This article contains spoilers forRiverdaleThe hugely successful teen drama,Riverdaleaired from 2017 to 2023, andthroughout the course of its 137 episodes, it featured some highly memorable twists and turns. The show was a subversive take on theArchieComics, and followed there-imagined cast and charactersof Archie, Jughead, Betty, and Veronica in what became known as “The Murder Capital of the World”;Riverdale.
While the show began as a murder mystery, it soon evolved into a highly entertaining mix of genres and styles, with some over-the-top but inventive, and captivating episodes. All seven seasons ofRiverdalevary in quality. However,there are enough compelling characters, sexual tension, plus wild moments to compensate for this. What other show would pit its leading man against a bear, for him to survive with just a scratch to show for it?
10Chapter One: The River’s Edge
Season 1, Episode 1
The very first episode of the excellent Season 1 is the logical place to start, asit perfectly encapsulates the beating heart of the show, and firmly sets it up as a murder mystery. It introduces the main cast members, Archie, Betty, Jughead and Veronica, who are in shock after the murder of the heir apparent of the Blossom Maple Syrup empire, Jason Blossom.
It also sets up a love triangle between Archie, Betty and Veronica that would last the entire runtime of the series, and become one of the greatest mysteries to entice audiences into a show full of them. Archie and Veronica’s kiss at Cheryl’s party sets all of this in motion, and although there aresome harsh realities of rewatchingRiverdaleSeason 1overall, the opening episode is key to the entire series.It’s eerie, sharply written and holds the viewer in right from the off.
9Chapter Thirty-Three: Shadow Of A Doubt
Season 2, Episode 20
The Black Hood storyline,despite his eventual reveal being kind of lame, was stilla great addition to the overarching narrative. It’s not quite as strong as the murder mystery in Season 1, but watching the black hood strike fear into the cast is great to watch. In “Shadow of a Doubt”, Betty confides in Cheryl when she has an inkling about whom the killer is, setting up a great detective duo in the process.
10 Harsh Realities Of Rewatching Riverdale Season 1 In 2024
Riverdale had a significant impact on popular culture while it aired. However, there are some harsh realities upon rewatching Riverdale season 1.
Watching Cheryl and Betty work together so well is a great way to further cement their relationship, especially considering they’re actually related as third cousins. It’s a pairing that viewers would have enjoyed seeing more of throughout the show, so seeing the effort they put into solving who The Black Hood is, proves to be a highlight of Season 2.
8Chapter Twelve: Anatomy Of A Murder
Season 1, Episode 12
What makes “Anatomy of a Murder” so great, is that the identity of who killed Jason Blossom is finally revealed in the penultimate episode of the series, rather than in the finale.It proved that the show wasn’t afraid to go to dark places, and in doing so became more original, and unique, than other crime and murder series. It also allowed the finale to tie up the loose ends from the previous episode,before the murderer’s motivations were revealed.
The lives of everybody in the town, especially the lead characters, were changed forever from that point on.
The episode twists and turns wonderfully, and the town is sent into a shocking downward spiral when it’s revealed that Jason’s killer was his father, Clifford Blossom. The fact that the main characters witness a graphic video of Jason being shot in the head, proved that the show wasn’t afraid to offer shock value. The lives of everybody in the town, especially the lead characters, were changed forever from that point on.
7Chapter Thirty-Two: Prisoners
Season 2, Episode 19
“Prisoners” is one ofRiverdale’shighest-rated episodes on IMDb, with an 8.2 out of 10 rating on the site, making it one of the five most popular episodes overall. It marks a pivotal moment for the show and serves as a key point in which the overarching narrative is advanced.Tensions reach boiling point in the episodeas the beautifully shot, moody atmosphere is awash with confrontation, mixed with a heavy dose of kidnapping.
Never before have the dynamics between the characters been tested to such an extent as they are in “Prisoners”.Truths are revealed, and the identity of The Black Hood comes to a head, leading Betty to a confrontation that has ramifications for the rest of the series. While it may leave some mysteries unanswered, the episode proves that the series is at its best whenRiverdale’s stormy relationshipsare tested to their limits.
6Chapter Three: Body Double
Season 1, Episode 3
It was a bold move to introduce an alter-ego for Betty in Episode 3, considering just how unhinged “Dark Betty” is. However, credit is due to the writers for showing fans that this side of her character was definitely not to be messed with. It alsoshowed that high school life for the teens inRiverdalewas anything but normal, and that a touch of lingerie-clad domination was a normal occurrence in the town.
WhenChuck Clayton and theRiverdalebulldogs' crimes of misogyny are revealed, Betty and Veronica lure Chuck into a trap, to gain a confession from him on camera. What follows is a superb, and macabre transformation for one ofRiverdale’ssweetest and unassuming characters. You really start to believe “Dark Betty” is going to drown Chuck in the boiling jacuzzi, and the fact that she almost goes through with it, hinted that thingswere wrong with Betty inRiverdale.
