Riverdale (2017-Present)

With the exception of a brief foray into a certain development on the show, I’ve refrained from talking about Riverdale until its first season wrapped last week.  Now, with its fledgling season under its belt, it’s time to dive into the insanity that is this show.  Despite a somewhat skeptical start, this series quickly became surprisingly must-see TV for me, and by the time the finale aired, I was parked eagerly on my couch in rapt anticipation (premise spoilers.)

An audacious reimagining of the Archie comics, the show opens on sleepy, everyone-knows-everone small town Riverdale being rocked by the revelation that the town’s golden boy, thought to have died an accidental death, was actually murdered.  Secrets wrap themselves around more secrets as members of the familiar comic-book gang investigate who killed Jason Blossom and why, discovering along the way that everybody in their quiet little town is basically up to their eyeballs in shocking revelations.

What with all the teen sleuthing and dropped bombshells, I realize that description makes the show sound like a weird cross between Nancy Drew and Days of Our Lives, but it’s so much gloriously weirder than that.  This series is somehow equal parts teen drama, murder mystery, and Gothic horror, 100% earnestly and yet also kind of deconstructing all three.  It’s absolutely out-there, made even wilder every time you remember that these are the Archie characters we’re talking about.  I’m not about to say that it’s without flaws (there are some dumb writing fumbles, Archie himself spends most of the season searching for a way to be relevant to the main story, and the show drops the ball in a major way when it comes to utilizing its diverse cast,) but this is a show that seems to weirdly work despite itself.  There are honest-to-god maple syrup blood feuds, you guys – how can that not at least pique your interest?

By season’s end, I was mostly satisfied with how the show presents its familiar characters.  This is a true reimagining of the series, and while most characters have clear signposts pointing out long-standing traits and habits from the comics, they also do their own thing, depiction-wise, and are ultimately combinations of something both old and new.  Veronica (excellently played by Camila Mendes,) to my surprise, emerged as an early favorite, although I think her story gets a little muddy in the middle of the season.  Lili Reinhart’s Betty is a revelation, a really fascinating character, and Cole Sprouse (formerly of The Suite Life, which kind of blew my mind to realize) couldn’t be more perfect as Jughead.  I’m not enough of an Archie connoisseur to have known Cheryl Blossom, but I love Madelaine Petsch’s icy-yet-off-kilter portrayal of the complex mean girl.  And even though Archie (KJ Apa) is easily my least favorite early on – in part because his more typical teen-drama storylines often feel so disconnected from all the more interesting stuff going on – the writing starts to find its way with him, and he comes around pretty well in the later episodes of the season.

Warnings

Sexual content (including statutory rape,) violence, swearing, drinking/drug references, and strong thematic elements.