In Defense of Riverdale

I know what you are thinking. Why bother defending this ridiculous show? After all, Riverdale just might be one of the most contentious shows on television, not just right now, but possibly ever. It’s constantly made fun of with the internet pleading to “free the Riverdale actors” and saying that this show inspired Hollywood to start valuing quantity over quality with contentious projects like He’s All That, the Gossip Girl reboot and Sierra Burgess Is A Loser coming out after Riverdale‘s 2017 release, which has been coined as the “Riverdalization” of Hollywood. This constant hate makes me feel ashamed to say, I still, in fact, tune into Riverdale every week it airs. So, I feel a need to defend the hour that is spent watching this rollercoaster of a show. 

The beginning of the series perfectly blended teen drama with Hitchcock-ian thriller, with its breathtaking visuals and well-paced suspense, while the later seasons perfectly blended soap opera with fantasy, by including mobsters like in General Hospital and superpowers like in the Marvel universe, but somehow that is when the show went really bonkers? Many people say the first season was good, with quintessential teen drama including a sexual harassment storyline, house parties, football games, cheerleaders and drive-in movie nights. It had a beautiful and dark tone, 50s-meets-Twin Peaks aesthetic that matches perfectly with the teen drama meets murder mystery they were doing— paralleling that of 1950s literature like The Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew. However, one thing people fail to remember about season 1 of Riverdale is that it was still bonkers in true Riverdale fashion. It had twincest (twin incest), actual incest, and infanticide, which is the stuff out of Greek Tragedy. And while the second season centered around the mob and gangs, the third about a supernatural-ish game and a cult, the fourth centered around a group of murderous prep school kids, the fifth about a creature called the Mothman and the sixth had every character gains superpowers, when you think about it, it’s been bonkers the entire time. But somehow, when they embrace the ridiculousness of it, it’s not okay anymore? It’s worthy of beratement and downgrade? 

Riverdale has set a precedent for how crazy teen shows can get. Since it has aired many shows from Euphoria to Outer Banks to Genera+ion have struggled to shock fans due to the high level of absurdity Riverdale has set in place for the genre. Many shows’ shock value can’t compete with Riverdale. How does a fake death compare to an organ-harvesting cult? How does pedophilia compare to a gang of alien scapegoats kidnapping women? How does polyamory compare to a family of murderers who use a brothel as a cover? How do effed-up dream sequences compare to an entire cast of characters gaining superpowers out of the blue? Euphoria has probably gone the closest to reaching the shock value, unhinged narrative and visual beauty that made Riverdale a hit to begin with. If anything, Euphoria, admittedly, just found a better balance between absurdity and reality that has made it garner critical acclaim and prestige. However, it still also garners online ridicule. This comparison between Euphoria and Riverdale just proves how cynical modern-day TV audiences have become. They say they want realism instead of escapism, and yet they still watch the escapism (with these two shows spawning two of the most prolific teen casts of this generation), proving this exact point to be hypocritical and mute.

What’s darker then a murder mystery? A serial killer. What’s darker then a serial killer? A ritualistic murdering epidemic caused by a teen craze in the same vein as the Tide Pod challenge or the Cinnamon Challenge. What’s darker than a ritualistic killing game spreading like a disease? A cult where they trick their followers to die or donate organs in order for salvation. What’s darker then a cult? Psychological warfare and conspiracy to commit murder, especially against a group of wealthy kids who get away with everything. What’s darker then conspiracy? A group of men who target women just for fun, because honestly in our society, this could actually happen. And what’s darker then merciless killings? Well, superpowers in order to stop world destruction. They are just leveling up from their initially bonkers concept. What would you rather them do? Just have a repetitive murder mystery? If Riverdale isn’t one thing, it’s boring, at least. 

Riverdale is a campy satire on the ridiculousness of multiple genres: crime drama, soap opera, coming-of-age, comic book, and murder mystery. However, if there is a genre Riverdale’s demographic, teens, often don’t fully understand, it’s satire. Satires are very self-aware of their ridiculousness, just look at Succession or other teen-focused shows like Glee and Gossip Girl. Their self-aware campiness is what makes them fun to watch, but it also makes those who watch TV purely for entertainment instead of fully respecting the art form belittle these types of shows for being “bonkers,” “problematic,” and “bad,” when they are really just embracing the craziness of the universe they created, and viewers bought into when it was shiny and new, but now they have some time to sit with it, it’s suddenly bad?

These shows are often written off and made fun of for their ridiculousness instead of looked at for their smart commentaries on complex ideas like high school politicians and privileged teenagers. Shows like these aren’t meant to be relatable or taken at face value. They are meant to help you laugh at the real world, not entertain you with scenes from the real world (honestly, just watch the reality show for that because I can guarantee you’d be bored with a truly relatable show within 5 minutes). Satire is a very sophisticated genre. Many TV satires are considered prestigious TV with Succession, a satire on privileged white people in business, and Euphoria, a satire on Gen Z, being named on numerous occasions as the best show on TV right now. So, while teens often have a hard time understanding not to take the genre seriously, that doesn’t mean the whole genre should be written off. 

