by Mike Hilty, Contributing Writer
Welcome to Cross-Platform Partners! In honor of a new movie release, I have selected a TV show to watch to pair with the movie. Think of it as a way to get hyped for the new movie, a preview of things to come, a means to tide you over if the movie won’t be released where you live for a little while, or a change of pace if you’ve run out of related movies or sequels.
For February, I picked Riverdale to pair with Lisa Frankenstein and Upgraded.
The CW has produced its fair share of high school TV shows that reached iconic status. Starting with Dawson’s Creek, through Gossip Girl, and taking a turn with The Vampire Diaries and all its spinoffs, the CW knows how to make stars out of their performers. With a shift in focus away from high school dramas and DC, Riverdale might be the last of its kind on the CW. The show has cemented itself as one of the quintessential high school shows over the years, and stars like Camila Mendes and Cole Sprouse are beneficiaries, gaining roles and prominence.
Based on the classic comic series, Archie, Riverdale takes Archie Andrews (K.J. Apa) to the modern day and has his group of friends, Betty (Lili Reinhart), Jughead (Sprouse), and Veronica (Mendes), deal with the plight of high school life. Each season carries a mystery surrounding the events of the town, and explores the drama that envelops each character’s life. Nothing is off the table for these kids, including love, music, crime, and the supernatural.
The modernization that Riverdale goes through is pretty jarring at times. I imagine anyone who loves and reads the comics is in for a bit of a rude awakening due to the amount of sex and violence it features. On one end, this is totally the product of being on the CW, which often depicts high school this way. Flipping the expectations of the show does make Riverdale a sight to see.
The series is anchored by an extremely talented cast with amazing chemistry. Our core gang does a spectacular job of what Friends was outstanding at: making these characters great individually, in random pairings, with their parents, and together as a whole. Individually, they all experience a tremendous amount of growth through solving crimes and falling in and out of love. For instance, Archie’s charming demeanor and leadership help him be universally loved by everyone around Riverdale. It also doesn’t hurt that Archie’s dad, Fred (the late, great Luke Perry), instills some amazing values in him for the long run.
Betty is a bit of a wild card, which is interesting, considering she’s more of the straight-laced girl next door in the comics. There’s a bit of edge and some darkness in Betty. She takes risks, is rebellious when it comes to her parents and her image, and isn’t afraid to get her hands dirty. Despite the teenage attitude at times, Betty is an incredibly smart and hardworking aspiring journalist, who is loyal to her friends. The relationships she cultivates with Archie, Veronica, and Jughead are a core part of why Riverdale is so enjoyable. When other shows sometimes force friendships with certain core cast members, Riverdale makes sure that each of the cast members get moments to shine, so it doesn’t feel weird when the two of them pair up together. Reinhart is the strongest performer due to her range of character moments and her ability to fit into nearly all situations.
Jughead is the de facto narrator, and he’s a representation of what it means to be on the wrong side of the tracks, yet still trying to do the right thing. Sprouse is remarkable — Jughead could easily be construed as a best friend side character. Instead, he’s is the voice of reason, and part of a silenced group of people on the other side of Riverdale who are misunderstood. It’s incredible to see how far Sprouse has come from Big Daddy and The Suite Life of Zack and Cody.
Veronica is the outsider of Riverdale, but she fits in like a glove with the group and the town. Hailing from high society in New York, she comes to the town looking for a fresh start after family issues turn her life upside down. She could have easily been the foil to Betty and nothing more than an obstacle. Instead, Veronica is a fiercely loyal friend who is willing to help them in any way she can. Mendes provides a great deal of care to the role, and a surprising level of nuisance for a character that could have fit in well with the cast of Gossip Girl instead of Riverdale.
There is no shortage of supporting characters, but Fred, along with Jughead’s dad FP (Skeet Ulrich), are some of the best of the group. The CW did an excellent job making sure to cast recognizable people from the 1990s to convey nostalgia for shows and movies of the time with heartthrobs. Ulrich and Perry are tailor-made for a show like Riverdale, but they represent two different sides of parenting high school kids. Fred is a devoted father who will do anything for his son. He’s a single parent who chooses his son at all costs. FP, on the other hand, is still trying to prove that he’s a worthy dad. Ulrich is amazing as Jughead’s dad, and he has easily some of the most emotional child and parent moments in the entire series.
Each season has a mystery that the gang needs to solve. Throughout the show, the mystery gets more strange. My tolerance for this drastically shifted around Season Five, when things jump the shark. Season One’s mystery is easily the most compelling, giving me Veronica Mars vibes, while having so many twists and turns to keep things interesting. That works so well because the characters trying to solve a mystery that is near and dear to them as a group of high schoolers, and there are only 13 episodes, meaning every episode counts. Later seasons increase the episode count to 20 or more, which in turn increases the bloat.
I’m pleasantly surprised about how much I liked Riverdale. I don’t typically like CW shows, but something about this one spoke to me. Between the compelling mysteries (particularly in the early seasons) and the outstanding young cast, I overlooked the CW’s worst tendency of high school portrayal in favor of a sweet show about friendship and a multi-layered town. Each season has diminishing returns for a season-long mystery, but I’m glad I stuck with it until the end. Just seeing the core gang together for the entire run is worth the investment, because you can tell how much they care about each other. Apa, Reinhart, Mendes, and Sprouse are incredibly talented, and Riverdale doesn’t work without all of them together. The last-of-its-kind CW show doesn’t disappoint, and stamps itself firmly on the pantheon of amazing high school shows for the network.
You can read more from Mike Hilty, and follow him on Instagram, Letterboxd, and Serializd