[Riverdale] Archie Andrews & The Gargoyle King Redemption

cj iwakura

Watch it here! (Only in the US, presumably. I think it's on Netflix everywhere else.)

The live-action series offers a bold, subversive take on Archie, Betty, Veronica, and their friends, exploring small-town life and the darkness and weirdness bubbling beneath Riverdale’s wholesome facade.

The show will focus on the eternal love triangle of Archie Andrews, girl-next-door Betty Cooper, and rich socialite Veronica Lodge, and will include the entire cast of characters from the comic books—including Archie’s rival, Reggie Mantle, and his slacker best friend, Jughead Jones.

As a new school year begins, the town of Riverdale is reeling from the recent, tragic death of high school golden boy Jason Blossom, and nothing feels the same. Archie Andrews (KJ Apa) is still the all-American teen, but the summer's events made him realize that he wants to pursue a career in music -- not follow in his dad's footsteps--despite the sudden end of his forbidden relationship with Riverdale's young music teacher, Ms. Grundy.

KJ Apa as Archie Andrews


Cole Sprouse as Forsythe 'Jughead' Jones


Lili Reinhart as Betty Cooper


Camila Mendes as Veronica Lodge


Madelaine Petch as Cheryl Blossom


Ashleigh Murray as Josie McCoy(and as seen with The Pussycats)

Also featuring: Ross Butler as Reggie Mantle, Cody Kearsley as Moose, Daniel Yang as Dilton, Shannon Purser as Ethyl, Sarah Habel as Ms. Grundy, Molly Ringwald as Mary Andrews, Luke Perry as Fred Andrews.

Reviews
https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/riverdale/s01/ (Currently at 87%!)

The show Riverdale reminds me of the most is The O.C. - another show that took a seemingly worn-out teen-soap formula and reenergized it to create something altogether new... and addictive.

The CW needed something to fill the hole in die-hard Vampire Diaries fans' hearts when the series ends this year. They've succeeded with Riverdale. It's full of pretty teenagers, terrible parents and a murder mystery right from the start. The Archie comics are bright, bubbly and a little weird. Riverdale is a darker, less wholesome take.

This Riverdale revels in irony, perversity and ambiguity. It has the look of a drama set in the recent past – that period to which Donald Trump refers when he brays about making America great again – but it is emphatically set in the present. A present in which Veronica can be designated as looking like Betty Draper in a certain season of Mad Men. And a present in which the perceived serenity of the recent past is recast as a fraud, and then is remounted as a world utterly lacking in traditional morality. Coming immediately after a topsy-turvy year, Riverdale feels like a gesture of disenchantment. In that itself, it’s popular culture with a Trump-ian twist – a complete loss of innocence

Riverdale is going to be a great success to those already fans of material like this. It's nothing new, it's just the latest addition to the pile. Insane for sure, but what's a prime-time soap if not maddening?

New episode tonight!

DarkPrimus

So is this like, only available on Netflix outside of the United States?

cj iwakura

So I've heard, I could be wrong though.

I think it hits Netflix a week after the season completes its run.

ElJeffe

I watched the pilot and thought it was pretty damned entertaining. I grew up reading Archie comics, and seeing their takes on all the different characters is a lot of fun, and I think it has just the right mix of self awareness and sincerity.

It could be just nostalgia glasses, but for now I'm definitely buying what it's selling.

cj iwakura

Weatherbee on deck finally.

Hexmage-PA

I don't understand Archie comics. I thought they were supposed to be inoffensive and wholesome, but I just saw on Wikipedia that Archie apparently dies taking a bullet for a senator and there's another comic where Cthulhu shows up.

But yeah I might give this show a chance.

cj iwakura

There's also one where they take on a Predator, but the comics are all over the place.

I'm half hoping for that to happen in the show, but rumor has it the series finale will involve

Sabrina showing up.

Fencingsax

Hexmage-PA wrote: »

I don't understand Archie comics. I thought they were supposed to be inoffensive and wholesome, but I just saw on Wikipedia that Archie apparently dies taking a bullet for a senator and there's another comic where Cthulhu shows up.

But yeah I might give this show a chance.

Archie taking a bullet was the end of the "inoffensive and wholesome" line, I believe, and a bunch of others have been doing crazy rewrites (predator, Cthuluish Apocalypse, etc) or modern updates.

Schrodinger

This was one of the highlights of the 1990s:



Archie is basically the anti-thesis of MAGA. It's nostalgia incarnate but in a way that's unafraid of change and reinvention.

shoeboxjeddy

Hexmage-PA wrote: »

I don't understand Archie comics. I thought they were supposed to be inoffensive and wholesome, but I just saw on Wikipedia that Archie apparently dies taking a bullet for a senator and there's another comic where Cthulhu shows up.

