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10 things nobody wants to admit about Riverdale

By Michael Patterson

Riverdale -- "Chapter Sixty-Six: Tangerine" -- Image Number: RVD409b_0161.jpg -- Pictured (L-R): KJ Apa as Archie, Camila Mendes as Veronica, Cole Sprouse as Jughead and Lili Reinhart as Betty -- Photo: Jack Rowand/The CW-- © 2019 The CW Network, LLC All Rights Reserved.
Riverdale -- "Chapter Sixty-Six: Tangerine" -- Image Number: RVD409b_0161.jpg -- Pictured (L-R): KJ Apa as Archie, Camila Mendes as Veronica, Cole Sprouse as Jughead and Lili Reinhart as Betty -- Photo: Jack Rowand/The CW-- © 2019 The CW Network, LLC All Rights Reserved. /
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Riverdale, Riverdale season 7
Riverdale — Image Number: RVDS7_8x12 — Pictured (L – R): Lili Reinhart as Betty Cooper, Casey Cott as Kevin Keller, Erinn Westbrook as Tabitha Tate, Cole Sprouse as Jughead Jones, KJ Apa as Archie Andrews, Vanessa Morgan as Toni Topaz, Madelaine Petsch as Cheryl Blossom, Charles Melton as Reggie Mantle and Camila Mendes as Veronica Lodge — Photo: The CW — © 2023 The CW Network, LLC. All Rights Reserved. /

3. The final season was the best Riverdale has been since season 1

We’ll admit it. The decision to press the reset button on your entire show, changing the time period and wiping the slate clean, ahead of the final season was one of Riverdale‘s most head-scratching. Suddenly, the versions of the characters we had gotten to know across six seasons were no longer in existence, and they had been replaced with new variations of them in the 1950s. It was a bold decision; Riverdale‘s boldest, perhaps. And with that final season now complete, we can say that it was also one of its most inspired.

The truth is that Riverdale had gotten stale over the years, and its supernatural turn bogged the show down in uninteresting mythology and complex storylines that took away from its core characters. In season 7, however, they were young again, teenagers thrilled at the prospect of what life had to offer them, and ready to take it on. Without the end of the world stakes, there was far more time for focus on the characters we loved and the relationships they established with those around them.

There was also more time for important storytelling, as the “bend towards justice” theme allowed the show to tackle prominent issues in the 1950s, such as racism and homophobia. And that was far more powerful than whatever Percival Pickens had planned for Riverdale in season 6.

The series shone brighter than ever when it placed the focus on its characters, and season 7 allowed it to do that all over again, gifting the show with its best season since the first. And that allowed it to go out and leave us wanting more – something that seemed impossible in season 6.

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