S01.E01: Chapter One: The River's Edge

[CletusMusashi]

There are only three good things about the show so far: Betty, Veronica, and more Veronica.

Mostly, it's like they rounded up and slaughtered all the Archie characters, cut off their skins, and stretched them over the cast of "Generic CW Teen Drama 14879B."

And why is Moose called "Moose?" It used to be because he was big. Now, it's just weird.

Also, shouldn't Sabrina be here? Granted, her own show wasn't exactly great.

But it was a far cry better than this crap.

Edited February 9, 2017 by CletusMusashi

[Bill1978]

7 minutes ago, CletusMusashi said:

Also, shouldn't Sabrina be here? Granted, her own show wasn't exactly great.

I've been wondering if she will be showing up. But I've come to the conclusion they won't introduce her as that requires magic to be a real thing, and at the moment I feel this show wants to have its universe be real and not fantastical. Unless they decide to go the path of crazy girl who thinks she is a witch. Or the CW pressures the show runners to use Sabrina as a back door pilot for a bizarre Charmed reboot.

[peachmangosteen]

I remember reading something somewhere before the show premiered about them thinking about brining Sabrina in later.

Also, weirdly enough, they are in fact doing a Charmed reboot.

[dwmckim]

On 2/8/2017 at 5:54 PM, CletusMusashi said:

 

And why is Moose called "Moose?" It used to be because he was big. Now, it's just weird.

 

Maybe he's the President of the You Can't Do That on Television fan club??

[starri]

3 hours ago, dwmckim said:

Maybe he's the President of the You Can't Do That on Television fan club??

I don't know. 

[Miss Dee]

As someone who devoured tons of Archie (and other Riverdale titles) digests growing up, I learned pretty quickly that the characters' personalities were going to change with the era and the writer, except for the very broadest strokes. As they're keeping those broad strokes here (and they are) doesn't bother me one bit. 

However, as with all other renditions of the Archie universe (Archieverse?), I'm resigning myself to the inevitable fact that Jughead/Betty will never be explored as a 'ship. All manner of apostasy is permitted in the Archie universe except that one heresy, apparently.

I really want a parody of Riverdale done with Elves, now.

[Eneya]

Sabrina is, I think, coming in Season 2 and there will be magic.... I think?
About Moose... idk, stupid nickname that stuck?

[Bruinsfan]

On 1/27/2017 at 5:59 PM, Affogato said:

It's the weird bushy eyebrows, giving him that werewolf crazy look. The weird bushy dyed eyebrows :-)

I don't get why they bothered dyeing his eyebrows; it's not as if Archie's aren't discordant black caterpillars in the comics.

On 1/29/2017 at 5:33 PM, tennisgurl said:

Like, I hope Kevin gets more to do than be everyone's Sassy Gay Friend...

They did give him a functioning libido, which is a refreshing departure from the stereotype. It's pretty clear that more than half of Kevin playing Betty's Jiminy Cricket with regard to Archie is that he has his own unrequited crush on the guy, and that midnight hookup with Moose wasn't about playing second fiddle to other characters Speaking of, I'm going with the theory that the reason for Moose's nickname would have been rrevealed in that skinny dipping scene if it were airing on Showtime instead of network TV.

One thing, Jason Blossom went missing on the 5th of July. Wouldn't his corpse be bloated and unrecognizable if it's been floating in the river for a couple of months in the middle of summer? It looked like it just fell in the water that morning.

[methodwriter85]

On 3/1/2017 at 4:03 AM, Bruinsfan said:

They did give him a functioning libido, which is a refreshing departure from the stereotype. It's pretty clear that more than half of Kevin playing Betty's Jiminy Cricket with regard to Archie is that he has his own unrequited crush on the guy, and that midnight hookup with Moose wasn't about playing second fiddle to other characters Speaking of, I'm going with the theory that the reason for Moose's nickname would have been rrevealed in that skinny dipping scene if it were airing on Showtime instead of network TV.

 

Kevin is cute even if they basically dress him up like a preppy dork. I do think it's nice that we don't seem to be getting any "one kiss a year if that" b.s. that we got from Jack McPhee.

Kevin seems a bit more like Walt from the Carrie Diaries, just upped a few levels and with an expansive floating timeline knowledge of pop culture.

Edited March 7, 2017 by methodwriter85

[Miss Dee]

I think Kevin did hint that Moose's nickname was apt from what he could see of a certain appendage...but it was talked about, not seen.

[leslieo54]

Spoiler

 

On 2/12/2017 at 8:11 AM, Miss Dee said:

However, as with all other renditions of the Archie universe (Archieverse?), I'm resigning myself to the inevitable fact that Jughead/Betty will never be explored as a 'ship.

 Heh - not so fast...

 

[Miss Dee]

Spoiler

Ah, I was so young and naive back then....

[thuganomics85]

Way late to the party, but I saw this was on Netflix and after hearing that it ended up being better then expected, I decided to give this a go and watch the pilot.  I'm not too familiar with the Archie comics, so that really doesn't factor in here.  Overall, I was intrigued and mainly enjoyed it, even if it had plenty of the classic CW-ish soap, drama, and silly plots.  In particular, this really felt like old school Greg Berlanti before he became the mind behind a lot of the D.C. shows.  For better or worse, I was really getting some Dawson's Creek vibes with the Archie/Betty/Veronica triangle and Archie sleeping with Miss Grundy, with maybe a splatter of Everwood with the small town aspects, and everyone giving the new folks the side-eye.

Right now, Veronica is easily my favorite.  Camila Mendes is gorgeous and really fits the character well.  I like that she started out with some of the typical "big city socialite looks down at everyone" retorts, but seem to really make strides at being more accepting and supportive of Betty.  Too bad she ended up kissing Archie in the closet, but hopefully that was a one time lapse, and it won't derail what she and Betty were building, because I do think that was the highlight.  Betty was an interesting enough character too, even if Lili Reinhart wasn't quite as strong (but it's still just the pilot and I can easily see her finding her groove quickly.)

I actually don't hate Archie, since I feel a lot of his annoying moments comes off like how a lot of teenage boys would act (granted, I was one of the few people on the planet that didn't despise Dawson Leery), but it is a bit much having him romantically attach to three different women already.  And that hair really isn't working for the actor.

Not enough Jughead, but I'm sure he'll factor in later on.

Cheryl is a fun antagonist, although between that name and being a redhead, I automatically keep thinking of Cheryl from Archer.

Pretty rough introduction to Josie and the Pussycats.  I don't know what they were going for, but they really were making her kind of unlikable.

In pure CW fashion, they got a few veterans to slum it here as the parents like Luke Perry, Marisol Nicholas, and Madchen Amick.

It was great to look at.  Vancouver really is beautiful.