But yeah I might give this show a chance.

The basic Archie is sort of vanilla, but the company has allowed a WIDE variety of takes to be published. There's been crossovers with The Punisher, and a Predator, and even Sharknado. A modernized reboot with more up to date teenage storylines. A Walking Dead-esque apocalypse comic. A years long serialized adult drama series about Archie getting married and dealing with adulthood (jobs, marriage problems, losing touch with friends) and yes, eventually dying preventing a Presidential candidate from being assassinated. In that sense, Riverdale fits right in, another unique take that uses the characterizations as a launching pad for a different type of story.

Kipling217

Having watched the pilot and the second episode and this show reminds me of Ed Brubaker's Criminal: The Last of the Innocents, to the point that I suspect that the writers must have read it.

Its a deconstruction comic about a grown up Archie(Riley) that married Veronica, decides to kill her, frames Reggie(because Veronica was sleeping with him) and hook up with Betty(with Jughead being killed as collateral damage). It contained cameos from Richie Rich and Encyclopedia Brown(drawn to look like Will Weaton).

The book was pretty good and if the show matches that quality then it has a chance to be pretty good.

Hexmage-PA

I'm still kinda miffed that Archie Comics couldn't keep the Mega Man comic going. I didn't start reading it until it was cancelled because I had assumed it would end up a mess like the Sonic comics did, but they apparently took the story and concept way more seriously than the actual games did.

Anyway, when's Sonic showing up in Riverdale? He already had a crossover in the comics with Sabrina ages ago.

shoeboxjeddy

Hexmage-PA wrote: »

I'm still kinda miffed that Archie Comics couldn't keep the Mega Man comic going. I didn't start reading it until it was cancelled because I had assumed it would end up a mess like the Sonic comics did, but they apparently took the story and concept way more seriously than the actual games did.

Anyway, when's Sonic showing up in Riverdale? He already had a crossover in the comics with Sabrina ages ago.

I think Sonic LIVE! scarred the comics franchise so badly that they won't try something like that again any time soon.

WiseManTobes

Schrodinger wrote: »

This was one of the highlights of the 1990s:



Archie is basically the anti-thesis of MAGA. It's nostalgia incarnate but in a way that's unafraid of change and reinvention.

Speaking of, everyone all shocked by the Mrs Grundy changes in the show, when, Grundy always been a player

kowi

shoeboxjeddy wrote: »

Hexmage-PA wrote: »

I'm still kinda miffed that Archie Comics couldn't keep the Mega Man comic going. I didn't start reading it until it was cancelled because I had assumed it would end up a mess like the Sonic comics did, but they apparently took the story and concept way more seriously than the actual games did.

Anyway, when's Sonic showing up in Riverdale? He already had a crossover in the comics with Sabrina ages ago.

I think Sonic LIVE! scarred the comics franchise so badly that they won't try something like that again any time soon.

Sonic LIVE could've been better and created path for other comics franchise.

shoeboxjeddy

kowi wrote: »

shoeboxjeddy wrote: »

Hexmage-PA wrote: »

I'm still kinda miffed that Archie Comics couldn't keep the Mega Man comic going. I didn't start reading it until it was cancelled because I had assumed it would end up a mess like the Sonic comics did, but they apparently took the story and concept way more seriously than the actual games did.

Anyway, when's Sonic showing up in Riverdale? He already had a crossover in the comics with Sabrina ages ago.

I think Sonic LIVE! scarred the comics franchise so badly that they won't try something like that again any time soon.

Sonic LIVE could've been better and created path for other comics franchise.

Teaming up Sonic with human children is a mistake. Kids don't want to team up with Sonic, they want to be him, having super powers and having cool adventures. The same appeal as Spider-Man.

Back to Riverdale, I really like how the episode titles are noir movies, but I've only heard of the movies so far, not seen them. Are the two so far (from the titles) still worth seeing?

MalReynolds

shoeboxjeddy wrote: »

kowi wrote: »

shoeboxjeddy wrote: »

Hexmage-PA wrote: »

I'm still kinda miffed that Archie Comics couldn't keep the Mega Man comic going. I didn't start reading it until it was cancelled because I had assumed it would end up a mess like the Sonic comics did, but they apparently took the story and concept way more seriously than the actual games did.

Anyway, when's Sonic showing up in Riverdale? He already had a crossover in the comics with Sabrina ages ago.

I think Sonic LIVE! scarred the comics franchise so badly that they won't try something like that again any time soon.

Sonic LIVE could've been better and created path for other comics franchise.

Teaming up Sonic with human children is a mistake. Kids don't want to team up with Sonic, they want to be him, having super powers and having cool adventures. The same appeal as Spider-Man.

Back to Riverdale, I really like how the episode titles are noir movies, but I've only heard of the movies so far, not seen them. Are the two so far (from the titles) still worth seeing?

