The CW's Riverdale (open spoilers)

Cafe Society
21

Finally got to this last night. It had its flaws, but I have to say I was thoroughly entertained - as much by the “Shakespeare in Love” conceit as the actual presentation. I was worried that the GrimDark points would overshadow the fun, and they didn’t; they just kept it from being as fluffo-cutesy as Supergirl, which we’ve found to be unwatchable despite liking the CW superhero lineup.

KJ Apa just fraggin’ nails the character, in looks and attitude. We didn’t see enough of Jughead to judge but it looks as if that’s an equally good bit of casting. The rest… eh, good enough.

And the sheer audacity/silliness/'tude of the conceit had me giggling all the way through. I will give the season a watch unless it spirals into the depths somehow.

My thought halfway through: Miss Grundy’s a bad girl… she was just never drawn that way. :slight_smile:

22

Does anyone not think Cheryl & Jason were committing incest? Obviously things aren’t going to be nearly as simple as Cheryl killing her brother (which pointedly said “I’m guilty” not “I killed him”). Cheryl’s clearly the biggest bitch of the teen generation, but on the adult side I think Ms Grundy is going to give Mrs Cooper a run for her money.

Speaking of money, Veronica can causally buy spa gift certificates while her mother is reduced to waiting tables at Pop’s? :dubious: And Riverdale’s apparently large enough to have a fancy hotel where they own a suite (the hotel itself can’t be in Mrs Lodges name, or she wouldn’t be working as a waitress). Veronica being poor feels like an even bigger deviation than Betty threatening to kill someone.

23

Well, Cheryl DID kill her brother in Afterlife With Archie, and the motive WAS incest related.

24

Well if this wasn’t based on Archie Comics I wouldn’t have started watching in the first place. I don’t have any idea who killed Jason, but I’m starting to think he didn’t have nearly as much to do with Polly’s mental breakdown as Alice Cooper think’s he did.

25

Catching up…

First two:

Random thoughts…

Jughead should be an easy favorite but he hasn’t gotten to do too much yet. Is he the narrator? He reminds me of my high school journalism days. He is asexual in the comics but the studio overruled that so I guess he will be matching up eventually. The hat is well done. Kevin Keller is my second obvious favorite.

I hated comics Veronica as a kid but like her here. I don’t remember the Blossom twins or Betty’s sister from the comics.

I like the end of episode teasers. This feels like it wants to be a supernatural show or maybe something in the Twin Peaks / Bates Motel wheelhouse.

Archie’s dilemma seems manufactured though, unless the whole case ends up hinging on the time of the gunshot, an anonymous tip should suffice or if he really needs to he can just say he was hiking alone.

Between him and the Blossoms there seems to be some kind of ginger pride thing going.

I like his Dad. He seems to be headed towards something with Veronicas mom. Who seems like she accidently traded places with Betty’s mom. What’s up with Archie’s mom though.

I’m getting an eating disorder or self harm vibe from Betty.

Overall Archie seems like the Ted Mosby of Riverdale, technically the lead but really just the revolving point of the other better characters.

Episode three…

My journalistic predictions came true. And Juggy got more to do. I could see him and Betty together.

Nice to see Barb from Stranger Things. It was fun seeing her slink into and peek out of doorways.

The gunshot thing was a big herring and would have been a let down if not for the previews for next week. For some reason I want Dilton to be Asian like a young John Cho. I’m not sure I buy him as a survivalist. I hear he is being recast. Hope they find a better storyline for him.

Lots of light and dark sides of girl power between Josie and then the revenge squad. B&V had a bit of a Chicago vibe. I hope they don’t go full on MPD with Betty. Not looking forward to Ominous Wig the sequel. The hot tub scene felt like the flashback scene in an installment of I Know What You Did Last Summer.

Wonder how the firing of the goon squad will have tragic results. I hope they don’t kill Barb again. I mean Ethel.

Betty and the lipstick vs her Mom gave me Titanic flashbacks. But I continue to be amused by the power of lipstick color names to be more important than their actual shades.

Archie remains a cipher. As nice as it is to have Josie time, he doesn’t really seem to need much help with his music. And certainly not by writing lyrics for other people.

I mostly enjoyed the newspaper parts. Next week looks better.

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Probably they thought they had enough gingers already.:smiley:

She and Mr Lodge are the most prominent 'rents in the comics, so this cannot be a coincident. Mrs Lodge (who incidentally is named Hermione) is the least, alongwith Reggie’s parents; who are basically never seen.

I don’t like that Kevin has taken over Reggie’s spot in the main five; the shows Reggie has his jerkish attitude; but lacks the genuine friendship he has with the others.

27

Yes, he is. The narration is the text of the book he’s writing about Jason’s murder.

The Blossoms were introduced in the 80s, Cheryl taking Veronica’s place as the rich bitch, as they’d stopped playing the latter that way. Cheryl is, actually, worse than Ronnie ever was - Riverdale actually softens her a lot…Comics Cheryl would never get the sympathetic moments she’s gotten here.

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Also, it looks like there’s some sort of heritable mental illness in the Cooper family.

Poly’s institutionalized, Alice reads as paranoid, and Betty seems to be in the midst of developing a psychotic condition.

29

Buzzfeed has a which character are you quiz. I got Jughead; which feels about right.

At least we know how the real Ms Grundy is now. I wonder what the Lodges are going to do with that land. Also did anyone not think Keven would hook up with the Southside Snake the moment they exchanged glances? :wink:

30

So many questions.

