Dark Riverdale raises the stakes
Yes, it’s pulpy; agreed, it’s soapy ... but there is something addictive about seeing these familiar characters made over for the streaming generation, writes James Croot.
This certainly isn’t the Archie Andrews that I remember. The Archie Comics of the 1980s were a place where the 1950s still appeared to live on, where Kiwi kids who enjoyed endless repeats of Happy Days and certain parts of Back to the Future could get their fix of malt shops, high school crushes and the occasional goodnatured prank.
Nestled in between the ads for sea monkeys and X-ray specs, Archie’s greatest dilemma appeared to be choosing between blonde Betty Cooper and the black-barneted Veronica Lodge.
The stakes seem a little higher in
2017 Riverdale. The CW show, which debuted on Netflix here in January and returned for its second season on Friday , is less American Graffiti and more like a cross between Beverly
Hills 90210 (a comparison helped immensely by the presence of that show’s Luke Perry as Archie’s Dad) and Twin Peaks.
Described as a ‘‘dark cesspool’’, this iteration of Riverdale feels more like Back to the Future Part II’s Biff Tannen vision of 1985 Hill Valley. Corruption is rife, gangs run riot throughout the town and the kids aren’t exactly okay.
As we rejoin the action, the fallout from Mayor’s Jubilee dominates proceedings. It was a celebration that was supposed to change everything in this ‘‘haunted town’’, but instead we find the unlicensed Archie (New Zealand’s own K J Apa, doing a more than passable Jason Priestley impersonation) desperately attempting to get his dad to the hospital in time after he was shot during an apparent heist at Pop’s Diner.
Meanwhile, ‘‘beanie-wearing cad’’ Jughead (Cole Sprouse) – less Scooby
Doo‘s Shaggy, more 90210’s bad boy Dylan now – is deciding whether to embrace the offer from his criminal dad’s gang buddies and/or continue his relationship with Betty (Lili Reinhart), and former poor little rich girl Veronica (Camila Mendes) may have uncovered her parents’ latest scam. When Archie and the gang first debuted in Pep Comics in 1941, they were designed to appeal to fans of the Andy Hardy movies starring Mickey Rooney.
Seventy-six years later, Riverdale appears calculated to connect to today’s teens raised on the high school drama of Twilight, Pretty Little Liars and Teen Wolf.
Just in the season opener alone there’s a steamy shower scene, scandals aplenty and enough classic movie references (everything from
The Shining to Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?and Escape From New York) to ensure the series continues its initial reputation of being so hip it hurts.
The attempt at cinematic street cred also extends to the episode titles, with each referencing a well-known film (this episode is entitled A Kiss Before Dying, forthcoming ones include The Blackboard Jungle, Death
Proof and Tales From the Darkside).
All this and much of the dialogue (Veronica claims her skills include party planning, dance-offs and ‘‘dropping vintage bon mots like bonbons’’) hint at the series’ origins as a John Hughes (Pretty in Pink, Sixteen
Candles) style update (look out for Hughes regular Molly Ringwald playing Archie’s mother as well), before it was decided to retool it as something darker.
Yes, it’s pulpy, agreed it’s soapy, but there is something addictive about seeing these familiar characters made over for the streaming generation.
And just wait till you see the 2017 version of Miss Grundy.