SDCC 2015: The 100 Isaiah Washington says "Jaha is in Possession of the Bigger Gun"

Michael Moccio ’16 / Emertainment Monthly Editor-in-Chief
The 100 came to San Diego Comic Con (SDCC) on the heels of its successful second season, which ended in the beginning of March. The cast came to dish about the previous season and gave hints at what was to come. For those of you who aren’t familiar, The 100 (pronounced ‘The Hundred’) is about a post-apocalyptic society that sends one-hundred underage felons back to Earth to see if it’s habitable. Once the adults ascertain that it the planet is habitable, the rest of the people join the 100 down on the ground.
Emertainment got a chance to sit down with Satellite Award and Screen Actors Guild Award winning Isaiah Washington during The 100 Press Room. He plays Thelonious Jaha, who was in charge of the surviving people before they came to the ground. In the past season, his character went on an exodus to find the fabled City of Light and ultimately discovers something much more sinister.
“We’ve seen the scription, but I can’t tell you anything,” Washington said, laughing. “What I can tell you is that Jaha is in possession of the bigger gun. That’s not spoiling, but it gives you a nice little thing to hold onto. I have access to a nuclear warhead and artificial intelligence. Even Raven doesn’t have that.” Raven is a fan favorite character and a mechanic known for making new inventions to get the characters out of sticky situations.
When talking about his hopes for the upcoming season, Washington said, “The only thing I hope for in season three is that I’m out of cliff hangers. I’ve been on cliffhangers for all the years I’ve been on television in my black life. I’m over it! I do know that allegiances will change, unlikely and unpredictable alliances are made with certain characters, and I’m in possession of something that even Raven doesn’t have!” Washington was incredibly funny during the interview, going back to how he’s in possession of something even Raven doesn’t have.
As an actor, Washington also has to wrap his head around certain things the characters do to fully understand their motivations and convey them across the screen to the audience. To that effect, Washington said, “I may be the only character in the entire ensemble who doesn’t want to know what’s going to happen. Some of them want to know everything that’s going to happen, but I think it works better when I’m surprised. When I’m coming to it as an artist and I’m surprised, hopefully that feeling feels authentic and I’m in my authentic space as an artist. Hopefully, it’s as shocking to you seeing it as it was when I was reading it.”
Jaha’s growth this season was one of those moments of surprise for Washington. “What I love about these characters is that you can see that something’s not right. They change right before your eyes and that’s the beauty of these characters. When reading the script, I remember freaking out and saying, ‘Oh my god! He threw him off the ship as bait! That’s not… what?? May we meet again?’”
Part of that growth for Jaha is the unlikely traveling companion Jaha finds in Murphey, one of the 100 who were sent down to Earth that has a nasty history of violence and aggression. “It’s so improbable and out of left field that these characters would come together,” Washington said about their journey. “I think that’s the challenge for the characters, because of who I am and who he is—and you saw us go through that—and you continue to see those kinds of interactions.”
Ultimately, Washington conveyed that the next season is absolutely one to look forward to. “This season’s going to be very raw, but in a good way.”
The 100 is expected to premiere its next season sometime in 2016.