I can’t really explain my love for Riverdale in simple sentences. But I’m about to try. Because Riverdale is that rarest of shows. It’s utterly ridiculous, and I eat up every last morsel as if entranced. The CW series defies logic, or purpose, or any sense of reality. And that’s exactly what makes it so intoxicating. It’s a show about teenagers dealing with extreme issues: serial killer dads, running a speakeasy, drug-peddling cults, secret literary societies, the soul of a child trapped in a doll. You know, normal high school stuff.

And that’s all in the first four seasons. But season five, well… Season five is where things truly entered another realm of WTF. A few episodes into the season, Riverdale jumped seven years into the future. And the time jump was really just an excuse to go balls-to-the-wall bananas. The show is longer concerned with literally anything. Nothing is off limits. Those pop culture references we love? Now there are even more, and they’re more obscure and therefore more delicious. There are random pregnancies, extravagant musical numbers, and a lot of nods to Succession. Oh, and there are aliens.

If you’re of the same breed as me, I implore you to catch up on Riverdale. The season just went on hiatus until July, so it’s the perfect time to binge. But if you have no intention of doing so, and want to know what the hell is happening on the show this year, please read on. Though I’m warning you in advance: you’re about to see some things you’ll never again unsee.

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Time jump shenanigans 

Riverdale shut down production before completing season four due to the pandemic. So they had some loose threads to tie at the start of season five. Namely, the writers had to wrap up the whole “mysterious video tape” storyline. They did so swiftly (it was Jughead’s sister, Jelly Bean), and still had time to attend prom and graduate. With that pesky high school stuff out of the way, the show was ready for the time jump. Not only was it a clever way to catch the actors up to their real ages, but it proved the perfect vehicle for pure, unhinged storytelling opportunities.

So what’s going on in the town of Riverdale, seven years in the future? Archie returns to his hometown after fighting in a war. (The show never specifies which war, and the only footage we see is a dream sequence where it looks… like he’s fighting in WWII?) Upon his return, he learns the town’s speakeasy La Bonne Nuit is now the Whyte Wyrm, and that a mysteriously pregnant Toni Topaz is the owner and lead entertainer. Toni now lives with Kevin and Sweet Pea (in an apartment on Cloverfield Lane, perhaps my favorite dumb reference of the series); they’re the only members of their friend group still living in the town, besides Cheryl, who’s become a recluse.

As Archie quickly learns, Veronica’s dad Hiram Lodge is still up to no good. This time, he’s trying to clear out the town to his own benefit. Archie decides to round up his old friends Veronica, Betty, and Jughead to help take back the town.

We then play catch up with all three characters and see what they’ve been up to during the seven-year hiatus. Betty became an FBI trainee at Quantico, a storyline that borrows heavily from The Silence of the Lambs. A serial murderer known as the Trash Bag Killer kidnapped her, but she escaped and now suffers PTSD-style flashbacks from the incident. Veronica married some jerk named Chad and works in the diamond district, which paved the way for one of the show’s biggest chef’s kiss references: a whole scene dedicated to the Safdie Brothers’ Uncut Gems.

Jughead also landed in a pretty predictable place. He wrote a novel about his experiences in Riverdale and became a part of an elite literary brat pack in New York. But despite this apparent success, he isn’t doing so hot. He’s in a lot of debt, which collectors literally coming to his door and threatening his life. His new girlfriend dumps him and he’s struggling to write his follow-up book. Already down in the dumps, he answers Archie’s call and heads back to his hometown.

So yeah, the core four come back to town. And they all become teachers at Riverdale High? Oh, and Betty and Archie start hooking up. For a while? Then Archie and Veronica rekindle things again. Some things never really change on Riverdale.

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The Black Hood returns? 

This may not sound too wild just yet, but I promise you, the devil is in the details. Baked into this whole “return to save Riverdale” plot is something far more nefarious. Someone is kidnapping young women in the outskirts of town, including a Pop’s waitress named Lynette “Squeaky” Fields (a nod to real-life Manson girl and wannabe assassin Lynette Fromme) and Betty’s sister Polly. And it might all have ties to the Black Hood. Who, if you don’t remember, was Betty and Polly’s serial killer father from a few seasons back.

It would take about five separate articles to explain everything going on with the Cooper family. Betty’s lineage is all messed up thanks to a literal serial killer gene that infected her father, resides within her, and shows up in Polly’s twins, Juniper and Dagwood. Her mom Alice also has an illegitimate son named Charles who escapes from prison this season with his lover Chic, who once posed as the real Charles. (This happens after Hiram blows up the Riverdale prison for purely chaotic reasons I don’t understand.) Ordained minister Alice marries Charles and Chic, still dressed in their prison smocks, in the Cooper family household. It’s all very romantic. We love an adorable little murder family.

This ties into a few other plotlines. Namely, Polly’s disappearance and presumed murder. Betty’s fellow FBI trainee Glen arrives in town and hints that the Black Hood has something to do with the kidnappings. Glen also tells Betty he’s writing a dissertation about her kooky family, called Family of Darkness: Varying Displays of Serial Killer Genes in the Cooper Family Tree. He also shows up after Charles and Chic’s wedding, causes a ruckus, and Betty stabs him during an extremely misguided family game? She also throws a knife at Chic. And then Alice shoots Charles? Just normal family things!

This all happens in the last episode of the season before the hiatus, so I’m not sure how things will turn out. Or how the Black Hood will factor into the rest of this year’s episodes. All I know is that I love the Coopers and what they bring to this show.

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Aliens!

I used to joke that the only thing left for Riverdale to tackle was aliens. And then this season… there’s an alien storyline. Be careful what you joke about, folks! While Archie tries to save the city, and Betty investigates her sister’s disappearance, Jughead gets wrapped up in a local legend about creatures known as Moth Men. If this sounds familiar, it’s a reference to the real-life Mothman conspiracy theory. Only on Riverdale, the Moth Men are aliens who live in the woods off the Lonely Highway. Jughead falls down a rabbit hole, trying to get to the bottom of this whole Moth Men thing. He teams up with Pop’s waitress and new fling Tabitha to investigate.

Tabitha learns that Cheryl’s grandmother, Nana Rose, has the body of a Moth Man preserved in maple syrup. Around the time they learn of this body, Jughead also sees bright lights in the sky and his mind goes blank. Jughead also, for some reason, convinces himself that he needs to take “magic maple mushrooms” to unlock his trauma and help him write his next novel. He does so, under Tabitha’s supervision, hallucinates aliens, and then disappears after seeing another set of flashing lights. That’s where the current run of episodes ends.

This is only about half of what’s actually happening on Riverdale this season. There’s more to do with Veronica and her bad marriage, and Cheryl and her fractured relationship with Toni, and Kevin and Sweet Pea, and Hiram, and Archie’s savior complex. And even though I just cycled through most of the big things, I still beg you to catch up during this hiatus. Even knowing what happens can’t prepare you for watching it actually happen. And during this strange and surreal time, the best entertainment—in my opinion—is something even more strange and surreal. Just to make us feel relatively normal by comparison.

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Oh Riverdale. How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.

For starters, the show is bananas in every possible way, and remains fully committed to the bit. It tackles everything from serial killers to cults to secret societies and more. Riverdale uses vintage Archie Comics characters to tell a modern horror story about teens in peril who just keep fighting for what’s good. It’s campy, it’s bizarre, it’s a whole lot of fun, and now it’s ready to jump seven years into the future. After last night’s episode, we were treated to our first preview of the big time jump. And it looks as wild as you might expect.

Post-graduation, our Riverdale heroes have pretty different lives. Archie goes to war and now heads up Riverdale’s “RROTC” program. Jughead is a published writer working on his second book. Veronica married some guy named Chadwick. Oh, and Betty? The daughter of serial killer the Black Hood who also has the infamous “serial killer gene?” Someone let her into the FBI, just like her duplicitous half-brother Charles.

Betty in the FBI is a clear homage to The Silence of the Lambs. In fact, the brief sequence we see of her running through the woods in this preview is a direct reference to Clarice Starling’s training in the 1991 film. We also see Betty stuck at the bottom of a well, taunted by some unseen villain. This also recalls Buffalo Bill’s creepy lair.

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Orion Pictures

The CW also dropped another extended sneak preview of the time jump with even more new footage. This one shows Toni Topaz doing some kind of snake-filled lounge act, Hiram announcing that Riverdale is “dissolved,” and. Archie and Toni helping the town’s houseless population. Oh, and Jughead has a mustache.

Riverdale creator Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa has teased this seven-year time jump for a while. The fourth season was cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic, so season five is playing catch up before the kids graduate and head off to their new lives. And it looks like their troubles have followed them into adulthood.

The first episode of Riverdale‘s seven-year time jump airs next Wednesday, February 10 on The CW.

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Truth is stranger than fiction, right? Well, in this instance, that cliché is true. You may know actress Marisol Nichols as Hermione Lodge on The CW’s Riverdale. Turns out the role as Veronica’s loving (yet shady) mom is actually nothing compared to her own real life story. These past six years—since before Riverdale—she’s been hunting child sex predators as an undercover operative. Nichols revealed her story to Marie Claire in a recent interview. Now, according to Deadline, Sony Television is developing her story to become the basis for an upcoming series.

Marisol Nichols has been working undercover with agents from the FBI, Operation Underground Railroad, and local law enforcement to serve as the “bait” for sting operations. These operations take place both domestically and internationally. For the purposes of these sting operations, Nichols played the role of a parent trying to sell their child to sex trafficker. Occasionally, she also performs the role of the minor.

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After working on shows for years like CSI and Law & Order: SVU, Nichols’ TV acting career began to slow down around 2012. So when this opportunity presented itself, she volunteered to help out. Yes, volunteered. In 2016, she got the part on Riverdale and her career took off again. So she had to work long hours on TV and moonlight as an undercover asset. This sounds a bit like Alias, only even wilder. No matter which network or streamer the show calls home, we are already hooked on the story!

Even better, not only will Nichols likely be an executive producer on the series, but she will also probably star in the show. We are here for this story about someone who’s using their Hollywood privilege for good and to save lives.

Featured Image: The CW

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Warning: this post contains spoilers for Riverdale season four and the novel The Secret History.

Riverdale isn’t a show known for realism. The candy-dipped CW series is a kaleidoscope of camp, crammed with so many storylines and references, it’s hard to see straight. But that overwroughtness is exactly why we love Riverdale. Because it’s so unabashedly, bombastically its own thing. A soap opera loaded with Truman Capote and Patricia Highmsmith references, set to a throbbing Imagine Dragons score. What’s not to love?

And sometimes, when we’re least expecting it, Riverdale sneaks in fun reference that makes up a whole storyline. That was certainly the case with season four’s Stonewall Preparatory plot. As many fans correctly assumed, Jughead’s stodgy prep school and scheming classmates were inspired by the Donna Tartt novel The Secret History. But did you know real people and real events also inspired the novel? 

