Summary

Riverdale has transformed from a popular teen drama series to an absurd show that encompasses multiple genres and even includes musical specials. Despite its inconsistencies and strange plot turns, Riverdale offers fans a taste of various genres, engaging them in romance, drama, thriller, mystery, and more. Riverdale, while based on characters from Archie Comics, has a completely different storyline that incorporates supernatural elements, superpowers, and even crossovers with other shows like The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina.

Riverdale is insane. There is no better way of getting into this discussion without addressing the obvious. The CW show started strong when the first season was released in 2017. But over the years, Riverdale has transformed from one of the most popular teen drama series to one of the most absurd. The series tackles multiple genres at once and even goes as far as to have musical specials. It’s a teen drama of will they/won’t they with certain ships and characters.

The first and second seasons focused on the murder mystery genre. Then it tried to add some horror/occult stuff with that creepy knock-off Dungeons & Dragons game. Jughead even got abducted by aliens (supposedly) after taking some shrooms. All the while, with all of these strange plot turns, the show takes itself way too seriously during all of it.

To be fair, there are some fans that do enjoy the spiral that is Riverdale. Not every season is the same. Each main character seems to get together with everyone at some point, to all the shipper’s delight. Because the show engages in so many genres at once (romance, drama, thriller, mystery, etc.), fans of the series get a little taste of everything.

There are crossovers and spin-offs for fans to invest themselves in to understand the universe. And as stated before, Riverdale can also classify as a musical! The show is a little bit of everything, and we have to acknowledge the consistency of it. Still, even die-hard fans have to admit that some things in the show are completely out of pocket.

What Exactly Is Riverdale?
The CW

Today’s generation might know Riverdale as The CW show that is also streaming on Netflix. It has seven seasons, and the show’s finale is just around the corner. The show is based on characters from Archie Comics, an American comic publication company in New York. There are several titles under the Archie Comics name, including Sonic the Hedgehog and Sonic Universe.

The main characters in the Archie Comics include Archie Andrews, Jughead Jones, Betty Cooper, and Veronica Lodge. Other side characters (like Josie and the Pussycats) have their own spin-off series. Sabrina Spellman is also an Archie Comic character. They all live in the fictional town of Riverdale somewhere in the United States. While Riverdale is based on these characters, the storyline is entirely different. The Archie Comics storyline (up until the flagship relaunch in 2014) is light-hearted and fun, with the majority of the story taking place on a beach.

Related: Riverdale: Every Major Character, Ranked

The Most Ridiculous Moment Ever
The CW

Honestly, it’s difficult to pick one specific moment from the entire series. There are so many to choose from, and some people might find one plot point more ridiculous than the other. The musical segments were spontaneous but not needed. The uncomfortable pining between Archie and Betty in the fourth season felt out of place, especially since Betty was still dating Jughead, who faked his death after the events of the third season.

The seventh and current season sort of feels like a reboot, but really the characters went back in time. And there are a lot more intimate/sexual moments between the characters than in seasons prior. But somehow, none of them are as bizarre as the arc in the sixth season, where the characters get superpowers.

You read that right. After events involving a bomb under Archie’s bed that he and Betty lay on explodes and sends the characters to the parallel universe of Rivervale, they all wind up back in Riverdale. After recreating the exact scene of the bomb exploding. There’s already a lot to unpack there, but we’re going to focus on what happens after they return home.

The bomb explosion basically grants the characters different superpowers. Betty can sense the auras of others; Jughead can read minds; Cheryl pretty much became the Scarlet Witch, and so on. Can we all agree that this did not need to happen? How does any of that make sense? Why did the Archie crew need to have superpowers when Riverdale isn’t even a superhero show?

Season 6 Was Just So Ludicrous
The CW

Each season of Riverdale progressively got weirder and weirder. Every season had some new story/mystery that was hard to keep up with. Some viewers could find all these twists and turns entertaining, at least. But let’s get real here: the show went nose-deep into some strange (and even questionable) story and character arcs.

The sixth season as a whole has to be the strangest of them all. We get introduced to The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina’s, well, Sabrina. Kiernan Shipka returns as Sabrina after The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina got canceled. This is followed after Cheryl’s apparent witch heritage is revealed to her in the fifth season. So not only are superpowers somehow involved in Riverdale, but elements of the supernatural are also involved. Did the show really need to cross over with Sabrina’s world?

Then the superpower arc is introduced, and it is up to the Archie team to prevent a literal comet from crashing into their hometown and killing them all. How did any of this even leave the writers’ room? The team only has 24 hours to find a way to stop Bailey’s Comet from crashing. And once they do stop the comet, said comet sends the characters back in time to the 1950s. To top it all off, they are high schoolers again and go through the whole process of teenage romance and drama. Riverdale, as a whole, is one wild ride, but the sixth season has to be the cherry on top of the sundae.

Related: Riverdale: Every Musical Episode (So Far), Ranked

Some shows are just so nonsensical that it is hilarious. Riverdale is such a show that goes far beyond expectations at this point. The season finale premieres tonight, August 23, and it is up in the air exactly how the show will officially end. The cast members are in for tearful goodbyes. The dedicated fans of the show will surely miss the erratic but entertaining chaos. Because let’s face it: Riverdale is chaotic as hell.