Riverdale Rewind: A ranking of season 2’s song covers

Photo Credit: Riverdale/The CW Image Acquired from CWTVPR

Riverdale is well known for tying songs into its plot, and the cast has proved to be more than up to the challenge. But which season two cover was the best?

Riverdale has been able to find a sweet spot when it comes to featuring it’s vocally talented cast. It’s not Glee, which Riverdale series developer Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa previously worked on, where characters would just break into song in the middle of a hallway. (I’m not saying I didn’t enjoy the ridiculous whimsy of Glee, though.)

On Riverdale, the songs are always performed in front of audiences, which makes them feel more real. They are also often used to simultaneously accompany montage sequences featuring other characters, which usually works well. (More on that later.)

Here is a ranking of the nine song covers featured in season two, which does not include those from Carrie: The Musical. As a note, the clips below are from the episodes. Full-length versions of the covers can be found on iTunes.

9. “Sufferin’ Till Suffrage” — 2×16

If you’re looking for a new female empowerment anthem, singer-songwriter Essra Mohawk delivers. Powerhouse singers Ashleigh Murray (who plays Josie) and Camila Mendes (who plays Veronica) make quite dynamic duo on this cover, and on many others, as you’ll also see.

I’m assuming it was purposefully ironic on Riverdale‘s part to have Mendes and Murray cover this song as accompaniment for the scene in which two girls, Ethel Muggs (Shannon Purser) and secretly Josie, try to destroy the reputation of a third girl, Veronica. If so, it was a solid choice.

8. “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen” — 2×09

Murray and Casey Cott (who plays Kevin) are the team up I always knew I needed and want to see way more of in season three. If they are not both prominently featured in the next musical episode, I will be very disappointed.

As for this cover, it’s not easy to make a Christmas song sound unique. However, Murray and Cott make this traditional carol feel cool and modern. Their voices also compliment each other very well.

7. “You’ll Never Walk Alone” — 2×19

Unfortunately, there is no clip of this scene, Midge’s (Emilija Baranac) funeral, available on Riverdale‘s YouTube page, but we can at least appreciate Cheryl’s (Madelaine Petsch) fashion. Who knew the Vixens had mourning uniforms on hand?

It is kind of fair considering how common murder has become in their small town. What else are they supposed to do — buy off the rack? Cheryl definitely wouldn’t stand for that.

Anyway, be sure to check out the episode on Netflix or the song on iTunes. Petsch’s rendition of this classic from the musical Carousel is haunting, yet uplifting, and a perfect fit for her vocal range.