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thefreeair

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  1. I mean, I have jokes, but... real talk. Sophomore slump does not even begin to describe the nosedive in quality the show has taken this season. Am I watching it wrong? Are we just supposed to experience the show through gif-able moments and contrived atmosphere? My bad for trying to make sense of characters who have no consistent motives or traits beyond What the Plot Requires and Maximum Insufferability? Can anybody tell me where the plot is? I can't find it. I have so many questions.
  2. Season 3 opening. Veronica is putting on her veil, while Archie rehearses nervously in the church. Nearby, in a dimly lit office, an ever-inscrutable Hiram Lodge sits behind a desk stroking a cat and to a proudly pleading Alice Cooper (and only Mrs. Cooper her damn self could be at once prideful and pleading) he continues his speech, "You don't ask with respect. You don't offer friendship. You don't even think to call me Godfather. Instead, you come into my house on the day my daughter is to be married, and you ask me to do murder for money." "I want justice for my daughter!" Alice shouts. Cut to said daughter in the middle of a striptease for a very old, very rich man. Watching via camera is Jughead, and into her earpiece he gives the cue for her to slit his throat. As she leaves the dying man behind, she throws off her black wig. "How much did that get us, Jug?" "We'll count the money after the wedding, toots." ... I may have had too much to drink while watching this one. On a Wednesday night. That's the life I'm all about.
  3. So... I guess this season is the origin story for the hardened criminals Archie and the gang all eventually grow up to be. Cool.
  4. I wish they'd given the cam-girl story to Cheryl because I get the sense that she'd at least have fun with it. I have no idea what they are going for with Betty, though I get the sense that we are seeing a clumsy, weird declaration from the show like, "Look at how edgy we are! Aren't we edgy? We're Sexy and Edgy!" And... well no, show. I disagree. You're like if Sons of Anarchy was aired as a lifetime movie instead of an FX series. You're like if Mad Men was all Don Draper's man-pain all the time without the welcome relief of Pete-the-imp-Campbell, and Peggy sauntering into her new office with a cigarette hanging from her lips, and Roger Sterling's rapier wit. I mean, look no further than the Serpents nonsense for proof. What is this shit? If I have to sit through teen gang shenanigans, I need about 80% more camp and 100% less over-the-top seriousness. Because, here's the thing. The reason why Alice and Cheryl are so entertaining is that the show has designated them the de facto camp bringers, and the characters (and actors) lean right into it. And it works! What's not working is the self-righteous outrage and brattery the rest of the cast is flinging all over the place. Even when Buffy was at its darkest, it was still bringing the situational humour and witty banter. And those kids were dealing with actual demons, so... you know. Have more fun, Riverdale! You're a teen soap, not a prestige drama on AMC. Damn.
  5. I'm fine with triangles too (though I'm on a steady diet of K-Dramas of late, so that could be influencing my take here!). As for the core friendships, I'm not afraid of a little impact on them. I’m okay if things get a bit messy – that’s going to come up when you have the types of teen dynamics the pilot set up. I mean the Bug and Varch pairings could have just as easily had the same impact. V knowing B’s history and feelings re: Archie. Jug having some insight into Archie’s relationship to Betty. I think a lot of opportunities were missed last season to really flesh out Archie’s take on Bughead and Betty’s take on Varchie. Everyone accepted everything a little too smoothly and rode off into the sunset, but I don’t think any of that underlying stuff went away and I think it should be explored. I want to know more about A&B as friends. They had no time to develop last year – barely shared any scenes alone after the pilot. And yet, Betty was Archie’s first phone call after what happened to his dad in the first ep. That character beat did more for me than a whole season of lip service to their life long relationship. Plus, I don’t see why the purity of the core four dynamic (if ever there could be such a thing among teens with crossed relational wires) is some untouchable thing when they’ve barely explored these relationships at all outside of the ships. Develop some complexity and build a bit of history first before you worry about how colouring outside of lines is going to impact them.
  6. Oh, totally. Me too! I was always hoping that Betty and Veronica would hook up and leave Archie to his own feckless devices. If I thought the show had the balls to go there, B&V would be my OTP here. Ideally, Riverdale would be a B&V Power couple, Asexy Jug scoobying with Bets, and Archie NEVER singing while he explores polyamory with Josie, Reggie and Cheryl. But, for better or for worse, we've signed on for a cheesy teen drama - triangles are going to happen. And with the way they're rolling out the romances, I'm ready for a shakeup.
  7. Haha, nah, it'll be fine. The MO this year is to sweep gross betrayals of friendship right under the rug as soon as the plot calls for it. No reason to assume this won't get the same treatment.
