The Rise and Fall of Riverdale
Lily Solar '22 Staff Writer
The thumbnail of Michael Messineo’s (Mike’s Mic) video about Season 3 of Riverdale. His face represents the incredibly relatable feelings of confusion many viewers feel after every episode. “I tried drawing the plot of Riverdale '', M. MESSINEO/ YOUTUBE
Riverdale was poised to be a top show for teens. Originally based on the Archie Comics, Riverdale could’ve been a feel-good show enjoyed by all ages with nostalgia from the comics, which originated in 1939, and interest by a new generation constantly looking for shows to binge. That would’ve been the ideal scenario, but that's not what happened.
Most viewers regard season 1 and 2 of Riverdale as the best seasons of the show, by far. The two seasons surround a murder mystery, and there is a decent balance of drama and high school fun throughout the two. Fast forward to 2022 and Riverdale is on its sixth season in 5 years. This season is about a parallel universe called “Rivervale.” I can’t make this up.
Viewers have been through so much. We learned about the highs and lows of high school football in a jail where there were fight clubs. A board game took over the town. Teenagers ran a speakeasy and not only joined, but led gangs. Don’t forget about Cheryl being an archer (she defeated a serial killer, by the way).
To everyone’s dismay, the show is under a contract for 7 seasons, so there will be at least another year of this torture.
There is the question of why writers and CBS Warner Bros (CW) are pushing out seasons so quickly. Writers are obviously running out of ideas as the plotlines get more and more absurd. In my opinion, the pure ridiculousness of the show keeps people watching and gets ratings high enough that seasons can be rapidly released.
It’s also worth noting that the sixth season of Riverdale is a crossover with another CW show, The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina. All of this suggests that monetary incentive is being prioritized over quality entertainment. There are many videos on YouTube and TikTok unpacking Riverdale in all its “glory.” Mike’s Mic is one of the best commentators on YouTube. His video, “I tried drawing the plot of Riverdale (season 3),” ends up as a complex map drawn on a paper covered in lines and way too many plot points. It’s a pretty accurate display of this monstrosity of a show. The TikTok accounts @watchwithmike and @bradlebeau make hilarious videos recapping and discussing Riverdale’s latest antics. This commentary helps keep people watching, for better or for worse. They want to delve into the ridiculousness. I’ll admit, it’s entertaining to see what the writers are going to try to pull off every week, but I’m tired. I am so tired of sloppy, embarrassing writing, and I’m not the only one.
Senior Mary Akinrogbe was a huge Riverdale fan. She says, “On a scale of one to ten, I was like a 10 Riverdale fan in middle school. But I do not still watch the show and I stopped at season 3.” Akinrogbe goes on to explain, “The storylines went out of control. They literally went insane. There’s a point where they should have just stopped the show, but it’s like they saw they had viewers and they kept wanting to keep going and keep going and keep going. And the show just needed to end.” This is no exaggeration on Akinrogbe’s part. Freshman Christine Roschy reminisces, “Archie got attacked by a bear. That was just so funny to me. When he’s in the woods alone and then he got attacked by a bear.” What does this have to do with high school drama and murder mystery?
But it gets worse. Riverdale has crossed into so many genres, I’m not even sure what type of show it’s considered anymore. From fantasy to horror to science fiction, the producers are trying to do it all. And just when you think it can't get any worse, they start singing. When asked about the musical episodes, Roschy said, "I don’t know. I thought they were, like, cheesy like how they just broke out into song. Like, it wasn’t a musical show to begin with, so I didn’t really like that. Like, it didn't fit right, you know? I get they were doing a musical at their school, but it just didn’t seem right.” With regard to the musical episodes, Akinrogbe says, "Thumbs down. Thumbs down. I like Glee as much as the next person but the musical episodes do not fit into Riverdale.” This and the ridiculously popular school newspaper seem to be the only time Riverdale teenagers do anything remotely educational, which brings me to another point: The show is just so unrealistic, to the point where it's not even enjoyable anymore.
Roschy says,”I feel like they’re so off of what high school’s even like…Like the more the show went on, the more unrealistic it got. Once it started fighting bears and going into these caves, it was like, it was just unrealistic.” She goes on to say, “By the last season it was like oh my God where are we? And I didn’t even know why I was still watching it at that point, I just did.” Akinrogbe said on a scale of one to ten (10 being the most ridiculous, 1 being extremely boring), the show is at a “1000 out of 10. Nothing will happen in real life. Nothing.” She goes on to describe another insane moment when, “They were showing the jail where they would bet on prisoners’ boxing matches. What did that have to do with and fit in with a high school storyline? …How did we get there?” She’s right, but Akinrogbe also says the show still has a platform because it's good at keeping watchers entertained. “That’s a thing that the show is good at. It will throw things that you never would expect. But the things it throws at you are really bad,” she said to sum up her points. I couldn’t agree more.
