Across seven seasons of Riverdale a lot of bonkers shit went down. Archie sleeping with his teacher in the premiere would ultimately be one of the most normal things to happen on a show that turned Cheryl Blossom into a comet-stopping witch, did time travel and super powers, flung multiple teachers out the same window, and had that whole cult in the Rei Ayanami fit for a hot second. But while on the outside looking in this might have seemed like humorous desperation, by the end the cast and crew were all rolling with it.
Speaking about the finale of the series after it premiered this week—which, among other things, confirmed that Archie, Jughead, Betty, and Veronica solved their love triangle issues by simply becoming a polycule—with Variety, Berlanti Productions chairperson and Riverdale executive producer Sarah Schechter reflected on just how and why Riverdale went from Maple Syrup mafias to time travel demon cults and serial killer genes.
Her answers, perhaps much like Riverdale itself, hit a broad spectrum of absurdity. First, there’s the logic—Riverdale is a rare modern scripted drama with 24-episode seasons, and when you have that kind of opportunity you have the space to go wild. “This show is such a testament to the variety of Roberto’s passions. Roberto [Aguirre-Sacasa, Riverdale creator and Archie Comics CCO] is a lot like audiences today who love horror movies and comedies and action,” Schechter mused. “The idea that people only like one kind of thing is not true. I think there’s a modernity to it that is really interesting, and will be interesting to look back on.”
“I also just think that the number of episodes we got to make—to make them in a time where we had a really strong, experienced writers’ room that were on set, producing episodes, getting to know the actors—speaks to how the show evolved, changed and grew. In making so many episodes, you can play. You can have fun.”
Then, there’s the acknowledgement of some of the earlier slides into absurdity, like that time in season three where Archie fought a literal bear (“The bear was—it was around The Revenant,” Schecter explained. “Bears are good storytelling devices”). And then, lastly, the acceptance.
“The joy and the immense privilege of doing a show for seven years was watching this cast grow up. I think they all went through it [differently],” Schechter concluded. “I think in season two, Cole [Sprouse] was like, ‘But why?’ By season six, everyone was like, ‘Yep, OK!’ Everyone got on board. Even Camila [Mendes] at one point, I was telling her something, and she just shrugged her shoulders like, “Yep, it’s Riverdale!’”
And god bless them for it. There’ll never be another show like Riverdale—arguably, maybe there shouldn’t be. But while it was here, you could never accuse if of not going for the most.
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