  8. Sorry, I couldn't find the sarcasm font but you can take all my remarks tongue in cheek. The gist was that the Bughead lobbyists have not frightened me away from embracing other pairings - *insert expression of mischief here* - and that I am ready to try out some new dynamics on this show. From a character standpoint, completely separate from the comics, why not explore Archie and Betty? They've got history (in the show universe) and a connection that has barely been touched on and I'm curious. Maybe it will click. Maybe it will be just as much a trainwreck as the Serpent tomfoolery that's been amplifying all the worst things about the show this year. I'm not exactly here for fine art, so I'm happy to just see where it goes.
  9. Haha, the absurdity of Jughead being incensed that Cheryl made the guy who covered up her brother's murder clean up a milkshake. And then he's indignant that Father-of-the-year who couldn't keep it together to notice his kid was homeless a few months back was a King (a KING) of some podunk gang like that's something to be proud of. I miss Season 1 when everybody knew FP was a dirtbag and not the long-suffering hero they're trying to pitch him as. My disbelief won't suspend that far, but tell you what, if he wants to make himself useful he can start a sexy affair with Alice Cooper. That I'd buy. While we're at it, I'm in for Betty and Archie. They've had very little meaningful interaction for kids who are supposed to be best friends and I'm curious to see how they interact emotionally now that we have some remove from the peak dumbass version of Archie from the pilot. Come at me, controversial ship. I'm here for that drama.
  10. I don't typically get invested in ships as I find it limiting to watch a show from a perspective where interactions between two characters make or break the experience. Plus, I'm fickle enough to take interest in all the options. BUT. I ship Cheryl with Crazy. I want her and Crazy to stay together forever and ever and have whimsically disturbed brain-children that run amok through Riverdale, delightfully warping everything they touch. I will DIE if these two are ever separated. OTP!
  11. I really appreciate how everybody got into their best Grease Cosplay for the drag race. But I love that said race came about through FP's dated Fast and Furious dad-joke (he would be a fan of that cornball franchise), pitched with a straight face and a ludicrous air of criminal cunning. What a dork. When he was talking about how the Serpents have been through worse with other rival gangs, I thought, yeah those sprained fingers must have been rough after the prolonged snap-battle with the Sharks. I've seen less sanitized gang leaders in shoujo manga featuring yakuza sons courting hapless schoolgirls. Does the end of this Sugarman nonsense mean we're going to stop seeing kids getting their wacky sugar-(literal)highs from Pixie Stix copyright infringements? God, I hope not. This show can't shake the cheese of its digest roots, and I'm not even mad at it.
  12. This is more of a Season 2 wishlist kind of thing than a speculation, but I hope the expanded season gives the writers room to focus on the Betty/Veronica friendship more. I feel like they spent a lot of time building the romantic relationships this season, which kind of isolated the core 4 into their respective couples for the character moments. Jug and Archie got some attention, but we were left with more shallow B and V interactions. The Betty/Veronica stuff started out promising, but fizzled out quickly as soon as Bughead started up. I want to see the girls leaning on each other a bit more, bonding, and facing challenges and issues together. Hopefully, that thread will get picked up again for S2.
  13. Hey, so when Jughead was calling Betty from Dangerous Minds, what was that box connected to the wall he was talking into? Did he lose his phone?
  14. I don't know who Vermin and Kevin are but I'm not hellbent on making him evil. When did I say he was evil? I've also said several times that I actually like him - I have no motive to hate him. I'm just not trying to bend over backwards to excuse actions of his that we have seen. Again, he can be a shady character and also be enjoyable to watch. Both of these things can be true at the same time. He is a criminal, in canon. We do have canon proof of him running errands for Hiram Lodge (taking that big bag of money from Hermione - which later wound up alongside Mustang's dead body, so....). We also know that he burned Jason's car because he took the jacket from it. Now, that could be because Cliff paid him or it could be to cover up his own crime with the drugs. We also know that he (criminally) gave this kid drugs to sell - is that evil? I would say no, but it certainly isn't righteous. And he had no motive but financial there, so definitely craven. I don't think you can say with such authority what point the show is trying to make. We weren't shown at all what FP's motives for cleaning up the body were. That's your speculation. What we do know is that he cleaned up the body, covered up the murder, and had a tape of the crime being committed for leverage. His motives are up in the air. If Mustang went entirely off script, then why did FP have the tape? How would have known about it? I'm not saying FP is evil, I'm not saying there aren't worse folks in Riverdale. I'm just pointing out that he's not that innocent, and I'm really confused by this sanitized version of him you're presenting as though it's show gospel when we've seen otherwise. Anyway, agree to disagree, I guess.
  15. Yeah, I don't disagree. I just think it's fair to look at this character (negligent of his family, alcoholic, Gang leader, cleaning up murder scenes and sitting on blackmail material rather than seeking justice, etc, etc) and think he's less than a saint. My point was that, based on what we've been shown, saying "Hey, FP isn't entirely innocent here" is a perfectly reasonable position to take.
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