Here’s the true story behind Riverdale’s fourth season murder plot, its ties to the real-life Bennington College, and why it made for such ripe and addictive television. 

Ballantine Books 

Who is Donna Tartt and what’s is The Secret History?

Tartt is a prestigious novelist whose 2013 novel The Goldfinch won her the Pulitzer Prize. But before she was dripping in accolades, she was a student at Bennington College in Bennington, Vermont—a very real place she used as inspiration for the fictional Hampden College in her debut novel The Secret History. 

Published in 1992, The Secret History tells the story of an elite group of Greek majors at Hampden College who murder one of their own after he threatens to expose their unsavory behavior. (This character death is not a major spoiler: Tartt reveals it on the very first page. She describes The Secret History as a “whydunnit” as opposed to a “whodunnit.”) They plan to stage his death as an accident, but then a snowstorm comes and buries the body. So begins an elaborate search-and-rescue that involves most of the college and neighboring town, and puts the murderous teens in a pickle. They are left to deal with the moral consequences of their actions in slow-motion. Their perfect murder is in fact as imperfect as it could possibly get.

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Riverdale’s fourth season is a play on Tartt’s novel.

Riverdale borrowed this premise for its Stonewall Prep storyline. In the show, Jughead is accepted to a prestigious academy where he spends most of his time with a small group of fiercely intelligent students. He immediately butts heads with two of his classmates: Bret Weston Wallis and Donna Sweett. Jughead finds himself the subject of Stonewall’s own murderous plot. Sweett hatches a plan to kill him and blame it on his girlfriend, Betty, as part of a long-con revenge coup. (Stonewall Prep professor Mr. DuPont murdered Sweett’s grandmother after taking credit for the mystery series she had written. Killing Jughead is somehow part of Sweett’s plan to retrieve the rights to her grandmother’s story because, you know, Riverdale!) 

The “murder” goes all wrong. Jughead isn’t actually dead. He’s just conscious. Betty finds him and they fake his death to make the Stonewall kids feel culpable. They give him a fake funeral and everything, a distraction while they unlock Sweett’s master plan. It all comes to a head eventually. Sweett is exposed, Jughead lives, and then there’s a Hedwig and the Angry Inch tribute episode because, again, Riverdale! 

There are a number of parallels to draw between this latest season of Riverdale and The Secret History. The failed perfect murder plot, mainly. The erudite prep school that sounds a lot like Hampden. Donna Sweett is clearly a name homage to Donna Tartt. And then there’s Bret Weston Wallis, whose name derives from real-life author Bret Easton Ellis—a classmate of Tartt’s at Bennington and one of literature’s most controversial figures.

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The real story of Bennington College also influenced Riverdale.

Tartt and Ellis’s reign at Bennington was documented in an excellent Esquire article titled, “The Secret Oral History of Bennington: The 1980s Most Decadent College.” There, the literary troublemakers were part of an elite group of creatives, which also included author Jonathan Lethem. The article—which features interviews from Ellis, Lethem, and their classmates—denotes a competitive atmosphere, with the school as the backdrop constant in their mischievous, brilliant journeys. 

“When I was at Bennington, I felt like I was in a kind of, I don’t know—a time warp or a different dimension or something,” said Tartt’s classmate and friend, the musician Brixton Smith Start. “It was like all of us, collectively, were tapping the source.”

Ellis, the popular druggie bad boy, would channel his time at Bennington into two popular novels: Less Than Zero and The Rules of Attraction. (He would go on to write the infamous American Psycho.) He befriended and briefly dated Tartt, who shared with him early drafts of The Secret History. She dedicated her book to him.

Tartt was wrapped up in her own intense Greek studies at Bennington, which she channeled into the story. And though there was no murder on campus during her time there, her classmates say the book was far from pure fiction.

“It’s a work of thinly veiled reality—a roman à clef,” said Tartt’s classmate, Todd O’Neal. “When it came out, [Tartt’s classmates and friends] Claude and Matt and I got endless calls. Everybody was saying, “Oh, did you know Donna just wrote a book about Claude and you all?”

So while the murderous plot of The Secret History—and by proxy Riverdale—is a total fabrication, the walls of Stonewall Prep and characters like Donna Sweett and Bret Weston Wallis recall a very real time. A time when literary history was made and mythologized. 

Featured Image: The CW/Ballantine Books

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The Serpent Code obliges us to tell you that there are most certainly spoilers for the first three seasons of Riverdale below.

There’s a lot of eye-rolling that comes with a term like “jumping the shark.” But there’s a reason why the term exists to begin with. Sometimes, as an audience, we love to see it happen. Sometime’s it’s actually fun to see a jort and leather-clad greaser hop over a big fish. Sometimes we are that fish, and we swim in circles under our favorite shows hoping for that figurative chance at blood in the water. That’s why we’re so thankful to have Riverdale, a show that not only seemingly jumps the shark with every single episode but actually thrives on existing in the moment that the skis crest the air.

The very premise of Riverdale feels like a jumping of the shark. The series is a dark broody noir that tied up the Archie Comics universe and keeps it for its own twisted pleasures. So it’s hard to really say which moment of the show most went off the rails. There are honorable mentions like the city under siege riot in season 2, the big reveal of the Farm’s true motivations as organ harvesters in season 3, and of course, Cheryl Blossom’s occasional functional cosplay as Speedy from the Arrowverse. But, in anticipation of the new season, here is an in-depth look at some of our favorites.

Archie’s entire history on the show.

Even the most basic summary of Archie’s storylines on the show sounds completely absurd. Sometimes Archie’s plots go so off the rails it feels like he’s not even on the same show as the rest of his classmates. Quite literally so in season three when he actually left Riverdale to start a new life in the wilderness. He’s been a football player, a wannabe musician, and was sleeping with his teacher. He abandoned music to instead focus on fronting a proto-fascist vigilante organization to avenge his almost-murdered father. He tried to join his girlfriends’ father’s criminal organization, only to turn against him and eventually fight him during a school wrestling practice.

Then he was framed for murder by that same man and became a boxer in an underground prison ring. After escaping from jail, went on the lam to that aforementioned wilderness where he was mauled by a bear. He returned to Riverdale where he started a boxing gym, killed a man in the ring (okay that guy was on drugs though), and he fought his girlfriend’s father again in the boxing ring. Plus, get this, he scandalously walked out of the SATs. Apparently, he didn’t have time to study for them while getting mauled by a bear but there are no exceptions in the high stakes world of standardized testing. He did find time to star in two musicals though.

The Carrie the Musical episode

Musical episodes are almost required of all drama TV shows these days. That went double for Riverdale which is a covers album disguised as an angsty teen drama most of the time anyway. But rather than compose original tunes apropos for Riverdale, the show instead mined the 1988 stage musical adaptation of Stephen King’s Carrie. Likely a nod to Riverdale creator Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa’s prior work on the 2013 Carrie film remake, the episode totally shouldn’t have worked. The musical itself was considered the biggest flop in Broadway history in its time.

But “shouldn’t have worked” is Riverdale’s bread and butter. The lyrics were written for a show that bombed before most of Riverdale’s stars were even born. Yet somehow, they married themselves perfectly to the text of the season. The earnest depiction of the musical as an in-universe production at Riverdale High School helped make the musical interludes feel only partially fourth wall breaking. We were almost lulled into believing it was just a fun diversion episode of the show right up until the murderous shocker of an ending. With the third season usage of Heathers, it seems that musicals may be an annual tradition for the show now but none will likely ever pack as much sublime delight as the Carrie episode.

Cheryl Blossom’s Victorian Novel Life

The first season of Riverdale really teetered on the edge of wanting us to love or hate Cheryl Blossom. At first glance, Cheryl could seem like the stereotypical manipulative teenage queen bee of Riverdale High, or as a pure agent of chaos. Cheryl Blossom’s life eventually stops feeling like it was adapted from Archie comics and more as if it came from a Victorian Gothic novel. She’s gaslit into mental instability by her emotionally abusive parents. There’s implied incestual love between Cheryl and her dead brother, or at least obsession with the idea on her part. She lives in a big spooky house with her grandmother. Even her “conversion therapy” plot in season 2 involves a convent full of abusive nuns, the Sisters of Quiet Mercy. And she’s rescued from it by her dashing leady lady, Toni Topaz, a sapphic love story in the vein of the Gothic lesbian vampire classic, Carmilla.

Griffons & Gargoyles

Giving sister series The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina the run for its dark horror money in season 3 was this plot. The easiest way to describe it is “what if all the fears and panic from Dungeons & Dragons in the 1980s were real.” The hardest way to describe it would be to actually try to summarize the plot. There were poisoned chalices, kids losing the ability to discern the difference between reality and game, hallucinogenic drugs, and even someone running around in a giant Goblin King costume. Or maybe there really was a Goblin King, we really still aren’t sure. What we do know is that this plot allowed for the fantastic Breakfast Club-inspired “Midnight Club,” episode where the Riverdale stars all played as their characters’ parents. And the ending reveal that Cheryl’s mother was the mastermind behind it all allowed the aforementioned gothic horror of Cheryl’s life to completely spill over into the main characters’ plots as well. 

Dark Betty

Betty Cooper of Riverdale is a far cry from her comic book origins. Written on the show to be a David Lynchian twisting of the girl next door, we first see glimpses of Betty’s dark side early in the first season. There’s no subtlety to it, she actually puts on a black wig and lingerie and goes to a dark place while getting torturous revenge. While the show wisely dropped the Dark Betty persona, largely at the request of actress Lili Reinhart, it still teased that side of her in season 3.

As part of their attempts to get her initiated into The Farm, Betty’s mother and sister both tell her their long-kept secret. Betty as a child tested positive for “the serial killer gene,” the only one in her family to do do. Polly adds “not even dad” had the gene, an extra bizarre twist of this show’s knife considering that their father, Hal Cooper, was unmasked as the Black Hood, an actual serial killer, in the finale season two. Black hoods, black wigs, they’re almost the same thing. 

Images: The CW

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San Diego Comic-Con is winding to a close, but that doesn’t mean Sunday was totally without news. The day is typically reserved for big Hall H panels about CW series, and today brought us a ton of new information about the upcoming fourth season of Riverdale. What will the show look like in the absence of Luke Perry? What will senior year be like for our main characters: Archie (K.J. Apa), Veronica (Cami Mendes), Betty (Lili Reinhart), Jughead (Cole Sprouse), and Cheryl (Madelaine Pestch)? And what about that crazy cliffhanger at the end of season three? The show’s creator, Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, was joined onstage by the cast to go over what we can expect when the show returns to The CW this fall.

