For once in my life, I would love to watch a high school show where the teenagers seem to actually have real teenage issues. At the beginning of the third season of Riverdale, that idea seemed like it was actually going to happen. The main characters were busy studying for the SAT, and Archie Andrews had to finally face the truth: when you leave school for an extended amount of time, you don’t get to come back and continue like nothing happened. He was told he might have to repeat his junior year, and that seemed totally valid.
However, the first episode was probably the only normal episode in the entire season. I get that the writers think that having regular teenage stuff on the show won’t attract as many viewers as it currently does, but the plots they write have taken it a little too far. If I wanted to watch a show about supernatural beings and plots with kings that have horns, I’d watch The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, which is basically better than Riverdale at this point.
Riverdale has a lot of threats in the town, with the Gargoyle King, fizzle rocks, Hiram Lodge, the Black Hood and The Farm. I’m not kidding, all of that has occurred throughout this one season. It’s like viewers can’t catch a break. I’m honestly exhausted every single time I watch an episode because it’s gotten pretty ridiculous. The only reason I continue to watch it is because I have already invested too much time in the show to stop now.
One of the main things that bothers me the most with the show right now is The Farm. They had an interesting plot going when it was just the Gargoyle King and all the mysteries he brought. It seemed like the writers were getting close to wrapping up his arc when they decided to introduce The Farm, yet another random threat to the town of Riverdale that is causing the people who join it to see their dead loved ones. Don’t know what’s up with that? And how is it that every single spy Betty has sent into The Farm has actually ended up becoming a member in the end? How is it that no one in the cult is weirded out by the fact that Edgar Evernever is married to a girl he has sent to repeat her junior year for a decade to recruit in high schools and passed off as his daughter?? LIKE WHAT? Why does Betty’s mom still want to marry him despite knowing that there is no legal way she could do it? Plus, Edgar is CRAZY. I just don’t understand how Riverdale went from solving the murder of Jason Blossom and cheerleader issues to a cult.”Gryffins and Gargoyles,” although weird, is not totally fake. After all, the real world has a lot of video games like that in which players devote a lot of their time. Hence “Dungeons and Dragons.” However, this game has people drugging and killing themselves left and right. I’d like to think that if a town was facing mass suicide rates like this, the government would step in. AND how is it that no one has been able to catch the so-called “Gargoyle King?” Betty herself said that he’s flesh and blood, which means he can be hurt and killed. I don’t understand why everyone who sees him runs away. Yes, he’s scary, but he has never actually hurt anyone himself because he always has people doing his dirty work. I doubt he has a weapon under his weird dress costume. All it would take is to just throw something at him, ambush him, knock him out, etc. These kids have experience with this, yet it’s taken TWO seasons to get close to the king. Not catch him, but get CLOSE.
The Black Hood. WE JUST GOT RID OF HIM. How is it that he can escape, and no one is able to catch him? It’s a small town. Ted Bundy literally escaped prison multiple times and traveled the country, yet the police were able to catch him. Riverdale seems like it’s only two blocks long; I don’t know how catching someone could be so difficult. It’s like the entire town is entirely incompetent about doing easy things, yet is more than willing to go above and beyond to do illegal and insane things.
How is it that these teenagers get away with SO many illegal things like breaking and entering, owning a speakeasy, boxing for money—just to name a few. They’re not even old enough to go on a field trip without their parent’s consent yet! This show is SO much to handle and so frustrating, but I’m a diehard Bughead fan and a committed person to TV shows. So I guess I will just have to deal with the nonsense that is Riverdale.