I watched every episode of Riverdale. Why? Because I’m a glutton for punishment but also because I loved the absurdity of this ridiculous show centered around a bunch of “teens” in upstate New York. The CW series was based on the Archie comics and saw Archie Andrews (KJ Apa), Betty Cooper (Lili Reinhart), Veronica Lodge (Camila Mendes), and Jughead Jones (Cole Sprouse) all going to high school and dealing with love, loss, serial killers, and time travel.
A show that was simply a musical take on the comics grew into Archie Andrews taking a school bus to war (a real thing that happened) and having him fight a bear (also real). That was before, of course, the introduction of alternate timelines where they were superheroes or where a bomb in Archie’s room caused a rip in the time and space continuum, forcing our favorite teens go back to the 1950s for the last season of the show. That all sounds off the rails right? Well, it’s Riverdale so that’s what we come to this place for. Dazzling images on our television screens.
**Spoilers for the Riverdale series finale ahead**
In the final moments of the show, as we were saying goodbye to our favorite characters, it seems as if Riverdale took a page out of Lost‘s book. We got to see a wonderful purgatory of characters at Pop’s Diner, where Betty meets them all after going back in time from her deathbed to have one last day with her friends. The finale itself was emotional and I did cry because for all its nonsense and mess, Riverdale was a show that celebrated its chaos and knew exactly what its fans wanted.
Part of that chaos came from musical numbers or over-the-top storylines but possibly the most off-the-wall choice of the whole series was the reveal of the “quad” relationship in the finale.
It was about the quad after all
Riverdale had its ships just like every other show. Whether you wanted to see Veronica Lodge and Archie Andrews figure it out or you wanted Betty to smooch both Archie and Jughead at the same time, the couples of the show were important to fans. They often changed throughout the show and we got amazing covers of popular songs or musicals because of it. Famously, Veronica and the girls sang “Out Tonight” from Rent while beating up a rapist named Nick St. Clair (Graham Phillips) because whether it be romantic couples or friendships, this show was all about sticking together.
At the end of the show, Jughead from the modern storyline takes Betty from 1950s (who is now an old woman on her deathbed) back in time to celebrate the one day she didn’t get with her friends. It’s the day they got their yearbooks and Betty had the mumps. Future Jugead took old Betty back to that day and we find out that she, Archie, Jughead, and Veronica all were in a quad polyamorous relationship and would all happily share a physical and emotional relationship with each other.
Frankly? That’s what we always wanted! Everyone just kissing and they even showed fans Veronica and Betty in love with each other. It was brief but at least the show finally acknowledged what fans had wanted from the start of it all. While the quad was such an important part of the show at large, it was also more about the friends that Riverdale made along the way and Betty got to meet them again in the afterlife of Pop’s.
In death, we’re all at Pop’s Diner
What made the finale of Riverdale so emotionally impactful was genuinely how absurd it was. Why? Because that’s what made Riverdale so special. Where else could you see Betty Cooper, who had the serial killer gene, going “dark Betty” and singing “Mad World” to a group of Serpents? Only on Riverdale. Only on this show could Archie literally fight a bear and then go on to become a beat poet. Cheryl Blossom and Toni Topaz were basically live-in girlfriends at the age of 16, we love it!
Riverdale constantly kept doing things that other shows wouldn’t, simply because they could. Going back to Pop’s Diner as Betty is dying in the back of her granddaughter’s car? Without the show really acknowledging that they just got stuck back in time in the 1950s and we don’t really know what happened to their future selves? No notes, none. At all.
I love that we went back to Pop’s to see everyone as they all died. It’s giving the Lost finale in the best way and I’m going to miss this absolutely off the rails show so much.
(featured image: Justine Yeung/The CW)