More TV veterans are joining the cast

Riverdale has a habit of casting teen stars from the ’90s as adults, and that will continue into season four. Shannen Doherty is set to appear in the season premiere to honor Luke Perry’s Fred Andrews. The two starred on Beverly Hills 90210 together in the ’90s and remained close friends, so it’s a fitting tribute to both Luke—who passed away earlier this year—and Fred, whose death will be the focus of the first episode, titled “In Memoriam.”

Dawson’s Creek alum Kerr Smith will also join the cast as Mr. Honey, the new principal of Riverdale High. According to Aguirre-Sacasa, Honey is more of a “hard-ass” than Principal Weatherby was, and takes “a harder line with the students this year, especially with the seniors.” He’ll recur throughout the season, making his first appearance in episode two, “Fast Times at Riverdale High.”

Jughead is going to prep school

Cole Sprouse teased that this season will find Jughead on a scholarship to a prep school, which he likened to the one in Gossip Girl. The prep school, called Stonewall, will be a rival school for Riverdale High, presenting new challenges for the character. One thing it won’t affect? Jughead’s relationship with his sister Jellybean. Sprouse says we’ll see more of that sibling relationship in season four.

The season will be more high school-focused

One common complaint about Riverdale is that we rarely see the kids as students, with most of the plot set outside the school. That will change in season four, which Aguirre-Sacasa says will be more high school-focused. “This year the kids are seniors,” he explained, “and we haven’t really dug deep into the high school world. So this year we’re really playing senior year. It’s the last time that they’re going to have a senior prom, it’s the last time they’re going to have a homecoming game, so we’re really dig in deep into the high school franchise.”

Last year’s cliffhanger will be this season’s big mystery

The rivalry with Stonewall and the fact that the show is getting more in-depth with high school whatnots will tie into the cliffhanger from the third season finale, which featured a flash-forward to Betty, Veronica, and Archie burning their clothes and Jughead’s iconic hat. That scene takes place after senior year, and so far we have no idea what it could mean. Aguirre-Sacasa said that the midseason finale will take place on that night, and that the season will feature more flash-forwards teasing what happened.

The core four are starting a band

In happier news, the four main character—Archie, Veronica, Betty, and Jughead—will form a band called The Archies in season four. That’s a famous carryover from the comics, and also follows up on what we saw in last year’s flashback episode, when their parents—as played by Apa, Mendes, Reinhart, and Sprouse—were part of a band called The Fred Heads. Music has always been a major part of the show, so The Archies seemed inevitable.

There’s finally going to be a Halloween episode

One thing fans have wanted for ages is a Halloween episode of the series. That wish is finally coming true this year! Episode four of the season will be set on the spooky holiday, and someone is going to die. The cast said it was no one on the panel, so we can breathe easy for now, but we’re sure to be on edge when that episode airs later this fall.

Images: The CW

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The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, Harry and Meghan, surprised the world last week when they announced the name of their newborn baby boy: Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor. The exact reason for their choice of the name “Archie” is unknown, but the CEO/Publisher of Archie Comics Jon Goldwater has an idea.

“Prince Harry’s got red hair, Meghan is American, so I would bet you they’re sitting down at night and watching Riverdale,” Goldwater said of the Royal Baby news. “Without a doubt in mind, they are Riverdale fans.”

Nerdist recently chatted with Goldwater on the phone about tonight’s season finale of Riverdale, its upcoming CW spin-off Katy Keene, and more, but we couldn’t resist asking about baby Archie and what it means to have such a popular American character represented on a global scale. “We’re proud of it, we love it,” he said. “We all enjoy it very much. I literally was cracking up all day. We’re going to be talking about Archie for the next 50 years because of the Royal Family.”

Goldwater has a lot to be excited about, beyond Royal Baby news. He’s both the CEO of Archie comics, and also an executive producer on the hit series Riverdale and Netflix’s The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina. He’s also the son of Archie Comics founder John L. Goldwater, from whom he took the reins of the company more than a decade ago. Jon help modernize the cache of beloved, internationally known characters for a new generation of audiences.

He was mostly tight-lipped about tonight’s season finale of Riverdale, where we hope to finally learn the true identity of the season’s masked big bad, the Gargoyle King, but he did say that the episode “continues all of the fun stuff people love about Riverdale” and that he thinks audiences will be “very satisfied.” As for where the show goes next—after serial killers and evil cults—Goldwater says that the writers are still figuring that out. Another thing they’re figuring out: How to address the death of Luke Perry, who played Archie’s father Fred Andrews on the series. The finale will not address the actor’s passing, although Goldwater says the next season will find a way to honor the character.

 

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One door closes, another opens! So thrilled that Katy Keene is coming to the @thecw with this beautiful cast! So grateful to @thatthingofwhen and @maggiekiley.director for all the love they poured into this show! NYC, here we come!!! ❤️????‍????

A post shared by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa (@writerras) on May 7, 2019 at 5:25pm PDT

The thing that’s got Goldwater most excited these days is the upcoming Riverdale spin-off series, Katy Keene. “It’s fantastic, and I’mt not saying that because I’m involved in the show,” he said enthusiastically about the series, which will follow the Bill Woggon-created Archie Comics character, played by Lucy Hale, on her adventures in New York City. (Riverdale‘s Josie, played by Ashleigh Murray, will also appear on the series.) “It’s so fully of life, so full of joy. It has it’s own energy, it’s own vibe. It’s not Riverdale-esque and it’s certainly not Sabrina-esque. It’s really a very special, special show. I would be shocked if the Katy Keene pilot isn’t the best pilot out there today, I really believe it’s that good.”

His enthusiasm certainly has us stoked to check out Katy Keene and see how the television lives of these iconic characters will continue to evolve and find new ways to enchant modern audiences. Who knows, if the shows stick around for a few more decades, maybe Archie Mountbatten-Windsor will guest star one day.

Images: The CW 

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The first season of Netflix’s The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina was a devilish delight. Starring Kiernan Shipka as the titular teenage witch attempting to balance her magical life with her mortal everyday, it all concluded with Sabrina’s dark baptism and full acceptance of her witch persona.

Now, in the new trailer for the second season—appropriately dubbed “Part 2″—we see the ramifications of a Sabrina who’s gone full-tilt in the world of devil worship and black magic. And it looks like a ton of fun!

Here’s the official plot description for season two:

Part 2 finds Sabrina exploring her darker side, curious to learn more about her heritage, while struggling to maintain her friendships in the mortal world. Romantically, Sabrina is caught in an unholy love triangle with between sexy warlock Nicholas Scratch and salt-of-the-Earth mortal Harvey Kinkle. Meanwhile, the Dark Lord, Madame Satan, and Father Blackwood continue to conjure chaos in the Spellman household and the town of Greendale. And they aren’t the only ones trying to raise hell. Everything is in question… relationships, identity, true intentions… when the devil’s work is at hand.

Yes, that means the Devil has come to Greendale, and we get a peek at him at the end of the trailer. We’re not sure who the actor is playing Lucifer Morningstar – he isn’t listed in any official material – but he sure looks handsome. Poor Sabrina… It must be hard to be enticed by so many beautiful men.

The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina returns to Netflix on April 5.

double, double, boys and trouble. #CAOS returns. April 5. pic.twitter.com/jQRIyYUesq

— Chilling Adventures of Sabrina (@sabrinanetflix) March 13, 2019

Images: Netflix

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After the news of his “massive stroke” last week, this news was always a probability.  But that doesn’t make it any easier to type. According to Variety, actor Luke Perry has passed away. He was just 52 years old.

Perry was an icon of the ’90s, perhaps best known for his role as Dylan McKay on Beverly Hills, 90210, a role he played off and on from 1990 to 2000. He also appeared in films like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, American Strays, and The Fifth Element. Recently, he found renewed fame on The CW’s Riverdale, a noir reboot of the classic Archie comics, where he portrayed Fred Andrews, Archie’s father.

His publicist confirmed to BuzzFeed News that the actor died surrounded by his family: children Jack and Sophie, fiancé Wendy Madison Bauer, ex-wife Minnie Sharp, along with his parents, brother and sister, and other close family and friends.

Luke Perry’s publicist has confirmed to @BuzzFeedNews that he has died. pic.twitter.com/68XSkn9XiZ

— Kate Aurthur (@KateAurthur) March 4, 2019

The actor was in the middle of filming the third season of Riverdale. His cast and co-workers have yet to comment, but following the news of his stroke last week, many flocked to Twitter to share messages of sympathy. It’s unclear how his passing will affect the remainder of the season, but knowing how integral he was to the series, we imagine it will take some heavy shifting to adjust the storyline going forward.

Love you Luke ? pic.twitter.com/M9DVXhEJTP

— Mädchen Amick (@madchenamick) March 1, 2019

In addition to Riverdale, Perry also has a role in the upcoming Quentin Tarantino film Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. He already filmed his scenes for that project, which means we have more Luke Perry content to look forward to.

This is a sad, surreal day for fans of Perry, who by all accounts was an extremely kind and generous man to his co-workers and fans. Stories are pouring in on social media about this tremendous loss, but to also remind us what a gift he was to the world.

The last time I saw Luke Perry he asked me if I wanted to smooch his brand-new puppy Daisy. I did and I did and I’ll always remember him that way.

— Joanna Robinson (@jowrotethis) March 4, 2019

Absolutely fucking heartbreaking. The kindest, gentlest soul I have ever had the pleasure of meeting. That meeting happened two years ago at the GLAAD Awards, which he was attending to honor his late best friend, Alexis Arquette. May they find each other now ? https://t.co/gtKeRmp2jd

— Kristin Russo (@kristinnoeline) March 4, 2019

Luke Perry was a prince. When I met him, this #90210 kid was totally overwhelmed. And he was so cool and warm, and when I asked for a selfie he proposed a prom pic pose. It’s hard to explain how much that meant. It was like a girlhood fantasy come true. https://t.co/KK8Cw79Ukf

— Kristy Puchko (@KristyPuchko) March 4, 2019

Rest in peace, Luke Perry. We were so lucky to have you.

Images: The CW

The post Luke Perry, of 90210 and RIVERDALE, Has Died at Age 52 appeared first on Nerdist.

Are a you Dungeons & Dragons fan, eagerly awaiting the rumored big screen movie? Well, you may have to keep waiting on that front, but it appears that D&D will be influencing another beloved pop culture property very soon. Entertainment Weekly has revealed that the upcoming third season of Riverdale will be inspired in part by the classic role playing game. Oh, and by True Detective too. Who would have ever thought to mash those two influences up? It sure looks as if Stranger Things won’t be the only show about a group of kids solving mysteries with D&D as a major reference anymore.

The D&D influence will affect an upcoming episode which features the younger cast of the show playing their own parents in high school, back in the ’80s. The murder mystery that Betty and Jughead will follow in season three will reflect a mystery their parents were involved in back in the day. According to showrunner Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa,  “the murder victims in the present were playing a game called Griffins & Gargoyles. Our kids discover that when their parents were in high school they also were playing this game, and there was a similar murder that happened in the past.”

