Riverdale’s last season has pushed its characters from their grownup states again to a teenage facsimile — solely this time, they’re caught within the Fifties.
For some, the ’50s have been the reset they’d been hoping to see from Riverdale, which might supply recent, campy storytelling. For others, Riverdale’s foray into the ’50s has fallen hopelessly flat.
Riverdale Season 5 begins with a seven-year time leap that aged all of the characters from highschool seniors to aimless twenty-somethings. Divulging in additional mature plots and relationships that the highschool years hadn’t seen earlier than, the time leap allowed the characters to proceed to develop.
Riverdale Season 6 moved into the supernatural, with the season culminating in Riverdale Season 6 Episode 22, “Chapter One Hundred and Seventeen: The Evening Of The Comet,” whereby the residents of Riverdale have been confronted with a brand new type of peril as a comet hurdled in direction of them, threatening to wipe them off the face of the earth.
On the finish of the Riverdale Season 6 finale, the characters have been proven having been transported again to the ’50s, and Riverdale Season 7 has taken place fully within the decade up to now. Early within the season, the time journey was defined by Tabitha Tate (Erinn Westbrook) as a solution to maintain everybody secure from the fallout of the comet.
As of Riverdale Season 7 Episode 13, “Chapter One Hundred Thirty: The Crucible,” the time journey has not been revisited, and evidently the characters will probably be within the ’50s for the remainder of the season.
Showrunner Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa shared earlier than Riverdale Season 7 that the characters wouldn’t be within the decade for the period, but it surely stays to be seen if that is true.
Regardless, the ’50s storyline has been an odd mixture of kitschy nostalgia and Riverdale-style zaniness that hasn’t hit the identical notes as prior seasons of the present.
For a last season, the ’50s story looks as if a weak, flippant try at reinventing the characters reasonably than a correct send-off to the tales that stay woefully incomplete within the present-day timeline.
For followers of the collection, the ’50s have introduced extra issues than options.
Narratively, Riverdale has constructed a fictionalized model of the city with Pep, nonetheless ambiguously situated in upstate New York.
Riverdale is depicted as a spot the place the heartbreaking Emmett Until trial was extremely publicized, and on the similar time, LGBTQIA+ characters usually are not ostracized for his or her sexuality in public areas.
It is not straightforward to just accept that each may very well be true, however Riverdale asks that for the sake of their Fifties, viewers do.
Whereas there are echoes of the previous Riverdale tales within the ’50s, they’re few and much between and do not supply any of the decision followers search.
Some Riverdale Season 7 Storylines Are Falling Flat
The foremost storylines all through the ’50s arc have accomplished one thing that Riverdale is not usually responsible of incorporating all of the characters.
Kevin Keller (Casey Cott), famously underutilized and underdeveloped within the current timeline of Riverdale, has been an enormous piece of the ’50s storyline although it might be to the character’s detriment.
Within the first a number of episodes of Riverdale Season 7, Kevin was working by discovering his sexuality whereas relationship the traditional woman subsequent door, Betty Cooper (Lili Reinhart).
Kevin met Clay Walker (Karl Walcott), a brand new character within the ’50s timeline, and the 2 opened up with one another about their attraction.
While seeing their few scenes together was sweet, the lack of development involving their relationship after Kevin began to understand himself has been a glaring hole in the story.
On top of the fact that the storyline has been treated with a lack of depth, this has turned fans off entirely.
Elsewhere, Betty’s storyline has been sexualized since the beginning of Riverdale Season 7.
Typically repressed, Betty has been even more so during the ’50s. She has tried to learn about human sexuality throughout the season while her burgeoning feelings for her next-door neighbor, Archie Andrews (KJ Apa), continue to grow.
While Betty’s story of repression started as an exciting way to explore the character, it has shifted rapidly into a hypersexual series of fan-service moments, including Betty fantasizing about nearly everyone in the cast.
The dichotomy between Betty’s fantasy life and her real life, where she’s stuck in a war for her freedom with her parents, Alice (Madchen Amick) and Hal (Lochlyn Munro), is engaging in theory.
Still, the payoff has been minimal outside of seeing Lili Reinhart’s chemistry with her cast mates.
