*The following article contains spoilers for all seven seasons of “Riverdale”*
After 6 years, 7 seasons and 137 episodes, Riverdale has finally come to an end. Many long-time Riverdale watchers were very indifferent about the announcement of the premiere of season 7 and the news that it would be the series’ closing season. Over the course of the show’s run, the writers have taken the audience through a radically different journey each season. In season one, the writers introduced the world to a quiet town of mysteries hidden within the roots on which it was built. The season’s main climactic point was a murder mystery, a simple plot with little to no room for writers to derive from it. Soon, this simple format would be lost in the coming Riverdale seasons.
In season two, the show gets dark and twisted with the introduction of the town serial killer, The Black Hood. Still,this plotline was hardly surprising for a teen drama premiered right after the era of “Vampire Diaries” and “Pretty Little Liars.”
Things take a turn in season three, but this is not the most outrageous storyline the Riverdale audience will have to endure. The Black Hood is still on the loose, but has a new partner in crime, named as The Gargoyle King. The show also delves into a cult storyline. This season had everything from teenagers dying to many people joining an organ-harvesting cult. Fans were very confused by the many different overlapping storylines, but were still hooked, fascinated by what was to come.
Filming for the fourth season of Riverdale was cut short due to the global pandemic, making it more of a filler season. This time, the main characters are in their senior year of high school and the drama in the town is never-ending. The main buildup of the season leads up to Jughead’s death, with flashbacks dispersed throughout the season to clue the audience in on his fate. The season also features characters receiving mysterious tapes, masked people depicting something happening in their lives.
Overall, season four was not at the top of its game, but season five will make up for that, right? Season five starts with a seven year time skip to avoid focusing on the characters’ college years. A lot of shows choose the easy way out of a time jump to avoid the multiple strings they would have to pull by pushing the characters into one plot since they would not be at the same college. As expected, all of the characters have returned back to Riverdale, which is almost overtaken by gangs and close to becoming a ghost town by now. Most of them work at the old highschool, and the others run businesses within the town. The mission of the entire season is to save Riverdale, but the most important thing to remember from season five is that Archie and Betty end up back together. The season ends on a cliffhanger, a bomb going off under Archie and Betty’s bed.
Season six begins with the aftermath of the bomb, but instead focuses on the introduction of a new town called Rivervale. While Rivervale is the focus of the next five episodes, it is not acknowledged by the characters and contributes nothing to the overall plot. Following Rivervale, the rest of the season is made of magic, superpowers, parallel dimensions and time travel. Nothing too outlandish. The season ends with a psychic blast, sending the characters to the 1950s, back in their junior year. Due to a memory wipe in the next season, the remainder of season six is once again left disregarded.
Season seven opens up with the peppy town of Riverdale in the 1950s. This season is truly a breath of fresh air, with no magic, superpowers or drugs. It simply involves kids in the 1950s figuring out the highs and lows of highschool football. While there is a side plot with Jughead and the milkman serial killer, it never gets resolved and is tossed to the side in favor of the main issue: getting the characters back to present-day Riverdale, but that plot is hard to pursue when, for most of the season, none of them are even aware that there was another universe. The show meanders around the plot, simply moving the characters back and forth, unable to pursue any cohesive plot due to weakness in the storytelling.
The series finale shows an elderly Betty reminiscing on her times as a teenager in Riverdale, before her death. Overall, the show had countless plot holes and confusing timelines that never amounted to anything, forcing the returning audience to fill in the holes themselves. Ultimately, while not the most highbrow or valuable entertainment, if you are looking for a surface-level show to watch or kill time, Riverdale is the show for you.
