Archie and the gang find themselves completely reinvented in the CW and Netflix original Riverdale. However, the series, whose second episode aired Friday, proves that sometimes it’s better to leave classic franchises as they are.
Riverdale joins a long list of spin offs based on the comic book series. This one strays far away from the original though. Outside of keeping character names and certain personality traits, little has stayed the same.
The series opens with the murder of Jason Blossom, Riverdale’s high school football star. As summer is coming to a close and everyone is preparing to go back to school, it becomes clear how much this will complicate the town’s seemingly perfect exterior. Archie Andrews is still facing the same problems as his comic counterpart: a love triangle and balancing sports and music. Now though, he’s also hiding a couple dark secrets. The same can be said for most characters; Veronica Lodge is no longer the rich girl after her father has been involved in corruption, but she still maintains her classic snob attitude. As the series unravels, it becomes clearer and how much these characters are hiding.
Riverdale tries to revamp the franchise. The series wants to be edgy. It wants to do a complete 360 on the loveable town readers have come to know. The issue though is that it’s trying too hard. One of the most definitive characteristics of Archie Comics is how pure they are. Riverdale desperately wants to change that. For instance, Ms. Grundy is no longer the loveable, white-haired homeroom teacher. Now, she is a young, beautiful music teacher who has had an affair with Archie.
The show doesn’t make an effortless transition from the saintly town in the comic books to the dark, mysterious one it’s created. It’s visible how much work was put in to drastically changing each character. It makes the show awkward and sometimes even cringe-worthy.
However, this isn’t to say the series is completely unwatchable. Instead, it’s more of a guilty pleasure. For anyone who enjoys over-the-top dramas, Riverdale won’t be a let down. It has murder, romance and mystery all wrapped up into a weekly 40-minute episode. For fans of the comic series too, it’s definitely worth watching the first episode to see what’s happened to favourite characters and places. Plus the series isn’t hard to watch. Even though there are twists, the show stays easy to follow.
You can catch up past episodes on Netflix or find new episodes every Thursday on the CW Network.