Going Out With a Whimper: Season 7 Discussion

[ruby24]

Adding Jughead into the mix was a cop out tbh. It was only to satisfy the original Bughead shippers, of which I’m not convinced RAS ever was one.

B/A/V would be a twist on the original comics I guess. Maybe that’s what he wanted to do really. But the V/J thing didn’t work at all and I’m not convinced anyone ever wanted or asked for it. Like I said earlier Veronica and Reggie would have made more sense here and why would they have no desire to go back to each other as well?

[rmontro]

14 hours ago, Chicago Redshirt said:

Even assuming for argument's sake that most high school students aren't mature enough to navigate that sort of relationship, it's important to point out the Core Four in this final episode aren't typical, nor are they truly high school students. 

Well, let's just say it worked for you, but not for me.  I guess it goes along with all the other craziness on the show, but I didn't care for it.  It smacks of being similar to wife swapping to me.  Which apparently works for some people, but I still think it's jenky.  If you want to do it, have at it, it's just not my cup of tea.

[Affogato]

4 hours ago, ruby24 said:

Adding Jughead into the mix was a cop out tbh. It was only to satisfy the original Bughead shippers, of which I’m not convinced RAS ever was one.

B/A/V would be a twist on the original comics I guess. Maybe that’s what he wanted to do really. But the V/J thing didn’t work at all and I’m not convinced anyone ever wanted or asked for it. Like I said earlier Veronica and Reggie would have made more sense here and why would they have no desire to go back to each other as well?

Jughead gets to have an entire life he remembers with Tabitha as well as a life mostly unattached. Pretty cool. Betty also gets to have her cake and eat it, too. Also cool. 

This season I doubt there is any fan service that the writers and showrunners didn't want to Insert in the show. They were pleasing themselves. 

[tennisgurl]

That certainly was...an ending. An utterly bizarre ending that raised a million more questions than answers, mostly around how the Riverdale kids can live their whole life in the 50s while still having memories of things that happened in the present during the first go around and wondering what was even the point of the last six seasons if none of that even happened anymore, but I guess its what I expect from the show at this point. It was a batshit crazy (but weirdly low key) ending to this batshit crazy show, I can respect that the show decided to really lean into the crazy at the last minute even until the very end. 

Not really the finale I was wanting but it certainly could have been a lot worse. Everyone went on to have happy endings (except for Fangs and Julien, sorry guys) and all end up in the Pops Diner portion of the Sweet Hereafter, as Jughead closes us out with one last freshman year poetry class monologue for the road. The episode had a weirdly somber tone to it, which is appropriate for a series finale I guess but it also made things feel a bit lifeless (ironically) especially after the crazy ride that led us here. I suppose the show more or less ended in the last episode and this was the epilogue as Betty and Jughead see everyone and Jughead explains what happened to everyone, but I guess I was expected a bit more as the crazy train finally pulled into the station. I also feel like, because this all took place in the new timeline, we didn't get a lot of closure on the main Riverdale timeline or a lot of call backs, although seeing the original Jason again was a nice touch. 

Riverdale, it was truly the weirdest of times and the craziest of times. It was a time of murder mysteries and a time of Chad Michael Murray on a rocket ship. We had everything from evil D&D games to cults out the wazoo to crazy nuns to more serial killers than a season of Criminal Minds to literally anything happening with the Blossoms to alternate universes to the gang fighting against the actual devil, if nothing else this show has never been boring. It hasn't often been good, and at its worst its been downright creepy and offensive, especially as so much of it clearly existed to get its cast into extremely specific fetish situations for the show runner to jerk off to, but I have to say I'll miss it. If nothing else I was never bored, and that is certainly something. 

Archie's forth all breaking poem was funny, although I thought that Angel Tabitha got rid of their bad memories. I figured that Cheryl holding onto her dead twins corpse (who no longer ever existed?) or Fangs stealing organs for a cult would be things that they wouldn't want to remember. Oh Angel Tabitha, have you been messing with these weirdos?

The cast overall has been great, bless them for how hard they tried to say the absolutely insane lines they got with such sincerity, I will nominate KJ as most improved with Lilli as the most valuable player. I also want to shout out the older cast of industry pros playing the parents, most of whom were definitely trying to add some gravitas to the insane things this show has them do. 

[Affogato]

On 8/26/2023 at 9:36 PM, Noneofyourbusiness said:

Good point. They were living in the same house. Reggie's not that oblivious.

I'm sure that stuff was there further into town, but as you say, we only saw the sign and Pop's, which was now a very old former business. Too bad given that before the timeline was altered, Alexandra was planning on franchising it.

  They drove by the school. There were tumbleweeds. 

[Noneofyourbusiness]

On 8/28/2023 at 5:55 AM, ruby24 said:

Adding Jughead into the mix was a cop out tbh. It was only to satisfy the original Bughead shippers, of which I’m not convinced RAS ever was one.

B/A/V would be a twist on the original comics I guess. Maybe that’s what he wanted to do really. But the V/J thing didn’t work at all and I’m not convinced anyone ever wanted or asked for it. Like I said earlier Veronica and Reggie would have made more sense here and why would they have no desire to go back to each other as well?

Also, Jughead barely interacted with Archie or Betty this season (despite that both he and Betty were menaced by Dr Werthers) and only somewhat more with Veronica. He was mostly in an isolated plotline from the rest of the main cast. Which made it odd when the musical portrayed him as Archie's best friend. That's clearly Reggie.

[Noneofyourbusiness]

On 8/28/2023 at 12:18 PM, Affogato said:

  They drove by the school. There were tumbleweeds. 

