that never really fades.

What are your thoughts on Lexa’s demise and how it was handled, The 100 Fanatics?

Let’s keep the conversation going — it’s the only way the good stuff survives.
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