Milkshakes and Murder: The CW's "Riverdale"

The first season of Riverdale hit Netflix last month, and after I finished it, I pretty much thought, "Huh. I think I hated that."

That's hard for me to say, because I really wanted to like it. But I've seen a lot of shows on The CW and getting through season one was a chore.

What kept me going, you ask? EASY. THERE WAS ONLY ONE THING:

Watching Riverdale is like" blah blah blah murder blah blah blah secrets blah blah bored now WAIT JUGHEAD AND BETTY"

These two. The dream team that is Betty Cooper (Lili Reinhart) and Jughead Jones (Cole Sprouse). It was the single lifeline in a sea of mind-numbing frivolity.

But when a show brings something real to the screen, people notice. And, despite The CW's genuine attempt to make Archie Andrews the resident heartthrob, there's a reason why the internet is overflowing with gifs of Cole Sprouse as Jughead Jones instead.

And thank God you are

The ads for the show initially looked like this was going to be a lot darker of a show than it turned out to be, which was a disappointment for me. For one thing, I thought Archie Andrews was totally going to be a horrible person.

I was really into the "murder and milkshakes" kind of vibe here

Like look at this guy. The one on the right side of the booth. Total jerk, right?

If only.

That would have at least been more interesting. Maybe it was the sneering expression, but I thought I was being promised a heartless, manipulative guy you love to hate. Instead, we have a varsity-jacket-wearing jock in a tired Troy Bolton-type scenario: a star football player really wants to be a singer. Plus some inappropriate student-teacher relationships. But that ended up being a dead end, too. I just didn't care about this. Did anyone?

BUT I did care whenever Jughead was on screen. Cole Sprouse was Riverdale's biggest strength. Aside from banking on our The Suite Life of Zack and Cody nostalgia, of which there is plenty, he also offers the show a character that is full of fragility, masculinity, tortured youth, lone-wolfing, and even a wool cap. The outcast in love with the sweet girl-next-door (to his best friend).

scene stealing 101 by Cole Sprouse

He's the character that is teetering on the edge of ruin, because everyone else's families are totally petty, broken, and corrupt. Somehow, the guy from the wrong side of the tracks and his dad end up being the least seedy ones in this whole scenario.

Thank God Jughead was there or I definitely wouldn't have made it through this first season.

As for Archie, who's apparently the main character of the show.... I don't know, I was just bored by the rest of this. I'm exactly the audience for this kind of show, too, so the fact that I'm frustrated by it (and not in a positive way) is troubling. I wanted to like this show and I think the network wanted me to like it, but it was confusing, just managed to hang onto the viewer by the skin of its teeth.

When it did catch my interest, it was because of Jughead and Betty, but I also have to give the character of Cheryl Blossom credit. As much as my friends and I knew she was supposed to be the villain, we all felt that, hey, at least she was consistent.

Cheryl Blossom in summary

That made her a stronger character than so many other people in the rest of the show.

So, in summary, I watched this show because:

a) BETTY + JUGHEAD

look at these two. This is the heart of the show.

and, less pressingly,

b) old cars

c) retro aesthetic

d) sworn loyalty to The CW

e) they have a cute old diner (see below)

I will watch almost anything with a cute old diner

f) pretty lights

g) Cheryl was consistent

h) Twin Peaks vibes

We'll see what happens next season. I'll watch for Jughead and Betty. Meanwhile, I'll keep an eye out for anything else interesting that fights its way to the surface here. There's so much potential! I hope they really live up to it next season.