When the CW’s Riverdale premiered in January 2017, the world expected a wholesome, teen-centric drama in the vein of Dawson’s Creek or the early seasons of Gossip Girl. Based on the iconic Archie Comics characters, the show was supposed to be a small-town story about a red-headed kid, a milkshake, and a love triangle between Betty and Veronica.
What audiences got instead was a psychedelic, genre-bending fever dream. Over seven seasons and 137 episodes, Riverdale mutated from a murder mystery into a cult-horror series, then a Dungeons & Dragons-esque fantasy epic, a musical theatre jukebox, a supervillain prison saga, and finally, a 1950s time-travel period piece.
Love it or hate it, Riverdale redefined what teen television could be. It broke the streaming record books (amassing over 1 billion minutes viewed in its peak week on Netflix) and sparked a cultural lexicon all its own. This is the story of how the town with the "sweet water" became television’s most gloriously unhinged universe. Riverdale
By Season Six, the show had introduced superpowers (Betty had telekinesis, Archie had invulnerability) and a parallel dimension called "Rivervale." It was a bizarre, comic-accurate detour that confused casual viewers but delighted hardcore fans.
Then came Season Seven—the final season. In a shocking move, the show killed off its entire timeline. Jughead revealed the cast had been time-jumped to 1955, where they were trapped in a wholesome, Technicolor version of the comics. For 19 episodes, the show abandoned serial killers and cults for a retrospective on the 1950s, dealing with homophobia (Kevin Keller’s arc), racism (Toni Topaz’s arc), and the censorship of comics. When the CW’s Riverdale premiered in January 2017,
It was a wistful, quiet ending. The final episode jumped back to the present, showing the characters graduating from high school (again) and finally leaving Riverdale. Archie opened a community center, Betty became an FBI agent, Veronica ran a casino, and Jughead wrote the novel of their lives. In the final shot, Jughead placed his beanie on the "Welcome to Riverdale" sign and walked away.
It was, surprisingly, a perfect ending to a show that was anything but perfect. Over seven seasons and 137 episodes, Riverdale mutated
Despite—or perhaps because of—its ludicrous plots, Riverdale became a ratings juggernaut for Netflix internationally. The hashtag #Riverdale trended globally every Wednesday night. Why?