Not drove by, it was part of a montage. Which was only in the extended version. I looked at the video on the site just now to see what you were talking about, and the montage definitely wasn't in what I watched on TV. Yes, this scene shows a lot more of the town in a seemingly abandoned state.

Edited August 29, 2023 by Noneofyourbusiness

[StewieGriffin]

Guess they're all at Pop's now forever 17 eating burgers, fries, and drinking milk shakes laughing and having fun with their friends.  Not a bad way for them all to end up in the Riverdale Universe if that's heaven.

[Bill1978]

When making a list of greatest series finales, will the one for Riverdale make the Top 10? Not at all. But considering the hot mess this show became, I found the finale very satisfying. And it may be a low bar to set for a series finale, but if by the end I feel nostalgic for the show that just ended then it did its job. And that's what this finale did. It actually made me want to rewatch the series.

I think the best finale vs finale comparison to use would be Glee. Both shows were a hot mess by the end, and both shows used their finale as an extended epilogue to the previous episode. And I have to say, I think Riverdale hit the epilogue out of the park. Sure, the endings may not have satisfied every fandom, but they at least tried to explain where everybody ended up before they died. I think the framing device of Betty travelling through her memories was a good way to exposition dump everything.

My only complaint is that if the writers had time to throw in a random mention of Chic, the least they could have done was thrown a Moose reference into Archie's fourth wall breaking 'poem'. I mean even Chuck got a call out in the Josie episode.

And actually, speaking of Chic, I wasn't a fan of how Jughead delivered the update on what happened to Tom Keller and Uncle Frank. It was delivered like those two definitely deserved to be murdered. Which honestly, I feel did a disservice to Tom in the original timeline where he was a supportive dad to Kevin. I mean when the comet hit, he was sitting in a comfort circle holding hands with Kevin and Moose. Not exactly a guy who deserved to be murdered by a hitchhiker he picked up for sex. Although I'm glad that Kevin and Clay lived a long healthy life and didn't succumb to the stereotypical death of AIDS in the 80s (this reminded me of the gay couple in the Australian show A Place Called Home who survived the AIDS crisis as well and were able to get married before they died). 

It's also a shame they weren't able to film that final diner scene when the Ethel and Josie were available for filming. That scene will always have a touch of 'if only'. Similar to when I watch the final song on Glee's finale and wish Marley could have made filming that day. 

I appreciate the writers weren't exactly subtle in referencing Titanic as a reference point for this episode. With Old Betty speaking like Old Rose and Jason (best cameo of the season) opening the door to the diner for Betty. And I also like to think the scene of Betty saying goodbye to Riverdale is a reference to Muriel saying goodbye to Porpoise Spit in Muriel's Wedding.

This season ended up being my second favourite season after the first one and the finale was very satisfying and dare i say emotional at times. Probably because I never cared about Varchie, Bughead, Barchie, Vughead, Veggie etc.

It was definitely time for the show to end, but there is a part of me that is going to miss the craziness this show bought to the screen.

[ruby24]

Just got around to watching the extended edition.

I think what bugs me most about this finale is that other than Archie's poem and the "quad," which I'm completely convinced happened because they felt they had to nod to Betty and Jughead one last time, this was entirely a finale for the 50's characters we've been with this season. It really had nothing to do with anything that happened in the six seasons previous. None of them acted like they knew anything about their old selves at all.

Also it was weird the way Betty kept asking what happened to people as if she didn't know.

[Bill1978]

2 hours ago, ruby24 said:

Also it was weird the way Betty kept asking what happened to people as if she didn't know.

I just assumed that it was a form of dementia or old age forgetfulness. Even though she didn't get to go to her final day as senior, she was essentially recalling the good times with her friends as she slowly prepared for her death. And Ghost Jughead was just there to help her untangle her forgotten memories while conveniently dumping exposition for the audience.

 

2 hours ago, ruby24 said:

this was entirely a finale for the 50's characters we've been with this season.

This is a very valid takeaway, and while it was a satisfying end for S7, as a series finale it definitely wasn't completely satisfying from a character point of view or big story. I re-watched the first-ever episode this week and the tone is so different that I doubt anybody; crew, cast, writers, and viewers, would have picked the finale that we got based on that first episode.

As much as I enjoyed Season 7, I couldn't help shake the feeling that the writers regretted that time jump and really wished they kept the crew in their teenage era/university era. So rewound the clock because it's easier to end a teen drama than an adult drama involving superpowers and whatnot.

 

[Featherhat]

You know, I have been a proponent of "well maybe you could all just date?" as at least a possible option to end TV love triangles for a long time now. It doesn't necessarily have to happen but at least have the discussion or even the idea before dismissing it, guys. However it didn't work for me here. 

1) There was absolutely no set up, it was just thrown in for a shocking twist and so they didn't have to bother picking a pairing. 

2) Poly or ethical non monogamy takes a huge amount of good communication skills from all parties and a lot of work to be successful for all parties and despite these teens "really" being in their 20s I don't think they have this. 

3) The people in it where wrong, where's Reggie if you're going to go that route

4) Very vague on whether Archie and Bughead considered themselves to be together or if it was really Betty and Veronica both dating both guys. If you're going there, go all the way, especially if you aren't going to actually explore it through the season. 

I mean, I know this is Riverdale of all things and I was never, ever going to get this and it doesn't matter because it wasn't about the Quad but without that context for me it just was "whatever". But even the new Gossip Girl explored teen poly better than that - I mean not well but they actually made a storyline out of it. It's the equivalent of "is it because I'm a lesbian?" as Elisabeth Rohm's last line on L&O. Whatever I've probably put more thought that they did into it. And it doesn't really matter since they broke up after high school, which makes sense.