Title: Riverdale
Season: One (Episodes: 13)
Developed by: Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa
Type: TV Series
Genre: Teen Drama, Mystery
Based on: Characters by Archie Comics
Distributors: Warner Bros. Television Distribution, Netflix
Air dates: January 26, 2017 – May 11, 2017

I watched this show on Netflix with my personal subscription.

“In an innocent, small town, the death of a popular rich boy named Jason Blossom rattles the town. Archie Andrews discovers his love for music, and his teacher. Betty Cooper unravels her feelings for Archie, and her family secrets. Veronica Lodge is the new girl, who is a threat to cheerleading captain Cheryl Blossom, Jason’s twin sister. Archie, Betty, Veronica, and Jughead band together to find the mysteries behind Jason Blossom’s murder.” —ahmetkozan

I don’t even know where to begin! Though, maybe I’ll start by saying that I might have never started watching this show if my sister and her boyfriend hadn’t told me it was the best thing ever, and that they’d start the show over from episode 1 with me, because they wanted me to watch it so badly. I also wasn’t that into it at first, sadly, and when my sister and her boyfriend moved out of my parents’ place, I had close to zero motivation to continue watching the show on my own. (I would like to note that I don’t watch a lot of TV shows on my own, with very few exceptions.) Well, not for a few months anyway.

After binge-watching every episode of New Girl, and having binge-watched 1-2 seasons of Supernatural, I needed something a little different. So, I returned to Riverdale right where I left off (Season 1, Episode 5). I feel like seeing some of my mutuals on Insta and Twitter talk about the show probably also encouraged me, haha. And I’m so glad that I dove back in, because I definitely saw the show through different eyes the second time around (which means that I probably just wasn’t in the mood for this genre before).

Just as I used to not be a fan of contemporary YA books (especially if they were set in high school), I was also not into TV shows about the same themes. But, over the past 1-2 years, that changed in regard to books and TV shows. Since Riverdale contains plot lines about friendship, comedy, murder, romance, mystery, and other interesting and/or dark themes, plus a moody and woodsy setting, it was basically made for me. (For the next part, please note that I had very very very little exposure to the Archie comics, the classics and the reboot series started in 2015, prior to watching Riverdale.)

Before I get back to all of the themes and sub-genres that I mentioned above, though, I just wanted to say how great I think it is that the show has such a diverse cast! I mean, it’s 2018 and that should be a given, but I’m still surprised and outraged to see how very whitewashed some TV shows out there still are. The real world is a diverse place, and since fiction is inspired from the real world, it should reflect that diversity, yes? Plus, books, TV shows, movies, etc. should just be diverse to begin with.

Back to the themes and such, though. Riverdale made use of some common tropes, such as high school jocks who are full of themselves and who objectify women, unlikely friendships, rich characters, poor characters, (and many more common, and less common, character types and how they interact with one another). But Riverdale also contains a lot of characters, plots, and themes that are unique to the show.

While I love the romance in this show (one in particular that I will try no to rambled too much about), I also really enjoyed the friendships. Betty, Veronica, Jughead, and Archie are all very different characters (very distinguishable and complex), and I loved watching their interactions. (I mean … look at them! Ah!) But, I also enjoyed how more minor characters interacted with the main cast and with each other!

I’m also very happy that the female characters also aren’t the only ones who have complex relationships with each other, but that a lot of the male characters go though some complicated friendship-related story arcs as well! And it’s all portrayed quite realistically (with ups and downs and obstacles and such) in my opinion!

As I mentioned, there’s a murder, so of course there was a lot of sleuthing (yas!). I love me a good mystery, and since I’m a curious person, I like to watch (or read about) characters who are naturally inquisitive as well! Betty and Jughead definitely satisfied that craving … and there was also a nice little bonus in the shape of a potential romance plot that may or may not have taken over my life? But I will say no more, because I’d like to avoid spoiling things for those of you who haven’t watched the show yet!

So, I should probably stop here, since I have said all that I can say without giving too much away. Please stay tuned for my review for season 2 of Riverdale! (Note: I’m more than happy (probably eager, actually) to discuss the show with those of you who have already watched it, but please try to avoid posting spoilers in the comments! My Twitter and Instagram DMs and email are always open though! I’m also happy to talk to those who are thinking of starting to watch the show but have some questions, or those who want to discuss the first few episodes, or something/anything like that!) Toodles!

THANK YOU FOR READING MY (VERY RAMBLY) TV SHOW REVIEW! HAVE YOU WATCHED THIS SHOW? THE WHOLE THING? OR JUST SOME EPISODES? WHAT DID YOU THINK? AND IF YOU HAVEN’T WATCHED IT YET, DO YOU WANT TO? PLAN TO? OR NOT? HOW COME? LET ME KNOW IN THE COMMENTS BELOW!