It doesn’t seem like bad TV will ever go away. Probably not, especially with growing social media platforms that make fun of shows while peaking interest in them. We are at the point where we give popularity to shows about 16 year olds fighting a Gargoyle King. I think I’m going to step back and examine the shows I watch. This probably shouldn’t be where we’re putting our time. I’m going to close Netflix and go read a book. Maybe I’ll even go outside. I encourage you to step back from Riverdale, or Rivervale (I’m not entirely sure) and do the same.
Most viewers regard season 1 and 2 of Riverdale as the best seasons of the show, by far. The two seasons surround a murder mystery, and there is a decent balance of drama and high school fun throughout the two. Fast forward to 2022 and Riverdale is on its sixth season in 5 years. This season is about a parallel universe called “Rivervale.” I can’t make this up.
Viewers have been through so much. We learned about the highs and lows of high school football in a jail where there were fight clubs. A board game took over the town. Teenagers ran a speakeasy and not only joined, but led gangs. Don’t forget about Cheryl being an archer (she defeated a serial killer, by the way).
To everyone’s dismay, the show is under a contract for 7 seasons, so there will be at least another year of this torture.
There is the question of why writers and CBS Warner Bros (CW) are pushing out seasons so quickly. Writers are obviously running out of ideas as the plotlines get more and more absurd. In my opinion, the pure ridiculousness of the show keeps people watching and gets ratings high enough that seasons can be rapidly released.
It’s also worth noting that the sixth season of Riverdale is a crossover with another CW show, The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina. All of this suggests that monetary incentive is being prioritized over quality entertainment. There are many videos on YouTube and TikTok unpacking Riverdale in all its “glory.” Mike’s Mic is one of the best commentators on YouTube. His video, “I tried drawing the plot of Riverdale (season 3),” ends up as a complex map drawn on a paper covered in lines and way too many plot points. It’s a pretty accurate display of this monstrosity of a show. The TikTok accounts @watchwithmike and @bradlebeau make hilarious videos recapping and discussing Riverdale’s latest antics. This commentary helps keep people watching, for better or for worse. They want to delve into the ridiculousness. I’ll admit, it’s entertaining to see what the writers are going to try to pull off every week, but I’m tired. I am so tired of sloppy, embarrassing writing, and I’m not the only one.
Senior Mary Akinrogbe was a huge Riverdale fan. She says, “On a scale of one to ten, I was like a 10 Riverdale fan in middle school. But I do not still watch the show and I stopped at season 3.” Akinrogbe goes on to explain, “The storylines went out of control. They literally went insane. There’s a point where they should have just stopped the show, but it’s like they saw they had viewers and they kept wanting to keep going and keep going and keep going. And the show just needed to end.” This is no exaggeration on Akinrogbe’s part. Freshman Christine Roschy reminisces, “Archie got attacked by a bear. That was just so funny to me. When he’s in the woods alone and then he got attacked by a bear.” What does this have to do with high school drama and murder mystery?
But it gets worse. Riverdale has crossed into so many genres, I’m not even sure what type of show it’s considered anymore. From fantasy to horror to science fiction, the producers are trying to do it all. And just when you think it can't get any worse, they start singing. When asked about the musical episodes, Roschy said, "I don’t know. I thought they were, like, cheesy like how they just broke out into song. Like, it wasn’t a musical show to begin with, so I didn’t really like that. Like, it didn't fit right, you know? I get they were doing a musical at their school, but it just didn’t seem right.” With regard to the musical episodes, Akinrogbe says, "Thumbs down. Thumbs down. I like Glee as much as the next person but the musical episodes do not fit into Riverdale.” This and the ridiculously popular school newspaper seem to be the only time Riverdale teenagers do anything remotely educational, which brings me to another point: The show is just so unrealistic, to the point where it's not even enjoyable anymore.
Roschy says,”I feel like they’re so off of what high school’s even like…Like the more the show went on, the more unrealistic it got. Once it started fighting bears and going into these caves, it was like, it was just unrealistic.” She goes on to say, “By the last season it was like oh my God where are we? And I didn’t even know why I was still watching it at that point, I just did.” Akinrogbe said on a scale of one to ten (10 being the most ridiculous, 1 being extremely boring), the show is at a “1000 out of 10. Nothing will happen in real life. Nothing.” She goes on to describe another insane moment when, “They were showing the jail where they would bet on prisoners’ boxing matches. What did that have to do with and fit in with a high school storyline? …How did we get there?” She’s right, but Akinrogbe also says the show still has a platform because it's good at keeping watchers entertained. “That’s a thing that the show is good at. It will throw things that you never would expect. But the things it throws at you are really bad,” she said to sum up her points. I couldn’t agree more.
It doesn’t seem like bad TV will ever go away. Probably not, especially with growing social media platforms that make fun of shows while peaking interest in them. We are at the point where we give popularity to shows about 16 year olds fighting a Gargoyle King. I think I’m going to step back and examine the shows I watch. This probably shouldn’t be where we’re putting our time. I’m going to close Netflix and go read a book. Maybe I’ll even go outside. I encourage you to step back from Riverdale, or Rivervale (I’m not entirely sure) and do the same.