Self-aware writing also doesn’t equal bad writing. I know it’s a dark drama, but have you ever tried to watch Riverdale as a dark comedy instead? Glee’s self-awareness worked in a way because it was marketed as a comedy. If Riverdale was marketed as a murder mystery teen dramedy from the very beginning, it would probably be less ridiculed today. Glee and Riverdale are both highly stylized in the way they are filmed and written. Glee’s characters take performing and high school ridiculously seriously, while Riverdale’s characters take their ridiculous circumstances super seriously, and hilariously frank. It’s meant for comedy, not seriousness. Let the characters be the serious ones, not the audience (AKA you). 

Riverdale also has a very similar creative freedom to Glee, Euphoria and Gossip Girl. Where Gossip Girl has Old Hollywood dream sequences, Riverdale has Glee-esque musical numbers. Where Euphoria has stylized cinematography, Riverdale had a stunning neon, smokey aesthetic. Riverdale utilizes its creative freedom through editing like Gossip Girl, writing like Glee and visuals like Euphoria. Why are these elements celebrated on Glee, Euphoria and Gossip Girl, but subjected to ridicule on Riverdale? And don’t say “Glee was a musical comedy” because just like Glee, Riverdale has musical covers in their pilot episode too. Glee and Riverdale are also two of the only TV shows ever to have musical episodes that actually make sense. They take place in high school and established their cast’s musical talents from the get-go. Yes, that’s what Glee is about, but Riverdale shouldn’t be ridiculed for dabbling in it as well. You gotta revere Riverdale for its ability to take risks. Where other shows just get complacent and boring, Riverdale becomes inventive and bold. 

Riverdale is actually a lot like Glee. So much so that Erinn Westbrook was in both shows, and managed to deliver multiple iconic, specific and self-aware monologues that fully helped prepare her for Riverdale‘s campy and absurd dialogue and was even in a scene where Betty and Veronica were referenced.  Yes, Riverdale isn’t an entirely original concept, but the iteration is original. Unlike Glee, where besides its musical covers, it’s 100% original. Similarly to Riverdale, many adore Glee‘s first season, often regarding its pilot as one of the best of all time. It was a prominent part of the Golden Age of TV and is considered prestige TV as it was nominated for Golden Globes, SAG Awards and Emmys. However, as the show went along, even though it was an undeniable success with spin-off books and its tour and 3D concert movie, it slowly but surely became very ridiculed online.

However, like Riverdale, its first season was pretty bonkers. It had a teen birth a child during a show-stopping and eerily graphic performance of Queen’s anthem Bohemian Rhapsody. It had Run, Joey, Run, hysterical pregnancy that went on for like 10 episodes, and in its second season premiere a teen literally sent another teen to a crack house. In later seasons it had a teacher do a lesson on twerking, a guy dress up in an STD costume in Washington Square Park and a whole episode where they all danced with puppets. It was also hilariously self-aware, with Jane Lynch’s character often calling out the show’s ridiculousness from inside its own universe. And while all of this was ridiculous, it was never ridiculed to the point of Riverdale. Sure fans poke fun at it, but they still recognized its enjoyment and impact. Riverdale haters don’t even care enough to point out how visually stunning and brilliantly referential it is.  Both shows are fully committed to their ridiculousness and campiness. Riverdale may be darker in tone and Glee may be more lighthearted in tone, but that doesn’t mean one deserves its ridicule more than the other. It begs the question, why doesn’t Riverdale garner similar respect to Glee?

Both Glee and Riverdale are extremely purposeful in their ridiculousness because of how self-aware the writers and the characters are of it. They are self-aware through plot, dialogue, voiceovers, filming and writing. It also proves how good the actors are at delivering weird, ridiculous lines, with Madelaine Petsch and Heather Morris being some of the best at it due to them often having some of the most ridiculous lines of both series. 

One of the reasons I love Riverdale is because I can never guess the plot twists, and I am very good at guessing the plot twists in TV shows. I knew Eddie was going to die on Stranger Things the second he was on screen. I knew Ward Cameron was gonna fake his death the second the FBI raided his house. It’s not that I read spoilers, it’s that I watch so much TV that I begin to think like a TV writer. Many shows, like Pretty Little Liars and Cruel Summer, layout Easter eggs for their murder mysteries. While sometimes they hit the mark, and come up with a twist with all the clues that are just amazing, as shows go on, they often get lost and have to scramble and find an epic twist with as many clues as the writer’s room can remember.

