Riverdale is known for being original in crazy and bizarre storylines. The show transformed since its initial premiere and has long since passed on the more simple plot lines of murder mysteries and relatable character arcs. However, Riverdale’s story decisions have still allowed it to become one of television’s most original shows.
Originality allows shows to be more than what the audience expects. It means unpredictability, and Riverdale is the perfect example of a show that is pure entertainment at its finest.
The series embraced its comic book adaptation roots, breaking free from the average day-in-the-life teen drama. Instead, the show replaces concerns for college acceptance with organ harvesting cults and bullying over financial situations for killer board games.
It is a mass of unpredictability, and guessing the truth behind the mystery has become nearly impossible because Riverdale welcomed its ability to be as different as possible. Riverdale has been criticized for its desire to tell stories that never quite make logical sense. But that is part of what makes it such a fun show.
There is nothing like it in a world of reboots, remakes, and overused storylines. While other shows have been known for upping the crazy plot lines, such as Pretty Little Liars, Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, or The Vampire Diaries, none of those have been so willing to break the mold of a show’s continuity, whether in creating musical episodes, changing the tone in each episode, or making a massive splash like jumping backward in time.
Riverdale is not grounded by a relatable world but by characters that fans have grown to love and the relationships they have with each other. It is a show that thrives on craziness but still holds onto the heart of genuine relationships and love between the characters and the things they believe in.
Riverdale makes big swings and then follows through on chaos with an unpredictability that does not require a sense of reality. Committing to such a choice allowed the show to grow in ways no one could have anticipated when the main storylines followed Jason Blossom’s murder and Archie’s inability to choose between music and football.
As season seven brings the show to an end, it remembers all of those things about the show, and then some, as the final season brings everyone back in time to their teenage selves, but placed in the 1950s.
Riverdale’s willingness to be original in ways other shows have never tried allows it to thrive. The final season should be celebrated for choosing to take things in a much different direction than what would have followed in any other show. Allowing so many types of storylines to occur in one series has allowed it to earn the title of one of the most original shows on television.
