Just saw the first episode on Netflix. I kind of like this take.
I read a lot of Archie Comics as a very young child but I soon learned to hate them because of the bad art and the never-changing rotation of the same jokes over and over. This series really puts some life into the characters.
I’m usually not a big fan of soap operas, but I don’t know, maybe I’ll watch this.
Okay, I’m now halfway through Episode 4 and I’m loving this show. It’s so hilariously over-the-top. It’s like Dawson’s Creek crossed with Twin Peaks. The casting is brilliant. Luke Perry! Madchen Amick! Robin Givens!
And Veronica Lodge is my new hero. What an amazing character.
I recently discovered this on Netflix and have been enjoying it too. Very soapy, and yet still rather compelling.
(And Luke Perry, Madchen Amick and Skeet Ulrich playing the parents is a pretty funny twist, but man, it makes me feel old…)
Let me know when Sabrina the Teenage Witch joins the cast (with the Groovy Ghoulies, not that abomination with the animatronic cat puppet), and I’ll give it a gander.
There were rumors Sabrina would show up for the season finale. Obviously that didn’t happen, and it’s really hard to see how she’d fit into this show (unless of course they just make her an run of the mill Wiccan instead of an actual witch).
Cheryl Blossom to Fred Andrews:
“Mr. Andrews! Nice haircut! Looking extremely DILFy today!”
Snerk.
I love how completely unhinged Betty and Cheryl’s parents are.
Veronica Lodge is played by a Brazilian actor and Hermione Lodge is played by an actor who is partly Mexican. Does the show ever acknowledge them as being ethnically Latina?
Hermione calls Veronica ‘mija’ at least once, that I can remember, but it never gets to be more than a minor background element.
Anybody catch the first episode of Season 2? I enjoyed it, but I do hope the show continues to keep its dark edge and doesn’t devolve into more of a soap opera than it already is.
Cheryl is becoming more unhinged by the day, it seems.
And that last scene! Didn’t expect to see that character back–nor to see that fate for them.
EDIT: Oh, and responding to Kamino Neko’s post: Veronica gets called “mija” several more times in this episode. It looks like they’re not hiding it.
Just watched it on Netflix. I am so happy that it’s back.
The whole Blossom clan has seemed seriously unhinged from the start, but Cheryl seems to have stopped even trying to hide it.
As soon as it was obvious they were back, I knew they were toast, personally…but I wasn’t expecting the return, either.
Man, the comic references…Pureheart the Powerful! The Black Hood! (So disappointing that of the three recaps I read, only the Den of Geek one caught that one.) Dr Masters! (Den of Geek is the only recap that caught that one, too, but that’s WAY more obscure than Black Hood, who’s got a currently running title…) Little Archie!
Also, is it just me, or is KJ Apa’s natural hair colour growing out?
Onto spoilers/speculation…
It’s telling that Hermione’s only concern when she notices Veronica has a mimosa is that she’d used the Cristal she’d bought for Hiram’s return - you’d think a 15-17 year old just casually popping a bottle of champagne, even if it’s not around for any specific reason, would be cause for concern…if Hermione wasn’t a shitty mom. Unfortunately, at this point, it’s kind of undeniable that she is.
And to that last scene…
[spoiler]So, the Black Hood’s second victim being Not-Grundy (weird that she’s still using that alias, especially when she’d only moved as far as Greendale) seems to definitively joss all the theories about why he shot Fred - if he was a Serpent looking for revenge, or in the Lodges’ employ, why would he go after Grundy?
No, it looks like Archie is the target. He attempted to kill his dad, he did kill his ex-girlfriend/molestor. And Fred seemed to think it’s Archie who needed protection.
I’m guessing Jughead or Veronica’s the next target. Or maybe Mary, if they want to have him actually kill off someone else. If it’s Veronica, I suspect that strengthening her belief that Black Hood was working for her parents.[/spoiler]
I caught Pureheart the Powerful and Little Archie, but I’ve never read any other non-Archie-universe Archie comics, so I missed The Black Hood and Dr. Masters.
Holy crap…
At this rate they’re not going to have any secondary characters left! Are they planning on having the Black Hood kill off one or two every week? It would save on salaries, I guess.
…
I’m not sure what’s funnier about Jingle Jangle…that it’s a drug called Jingle Jangle…or that apparently it’s identical to Pixy Stix. I…really love this show.
Less ROFLy…
Wow, that was an episode.
[spoiler]I’m shocked that Pop Tate survived it. ‘I thought I’d be [running the Chok’lit Shoppe] until the day I died’ seemed so much like signing his own death warrant. Kinda sad that the episode’s murder quota was filled with Moose and Midge (that WAS Moose, right?), since we haven’t really been given a chance to know her, and haven’t seen him since, like, the middle of last season, and, you know, Pop painted a target on his forehead, which didn’t pay off.
Alice Cooper seems to have reverted to her Asshole Mom of the Year candidacy…and would totally win if Hermione Lodge weren’t still around. Speaking of whom, Veronica is terrible at dealing with her parents, but given that she’s only just recently learned that they’re terrible people, that’s understandable.
Not sure if killing M&M is evidence against Black Hood targeting Archie or not…he was clearly friends with Moose, but not close ones, and again, we’ve not seen Midge before this, so she doesn’t look like his friend. Maybe she’s just collateral damage when taking out Moose.[/spoiler]
The use of Season of the Witch over the last scene has me wondering about a connection to Sabrina, though I’m not sure how she could connect to any reasonable explanation of what’s going on.
Oh, but speaking of music. The Pussycats. Singing Milkshake. Despite ‘we only do our own stuff’ being a goddam plot point last season, the Pussycats continue only to do covers. I have to think the writers are doing it on purpose, now. (If they weren’t already…am I just now twigging to something that’s being going on since season one? eyes Riverdale writers)
Identical to Pixy Stix, AND it’s both an upper and a “male enhancement” drug, apparently…
I really wish they’d changed her name for the show. When I see “Alice Cooper,” I don’t think of Betty’s mom…
Also, I think Josie’s mom (the mayor) might be in the running for that title as well, along with Alice and Hermione.
I had the same thought. Although I heard they’d decided to make a separate Sabrina series instead of adding her to Riverdale. I wonder if she’ll make an appearance as a lead-in to her series, though.
Personally, I can’t wait for her to turn up, either in this series or her own. I love the dark new Sabrina comics so much–if they keep her half as dark as she is in the comics, she’s gonna make Riverdale look like Mayfield from “Leave it to Beaver.”
Unless I’m forgetting something Mayor McCoy seems to be an ass to everyone except Josie, so she’s sort of in a different competition.
Man, Black Hood is the most incompetent serial killer evar. He’s attacked 4 people, and only one of them died. Not that I’m upset that M&M are alive (I wanna see more Midge, she’s cute), but criminy, is our villain useless. Kind of surprising that his only victim this episode is Riverdale’s sense of safety, though.
Wonder what Mr Lodge’s motive is for encouraging Archie. Is he hoping Archikins is going to get himself killed?
I like that they’ve brought up that Riverdale really IS such a small town that Kevin’s options are limited. Take that, Season One Alice Cooper!
Oops forgot my thought about Hood’s motive…His stated motive does fit, but…I unno, I think if it were actually that, there’s more obvious first targets than Fred Andrews. I still suspect it’s related to Archie.