This causes many plot holes and disappoints fans. While on paper, writers should be able to keep track of all of these Easter eggs, it’s harder then it looks. Riverdale doesn’t abide by this. They don’t drop very many Easter eggs, but instead of feeling loose and boundless, it makes sense, because you are viewing everything from the character’s eyes. The characters don’t know yet, and they are figuring it out along with the writers. Some may call this bad writing, but you have to remember, Riverdale is essentially a show that is laid out like a motion comic book. Books and comic books don’t utilize Easter eggs and clues as well as visual mediums like TV shows and movies. On other shows, like the later seasons of Pretty Little Liars, this doesn’t work as well. But on Riverdale, with its full commitment to ridiculousness, it does. This self-awareness, coupled with each show’s creative freedom often causes it to defy logic for the sake of entertainment, but the writing always comes back around a few episodes or seasons later calling out its ridiculousness in the most humorous way, begging the question; “hey Riverdale haters, have you ever tried watching the show as a comedy instead of a drama?” After all, that’s what makes Glee grounded. It’s a satire. Riverdale is the same way. 

You also can’t deny how visually stunning the show is, with its use of neon light. Its cinematography is undeniably iconic with Pop’s diner lighting up the darkest storylines being the show’s cinematic focal point. The camera angles are also so rich and effortless, similar to Euphoria with a more film noir edge (again, why has Euphoria been praised for this, but Riverdale was ridiculed when Riverdale technically did it first?). The costumes are also ravishingly distinctive with Cheryl Blossom’s cherry & spider symbolism, Veronica’s jewel-toned and pearls wardrobe, Betty’s pastel color palette, Jughead’s 90s grunge aesthetic and Toni’s biker girl vibe. 

This show also utilizes the forgotten genre of kinder camp, a genre that was mega popular (like blockbuster popular) in the 90s and 2000s that utilized satirical commentary in children’s stories banking on attractive bright colored visuals and audiences’ nostalgia. While Riverdale spawned the trend of darker, grittier reboots with Fate: The Winx Saga, The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina and Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin (the latter too being from Riverdale showrunner Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa) in an effect to appeal to a more jaded, contemporary and nostalgic audience, these projects, especially Riverdale, utilize elements of kinder camp. Kinder camp often used nostalgia and kid-friendly plots to discuss darker societal problems such as sexism, racism, politics, capitalism and family dynamics.

As aforementioned, Riverdale can be viewed as a comedy, a satire on teen dramas. With its smokiness, they abide by the dark adaption that Hollywood is trying to push out, but with neon, bright-colored Pop’s Chock’Lit Shoppe, they appeal to the kids who grew up with kinder camp films like the live-action Scooby Doo, the live-action Addams Family and the live-action How The Grinch Stole Christmas. It also begs the question, if this nostalgic genre worked so well in the 90s, why don’t they bring it back and fully commit to it like they did in the 90s? The world is already dark and cynical, let’s brighten it up and comment on it. Riverdale is at least making fun of itself and its genre. PLL:OS commented on generational trauma and rape culture. What did Sabrina and The Winx Saga comment on? Nothing. They were just trying to capitalize on this new grittier reboot trend. 

The cast is also insanely talented. They have to sing and dance on a whim. They also manage to bring the ridiculous plot points back down to Earth. KJ Apa and Cole Sprouse manage to make the absurd storyline somehow make sense. Camila Mendes and Madelaine Petsch manage to make the most cringe-worthy line sound eloquent. However, Lili Reinhart is the true scene stealer of the show, by making sure every scene she’s in has a touch of reality and sanity. Madelaine Petsch even told Cosmopolitan “I feel like, maybe I’m wrong, but it’s every actor’s dream to do the crazy stuff I do on the show.” And it’s true. Riverdale may be absurdly written, but for an actor, it’s the ultimate challenge, and these actors pull it off amazingly. No one can deny that. As Madelaine says, “it’s fun and you just have to lean into it.”

Riverdale‘s reputation for so-called “mediocrity” has spawned the so-called “Riverdalization” of television, especially within the teen genre. Due to Riverdale‘s success despite being constantly ridiculed on television, many teen genre fans have begun to settle for mediocrity, with films like He’s All That and The Kissing Booth and shows like the Gossip Girl reboot and Fate: The Winx saga being examples. The teen genre has proven to be impactful and worthy of quality writing, acting and cinematography. The Perks of Being A Wallflower, Lady Bird, Euphoria, The Breakfast Club, Clueless and Fast Times at Ridgemont High all being examples. Riverdale isn’t mediocre. It’s creative and campy, and if this generation is so accepting of the weird and taboo (despite simultaneously also being the generation that has dealt with online trolls and haters), then why are we so quick to judge Riverdale? I bet you anything that Riverdale will be the next Jennifer’s Body. By 2030, we will all be re-watching it and praising it for its campiness and wondering how we could be so wrong for ridiculing it. We will call it ahead of its time.

Riverdale has been named a disaster, an anomaly, a travesty and everything in between. Is it a perfect show? No, but what show is? Is it the best show on TV? No. But is it entertaining (which is what every show on TV needs to be)? Absolutely! So, instead of criticizing it and belittling it, maybe accept it for what it is. Embrace the campiness and craziness, just like Lili Reinhart and the rest of the cast has.

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