Betty’s story lacks depth, similar to Kevin’s, and doesn’t seem to have a natural endpoint.
Like the lack of depth in Kevin and Betty’s stories, the season’s mystery is particularly shallow.
Riverdale Season 7’s mystery revolves around a mysterious Milk Man. Jughead Jones (Cole Sprouse) is the main character involved in the mystery.
Still, rather than adding a Riverdalian spin to the story, the mystery has been more confusing and convoluted than anything else.
While the lack of context will be resolved in the coming episodes, it doesn’t feel enough to sell anyone on the mystery.
Riverdale’s Big Ships Are Winning But In Tough Circumstances
Riverdale’s Season 7 highlight has been the relationship between Cheryl Blossom (Madelaine Petsch) and Toni Topaz (Vanessa Morgan).
Though the couple has been underserved in the past, the series has used Season 7 to highlight the relationship between the characters and organically build it up from a natural starting point.
Showing off the chemistry between Petsch and Morgan, who shine individually and together on the series, has been a highlight to a season with some low lows.
Still, even Choni’s relationship hasn’t been entirely smooth sailing.
Considering the characters are in one of the most repressed modern decades, Cheryl and Toni have had to deal with Cheryl’s traumatizing parents and the fact that they don’t have the luxury of being publicly out.
The storyline has been handled with care, but the writing at some times feels like the only high point of each episode.
Meanwhile, the slow burn between Betty Cooper and Archie Andrews has been one of the most long-drawn-out relationships in Riverdale history.
Though the characters got together in Riverdale Season 6, the ’50s see them back in the friend zone.
Betty and Archie have had some beautiful moments in the ’50s, showing their status as best friends as their attraction for one another grows.
However, there has been an irregular edge to the relationship created by Betty’s hypersexual storyline that’s been undercutting the story frequently.
For every step forward Betty and Archie seem to take, they take several steps back in the following episodes.
From agreeing to a late-night peep show in their adjacent bedroom windows to going on a double date with Veronica Lodge (Camila Mendes) and Reggie Mantle (Charles Melton), Betty and Archie have been in each other’s orbit.
While this is the traditional ebb and flow of a slow burn, something hasn’t entirely stuck the landing for fan favorites Barchie during the ’50s.
Without understanding Betty or Archie’s true feelings for one another, the missteps feel forced and confusing, and their near continuous misses seem more severe than they likely are.
Finally, the relationship between Jughead and his new-to-town girlfriend, Tabitha, is sadly missing in the ’50s.
As Riverdale’s Guardian Angel, a plot introduced during Riverdale Season 6, Tabitha’s character has been written out of the show for most of the season.
While Jughead is doing fine on his own, the dynamic between the characters is sorely missed, as is Tabitha’s presence.
What Can Riverdale Do In Its Final Sprint?
While the final moments of Riverdale Season 7 have already been written and filmed, there are a few things fans are hoping for as the show finally finishes out its impressive seven-year run.
First, many are hoping for clarity.
The storylines are sure to wrap up regardless.
Still, many are hoping to find out whether or not the characters will travel back to the present timeline before the end of the season to set expectations accordingly.
With so many stories still unresolved in the present, it would be difficult to ignore the fact that the characters who have existed for years still need to be wrapped up.
Second, put the plot to the sideline in favor of character development.
While Riverdale has always included a mystery plot, this is the final season.
The character arcs have been so convoluted in the first place with the time traveling that it would make more sense to focus on what’s happening with them over the Milk Man.
Many are hopeful that the final episodes spend time with more character-driven stories than inundating the audience with the plot.
Third: we all want a resolution. Riverdale has been a ride for those who’ve watched and those who haven’t.
With the series finally coming to a close, fans are hopeful that the series won’t leave the story entirely open-ended.
Instead, fans are hoping all their favorite Riverdale kids will genuinely have a resolution to their long-winding plots.
Whether it be a montage at the end of the series to wrap up the characters’ arcs or definitive answers to the burning questions (does Choni find their way back to each other?
Does Archie choose Betty or Veronica?
What is Baby Anthony up to?
Fans are looking for some answers.
Cher Thompson is a staff writer for TV Fanatic, who you can follow on Twitter.
