If you haven’t recently been hearing about or watching Riverdale, it makes sense. There are now six whole seasons filled with the drama, horror, and chaos of a small town in New York. If you’ve never heard of Riverdale, it covers the story of five teenagers as they navigate high school life. In the first season, the main characters Betty, Jughead, Archie, and Veronica must team up to figure out the mysterious death of Jason Blossom. Jason was Cheryl Blossom’s twin, another student at the same high school as the main characters. When the show first premiered on The CW network, it was a hit. It was the first time in a very long time people watched it cable television because they just couldn’t wait for it to be added to Netflix.
The first season was honestly pretty good. It was filled with a lot of twists and turns, surprise cliffhangers, and interesting relationship dynamics. As the viewers learned all about this mystery death in Riverdale, it was almost like a game of Clue figuring out where to place the blame. The ending of the first season left many people not only wondering but excited for season two. The show had potential to pick up where it left off and continue with the hype. So how did something so good go so wrong?
When the new season finally returned it did not live up to expectations, leaving many people disappointed. What surprised people most was how it became so unrealistic. While the first season of course would not happen in a small town, every element in it could occur in real life. Meanwhile in the second season, things start to take a turn for the worse. The season’s villain “The Black Hood” shoots Archie’s Dad in the local restaurant. The main characters must now find the killer who turns out shockingly to be Betty’s father. If things couldn’t get weirder Betty realizes she has the ‘killer’ gene making her inclined to become like her father. In this season, many of the plot lines do not make sense, either due to their age or past as well.
So now flash forward to season five where Archie is now in jail, Veronica owns a speakeasy as a highschooler, and Betty has just taken Jughead’s spot at Yale since he faked his own death. Betty’s sister and mother have joined a cult, called ‘The Farm’, run by townsman who harvests organs out of the members. Did that really all happen? The answer is yes. At this point the show has completely ditched reality and gone off the original plot line from the first season. The delusional plot line has now continued into its sixth season, with viewers never knowing exactly where the show is going in a bad way.
Now it seems even the cast does not want to be involved in the show. In interviews and promo, they all seem to make jokes and comments about how even they don’t know where the plot will go. At this point, they have to stay for just their contracts. Even Cole Sprouse, who returned to acting because he wanted to be on Riverdale, has told news sources that he is ready to leave the show. At this point, with a seventh season just being renewed, it is hard to even fathom what the plot or characters will be like.
It’s sad to see shows like this get renewed over and over as viewers just become more unhappy. What started out as a phenomenal show that quickly grew in popularity, could not sustain that traction for long. With a show filled with such great actors, Riverdale truly had the potential to become a triumph for these actors’ resumes instead of an embarrassment.