10 things nobody wants to admit about Riverdale

5. The show struggled to find a place for Archie after season 1

Archie Andrews was the main character of Riverdale season 1. I mean, duh, the show is based on the Archie Comics, right? But things didn’t exactly go smoothly for him after that. The more that the show became a murder mystery that tackled darker storylines, the less of a place Archie had on it.

It seems unfair to say, and as a huge fan of KJ Apa’s performance as Archie, I wish I didn’t have to say that. But unfortunately, it’s true. As a result, Archie was often given his own storylines, ones that often took place outside of the show’s central mysteries. The spotlight on the character should have been great but the storylines themselves were doing too much, so it was hard to buy into any of Archie’s storylines, especially as they weren’t all that interesting.

In just three seasons, this lovable high school student with a knack for sports and a talent for music had become a henchman/bodyguard for a major criminal, went to prison, took up boxing, and became a prized fighter. Oh yeah, and he was attacked by a bear. It was too much, and aside from the Hiram stuff, it was almost never related to the main storylines that were going on around him – which just didn’t make sense as Archie was supposed to be the main character.

The time jump certainly had its flaws, but one thing it got right was giving Archie a storyline that felt like it was worthy of the character – one that also allowed KJ Apa to shine. Yes, it went sideways when he developed superpowers, but that was the epic highs and lows of Archie’s Riverdale journey.

We’re so glad that the show once again found a place for him in the final season. But Apa’s earnest performance as ’50s Archie just highlighted how it had dropped the ball with the character throughout its run, giving him storylines he didn’t need and phasing him out of its central storylines as a result. Archie deserved better.