One of the biggest announcements everyone seemed to be buzzing about at Comic-Con this summer was the trailer for the second season of the hit murder mystery drama "Riverdale," which will premiere on the CW on October 11th. After the show ended it's first season last Spring, the entire first season instantly found it's way onto Netflix, where it's gained a cult following of viewers dying to know the truth about the mysterious death of high school football star Jason Blossom.
Since I'm still in mourning over the loss of "Pretty Little Liars", which officially ended it's seventh season run this summer, I thought it'd be time to find a new teen murder mystery drama to binge on. "Riverdale" features many of the same PLL staples: murderous small-town mysteries, illicit secret romances, questionable fashion choices, and of course a cast of gorgeous 20-somethings playing high school sophomores.
And although they're targeted at the teenage/millennial crowd, both shows also seem to have an interest in the past. Wheras episodes of "Pretty Little Liars" frequently played homage to classic Hitchcock films like "Psycho" and "Rear Widow," "Riverdale" blends current-day with influences of classic 50s Americana and the Golden Age of comic books.
Here's my take on the first episode as I begin to make my way through the show's first season:
Last year, when the CW announced their new show, “Riverdale,” a gritty reboot of the 70-year-old Archie comic franchise, comic fans exhaled a collective ‘Why?’ For millions, Archie and the gang represented a simpler time of pep rallies and wholesome teenage love triangles. Archie embodied an era without concern for social media or school shootings, just whatever wacky hijinks Jughead was up to that week. What could Hollywood possibly gain by corrupting the most innocent of enterprises?
However, the show’s enticing pilot quickly proved nothing is ever quite as innocent as you remember.
Produced by Archie Comics’ creative executive Roberto Aguire-Sacasa, “Riverdale’s” tone is less “Calvin and Hobbes” and more evocative of cult noir dramas like “Veronica Mars. ”The writing resists the notion that comic book shows must rely on light, simplistic storytelling. The script is loaded with more cultural and literary allusions than a grad level English class, most noticeably in a scene where three high school sophomores casually namedrop Toni Morrison, Truman Capote and “Our Town” in a single 10-minute conversation.
As with the grimmer premise, the witty dialogue style is meant to attract a more mature audience. Even the episode title, “Chapter One: The River’s Edge,” tells viewers to expect a novel length, overarching mystery that won’t be solved in the space of a few panels.
“Riverdale” was filmed on location in Vancouver and the cinematography is lush and glossy. All the shots look coated with a vintage Instagram filter. Like the uncannily polished scenery, the frequent anachronisms are purposefully jarring. Students drive T-Birds and sport pin curls and pearls while making pop culture references to “Mad Men” and Justin Timberlake. The “Riverdale” universe exists in an alternate bubble of both 2017 and 1950s Americana. It’s a world where a character can call Archie “swell” while mocking him for being another “millennial straight guy.” These conflicting elements both act as cheeky nods to the past while firmly establishing “Riverdale” as a part of the modern day.
To its credit, the show strives to be politically progressive. What could have been a cheap trailer-bait scene where Betty and Veronica share a steamy smooch to shock the judges at cheerleader tryouts is rescued by the commentary of mean girl Cheryl Blossom who informs them with delightful snark that, "faux-lesbian kissing hasn’t been taboo since 1994.”
Yet, “Riverdale” is not immune to a few of the overused teen soap opera tropes. The plotline that perhaps takes the rebellion against Archie’s PG past too far is the secret affair between Archie and high school music teacher Miss Grundy, who has been disturbingly aged down and sexed up from her matronly comic book counterpart.
Despite its occasionally flawed attempts at shock value, “Riverdale” ultimately feels fresh in the way it exposes the self-satisfaction of nostalgia as a culturally constructed narrative. We’re all longing for the comfort of a fictionalized and fantasized past to avoid facing the brutal truth. In real-life, the golden girl is popping Adderall to maintain her perky demeanor. And just a few feet from the small town malt shop, a murdered body floats beneath the river.
