Riverdale Season 7 is like a fever dream and a passion project all rolled into one–and the point of it has been rapidly slipping away from me the further the season progresses.
Riverdale Season 7 Episode 16, however, introduced the beat culture and the focus on “Howl” and stag movies, which may just be the kickstart needed to return to the present-day timeline (or at least re-visit it as it’s been said Riverdale will not leave the ’50s before the series ends, though we will get closure in different realities and dimensions) as it was deemed the generation that rejected and rebelled against the standard American values and conventions.
We see that unravel with Archie and Reggie’s sexual awakening (within themselves and with each other), along with Archie’s “expanded horizon” as he truly begins to live. It’s made clear in Betty’s liberation from her mother, while also seeing through Polly that the world extends far beyond the parameters of Riverdale and that freedom is just around the corner for her.
Cheryl and Toni are also on the verge of taking back their narrative as they are fed up with hiding their true selves and trying to conform to the image expected of them by society, while Jughead and Mr. Fieldstone’s push back against censorship as Werther’s bands with Mayor Blossom and one of the nuns at the Sisters of Quiet Mercy to ban all comic books that don’t agree to their wackadoodle “code.”
The beat culture, known as a counterculture, became one of the most successful free speech movements in American literature, and infusing that into the ’50s versions of the characters might be the key to cracking this whole thing.
Up until this episode, I felt as though we’ve gone through 15 episodes of the final season and accomplished nothing that impacts the overall storyline, but I do believe that helping these characters redefine who they are on their own terms and acknowledge what’s important and what matters most to them will help them fight for their reality.
Or, maybe it’s just wishful thinking on my part because I so badly want to understand the purpose of this season aside from the creators/writers wanting to play with the flirty and innocent dynamics the ’50s have to offer, all while dabbling in the complexities of the time period like bans and censorship.
The focus has been solely on sex, and it’s hard to see the substance aside from the creators simply wanting to play with ships and mix and mingle.
With only five episodes left, we have to be seeing the end of the tunnel as time is almost up, so it would be a shame never to return to the characters that actually mattered—the ones who, in the real timeline, endured plenty of character growth that has been erased with this regression to high school.
I do, however, cherish Riverdale’s commitment to honoring all the actors and characters that made the show something unique and zany, with Polly getting her moment in the spotlight, along with a storyline that was finally worthy of her greatness. Polly has never been written in a positive light; they never did her character justice, but in this alternate timeline, she’s truly winning. She left Riverdale, she pursued a career she loves, she’s traveling the world, she has a man that loves her, and she’s doing it all without the judgment of her parents. She’s the future and the person that inspires Betty to dream big. Polly’s chosen path in life does put into perspective Betty’s obsession with, as well as Alice’s strict behavior and fearfulness of a sexual and independent woman.
Next up, the series is dedicating an episode to Josie, who also deserves a proper sendoff that does right by her character.
There have been plenty of relationship shakeups this season, and that’s putting it mildly. Every single person was, at one point, smitten with the other and involved in some shape, way, or form. I truly think that the only stable couples on the show have been Toni and Cheryl and Kevin and Clay, with the former truly doing the fandoms a service this week with that photoshoot. Also, what did Cheryl actually mean by shutting her parents down?
And we definitely witnessed Julian inventing home videos… for watching in the privacy of your own home… without even realizing it. Can you imagine such intimate moments being shared with people at a movie theater?
This episode saw the true love between besties Archie and Reggie—who were bonded in more ways than one—and Betty and Archie shippers might be feeling a little jealous that so much of the final season has been focused on the bromance between these two verses establishing an actual endgame for #Barchie, who seem to go one step forward and several steps back. Who knew Reggie and Archie were even in the end game running? They literally had more intimate moments in this one episode than Betty and Archie have this whole season despite all the vague comments made about her “always being sweet on him” and reminders of the PG “burlesque show” they did together. Are the creative forces holding out for the final episode to give us the big #Barchie moment because if so, what a waste!
It was troubling that Archie and Reggie essentially lost their virginity to an adult woman as it almost repeats the predatory and grooming storyline between Archie and Mrs. Grundy in season 1. Just because she does this for a living, doesn’t make it okay with high school boys.
Mrs. Gruny reiterated that she has a husband several times throughout the episode, so I don’t think they’ll make us re-live that storyline again, but there was plenty of sexual tension between her and Archie, which was strange and weird and unnecessary, simply adding to the confusion of what this season is aiming to achieve and what it wants to be remembered by.
However, those who felt cheated by Veronica and Jughead’s brief relationship at the onset of the season were in for a treat as they revived their spark and locked lips in one steamy moment. The thing I like about this pairing is that they didn’t obsess over each other nor were they really on each other’s radar for much of this season; they simply felt a natural connection after discussing business and acted on it like two adults. It felt genuine, though I doubt it will stick as I expect Tabitha to make her way back with a proper solution. (And I guess Betty and Veronica are no longer feeling that cosmic love for each other?)
And finally, there hasn’t been much momentum on the serial killer of the season—the Milkman—since he was taken out by Ethel Muggs, but I imagine the motive behind his killings has something to do with the committee trying to censor and drive Pep Comics out of business. Why else would this be such a point of contention and loosely correlated all season long?
Even though I’m finally starting to, possibly, piece together the meaning of this season, there’s still so much that needs and deserves to be addressed, so I’m hoping they wrap it all up properly with the five remaining episodes.
It’s been quite a messy season with no clear path forward, but hopefully, it will all start to make sense soon enough.
What did you think?