The exit to Riverdale has closed after seven seasons. It's about time. It started as a simple murder mystery. A small American town, teenagers and their daily problems, a brutal murder of one of their classmates. However, it didn't stop there. Riverdale quickly grew into a bizarre surreal drama full of magic, superpowers, organ cults and musical episodes. After seven long seasons, the series is finally coming to an end.
It is 2017 when the first episode of Riverdale airs. The CW produces one teen drama after another and it sells like hotcakes. Riverdale quickly became a success. As more seasons were added, it became more and more bizarre. Not only the storylines, but also the dialogues seemed to come from another world. Riverdale quickly became known as a series that was so bad that it was fun to watch. That's why I'm still here after seven seasons. Despite the cringe, it has remained entertaining all this time.
The seventh season of Riverdale picks up where the sixth season left off. Do you remember? That sixth season where everyone got magical superpowers and the village was threatened by a coming comet? That comet hit. Hello Riverdale, you might think? No, because guardian angel Tabitha Tate (Erinn Westbrook, The Resident) has sent all the residents back in time to the 1950s.
Despite the cringe, it has remained entertaining all this time.
In the 1950s we not only see familiar faces, such as Archie (KJ Apa), Betty (Lili Reinhart), Veronica (Camila Mendes), Cheryl (Madelaine Patsch) and Jughead (Cole Sprouse, The Suite Life of Zack and Cody ). We also see old acquaintances who we have not seen for a long time, such as Ethel (Shannon Purser, Stranger Things), Midge (Abby Ross) and Evelyn (Zoé De Grand Maison, Orphan Black).
The time travel is an interesting twist that brings this season back to Earth. This time no craziness, no cults, no magic. It's just a simple high school drama. That's fun and it gives new dimensions to the familiar characters. However, the fact that we stay in the 50s for the entire season feels unfinished. The end of the season and of the series therefore feels like an anticlimax, as if everything that happened in the previous six seasons does not matter. And so is the way it ends.
They could have gone all-out again and they didn't.
Honestly, I can't say much more about this seventh and final season of Riverdale. Riverdale is exactly what you think it is and you should judge it as that. You don't expect high-quality acting or fantastic cinematography, so don't judge it on that. Judge on the entertainment, judge on the expectations you set in advance.
Why then only a 6.5 despite that? Because I expected more from the ending. I secretly hoped for a return to 2023, more magic and surreal storylines full of craziness and absurdism. It's been a bit tame this season, maybe too grounded? They could have gone all-out again and they didn't. That's a shame, because that's partly why you watch it!