“Griffins and Gargoyles” really does sound like the knock-off cheaper version that would have appeared back in the day. Because for every Transformers, there was always a Go-Bots. Considering Betty and Jughead will be investigating a cult style killing at its center–True Detective–maybe something supernatural is involved. That might make the Dungeons & Dragons angle more than just a metaphor, if we find out that an Owlbear or a Displacer Beast is behind it all. Too bad Sabrina is on another network; they could have the teenage witch’s help on this one.

Riverdale returns to the CW on Wednesday, Oct. 10, and the D&D inspired flashback episode will be airing on Nov. 7

The post RIVERDALE Season 3 Has a DUNGEONS & DRAGONS Inspired Mystery appeared first on Nerdist.

Have you discovered Yarn yet? The micro-storytelling platform creates engaging narratives that throw you into the center of the drama with stories exclusively told in text messages! They’ve taken the internet and app stores by storm, and earlier this year the platform launched some official Riverdale shorts that lean into the horror aspects of the show, with Archie and co. meeting up with Sabrina “The Teenage Witch” Spellman for the first time. Well, after more than six million (?!?!?!) fans checked out those stories, Yarn and Archie Comics are back with a brand new Riverdale story called “Riverdale’s Worst Nightmare,” and we’ve got an exclusive sneak peek!

The eight-part story will focus on a sleepover hosted by Veronica at the Lodge’s mansion, which gets interrupted by an evil entity, leaving the girls of Riverdale to fend for themselves! As our exclusive screenshots show, things get very creepy very fast! (Click the image to see a larger version.)

Yarn is clearly just as excited about the partnership as the fans are, stating, “Yarn has become a dominant destination for micro-storytelling and is changing the way stories are told by leveraging the format most preferred by millennials: mobile messages and multimedia content. This partnership with Archie Comics is a fun and innovative way the legendary entertainment brand is keeping its dedicated fans engaged with short-form narratives.”

Have you been keeping up with Chilling Adventures of Sabrina and Riverdale on Yarn? Will you be rushing out to grab the app? Can’t wait to read the texts of all your favorite characters? Let us know below!

Images: Yarn Text, Archie Comics

The post Get New RIVERDALE Stories in Text Message Form (Exclusive) appeared first on Nerdist.

The new season of The CW’s Riverdale returns from its summer hiatus in October, the perfect release date for a show so deliciously spooky.

Speaking of spooky, the latest teaser trailer is full of straight-up gothic horror imagery, a style we haven’t yet seen on the show. Check it out.

That’s a lot to take in at once, so let’s break it down in chunks, and theorize about what season three of Riverdale might have in store.

We open on Archie in handcuffs, being transported to what we can only imagine is prison. If you recall, season two ended with Archie being framed for the murder of Cassidy Bullock, who was actually killed by Hiram’s hitman, Andre (the new Smithers). If the rest of the trailer is any indication, Archie either makes bond or is quickly exonerated since we see him spending a lot of time with Veronica, Betty, and Jughead, like in this next shot of the crew in Archie’s jalopy.

We hear Veronica telling Hiram, “We will survive whatever you have in store because we are endgame.” She’s likely referring to her relationship with Archie and Hiram’s constantly meddling.

We also get a shot of Cheryl, Toni, and possibly Veronica dressed in black and running in a basement. The girls are probably infiltrating Sisters of Quiet Mercy, an asylum of sorts for troubled teens, where Cheryl was forced to undergo conversion therapy.

choni goes into soqm, takes pics of all the terrible stuff, and runs outta there before the nuns realize they have evidence. the gays are prevailing pic.twitter.com/FLmyLtL7YB

— emma (@PET5CH) August 29, 2018

Next, one of the more tantalizing Easter eggs: Archie with a Southside Serpent tattoo! Is it possible he joins the Serpents in prison?

We then get a shot of Bughead followed by… FALICE! Yup, that’s F.P. and Alice in bed together, with our first peek at Alice’s Serpent tattoo. It was revealed in season two that the former couple had a baby together–the real Chic, not the imposter pretending to be him–who may or may not have died of a drug overdose. A good Riverdale rule of thumb is to never assume anyone is really dead. With Alice’s husband Hal in prison for his Black Hood crimes, it looks like she’s falling back into old habits. But what will this mean for Betty and Jughead? Will they stay together when they learn they share a sibling and their parents are shacking up?

August 29: The day the Falice shippers had a heart attack. Help is needed. pic.twitter.com/YckjEqkyyM

— Falice ?????? (@FaliceIsMyLife) August 29, 2018

We get a glimpse of the Riverdale Vixens in action (looks like Josie is joining them this year), a shot of Archie in prison, a close-up of Toni, and another couple we’ve been waiting to see again: Kevin and Moose! After Midge’s death last season and their touching reunion in the finale, it looks like they’re officially together in season three.

via GIPHY

We then see what looks like some sort of brawl in the prison yard, followed by Jughead and Archie restraining Fred as he lashes out in anger over… something. It’s hard to tell what’s going on since everything comes so fast.

But here’s where things get really interesting.

The pages of some sort of witchy book appear. It shows a devil-figure either embracing or harming a hooded woman, and another woman with missing eyes holding a scepter with a skull on the end. We know Alice gets wrapped up in Polly’s “farm” cult this season; maybe this is a text that inspired the cult. (This also reminds us of The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, which is telling its own occult story in the Archie Comics universe. Unfortunately, as showrunner for both series Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa has confirmed, the shows will not crossover.)

Our next shot is of Betty appearing to pass out, maybe from looking at the book, or maybe because of whatever the hell this thing is.

This creature is giving us hardcore Hannibal vibes. Remember all of the antler-monster imagery on that show?

via GIPHY

We then get a shot of Alice and Polly holding Polly’s twins up in some sort of twisted, culty ritual, followed by Archie throwing a glass bottle through the bars of his prison cell.

The teaser closes on the most intriguing shot we’ve seen yet–yes, it’s even weirder than the antler monster.

It’s Jughead yelling, “Help! Somebody help!” while standing between two (seemingly) dead bodies that look to be worshipping at an altar. The fires and twigs recall the same type of ceremony Alice and Polly were shown at. This probably has something to do with the cult. More than anything, it’s extremely reminscent of True Detective, especially the first episode of season one, when the detectives find the body of a dead woman who is in a similar praying position, wearing a crown of antlers.

via GIPHY

Maybe the bodies Jughead finds aren’t dead at all, but incapacitated by some kind of drug. It could be the same thing that causes Betty to pass out. A hallucinogenic, maybe? We already know Riverdale has a problem with drugs, with heroin in season one and jingle jangle in season two. Maybe the cult administers some new drug that lures in members. That’s not exactly an unknown tactic when it comes to cults, after all.

Whatever the case, we can’t wait to see what Riverdale has in store for us when it returns to The CW on October 10!

Images: The CW, NBC, HBO

The post All the Creepy, Culty Clues in the New RIVERDALE Season 3 Teaser appeared first on Nerdist.

Riverdale has been an unprecedented success, with the dark reimagining of classic Archie Comics characters  from cult favorite to word-of-mouth smash hit.

At this year’s San Diego Comic-Con, we chatted to the Executive Producer of Riverdale and CEO of Archie Comics, Jon Goldwater, about growing up with Archie, reimagining the iconic characters for a new age, and the lost Riverdale movie that never was. Goldwater is the son of original Archie Comics founder Jon L. Goldwater, and so Archie is very much a part of who he is and his journey to creating Riverdale. “I don’t know this for a fact, but I assume that I learned to read by reading an Archie comic because they were just part of my entire being,” Goldwater said. “It was always part of the fabric of my life, and to see how far we’ve come since I came in to run the company about 10 years ago—when we were definitely hanging by a thread back then—to see how we’ve gotten from there to here and all the steps in between has really been amazing.”

A chance encounter on a commute was what sparked Goldwater’s drive to reinvigorate the world of Archie. “I was in my role for around three months, and I was on the train to Manhattan,” he said. “I was just reading a comic and relaxing when a nice lady sitting across from me said, ‘Oh my lord! They still make those!’ And I thought, ‘Okay, we have problems here. We need to address them.’ As much as I love these characters and I understand that they’re part of the fabric of Americana, so to speak, things have to change.”

Goldwater called a meeting with the staff where he asked them to give him their wildest ideas, assuring them that to move the company forward “anything was on the table.” Goldwater promised his staff job security no matter what kind of strange and surreal ideas they might’ve had—especially if they’d been previously shot down—and that was really the genesis of everything that’s happened.

One of the first steps that Goldwater and co. took to reshape Archie was an alt-universe comic which saw an adult version of our beloved redheaded harlot of Riverdale married in one life to Veronica and in another to Betty. Life with Archie was a new route for the classic comics company. But it would be a variant cover to an October issue drawn by Goldwater’s “all-time favorite comic artist” Francesco Francavilla, carrying the parody title Afterlife with Archie, that really inspired the darker side of Archie Comics. “I was out for lunch with Roberto [Aguirre-Sacasa] and my son, and they were riffing off of each other, and Roberto said, ‘You know, I was so disappointed when I got that cover and opened the book and it wasn’t a horror comic!'” Goldwater said. “And my son agreed.”

Turns out that it was actually a longtime dream of Aguirre-Sacasa’s to create a horror Archie comic. He and Goldwater planned the project on the condition that Francavilla would have to return as artist, and Afterlife with Archie was truly born. But convincing the rest of the company on this was a harder sell. As Goldwater told us, he was “sitting with my internal troupe at Archie, and I said, ‘Okay, we’re going to publish a horror comic.’ And I tell you, you could’ve heard a pin drop. They were like, ‘What are you talking about?’ So I told them, ‘It’s by Roberto and Francesco, and it’s called Afterlife with Archie.'” And the rest, as they say, is history.

When it time came to craft an onscreen vision for Archie, the creative team’s original idea was vastly different from the Twin Peaks-influenced soap opera that we all know and love. “Initially, when [Roberto and I] were talking about Riverdale, it was a feature film—a John Hughes-type, fun feature film… luckily, we weren’t able to sell it,” Goldwater laughed. “But through that entire process we just kept developing and discussing where we needed to go. It’s important to mention that Riverdale has also evolved in a way that we couldn’t have imagined. But the backbone of Riverdale is still friends, it’s still family, it’s still community, it’s still the core four. Cheryl, Pop Tates. You have all those pieces on the playing field, but the playing field is just a little different.”

