10 TV Shows Like “The 100” That You Should Watch in the Future.
The CW’s The 100 , which spanned seven seasons, became the most deeply explored apocalypse on television, telling the story of the descendants of nuclear refugees who return to Earth from their space habitat and encounter the remnants of humanity’s survival. Naturally, the first ones sent to investigate are juvenile delinquents, who discover that three civilizations have emerged from the apocalypse—all quite terrifying (including, naturally, one populated by cannibals). After a rocky first few episodes, the series matured into something impressively intelligent and complex, a reminder that young adult fiction doesn’t have to be devoid of depth. In its absence, enjoy other shows exploring dystopias near and far, especially when they throw teenagers into the thick of apocalyptic troubles.
Silo (2023 – )
This futuristic neo-noir (which begins, appropriately, with a murder mystery) somewhat flips the concept of The 100 on its head: while in that show, people from a space station visit a devastated Earth, in Silo, the remnants of humanity are trapped underground. Rebecca Ferguson plays Juliet Nichols, an engineer who becomes embroiled in an investigation involving the local sheriff (played by David Oyelowo). Everything is as usual—except that all the characters inhabit a massive bunker, 144 levels deep, protecting the remaining 10,000 people from the supposedly poisoned world above. Those who run the bunker have convinced everyone remaining that only strict adherence to rules and procedures will protect them from the dangers outside. The series’ tones vary greatly, but both “The 100” and “Power” are built on the importance of manipulation and lies that prevent the protagonists from ever understanding the bigger picture. Watch “Power” on Apple TV .
Snowpiercer (2020–2024)
While Snowpiercer initially feels like a needless sequel to Bong Joon-ho’s allegorical post-apocalyptic film, it eventually takes on a life of its own, evolving into a clever sci-fi melodrama that recognizes that at the end of the world, there are no heroes and few true villains, just people doing their best to survive. In a frozen future (2026, to be precise), humanity survives on an extremely long train traveling around the world. If it stops, the power will go out, and everyone (literally everyone) will die. Those who arrived with wealth live at the front in relative luxury, while the poor live on scraps (or worse) in the back. Daveed Diggs plays former detective Andre Layton, the “tail” assigned by Melanie Cavill (played by Jennifer Connelly) to help solve a series of murders. The inevitable uprising that follows places them on opposite sides of a brutal conflict, as each realizes they are mere pawns of the elite—just as they always were. Watch Snowpiercer on Peacock , Hulu , and Prime Video .
Wildlife (2020–2022)
In the detective thriller “Wild Places,” which unfolds between flashbacks and flashforwards, a plane carrying teenage girls crashes en route to an empowerment program in Hawaii. It quickly becomes clear that the crash was orchestrated and that the whole thing is a kind of social experiment, with the survivors forced to compete against each other to survive—reminiscent of the manipulations at the heart of “The 100,” even if the setting is less overtly sci-fi. The series understands how young women are exploited and forced to compete in the real world, clearly demonstrating that a “Lord of the Flies”-style scenario centered on women wouldn’t be any better even if things had unfolded differently. Watch “Wild Places” on Prime Video.
Tribes of Europe (2021)
In the series “Tribes of Europa,” global technological collapse is just a few years away, and I’m personally glad about that—the story takes place in 2074, 45 years after we all lost access to Instagram. However, the series treats this as a bad thing, as a complete societal collapse and the disintegration of governments into a multitude of warring microstates. Three groups are key here: the aggressive Crows; the militaristic and politically inclined Crimson; and the peaceful Origins, three of whom accidentally discover advanced technology that makes teenagers targets for almost everyone.Watch “Tribes of Europa” on Netflix .