Obvious mysteries, like what’s the deal with the shady real estate deal? And who tore down the wall of weird, I mean, the who-killed-Jason board? And in her spinning wheel of nice/evil/victim/slightly-evil, where did Grundy finally land, and is that the end of her story? That particular arc felt a little weak.

Then the more practical mysteries, like, where do all of Jughead’s friends think he is living, or for that matter, the school district? And instead of telling Archie’s Dad, “oooh nostalgia historic landmark daddyo”, why not try “Imma be homeless bro”?

I do like him as a cinemaphile. If they added like 3% Kevin Keller to him then bam it’s me in high school. Although I like him a lot, and he needs a certain amount of snark, I feel like he’s missing just a touch of the comics version’s core optimism. Having looked at the actor’s Twitter, I think he might just be playing himself…

And, did all the parents go to school together, which means, they all basically got pregnant simultaneously?

Did they make V and her Mom hispanic because of her actress? I believe that’s a departure from source.

Skeet Ulrich! Nuf said.

Well, and, is he going to end up being Veronica’s real Dad? Which would make her Jughead’s sister, hmm.

I loved Sheriff Keller’s version of concerned parenting. “Can’t you go with a nice boy from school? No back woods cruising.” I saw the Joaquin-Kevin hookup coming but still enjoyed it. The snake tattoo was a little bit Death Eater. Gryffindor/Slytherin is the new Montague/Capulet.

I enjoyed deus-ex-Betty but damn girl do something about that diary (is Livejournal no longer a thing?). And you should hide your firearms at least as well as Archie hides his porn stash (are porn stashes no longer a thing?).

Next week looks kind of like a Halloween episode.

31

More thoughts… Hey Betty has a different diary with a key at the end. Didn’t catch that at first. So maybe she orchestrated that whole thing.

Also, Jughead’s seems to have a photo of his little sister Jellybean, where’s she at?

And all of the titles so far have been named acuter films, but next week is the novel Heart of Darkness. What will the future hold in that regard?

Finally, most of the characters seemed like they were pretty busy with an alibi at the time, but who was absent whom we can suspect for the break in?

32

Hmm…am I the only one who noticed that ‘Ms Grundy’'s last shot seems to be an ironic reference to the poster for the 1962 Lolita? Only it’s the adult female predator looking over the heart glasses, not the younger female victim.

33

Only watched the first dreadful ep. Only way I’m watching more is if the Punisher comes to town and since it’s all dark and edgy and stuff, actually wipes them out.

You know what would have been more interesting than this generic dreck? If they’d based the show on the Spire comics version of Archie. There’s **nothing **on TV like that.

34

Tonight’s episode really reminded me how much I miss Game of Thrones. Also it’s nice to know that Mrs Blossom is capable of not being an evil bitch; at least to people who look almost exactly like her dead son.

35

I’m really enjoying having a show again that inspires me to air slap the TV screen. That’s something everyone needs in their life.

Random musings…

Like the opening nod to Afterlife with Archie with Zombie Jason. Will the Punished be next?

Between Cheryl spending too much time in his bed and the longing glances in flashback, they keep teasing us with potential twincest.

LOL at “sad Breakfast Club” and “PG”.

I’m eventually going to break down and zoom in on some screenshots of the murder board to hunt for Easter eggs.

Mmmm lots of tutor subtext.

Too much manufactured drama around football vs music. Let sigh.

Valerie. Nuf said.

This dinner party from hell only needs meatloaf to be complete.

Creepy Nana Rose! Love! I imagine her knitting inappropriate doilies.

What’s in the box!? What’s in the box!?

Shit it’s not Gwenyth Paltrow’s head. Got excited there.

I’m sick and tired of these motherfucking snakes in this motherfucking box!

I was glad for the closed captioning which revealed the otherwise inaudible Daddy spat dialogue.

So much attire drama. Jughead in a suit (isn’t he homeless?). Cheryl in white water white. And Archie, is a letter jacket really appropriate at a funeral, even for a team mate?

But the best of all, Romeo and Juliet / Hatfield vs McCoys redux with a Maple Syrup Feud! Delicious!

Next week: all signs point towards Mr Cooper so it must be someone else.

36

Can anyone translate the motto on the Blossoms’ gate? I think it was “Radices Currere Abysse.” Sounds ominous…

37

Type “the roots run deep” into Google Translate, choose Latin as the target language, and it will return “radices currere abyssi”. Probably not good naturally-spoken Latin, but sufficient for television.

38

Both actresses are Hispanic but Ronnie is a white girl with jet black hair in the comics.

39

The first episode was repeated last night and I watched parts of it again. Ha, I hadn’t previously noticed how “Ms Grundy” was totally eying up Archie as she rolled up on him in her Beetle, with the same Lolita-inspired leer. Nicely done bookends for her story arc.

Also on second viewing, I was disappointed to see a glimpse of Jughead early in the episode. I hadn’t processed that on first viewing but it was right there for people more on the ball than me. The reason I was disappointed is because I thought it wasn’t disclosed that Jughead was a) indeed in the series and b) the narrator until the diner scene very late in the show, which I thought was just a masterful reveal.

I’m surprised how hooked I am on this show.

40

Me too. So Polly’s pregnant and not crazy (or at least not nearly as crazy has her mom made her out to be). The Riverdale Magdalen Asylum sure has some lousy security. Alice Cooper’s sure moving from b-word to c-word territory. Jason faking his own death & leaving town is starting to make sense, and even had a plan to fund their new life. Also there goes the last lingering thread of Jughead’s asexuality. And how does a 15 year old being a legal officer of a corporation even work? :dubious: If she’s underage wouldn’t Hermione have control over Veronica’s shares and not needed to have bothered trying to get her signature?