I was really excited last year when I heard there was going to be a show based on the Archie comics, especially one with a dark twist. I grew up reading the comics and watching Archie Mysteries, and couldn’t wait to watch Riverdale. When I started the first season, I was disappointed. I assumed it was going to be a serious show with actual drama and plot twists. I was given instead melodramatic teens and awful one liners.
Once I started taking it lightly, I realized I found a great…comedy. If you really listen to what’s happening, you’ll realize how silly the plot can be.
I finally got around to starting season two of Riverdale last weekend. My friends and I were only able to watch the six first episodes but were gifted with so many weird plot points, and some of the best quotes. Here are a few highlights from Riverdale season two.
Spoilers ahead.
-
The Raid
In episode six Mayor McCoy feels threatened by the Serpents from the Southside. Dangerous drugs are being sold to the Northsiders, and she believes—without concrete proof—it is this gang’s doing. The rational thing to do about this, in Riverdale logic, is to escort the police into Southside High and arrest any teenager wearing a Serpent logo. Watching this, so many things came to my mind. One, that’s illegal. You can’t just storm into a high school and put whoever “looks guilty” in jail. Especially since they’re minors. Two, the mayor would never be part of a raid. Three, it just doesn’t work like that!
-
The Friendships
Betty is threatened by the Black Hood to distance herself from her friends. First, she needed to unfriend Veronica. During a get-together, Betty insults Ronnie out of the blue, hoping for her best friend to hate her and distance herself. The plan worked too well. Veronica, without speaking with her so-called friend, instantly hated Betty, giving her the cold shoulder and talking behind her back. Archie of all people showed concern. Archie, who throughout season one proved to be just a flat character with no story.
On top of that, Kevin sided with the new girl instead of Betty. Kevin, who as far as we know, has supposedly been best friends with Betty for years. Kevin is just a bad friend. He easily attacks Betty later on (when they apparently are friends again) after she shows concern for him running in the woods at night where a serial killer tried to murder Midge and Moose.
-
Night Shifts
This one is not the worst plot point, but it’s worth mentioning. After his father was shot in Pop’s Chock’lit Shoppe, Archie spirals into this weird I’m-a-hero hole. This started with him staying up at night with a bat in his kitchen, thinking someone was out to get him and his loved ones. That’s one of Archie’s main flaws— he thinks the world revolves around him. In season one he was so distraught about his music and football career (a little too close to a Troy Bolton dilemma to take seriously), and now he thinks someone is targeting him for some odd reason. Why he thought it would be any help to fight a gunned man with a bat while sleep deprived is beyond me.
-
The Quotes
One of my favourite things about Riverdale is that it never fails to entertain me with its writing. I’m starting to think it’s deliberate, because it’s so hilarious. The moment I hear Jughead’s sullenly dramatic narration at the beginning of an episode, I start to laugh uncontrollably. Season two began with, “Our story continues. Mayor’s jubilee was supposed to change everything, be a new start. But when we woke up the next morning, Riverdale was still, at its heart, a haunted town. Meanwhile, Archie Andrews, who doesn’t even have a driver’s licence yet, is at this very moment careening down the streets of Riverdale, trying to outrace death.”
It’s a long quote, but so much is so…odd. Do we need to be reminded Archie doesn’t have a licence? Who says “careening down the streets?” So many questions that Juggie can’t answer.
Another quote, possibly my favourite quote, was also from episode one of this season. Bughead (Betty and Jughead) decide to play detectives and go to Pop’s diner hours after the shooting. They find a puddle of blood (because the doors were open and the police came and went), and Pop, with a mop clearly upset. When asked about the events, Pop says, “I’ve looked plenty of thugs in the eye. But this man? His goal is something else. Darker. It was like the angel of death had come to Riverdale.”
This show is amazingly ridiculous. The melodrama is amped up to maximum, and whether it’s intentional or not, it’s hilarious. There were some good points that I liked, mainly the shout-outs to the comics’ era. A short scene in episode two showed Pop’s Chock’lit Shoppe in its glory days with people dressed in 1950’s outfits coming in and out of the diner. Another one was a quote from Cheryl during that random car race scene (because apparently that’s still a thing). When a Serpent girl says she usually throws the flag to let the drivers start, Cheryl saunters past her saying, “not today, Cha-Cha. I was born for this moment.” I always love nods to great musicals. Whether it’s taken seriously or not, I’ve come to enjoy my time watching this absurd series!