Shadowhunters (2016–2019)
Many dystopian series available on streaming platforms are aimed at older audiences (which doesn’t necessarily mean they’re smarter or more mature), so this urban fantasy is very much age-appropriate, being, like The 100 , an adaptation of a popular young adult novel series. Both series also portray young women as unwitting warriors fighting for their families and friends in the face of catastrophic consequences. In Shadowhunters , based on Cassandra Clare’s long-running The Mortal Instruments book series, Clary Fray (Katherine McNamara) discovers her mother has lied to her her entire life: she is the daughter of a renegade Shadowhunter who broke away to form her own group, a group of magical fanatics who go to extreme lengths in their mission to protect people from demons and supernatural creatures, not all of whom are evil. Although the series was canceled after three seasons, it adapts the first book series and reaches a satisfying conclusion. Watch Shadowhunters on Hulu .
12 Monkeys (2015–2018)
Another dystopian future, this one depicts the aftermath of a global catastrophe—only here we rely on time travel to save ourselves. James Cole, a scavenger from 2043, travels back in time to 2015 to stop a deadly plague. While the series initially felt like a retread of Terry Gilliam’s film (and La Getie , on which it’s based), it eventually comes to relish its expanded timeline and uses it to reflect on the ideas of free will versus predestination, even with plenty of action and mystery; branching plotlines, complex character relationships, and impossible choices are common threads. It’s a kind of pre-apocalypse story, exploring a dark past and an even darker future. Watch 12 Monkeys on Prime Video .
Heaven’s Delusion (Tengoku Daimakyō) (2023)
In this (extremely strange) post-apocalyptic anime, we follow two parallel storylines: in one, a group of children live in a closed, sterile, strictly controlled school environment called “Paradise,” protected from what we quickly learn is a monster-infested disaster beyond; in the other, bodyguard Kiruko and her companion Maru navigate a devastated Japan. These relatively straightforward dystopian plotlines soon take unexpected turns, as the storylines intertwine into a tale that tackles gender and sexual politics, as well as plenty of dark secrets. Think of it as a psychedelic anime take on the kid apocalypse, where some people are seemingly safe while others are forced to confront a brutal reality. Watch “Heaven’s Delusion” on Hulu .
3% (2016–2020)
It would be tempting to see this as a metaphor for the American Dream, but of course, this is a Brazilian show, and inequality wasn’t invented in the United States—we’re just particularly good at it. In “3%,” poor young people from the hinterlands have one chance at success: to complete “The Process”—a series of interviews, puzzles, and quests designed to test their suitability for a futuristic seafaring utopia. Most fail, and many don’t survive, leaving a success rate of… 3%. It’s a lot like “The Hunger Games,” but there’s also a very “100%”- like sense of young people being seen as expendable, especially when they don’t occupy the right place in the social hierarchy.Watch “3%” onNetflix .
Rain (2018–2020)
Welcome to the apocalypse, but, you know… a rainier one. In this three-season Danish series, a rain-borne virus wipes out much of Scandinavia. Six years later, siblings Simone and Rasmus emerge from their bunker and set out on a journey across the countryside, hoping to find safe haven and perhaps find their father. It turns out one of them holds the key to destroying the virus and saving the world. The premise isn’t the most original ( The Last of Us was released five years ago), but the setting lends the series a unique atmosphere, and it builds to a climactic conclusion.Watch “Rain” on Netflix .
We Are All Dead (2022 – )
In “All of Us Are Dead, ” high school turns into a living hell, almost literally, when a viral outbreak turns Hyosan High School into the epicenter of a strange epidemic. The teens soon realize they’re isolated from the rest of town, with no help available (adults can’t be trusted in an apocalypse, that’s what I get from these shows). Nihilism isn’t uncommon in zombie series, as are themes surrounding the breakdown of social structures. But “All of Us Are Dead” explores the world of a closed, constantly threatened high school as a parallel to our own: class and background remain powerful forces, even (or especially) in the face of the trauma of attacks, and arbitrary social hierarchies are reinforced under constant threat. Unlike the open world of “The 100” (at least when we’re on the ground and outside), the closed school setting is used brilliantly, and there’s a fittingly melodramatic element to it, too.Watch “All of Us Are Dead” on Netflix .