Riverdale - Season 2 - Review

With Riverdale’s season 2 finale airing tonight, we thought it’d be fun to do take a look into the show.
 
If there’s one thing you should know about the CW’s Riverdale, it is that it’s completely and utterly out of its mind in the best possible way. I don’t think I’m overstating things here – this is a show where the Archie comics characters, Archie (KJ Apa – UTA|Luber Roklin), Jughead (Cole Sprouse – WME|Authentic), Betty (Lili Reinhart – UTA|Anonymous), and Veronica (Camila Mendes – CAA|Luber Roklin) find themselves wrapped up in stories that resemble noir, mafia, and horror films. They make out, have sex, and do a drug called, I’m not kidding, Jingle Jangle. This is all the while dealing with typical CW teenager concerns. It’s both crazy and silly at times, but the show is more than just the nutty stuff.
 
What makes Riverdale truly special is the characters. While, yes, the show seems from the outside like a grim and gritty reboot of the creaky Archie comics characters, the more you get into the show you realize that while the gang has gotten a modern reboot they’re still recognizably the same characters from 1940s. What’s more, all these characters have a nobility about them, and clearly care about their friendships – sometimes going out of their way to keep their friends safe or the relationship intact.
 
The parents of Archie and his friends are all played by former young romantic leads – actors like Luke Perry (TalentWorks|Himber Entertainment), Molly Ringwald (Untitled Entertainment), Madchen Amick (Gersh|KW Entertainment), and Skeet Ulrich (Paradigm|Luber Roklin) – and add a surprising gravitas to the show.
 
The fact that the show is so compelling is due to showrunner and creator Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa (WME), who was a writer/producer on Big Love and Glee. While working on that show, Aguirre-Sacasa was hired to write an Archie/Glee crossover comic, eventually leading to the creation of Afterlife With Archie, depicting Archie and his friends dealing with a zombie apocalypse. Afterlife With Archie was so successful it lead to Aguirre-Sacasa being hired as Archie Comics’ chief creative officer.
 
Fun side note: in 2003 Aguirre-Sacassa wrote a play titled Archie’s Weird Fantasy, which was an update of the Riverdale gang where Archie came out as gay and moved to New York City. It was set to be produced by a theater company in Atlanta, but when Archie Comics got wind of this they issued a cease and desist letter, and the play was eventually re-written. Funny how things work out sometimes. The reasons for Archie Comics’ change in attitude is too long and complicated to get into here, but you can check out this Vulture article which goes into depth about it.
 
In its sophomore season, the Riverdale gang has had to deal with a serial killer who goes by the name “The Black Hood” and class tensions that threaten to tear the town apart as we lead up to tonight’s sure-to-be-explosive finale. Last month, Riverdale was renewed by the CW for a third season, and Netflix ordered a spin off series centered around another Archie Comics character -- Sabrina the Teenage Witch titled Chilling Adventures of Sabrina starring Kiernan Shipka (CAA|Anonymous Content). Whatever comes next for the Archie and friends, whether it’s another serial killer, witches, or zombies, I’m sure the Riverdale crew will face it together as friends.
 
(Also, everyone in the cast deserves Emmys for being able to say “Jingle Jangle” with a straight face.)