5Chapter Thirty-Nine: The Midnight Club
Season 3, Episode 4
Riverdaleis often at its best when it throws fans a curveball, and does something as wildly entertaining as what happens in the fourth episode of Season 3; “The Midnight Club”.The cast all play younger versions of their parents in a flashback episodethat evokes memories ofThe Breakfast Club.
It’s a lot of fun to see how the relationships between characters like Hermione and Fred developed, and witnessing how those dynamics we see in the show began. Another great aspect of “The Midnight Club” isthe introduction of the Dungeons & Dragons-inspired game, Gryphons & Gargoyles, which permeates throughout the season like a deadly virus.
The teens find themselves drawn into the game, and the drugs that go alongside the costume wearing shenanigans. The inclusion of the game creates a thoroughly entertaining dynamic forRiverdale, that leads not only to death and suicide, but also brings out the monster within some of the characters.
4Chapter Twenty-Seven: The Hills Have Eyes
Season 2, Episode 14
The title of episode 14 isa clear indication thatRiverdalewas going further down the horror route. Subsequently, the episode is one of the darkest, and best additions to the already excellent Season 2. There’s a chilling atmosphere in and around the Hiram Lodge setting, and even the pillows are designed to look like they belong in the Overlook Hotel fromThe Shining. Villainy is rising while the characters get it on in the eerie cabin in the woods setting.
All 7 Seasons Of Riverdale, Ranked Worst To Best
While Riverdale’s seven seasons saw the show rise and fall dramatically in terms of quality, the teen drama/murder mystery was at least never boring.
Like the best episodes ofRiverdale, “The Hills Have Eyes” not only delivers fun alongside serious drama, but it does so while darkness is beginning to enshroud the characters. While the episode is surprisingly light on blood for such a horror-themed tale, it stilldelivers tension and danger once the action turns to home invasion horror. Plus, fans got to see the much anticipated re-introduction of “Dark Betty” from Season 1’s third episode.
3Chapter Forty-Four: No Exit
Season 3, Episode 9
Being a teenager inRiverdaleis seriously hard. If you’re not being chased by your murderous dad at prom, you’re probably being mauled by a bear in the woods. That’s exactly what happens to Archie in “No Exit”, when he escapes from town after escaping prison, and going on the run from Hiram.Archie’s adventures are one of the best parts ofRiverdale, and the bear attack is just as crazy, and ridiculous as it sounds.
However, the show isn’t about being subtle, and there’s a hidden meaning behind why he escapes with just a claw mark across his chest, and a short hallucinogenic stay in bed. He’s right as rain in the next episode, and althoughlater seasons ofRiverdaleweren’t as wild and bizarreas what happens in “No Exit”, it nonetheless proves that Riverdale is always unpredictably entertaining.
2Chapter Eighty-Three: Fire In The Sky
Season 5, Episode 7
Riverdalewas always at its best when it was surprising audiences with either its bizarre plot developments or in its unpredictable genre shifts. Despite the show being a murder mystery, a fantasy drama, and often blurring the line between horror and comedy, there’s one genre it never attempted to try; sci-fi.
That is, however, until"Fire in the Sky" brought fans an episode that wouldn’t have looked out of place inThe X-Files.The episode may have one of the lower IMDb ratings of the series at 6.6 out of 10, but in reality, it’s a superbly entertaining entry in a show that was always about pulling the rug from under the feet of the viewer.
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Aliens had landed atRiverdalein a twist that no one could have predicted, and the show focused brilliantly on many of the genre tropes that define Sci-fi. There are missing people, near abductions, spaceships, and Nana Rose even manages to hide an alien in a barrel of Maple Syrup. Fantastic.
1Chapter One-Hundred And Seventeen: Night Of The Comet
Season 6, Episode 22
WhenRiverdalewent to extremes to either introduce new characters, or to establish some of the many subplots in the show, it was at its wildly subversive best. So when"Night of the Comet" arrived and showcased some of the powers the characters had developedover the course of the previous seasons, it did so gleefully. It also acknowledgedhow bizarreRiverdalehad become.
So when “Night of the Comet” arrived and showcased some of the powers the characters had developed over the course of the previous seasons, it did so gleefully.
One of the series' best antagonists, Percival Pickens, redirects a comet towardsRiverdale, and to stop it from wiping everybody out, Cheryl utilizes her new-found witch-powers to try and stop it.Riverdale’sbest moments are also its wildly over-the-top episodes, so seeing Veronica pass everyone’s powers on to Cheryl, who ultimately fails, is thrilling. The fact that, in the process,everybody winds up in the 1950s is a perfectly fitting way for the episode to go.
Riverdale
Cast
A darker take on Archie, Betty, Veronica, and their friends from the Archie Comics series, Riverdale is a CW supernatural mystery series that sees the group trying to illuminate the truth surrounding various strange occurrences and murders in the titular town. When a teenage girl is found dead in the once-quiet town, the event starts a series of ever-growing mysteries that ultimately lead to darker secrets in the town’s history. Led by Archie, the Riverdale gang will attempt to navigate their new normal while dealing with all of the drama that comes with being high school teenagers.