The success of Riverdale has led to the show’s first (sort of) spin-off, Chilling Tales of Sabrina. It’s based on another of Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa’s comics, this time created with artist Robert Hack. Goldwater is clearly ecstatic about the show and its leading star, Kiernan Shipka. “I’ve wanted Kiernan to play Sabrina for the last five years, but she couldn’t because she was on Mad Men, or we just didn’t have the right take for her or the right timing,” Goldwater said. “But then it all came together, and now she’s Sabrina and I couldn’t be happier. It’s just amazing!”

We’re just as excited as Jon about the potential greatness of Sabrina, and the upcoming third season of Riverdale! Do you love the new iterations of Archie and his buds? Can’t wait to see just how horrific Chilling Adventures will be? Let us know!

Images: Netflix, The CW, Archie Comics, art by Fiona Staples, and Francesco Francavilla

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As if maple syrup murderers and Black Hoods weren’t enough, it looks like Riverdale is about to get infiltrated by a creepy cult.

That’s just one of the nuggets of information teased out of San Diego Comic-Con, when the hit CW series took the stage Sunday afternoon, with most of the cast and showrunner Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa in tow. A few snippets of new footage aired during the panel, with one sequence showing Betty (Lili Reinhart) eavesdropping on her mother Alice (Mädchen Amick) and sister Polly (Tiera Skovbye) as they engage in some sort of ritual with Polly’s twin babies.

Fans will remember that Polly delivered her twin–Juniper and Dagwood, which might be the creepiest baby names ever–on a mysterious “farm” last season, which sounded pretty culty. In the finale, after Hal Cooper was revealed to be the Black Hood, Polly suggested Alice get involved with the farm, and it looks like that’s exactly what’s happening here. Indeed, Aguirre-Sacasa confirmed the farm is a cult, lead by a man named Edgar Evernever, who we’ll meet in season three. Aguirre-Sacasa also let it drop that the cult was inspired by Netflix‘s true crime series, Wild, Wild Country.

Roberto says the farm storyline is informed by Wild, Wild Country. #Riverdale #SDCC #WBSDCC

— Chris E. Hayner @ SDCC (@ChrisHayner) July 22, 2018

The panel also dropped a bit of casting news. Penelope Ann Miller will play district attorney Ms. Wright, the prosecuting attorney in charge of Archie’s (KJ Apa) murder trial. Aguirre-Sacasa also said that Jughead’s (Cole Sprouse) mom and kid sister Jelly Bean will finally show up this season, although they haven’t been cast yet. (Fingers crossed for Neve Campbell!)

We also learned that Riverdale has plans to do another musical episode, as well as a flashback episode focused on the parents.

And, while not exactly news, the best thing to come out of Hall H was the news that Kate Moss, Andrew Garfield, and Mark Hamill are all self-professed Riverdale fanatics. Stars: they’re just like us.

We always knew Andrew Garfield was a River Vixen at heart! #Riverdale https://t.co/A5MNloUEsn

— Dial M For Maple (@DialMForMaple) July 22, 2018

But really, after all is said and done, all we can think about is that cult. What’s going on, and will Alice be okay? We can’t wait to find out when Riverdale returns Wednesday, October 10.

Image: The CW

The post RIVERDALE Season 3 Teases Creepy Cult Storyline appeared first on Nerdist.

It makes sense that Riverdale fans have been clamoring for a full-blown musical episode for a while now. After all, the show is already infused with musical interludes and a neon-hued theatricality. Archie sings and plays the guitar, Josie and the Pussycats perform pop covers at local events, and Betty isn’t opposed to a little karaoke striptease. It was only a matter of time before the show erupted into a full song and dance spectacle, and now the time has come. Tonight, Riverdale debuts its long-awaited Carrie: The Musical episode, and we have a sneak peek at two numbers from the show.

In the first clip, which you can watch above, Archie (K.J. Apa), Betty (Lili Reinhart), Veronica (Camila Mendes), and more perform the song “In,” which expresses teenage anxieties about having something to do on a Saturday night. The next clip, just below, shows the cast singing “A Night We’ll Never Forget” on what appears to be the musical’s opening night.

These clips are both pretty cheerful, but anyone familiar with Carrie will know things take a dark (and super bloody) turn. “A Night To Remember” will marry the school’s production of Carrie: The Musical with its own subplot, where Cheryl is threatened with an anonymous letter and Jughead (Cole Sprouse) attempts to solve the mystery of who wrote it.

The episode was written by Arabella Anderson and Tessa Williams, and airs this Wednesday at 8 ET/PT on The CW. The soundtrack will be available immediately after the episode on streaming sites and for purchase.

Are you as excited about Riverdale‘s Carrie: The Musical episode as we are?

Image: The CW

The post Watch 2 Numbers from RIVERDALE’s CARRIE: THE MUSICAL Episode appeared first on Nerdist.

Riverdale isn’t exactly known for its subtlety, and when a new character shows up out of nowhere, there’s reason to be suspicious. When that character also happens to be in the FBI, that suspicion grows tenfold.

Agent Arthur Adams (John Behlmann) arrived in the town of Riverdale midway through the current season with an agenda: to get crucial information about Hiram Lodge’s criminal activity with the help of Archie Andrews (KJ Apa). As the boyfriend of Hiram’s daughter and the son of a man employed by Lodge Industries, Archie is in a unique position to assist. And he’s not exactly the sharpest tool in the shed, which could make him FBI malleability material.

But Archie’s lack of prowess also makes you wonder why Agent Adams trusts in him at all. Surely there are better people to safeguard an FBI masterplan than a high schooler with a history of bad decision-making. Wouldn’t Agent Adams know about the Andrews family’s ties to the Black Hood? The kid is still getting over the shock of seeing his father gunned down and almost killed, an event that triggered a violent protective streak and a brawl with the South Side. A brawl that involved Archie purchasing a gun off the black market.

via GIPHY

But maybe those events have more to do with Agent Adams arrival than we’re lead to believe. Put your theory caps on and hear us out…

What if Agent Adams is Archie?

Sure, it would be a little out there. And even though Riverdale can get whacky from time to time, it’s never gone the full-blown hallucination route. But it wouldn’t be totally out of line for the show to introduce a storyline that reckons with Archie’s PTSD. Remember that earlier this season, shortly after his dad’s encounter, he brushed off the suggestion of therapy. Has his mind created some sort of coping mechanism? A way of feeling important, like he’s protecting his girlfriend and father?

Think about it: No one has seen Agent Adams besides Archie. He’s always filmed in a vaguely dreamy way, with light pouring in over his shoulders. He conveniently sneaks into the Andrews’ soundproof garage unnoticed by Fred and presumably the neighbors. And what do we really know about the guy? Well, he’s originally from Riverdale, for starters. When he first meets Archie in the park, he tells him how he used to come there with his dad and dog. Archie lives with his dad and has a dog. The also both have the same initials. Arthur Adams. Archie Andrews.

What’s more, Agent Adams is constantly assuring Archie that Veronica and his father will be protected when the Lodges go down. This is exactly what Archie wants and needs to hear. That his loved ones are safe. That he’s doing his best to protect them.

It’s a big leap for sure, but Riverdale also loves its movie references, and a big twist ala Fight Club seems like just the sort of juicy call-out the writers would go for. And the show is already dipping into conversations about mental health with “Dark Betty,” who made her wigged reappearance this week.

Maybe we’re thinking too hard about this, but on a show where Veronica sings “Bittersweet Symphony” in a virginal white dress at her own confirmation, surely anything is possible.

Images: The CW

Want more Riverdale?

• Riverdale is about to go full Stephen King with Carrie: The Musical.
• Dive into the source material with these Archie horror comics.
• Why you need to be reading The Chilling Tales of Sabrina.

[brightcove video_id=”5503273580001″ brightcove_account_id=”3653334524001″ brightcove_player_id=”rJs2ZD8x”]

The post Is RIVERDALE About to Go Full FIGHT CLUB? appeared first on Nerdist.

Guess what, Riverdale fans? If you always dreamed of being in the Riverdale Drama Club, then you’re in luck. The CW sent us a sneak peek at Riverdale High’s drama department and it’s given us some serious food for thought! As the cast list and press release–which you can read in our gallery–show, the school will be putting on a musical version of Stephen King‘s Carrie (which actually was a very short-lived Broadway musical in 1988). And show tune fans, it’ll all take place in a special musical episode with ELEVEN songs! So what the heck does this mean for our cool/creepy kids? How does this fit into the greater world of the Archie-Verse? And could this herald the entry of a very familiar teenage witch?

Just like Riverdale, Carrie is a story focused on the stresses and horrors of being a teenager, so it makes a lot of sense that the show has chosen to use this supernatural scare fest as a way to channel the darker parts of Riverdale. There’s a lot about the casting which parallels the characters in the show. Cheryl as Carrie, a strange young girl who’s alienated by her peers. Betty and Archie as Tommy and Sue, who end up being party to the dangerous things that surround them for fear of starting trouble. This is also a great bit of meta-casting as it focuses on the ever-continuing will they won’t they of the “end game” couple. Jughead, of course, is playing the school weirdo, the Beak. This fun meta-commentary means that it’s pretty likely we’ll see the show lean even harder into its self referential edge as we move deeper into season two.

Cheryl as Carrie seems particularly resonant, especially when we view Carrie as a vengeful figure who’s cleansing a town of its sin. Sound familiar? Well it’s because that’s the modus operandi of the Black Hood, who many fans are sure is still out there after a lack luster reveal in the mid-season finale. Could this be a hint that Cheryl knows more about the identity of the serial killer than she’s let on? Or maybe the play is actually a metaphor for the legacy of the Black Hood, a not so subtle warning that just like the story’s iconic finale, chaos is coming to reign fire down on the small town of Riverdale?

At its heart Carrie, is a supernatural horror story. Could its inclusion be the moment that Riverdale finally properly crosses over with its spooky source material? Could we maybe see a shifty Sabrina, looking uncomfortable in the audience as she witnesses the supernatural brought to life on stage?

What do you think about our speculation? Can’t wait to see the core four take on an iconic horror story? Just wanna see a musical episode of Riverdale? Let us know in the comments!

You’ll be able to catch the episode on Wednesday, April 18th on The CW.

Images: The CW, United Artists

More nerdery for your eyes!

• Cloverfield 3 (aka God Particle) might not head to cinemas after all!
• DC Comics will publish a lost Superman story from the character’s creators!
• The Peanuts characters make for a perfect Riverdale parody!

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The post Stephen King’s CARRIE Comes to RIVERDALE…as a Musical? appeared first on Nerdist.

The snow is falling and the jingles are jangling, which means it must almost be Christmas! This festive season there’s a new kid on the fandom block, and it’s the neo-noir teen Twin Peaks we all love…yes, we’re talking about Riverdale, of course! We’ve scoured every corner of the known world (even the South Side) to find you the best Riverdale themed gifts for your Bughead shippers and Skeet Ulrich dream daddies. So, join us on the long road to gift giving gratification.

