Archie Comics has maintained popularity since its release 1939, but only recently, the characters have been brought to television. The new show, Riverdale, aired weekly on the CW, however, toward the beginning of summer vacation, after it was added to Netflix, it blew up among high schoolers across the nation.
The teen drama borrows characters from the famous Archie Comics, but puts a much darker spin on the lighthearted comic. Archie Andrews (KJ Apa) and his friends from Riverdale piece together the murder of Jason Blossom (Trevor Stines), the son of the wealthiest family in Riverdale.
With multiple in-depth subplots, Riverdale never has a dull moment. Many controversial issues are shown–from gang violence to teen pregnancy to drug trafficking.
Like most television shows with a teenage target audience, romance shines through as a prevalent theme. The relationship of Betty Cooper (Lili Reinhart) and Jughead Jones (Cole Sprouse) known as “Bughead” won a the Teen Choice Award of Choice TV Ship in August 2017.
Riverdale is one of the most diverse shows that aired this year. Veronica Lodge (Camila Mendes) is of Latina descent; there are two Asian-American minor characters. The mayor of Riverdale is an African American woman, and her daughter, Josie McCoy (Ashleigh Murray), performs in a musical group made of other African American women. Riverdale includes a homosexual character in the show as well. Though Riverdale shows diversity, it fails to handle minority characters in a respectful way. Minority characters have little or no character development outside of their race or sexuality and events that occur due to that aspect of their character.
The show’s homosexual character, Kevin Keller (Casey Cott), adds an element of manipulation to the show. He is the sheriff’s son, and a his sexuality is exploited by a gang member. Keller is an important character, however his most defining trait is his homosexuality.
As pointed out by other viewers, Valerie Brown, member of the African-American musical group, becomes the main character Archie Andrews’s girlfriend, but Brown never develops past her race. Chuck Clayton (Jordan Calloway), staring football player and notorious flirt, is referred to as “good boy” by Lodge before she and Cooper abuse him. Though the writers never intended for this to be a racial issue, it is considered very wrong for a woman appearing as white to be referring to an African-American male as “boy.” These ideals are deep rooted into Americans from the country’s racist past, and should not be tested on national television.
Despite the unintentional disrespect in an attempt to be tolerant, Riverdale became one of the most loved shows by teens and has large amounts of critical acclaim. In August 2017, Riverdale sweeped the Teen Choice Awards, winning seven awards. Riverdale won Choice TV Drama Show and Choice Breakout TV Show.
Four out of the five nominated actors won awards: Lili Reinhart for Choice Breakout Star, Cole Sprouse for Choice Drama TV Actor, Madelaine Petsch for Choice Hissy Fit (in the role of Cheryl Blossom), and Camila Mendes for Choice Scene Stealer. KJ Apa left without an individual award, but he did win the Breakthrough Performance award at the Saturn Awards.
Season two of Riverdale will be release on Oct. 11, 2017. The last episode concluded with an intense cliffhanger that left viewers on the edge of their seats. Character Jughead Jones described the end of the series as “the exact moment that the last bit of Riverdale’s innocence finally died,” and viewers have high hopes for the next season.