Uh, when I was a small child I had the dream of starring in a Sonic movie where I was a human child pulled into the Sonic world and there was a lady hedgehog and she and I fell in love and Sonic and I had a falling out when I thought he put the moves on her but as it turns out he didn't really, it was just a misunderstanding, and we all teamed back up to beat Robotnik.

I was like, six.

I was a very weird kid.

Ketherial

shoeboxjeddy wrote: »

Hexmage-PA wrote: »

I don't understand Archie comics. I thought they were supposed to be inoffensive and wholesome, but I just saw on Wikipedia that Archie apparently dies taking a bullet for a senator and there's another comic where Cthulhu shows up.

But yeah I might give this show a chance.

The basic Archie is sort of vanilla, but the company has allowed a WIDE variety of takes to be published. There's been crossovers with The Punisher, and a Predator, and even Sharknado. A modernized reboot with more up to date teenage storylines. A Walking Dead-esque apocalypse comic. A years long serialized adult drama series about Archie getting married and dealing with adulthood (jobs, marriage problems, losing touch with friends) and yes, eventually dying preventing a Presidential candidate from being assassinated. In that sense, Riverdale fits right in, another unique take that uses the characterizations as a launching pad for a different type of story.

wait, wtf? now i have to find these comics and read them.

WiseManTobes

MalReynolds wrote: »

shoeboxjeddy wrote: »

kowi wrote: »

shoeboxjeddy wrote: »

Hexmage-PA wrote: »

I'm still kinda miffed that Archie Comics couldn't keep the Mega Man comic going. I didn't start reading it until it was cancelled because I had assumed it would end up a mess like the Sonic comics did, but they apparently took the story and concept way more seriously than the actual games did.

Anyway, when's Sonic showing up in Riverdale? He already had a crossover in the comics with Sabrina ages ago.

I think Sonic LIVE! scarred the comics franchise so badly that they won't try something like that again any time soon.

Sonic LIVE could've been better and created path for other comics franchise.

Teaming up Sonic with human children is a mistake. Kids don't want to team up with Sonic, they want to be him, having super powers and having cool adventures. The same appeal as Spider-Man.

Back to Riverdale, I really like how the episode titles are noir movies, but I've only heard of the movies so far, not seen them. Are the two so far (from the titles) still worth seeing?

Uh, when I was a small child I had the dream of starring in a Sonic movie where I was a human child pulled into the Sonic world and there was a lady hedgehog and she and I fell in love and Sonic and I had a falling out when I thought he put the moves on her but as it turns out he didn't really, it was just a misunderstanding, and we all teamed back up to beat Robotnik.

I was like, six.

I was a very weird kid.

Don't worry, it's like the no pants in class or the falling dream, we' all have this dream eventually.

Mahnmut

Yo this show is weird. I'm used to teen drama with a backdrop of murder, but the Grundy sex predator thing is really throwing me for a loop.

cj iwakura

Speculation is that Grundy's going to be out of the scene very soon, thankfully.

shoeboxjeddy

According to 24: Legacy, teachers who have affairs with students are also terrorists. So keep an eye on that situation, is all I'm saying.

Schrodinger

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xU8-1Z42jZQ

Dracomicron

Why does Ethel have a pool? WHYYYYY?

EDIT: Bwa ha ha

#JusticeForEthel

Thanks, Cheryl, I needed that.

Schrodinger

Dracomicron wrote: »

Why does Ethel have a pool? WHYYYYY?

To make it easier for the Demogorgon to find her.

shoeboxjeddy

Okay so, (episode 4 stuff)

Jughead is HOMELESS?! Damnit Archie gang, you guys suck! Somebody put him up at your place already!

Schrodinger

Gah... no wonder he hasn't been eating much.

Sorce

It also explains

why he and Archie were on the outs.

Dracomicron

shoeboxjeddy wrote: »

Okay so, (episode 4 stuff)

Jughead is HOMELESS?! Damnit Archie gang, you guys suck! Somebody put him up at your place already!

Plus, if Jughead was

living at the drive in and his dad lives with the biker gang, where is Jellybean living?

Kipling217

So calling it now: Polly isn't in a asylum, but was knocked up by Jason(the dead kid). Her Psycho mom sent her away 50s style and pretended she had a mental breakdown. That is the reason Jason tried to fake his own death and probably why he was killed.

Any takers?

Sorce

Kipling217 wrote: »

So calling it now: Polly isn't in a asylum, but was knocked up by Jason(the dead kid). Her Psycho mom sent her away 50s style and pretended she had a mental breakdown. That is the reason Jason tried to fake his own death and probably why he was killed.

Any takers?

Just as valid as anything else at this point.

cj iwakura

People are speculating that (episode 4) Betty deliberately

let the gun and diary be found, she wanted her mom to take the blame for breaking up Grundy and Archie.