Jughead Beanie

Easily one of the most iconic pieces of clothing in comic book history, Jughead’s crown has been reimagined for the modern age with the new knit cap look introduced in Riverdale. You can casually cosplay as everyone’s favorite burger eating weirdo with this fantastic Jughead Crown beanie from Hot Topic. Yes, you too can look as cute and cool as Cole Sprouse himself for the very reasonable price of $16.90. It’s sold out online, so check out Hot Topic retail locations to track it down.

Betty and Veronica Handbag

There’s only one choice for the Veronica Lodge in your life, and it’s this outstanding pop art handbag by the Betty and Veronica brand. One of a brand new range of high end accessories from the gorgeous line inspired by the two iconic ladies of Riverdale, this particular arm candy will run you $230. But can you really put a price on looking this good?

Afterlife with Archie: Volume 1

Whether you have a horror fan in your life or a recent Riverdale convert, Afterlife with Archie is the book for you. This gruesome reimagining of Archie’s world from Riverdale showrunner Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa is a bleakly funny horror comic. It’s simply unmissable, especially as its dark aesthetic and grim tone are a huge influence on The CW smash hit show. Discover the darkness on Amazon for only $17.65.

Riverdale High long sleeve shirt

Need to fit in on your first day at Riverdale High? Well, now you can with this very understated long sleeve shirt from Walmart. This classic look is a great gift for the Archie in your life, someone who wants to rep their Riverdale love without committing to making a full-on Cheryl level statement. You can make your local redhead happy for only $25.95.

Custom Riverdale Funko Pops

You’d think that with the selection of Pop! figures available, you’d definitely be able to find your favorite cool Archie-verse teen in your local hobby shop. Alas, no. But luckily for you, Etsy user Haven Thorne Customs has created a line of custom Riverdale vinyls which are really, really cool. The detailed figures are made-to-order, so they’ll run you a little more than your average pop at $50. But can you really resist owning your very own Juggie?

Archie Digest

It’s not just huge gifts that we’ve got for you this Christmas–we’ve got your stocking stuffers covered too! These $2.99 classic Archie Digest comics are the perfect mini-treat for loved ones of all ages this holiday season. Especially as Barnes and Noble has a killer collection of Betty vs. Veronica books. which are obviously the best.

Archie’s Gals Pin

For the pin lover out there, artist Sara Lyon‘s ongoing collaborations with Archie Comics’ Betty and Veronica line are a must have. We’ve picked this particularly perfect pin that showcases Riverdale‘s most famous poly triptych: Betty, Veronica, and their boy toy, Archie. Gorgeous enamel work and Sara’s splendid design make this pin shine above the rest. It can be your perfect gift for Archie lovers everywhere for only $15.

Images: Walmart, Hot Topic, Archie Comics, Sara Lyon, Haven Thorne Customs, Betty and Veronica

The post 7 Gifts the RIVERDALE Fan in Your Life Needs appeared first on Nerdist.

Archie Comics has a storied history, one that stretches back over 75 years and thousands of comics. When The CW announced that they were reimagining the Archieverse with Archie Horror creator Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa at the helm, we knew it would likely subvert the tropes that the comics have followed and, in some cases, even created. The dark world of Riverdale has quickly become another iconic interpretation of these classic teen characters, with the creators and cast clearly enjoying the chance to adapt and subvert characters from the beloved books. When we visited the Vancouver set of Riverdale, we spoke to the effervescent Cole Sprouse about how much fun it is to play with expectations and satirize age old archetypes all whilst creating something entirely new.

Cole is incredibly eloquent and personable, and his enthusiasm for the show and its obvious quirks really comes across. When speaking about Riverdale’s flexible adaptation of the comics and their tropes, it was evident that Sprouse is enjoying the freedom and absurdity of the experience. “It’s great! I mean, it’s funny. Archie Comics in very many different ways, because it’s such a long-lived property, is responsible for those archetypes, which were later taken off with and became sort of the stereotypes of not just teen dramas but all kinds of mixed media. I think for us to be able to use those original ones and to amplify them to a degree–to not necessarily make them caricatures but to do something of that sort–I think it’s a blast,” Sprouse told us.

Cole clearly knows his Archie lore and is a dedicated student of the masses of canon, something that he feels adds to the show and its ingenuity. “We have the tremendous luxury of having 75 years of source material to pull from, which is something that almost no production gets. It really puts us in an unique place to poke fun at it and acknowledge what it is and simultaneously take it very seriously. I think, for me, the most enjoyable part is that–and Jughead specifically, because he’s probably the most different from the comics than the rest of the core four–we get to take these characters and make fun of them in a sort of meta sense,” Sprouse explained thoughtfully.

Celebrating the classic camp of the comics, Cole continued by acknowledging the wonderful juxtaposition of absurdity and deadpan at the core of Riverdale’s drama. “When we’re the characters and we’re in the town, everything [lowers voice] is taken so damn seriously. You know, maple syrup can become a bad guy! To me, that’s a blast. It’s always really fun. Can you imagine having to say ‘jingle jangle’ on screen over and over again? I think we didn’t stop laughing for the first four episodes!” Sprouse chuckled.

It’s good to know that we’re not the only ones who find Jingle Jangle hilarious. Are you a big Jughead fan? Can’t wait to to see what happens to your favorite Southside Serpent next? Or do you just really love Cole Sprouse on Twitter? Let us know in the comments!

Images: Archie Comics, CW

Keep hanging out in Riverdale with these stories!

• The Riverdale cast theorizes about the Black Hood.
• Riverdale goes Full Dark, No Stars.
• Get your hands on a Jughead beanie.

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Riverdale season one was dark. Like really, really dark. Like a teen Twin Peaks with a lot more neon, the show quickly became a firm fan favorite for its talented young cast and dark aesthetic. When the show returned with its sophomore season, it brought a brand new moral vacuum to Riverdale in the form of the town’s own serial killer, the Black Hood. Ever since the first episode, fan theories about who’s behind the titular menacing mask have been rife. Even we have put together a list of potential suspects. This week we visited Riverdale’s Vancouver set and asked the cast their thoughts on the big bad and their favorite fan theories.

Season two heavily revolves around Betty’s burgeoning relationship with Riverdale’s terrifying new foe, so we asked Lili Reinhart to tell us just what she thinks about the killer’s motivations, motives, and machinations. “The Black Hood was inspired by her speech. The way that Roberto and I talked about it, the Black Hood and Betty are kind of like the Phantom of the Opera and Christine. He wants to puppeteer her in order to get the town to where he wants it to be, in a very sick and manipulative way. He’s just this horrible figure who wants to expel Riverdale of its sins and is using Betty to try and do that,” Reinhart explained. As for whether or not the Black Hood is aware of Dark Betty, Reinhart thinks that the serial killer might not know what he’s in for. “I think he knows that there’s a darkness inside of her, but he doesn’t know the extent,” Reinhart smiled knowingly.

When it comes to the identity of the Black Hood, Lili has heard rumors but is definitely keeping her cards close to the chest. “I haven’t heard too many. Mostly that it’s Betty’s dad, or that it’s Betty’s brother. But at this point in the show he hasn’t been introduced, so I understand how people could conspire and think that. But I don’t have an opinion,” Reinhart laughed as she motioned zipping her lips.

Betty’s onscreen BFF, Kevin Keller, has traveled a rocky road this season, and the specter of the Black Hood has been looming large. For Casey Cott, who plays Kevin on the show, it’s been a wild ride. “It’s changed a lot. We literally don’t know. I mean, we know a lot more than you guys right now,” Cott laughed. “But we don’t know what’s going to happen. So it creates this intense thinking of who it is, and why could it be that, and why is it not that? So we’re constantly talking about it and figuring out this web of confusion,” he enthused.

It’s not just the kids who are obsessed with the identity of the Black Hood. Marisol Nichols, who plays Veronica’s mother Hermione Lodge, also has her theories, some of which are pretty close to home. “I wouldn’t put anything past the Lodges, and in my mind there’s two dangers in Riverdale. There’s the Black Hood and there’s whatever the Lodges are up to. Whether those two will cross remains to be seen,” Nichols teased.

Riverdale’s most famous resident, Archie Andrews, has become dangerously obsessed with the identity of the town’s newest criminal. K.J. Apa, who brings the red-haired teen to life, has heard quite a few random theories. “I saw a good one that Vegas was actually the Black Hood, and that was pretty funny. I saw that on Twitter somewhere. I did see some pretty crazy theories, but none of them have been right so far that I’ve seen,” Apa told us.

Now that you’ve heard what the cast thinks, who do you reckon has been raining moral vengeance on Riverdale? Do you have a fave theory? Just happy they killed Grundy? Let us know in the comments!

Images: The CW

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The post RIVERDALE Cast Shares Their Black Hood Theories appeared first on Nerdist.

Warning: Spoilers follow for season two of Riverdale.

Ever since its announcement, it’s been clear that Riverdale isn’t your daddy’s Archie show. But even though the first season included murder, gangs, and some seriously creepy family drama, season two has managed to get progressively darker. We’ve seen the arrival of Riverdale’s very own serial killer, a war brewing between two sides of the town, and in the most recent episode we see Veronica’s old beau, Nick St. Clair, arrive in the small town and quickly reveal himself as an attempted rapist when he drugs Cheryl (Madelaine Petsch) and tries to assault her.

Including assault can often be a way for shows to further the arcs of male protagonists or just to exploit the bodies and trauma of the women involved. Riverdale did neither of those in “When a Stranger Calls,” instead using the attempted assault to bring the women of the cast together, giving them a chance at some surprisingly violent and cathartic retribution. On our recent set visit, we spoke to the cast about how it felt to portray such a vital and relevant story, one that they’re clearly passionate about.

Josie and the Pussycats play a large role in episode five’s retribution, and for Ashley Murray, who plays the Pussycats’ leader, it was a vital moment. “It meant a lot to me. We all know what’s going on right now. Our society tends to preach politeness and staying quiet. I think that–and the fact that girls are often pitted against each other–means we don’t stand up for each other. I think that it spoke volumes for all of us to get together to go and save Cheryl the way she needed to be saved. I think oftentimes that doesn’t happen, and I’m happy we got to show that strength,” Murray said.

She continued, “I’d never advocate violence in any case, but sometimes you’re in a situation and you have to make a choice. I think the way we handled it was good. It gave us this girl power, especially because we were in our performance outfits and our heels and we’re f**king this kid up. It was great, cause he deserved it. He deserved to get that ass whooping. I really enjoyed that scene; it was empowering and it showed a camaraderie and togetherness that women don’t often have, especially young women,” Murray smiled, as she shared her inspiring words with us.