Chessboard thinking. Evil. I am in awe.

Mahnmut

cj iwakura wrote: »

People are speculating that (episode 4) Betty deliberately

let the gun and diary be found, she wanted her mom to take the blame for breaking up Grundy and Archie.

Chessboard thinking. Evil. I am in awe.

Nice -- but I don't buy it, really.

Dracomicron

Mahnmut wrote: »

cj iwakura wrote: »

People are speculating that (episode 4) Betty deliberately

let the gun and diary be found, she wanted her mom to take the blame for breaking up Grundy and Archie.

Chessboard thinking. Evil. I am in awe.

Nice -- but I don't buy it, really.

The previous episode she fucking dismantled one of the most popular kids in school with her own plan.

Plus she knows how to pick locks and break into cars. I'd put her on my team if I was planning a heist.

Sorce

Wasn't her dad a cop in the comics?

Mahnmut

Dracomicron wrote: »

Mahnmut wrote: »

cj iwakura wrote: »

People are speculating that (episode 4) Betty deliberately

let the gun and diary be found, she wanted her mom to take the blame for breaking up Grundy and Archie.

Chessboard thinking. Evil. I am in awe.

Nice -- but I don't buy it, really.

The previous episode she fucking dismantled one of the most popular kids in school with her own plan.

Plus she knows how to pick locks and break into cars. I'd put her on my team if I was planning a heist.

Ha, yeah! She's mad competent. Just so far she's been played straight, and close to the viewer? I'd be down with the story taking this turn, and regardless it's great headcanon, but for now I'm still taking her motivations and feelings at face value, I think.

tapeslinger

I love the hell out of this show.

I was grumbling at the TV this past episode when

the one greaser kid started hassling Kevin

I was about to get incredibly pissed off about yet another tragic gay kid getting beaten up or worse.

(So I was super pleased that nope, he just gets to go make out behind the concession stand. Get 'em my fabulous lil tiger!)

ALSO:

I had HUGE problems with Ms Grundy BUT I'm glad she's going offscreen for the moment--

where presumably everyone is going to figure out, oh fuck, whoops, we chased a material witness and possible suspect out of town

ElJeffe

I am super impressed with the writing for Archie's dad.

It's a difficult line to walk, because he needs to be likeable but also a good father, and his son is often a goddamn idiot, and yet he seems reasonable and kind am understanding. The way he handled Archie in the light of the Grundy thing was nicely empathetic, just, "Yeah, okay, you did something fucking dumb, but love makes you dumb, so let's just learn and move on."

Speed Racer

ElJeffe wrote: »

I am super impressed with the writing for Archie's dad.

It's a difficult line to walk, because he needs to be likeable but also a good father, and his son is often a goddamn idiot, and yet he seems reasonable and kind am understanding. The way he handled Archie in the light of the Grundy thing was nicely empathetic, just, "Yeah, okay, you did something fucking dumb, but love makes you dumb, so let's just learn and move on."

i'll be a little disappointed if they don't at least allude to the two of them having a long, loooooong talk about it once the heat of the moment dies down

shoeboxjeddy

ElJeffe wrote: »

I am super impressed with the writing for Archie's dad.

It's a difficult line to walk, because he needs to be likeable but also a good father, and his son is often a goddamn idiot, and yet he seems reasonable and kind am understanding. The way he handled Archie in the light of the Grundy thing was nicely empathetic, just, "Yeah, okay, you did something fucking dumb, but love makes you dumb, so let's just learn and move on."

People kept calling Archie's dad crap

and maybe there's some truth to that, that letting Grundy get away is a horrible thing to have done. If anything, SAY you're going to let her leave, then spring the cops on her afterwards. Only problem with that idea is that Archie would find out that you lied because small town.

BUT, I felt like not trying to shout Archie down with the idea that he's a RAPE VICTIM WHO WAS RAPED, SHUT UP YOU WEREN'T IN LOVE, YOU WERE RAPED, DEAL WITH IT! Wouldn't have gone well for anybody at all. He listened to Archie and was there for him when the feelings really started to come in. Importantly, he disputed the idea that Archie is a selfish, lousy kid who doesn't deserve to have good friends or loving parents. Archie's friends standing by him will make him more open to their statements that Grundy was no good.

Dracomicron

My take on the Grundy scene last episode

She got real lucky that Mrs. Cooper is a garbage person with a hate-on for Archie (and apparently every redhead?), because that set Mr. Andrews into "defend Archie's reputation" mode instead of "have this child predator arrested" mode. I get the impression that Grundy's skated out of other towns by exploiting exactly this sort of rivalry in the past, because it takes her less than a day to go back to "cruising young boys" mode as she's headed out of town.