Though Betty has been distracted with her experience with the Black Hood, it was still something that Lili Reinhart felt strongly about and that set her up to make a colossal decision at the end of the episode. “It wasn’t exactly my story to tell, it was Madelaine and Cami’s. But it’s such a topical issue right now, unfortunately. I think it’s weirdly strange timing, and I guess it just goes to show it exists and that it’s out in the open and people are talking about it,” Reinhart said thoughtfully.

Though the episode is rightly centered on the female characters, it had a huge impact on the whole ensemble, with both K.J. Apa (Archie) and Casey Cott (Kevin Keller) talking about how the storyline impacted them. K.J. saw the intense and powerful story as a chance to create an authentic representation and shed light on the realities of sexual assault. “I think it’s a really cool storyline to show, that all these characters are here for each other and that they back each other up. When we read that storyline, we were really happy to put it out there for the fans, and I think it’s a really meaningful storyline. There are people out there who can relate to that story. People can learn a lot from it by the way we play those kinds of scenes,” Apa told us emphatically.

For Cott, the episode was a chance to showcase the strength of the women in the show. “I think the beauty of that story is watching all the characters come together and help someone who’s in a pretty intense situation, and to me that was really beautiful. I think there are really strong girls in our show, and I’m really proud of how they played that. I think it’s going to be great,” Cott emotionally stated.

Images: The CW

Stay in the world of Archie Comics with these stories!

• Complete your Jughead costume with this beanie.
• 7 creepy Archie Comics titles to read.
• The potential serial killer suspects on Riverdale.

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Warning: this story contains major spoilers from Thursday’s episode of Riverdale, “Chapter Twelve: Anatomy of a Murder.” If you haven’t watched the episode, turn back now! You have been sufficiently warned …

All season long we’ve been wondering about who killed Jason Blossom (Trevor Stines) on Riverdale. Well, the killer’s identity has been revealed and it’s none other than his own father!That’s right. The wig-wearing, creepy fake ginger Clifford Blossom (Barclay Hope) killed his own son. After Jughead’s (Cole Sprouse) father FP (Skeet Ulrich) was arrested for the murder (and he even made a fake confession), Betty (Lili Reinhart) refused to accept her boyfriend’s father was the killer. When Archie (KJ Apa) and the gang ended up finding a USB drive in Jason’s varsity jacket pocket, they discovered that it contained a recording of Clifford shooting and killing his own son in the basement of a Serpent bar.The kids immediately warned Cheryl (Madelaine Petsch) to get out of her house, but she confronted her father instead. When the cops arrived to arrest Clifford, they found him hanging in the barn, dead of an apparent suicide. But did he really kill himself, or did Cheryl and her mother Penelope (Nathalie Boltt) take justice into their own hands and kill the man who destroyed their family? I’m actually kind of rooting for the latter (never underestimate a Blossom). Is that weird? I don’t even care, I’m all for the Blossom women getting their revenge.But why would a father kill his own son? One theory that the Coopers uncovered in the game-changing episode is that Clifford was trying to hide an incestuous secret from ruining his family’s reputation. But we’re not talking about twin-cest between Cheryl and Jason. Oh no, it turns out that the Coopers are actually Blossoms! Twist! Apparently after Great Grandpa Blossom murdered Great Grandpa Cooper (who was actually a Blossom at the time), the Cooper side changed their name to distance themselves from the rest of the Blossoms.So if you’re keeping score at home, that means Polly (Tiera Skovye) is a Blossom, making her related to her fiancé Jason Blossom (as in, third cousins). Which then means that their unborn baby is a product of accidental incest. Whoa! Hal confessed the ugly truth to Betty and Alice after they caught him trying to destroy official evidence. If he would go that far to obstruct a murder investigation to hide Polly’s incest, then how far would the Blossoms go to protect their and Jason’s reputation?Well, it turns out Clifford would go all the way to murdering his own son. But was that all his motive was, or was something even darker going on between the Blossom men? The crazy thing is, we might not even find out, because both are dead now. We did get a clue, though. The police, upon finding Clifford’s body swinging from the rafters of his maple syrup barn, found some barrels of syrup spilled onto the ground, revealing a ton of drugs hidden inside. Another twist! The Blossoms’ maple syrup “dynasty” is actually just a drug front. Out of all the twists revealed in the penultimate episode, I honestly did not see that one coming.Did Jason discover this dark secret about the family business and get so disgusted he tried to run away? Maybe that’s the real reason he wanted to leave town with Polly, to get away from his drug-dealing family. Or did he want to take things one step further and go to the police, exposing his father’s illegal secrets?However, just because Clifford has been revealed as the actual killer, that doesn’t mean FP gets to walk free. Turns out he still did some pretty illegal things like kidnapping Jason in order to try and ransom him for money once he found out the kid who was running drugs for him for cash was a Blossom and had rich parents. He kept Jason tied up in a basement (but didn’t shoot him!). He did, however, clean up the dead body, stored him in a freezer for a week and dumped him in Sweetwater river. FP may not be a killer, but unfortunately for Jughead, he’s not leaving jail anytime soon.As much as I hate seeing Jughead suffer any more (how heartbreaking was it to see his face as his own mother told him not to come stay with her?!), Sprouse can handle the dark, emotionally devastating work of being abandoned by his mother and father. Sure, FP only did all that to protect Jughead from Clifford (apparently Clifford threatened Jughead’s life), but essentially losing both his parents is going to make for an even richer Jughead storyline moving forward.No matter if you saw the killer reveal coming or not, the way that Riverdale tied up at least that particular dangling thread was the right call. Showing the murder play out on actual video footage gives a definitive answer as to who killed Jason. You can’t argue with proof. That footage didn’t answer every question (it only answered the who, not the why of it all) but it gave satisfying payoff to the series’ big mystery while opening the door to a new mystery.Plus, getting to watch all the kids react to seeing the murder play out in front of their own eyes was a brilliant move, showing how that revelation would affect each and every one of them. I had to watch that scene multiple times to get the full effect of each character’s reaction, and every single actor played the multitude of emotions masterfully. What I’m most interested in seeing moving forward, however, is Cheryl’s reaction. All we’ve seen so far is her in shock, coldly accusing her father and pointing the police to his dead body. When the weight and the reality of the situation finally hits her, there’s no telling what the already fragile girl will do.What did you think of Riverdale‘s killer reveal? Did you see that coming, or was your prediction totally off? And where do you think this leaves us going into the season one finale? How many more secrets can Archie and the gang uncover in the formerly quiet town now known for murder, drug dealing and suicide? Tweet me your thoughts, reactions and predictions at @SydneyBucksbaum!

Images: The CW

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Forget Archie Andrews, Jughead Jones, Betty Cooper, and Veronica Lodge. The real, true star of Riverdale is none other than red-haired bombshell Cheryl Blossom.

Who else can you rely on for banger one-liners, hilariously savage takedowns, and wonderfully narcissistic observations about herself and all the people who inhabit the crazy town of Riverdale other than the twin sister of the murdered golden boy with strange incestuous vibes? Cheryl’s the best part of Riverdale, hands down. She constantly flip flops from raging, evil jackass to sympathetic victim, depending on her mood (or the day of the week). You never know what you’re going to get from the HBIC of Riverdale High.

Even the showrunner of The CW’s Archie-Comics-meets-Twin-Peaks murder mystery drama admits that Cheryl’s the real star here.

“Every show should have a character like Cheryl Blossom who can be driven by many complex and often contradictory impulses, especially when you’ve got an actress like [Madelaine Petsch] doing it,” executive producer Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa told Nerdist along with a small group of reporters after screening an advance episode of the series. “I think in a weird way, this season is sort of all about [loss.] The biggest loss, in a way, is Cheryl’s, right? She loved her brother and her brother loved her, and that’s been taken away from her. So in a weird way, even though we’re following Jughead and Betty’s investigation of the crime, what’s pulsing underneath is always this essential part of her life is gone.”

In the most recent episode, Cheryl caused quite the drama crashing Jughead’s birthday party, turning it into a hot mess house party kegger and spilling some of Archie (K.J. Apa) and his friends’ deepest darkest secrets. Just when Archie thought his illicit teacher/student affair with Ms. Grundy (Sarah Habel) was dead and buried, it all came out in front of basically the whole school … and it was all Cheryl’s doing of course.  Just because she loves chaos and doesn’t know how to live without her brother Jason (Trevor Stines).

“There’s no reason to play a game about secrets, and since that’s going to bring it back to Jason, Cheryl does that,” Aguirre-Sacasa said. “So even though she’s not investigating, I feel like there’s a deep question and void in her that has to be answered and filled. And in a way, especially in episode 12, it’s a really big episode for Cheryl. And 13’s a very big episode for her as well. She’s chaotic—we said she was an agent of chaos, she really is that—and you don’t know when you’re going to get Scorpion Cheryl or you’re going to get someone who is really, really hurt and unreachable because of that.”

He paused, then added, “Cheryl’s a great villainess.”

And as for those pesky “twin-cest” vibes Cheryl is constantly putting down when talking about her dearly departed brother, that’s not just fans’ imaginations.

“No no no. Definitely not. Oh god,” Aguirre-Sacasa said with a laugh. “It feels like from the first time they appear in that red car in the matching outfits holding hands that we’re going for that. All I can say is this: there’s still more incestuous stuff to come.”

It’s 2017 and we’re talking about getting more “twin-cest” on a show about Archie Comics characters, people. What a time to be alive.

Images: The CW

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Most teen dramas on television focus on the kids. Parents are around for the occasional meaningful talk or a morale boost, but we don’t spend much time getting to know them. But not on Riverdale. The CW series inspired by Archie Comics showcases the adults just as much as the kids. They’re part of the mystery and story rather than being off to the sidelines. The inclusion of the parents is smart because it means the show is going to be relatable for a larger audience and because it adds another layer of investment. Instead of only caring about the romantic entanglements in Riverdale, you also worry about what’s happening with Hermione and Veronica or what the implications of a plot twist will be for Fred and Archie.

Wrapping in the adults was an intentional move. While talking with series executive producer Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa at WonderCon he told us, “I think very early on, Greg [Berlanti] had an instinct that the show should be bigger than a high school show–that it should be a show about the town and that the parents should be as important as the kids. A lot of times in these kinds of shows the parents literally aren’t around. I always imagine they hold out the brown paper bag for lunch and are like, ‘See you later.'”

Aguirre-Sacasa added, “We have such an incredible cast with the adults. It’s a joy to write for them. I wish we were a 60 minute cable drama so we could even tell more. When you’ve got Mädchen Amick and Marisol Nichols and Luke Perry and Skeet Ulrich, you’re in a really good place. The show wouldn’t work without them.”

And it wouldn’t. The parents bring serious drama to the table. There’s Hermione Lodge (Marisol Nichols), who has to make some challenging decisions about what’s best for her and her daughter. “It was really important to me that Hermione loves her daughter and that Hermione and Veronica’s relationship has become so much closer based on what they had to go through in New York,” Nichols said, “The other part is she is married to a massive mafia guy. We’re going to see in the second half of the season more and more of that comes down on Hermione; she’s going to have to make more difficult decisions that the audience and Veronica may not understand. But just know that Hermione loves Veronica.”

When asked about the most challenging parent on the series, no one in the cast mentioned Hermione. They did mention FP Jones, Jughead’s dad. According to Cole Sprouse, “The most challenging would probably be Jughead’s father, FP. I think given the circumstances, Riverdale has been the hardest on the Jones and Jughead.”

The most popular pick? Alice Cooper. Camila Mendes and Ashleigh Murray both named Mädchen Amick‘s character in unison without hesitation. Murray explained Alice is always a surprise: “I feel like with the way Mädchen portrays Alice, she’s not one note. You never really know what you’re going to get with her. There’s a sweet moment with her and Betty in a recent episode, and I was like, ‘Oh my god, she does have a heart!’ But then it doesn’t last.”

Mendes added, “You know that Alice’s protectiveness comes from a place of love.”

Amick also agrees Alice is uh, difficult. “I’m a little partial, but I think she’s the most challenging and the most fun to watch,” she said. Alice’s unpredictability is a bonus for Amick. “That’s what’s so fun about her. When I think I’ve figured her out, then all of a sudden she’s put in a situation and reacting completely differently than I thought she would, which keeps me on my toes as an actor. I’m really enjoying it.”

Tell us your pick for most difficult parent in the comments below! Riverdale airs Thursdays at 9/8c on the CW.

Images: The CW

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When news of a dark and gritty Archie Comics adaptation was first announced at the beginning of last year, it was met with mixed reception from avid fans of the gang from Riverdale. Could these classic and well-loved characters really be retooled to fit a more dramatic series? While Riverdale has certainly been delivering on its pre-air promises of a “subversive” show, it’s far from the first time Archie and co. have found themselves in a darker set of circumstances than most fans are used to seeing them. (The comic series Afterlife with Archie, for example, featured LITERAL zombies.)

The good news is: Riverdale has been succeeding on a lot of fronts. It’s managed to capture the spirit of familiar characters – like Archie, Betty, and Veronica – within the atmosphere of a series that combines the classic story arc of a murder mystery with complex, layered portrayals of fictional young adults. The not so good news is that in spite of the buzz surrounding the series, it hasn’t been doing so hot in the ratings department. That alone isn’t enough to necessarily send the show to cancellation purgatory, however – the CW has made some recent renewal choices that clearly prioritize series quality over a big ratings draw (see: Crazy Ex-Girlfriend). All that being said, a few more eyes on Riverdale probably wouldn’t hurt at this stage.So, why should you be giving this show a shot? Allow us to give you a few reasons:

IT FLIPS THE SCRIPT ON CLASSIC TEEN DRAMA TROPES

We all know the cookie-cutter stereotypes we often see in network teen dramas: the jock, the mean girl, the slacker, the perfectionist. There are definite shades of those in Riverdale, but what the show has managed to do differently is give each of its archetypical characters more dimensions – which, in turn, has led to way more interesting dynamics over the course of the five episodes we’ve gotten so far.

Cheryl Blossom (Madelaine Petsch), for example, could have easily become the typical “mean girl” of the series given her prickly treatment of Betty Cooper (Lili Reinhart) or her rivalry with Veronica Lodge (Camila Mendes), but Riverdale shows these young women fighting and cooperating in equal measure – lending evidence to the fact that teen girls are more than just catfights and shallow rivalries. Similarly, while it would have been convenient for the show to follow the path of the comics and pit Betty and Veronica against each other over Archie Andrews (KJ Apa), Riverdale has taken a different route so far and allowed the two to become friends outside of any boy they may or may not have feelings for.

IT’S A GENRE LOVER’S DREAM SHOW

Every Riverdale fan you talk to has a different take on the influences of the series: it’s noir, it’s Gothic romance, it’s Twin Peaks meets Dawson’s Creek. The truth is that the show embraces all of those inspirations and then some; you can find shades of more than one genre lurking under the surface with every episode that airs.

As recent darker comic arcs have demonstrated, Archie and his friends not only do well in darker plots – they thrive. As a result, the show has the ability to push these characters into some of their most intense storylines yet. Betty isn’t just the perfect student; she also might be harboring a dark side. Meanwhile, the ghost of Jason Blossom has continued to loom over Archie for a while now – and it’s not just because both of them have red hair. The wackier this show gets with its various plot twists and turns, the better (and juicier) it gets. Part of the fun of watching Riverdale is about the desire to see just how far these writers are willing to go.

IT HAS A THOROUGHLY ENGAGING MYSTERY

Speaking of Jason Blossom: did we mention he gets killed off in the first episode?! It was a gutsy choice for the show to kill off a character who Archie Comics fans are probably very familiar with. That being said, Jason isn’t exactly “out of sight, out of mind” for the remainder of the series; his death sets up what will be the underlying mystery for the foreseeable future of season one.

As each episode ticks by, a voiceover by passive observer Jughead Jones (Cole Sprouse) reminds viewers that we’re getting closer and closer to learning the identity of Jason Blossom’s murderer. Fans have already started speculating, but the show has tossed in several red herrings – leading to the disconcerting realization that it could still literally be anyone from the characters we all know and love.

IT’S GOT EVEN MORE POTENTIAL AHEAD

While Riverdale has been doing some things very well, there are other stories that could use a little more fleshing out. Comics fans have been calling for the show to commit to depicting Jughead as asexual, something that was revealed in Chip Zdarsky and Erica Henderson’s Jughead solo comic last year. The minds behind the series have chosen not to explicitly establish Riverdale‘s version of Jug that way, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they’ve run out of time to course-correct in the way of ace representation. Bringing the show back for a second season would allow the series that opportunity, as well as other chances to shine the spotlight on some of the supporting cast. (Raise your hand if you’d love to see a Reggie Mantle-centric episode.)

And in terms of the mysteries of Riverdale, surely the identity of Jason Blossom’s murderer isn’t the only one that could be uncovered in future seasons. It seems reasonable to expect that even after all the loose ends of that storyline are tied up there would be other, equally intriguing secrets lurking in the underbelly beneath the innocent facade of Riverdale. (No town is that perfect.)

Have you been keeping up with Riverdale every week? If so, what are your thoughts on it so far? (Thank Pop for no more Grundy, amirite?) Let’s chat over a milkshake or two in the comments!

Images: The CW.

Let’s look at some of comics’ most WTF moments

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Images: The CW

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When The CW first announced it was going to make a live-action Archie show, the long journey to finding the perfect Archie Andrews began. But the network wasn’t looking for the Archie Andrews straight from the pages of the iconic comic books—his version had to be different. Instead, Greg Berlanti’s vision of Riverdale was one of a strange-yet-addictive mix between the eerie and dark murder mystery Twin Peaks, the high school and relationship drama of Gossip Girl with Archie comics characters at the center of it all.After a painstaking search, Riverdale finally found its Archie Andrews in up-and-coming New Zealand actor KJ Apa. No, he’s not a natural redhead but he wears the shade just fine now thanks to the modern wonders of hair dye, which he rigorously applied first on a weekly basis and then every two weeks—”It’s pretty gnarly, I don’t know how some girls get their hair dyed all the time,” he told Nerdist on set in Vancouver. The 19-year-old brings the classic character to life for a new generation, as the girl-obsessed teen becomes a hot football star with a secret desire to trade in his jersey for a guitar. And while Apa may not be a ginger in real life, he’s pretty much the perfect Archie in every other way.“Reading the pilot, when I was just about to start shooting, something that stood out to me was we both—me and Archie—are struggling between music and [sports],” Apa said. “When I was in school, I had to decide if I was going to do music, because I was on a half scholarship at school, and rugby. Rugby was a big part of my life for a while, and I had to stop because of acting. So I had three things that I was just like, what’s going to happen? I had to stop playing rugby because you can’t play rugby and act as well, so I was forced to stop doing that. My dad loves rugby, and he was gutted to have me not play anymore, after playing my whole life. That was something that I could easily relate to with that.”That connection to the character helped Apa when it came time to audition for The CW’s newest drama. While auditioning for pilots can be a daunting experience for any aspiring actor, Apa was coming from New Zealand to a whole new country, making it that much more difficult.”I had just arrived in LA, on the [audition] weekend in January,” Apa said. “I got an email for this audition [during pilot season] and I went in [for it]. I [auditioned for] David Rapaport, he’s the casting director. Then they called me back two weeks later. At that point I’d forgotten about the audition, and I went into the room and did it [again], and he kind of looked at me, and was like, ‘Have you been in here before?’ And I was like, ‘Yeah, I came in two weeks ago.’ And he just left the room.”He paused to laugh, then continued, “I was like, ‘Oh, okay.’ He had gone into the room to speak to someone, then he came in and he was like, ‘Can you come back in like two hours?’ Then I left kind of stoked. I knew it was a good thing. I went to a café, got a coffee, came back after about two hours, and then read it again with him in front of [executive producers] Roberto [Aguirre-Sacasa], Sarah Schechter, and a couple other guys. The screen test was two days after that.”Since music is such a big part of Archie’s life on Riverdale, Apa also had to prove he had the musical chops to bring him to life.”I took my guitar in and sang them a song,” Apa said. “I played ‘Mary Had a Little Lamb’ by Stevie Ray Vaughan, in front of this whole studio of people. I was so nervous. Then John Goldwater, he owns the whole Archie franchise, he told me after that screen test, ‘Oh yeah, we’ll see you soon.’ They called me the day after and said that I’d gotten it.”Apa remembered how great it was getting that fateful call while he was in the car and his manager was calling him at the same time, but he wasn’t surprised by the news at all. “I kind of had already knew after John spoke to me,” Apa said. “But I didn’t say anything, because I didn’t want to get my hopes up for nothing.”Now that he’s deep into filming the first season of Riverdale, Apa has enjoyed seeing all the ways in which The CW series is differing from the comics, making a whole new Archie for the world to meet. When it comes to what viewers will be most surprised by, Apa thinks “100 percent, it’s how dark it is.””[You’ll see] how subversive and how moody everything is,” Apa said. “Our director Lee [Toland] Krieger played a massive part in that. All the different shots, all the effects … our effects guys are so amazing with all the mist and stuff, all the time. The Vancouver weather is also great for it, it’s always raining here. That is probably the biggest element, because the old comics are really happy, everything is great, this perfect world, but this is really dark and subversive.”What are you most excited to see from Riverdale? Tweet me your thoughts and opinions at @SydneyBucksbaum!

Images: The CW

Riverdale premieres Thursday, January 26 at 9 p.m. on The CW.

The post RIVERDALE Star KJ Apa is Basically Archie in Real Life appeared first on Nerdist.