Riverdale (CW) *Spoilers*

[Confuzzled]

Move over, Black Hood. Riverdale's own Secret Society of Super Villains is here to serve. Hiram giving major Lex Luthor vibes.

[titanfan]

I know I thought someone was gonna be sniped. Josie for sure. We know her mom will take archie's case next season.

Now her mom can get more screen time than her too!

[Agent Z]

I get that we're supposed to be scared for Alice but honestly how bad can this cult be compared to Riverdale?

Okay, helping the Serpents is one thing but why would Sienna offer her services to any of the Lodges? She should be avoiding these people like the plague after what happened last time she got involved with them.

Don't know what Archie expected when he broke into a ruthless mob boss's house and threatened him. Did he forget who he was dealing with?

All in all I did find I kind of liked this finale if only for the stuff revolving around the Serpents. And hey maybe now that Kevin and Moose kissed they'll be important.

[PyroTwilight]

To be honest it's almost hilarious how bad this Cooper family is nowadays. Polly herself basically now being either mind controlled by a cult, or vindictive enough to toss her Mom there. Haha.

I'm actually somewhat surprised and disappointed by Hiram's turn to outright villainy here. Sure he's slimy as they come but I really liked the idea of him being a villain who otherwise is doing everything, or as much as he can, legally. IE Being lawful evil. Since up until now unless I missed something the only times he ever really did underhanded things anymore was if he was being targeted by old enemies from before his prison stay.

That being said it's almost hilarious that of all the things they're doing or dealing with, that Penelope Blossoms is the least outright evil (and depending on how it's done, not). Though knowing this show her brothel will also inexplicably be filled with kidnapped people or something at this rate just to make her EXTRA bad.

[Confuzzled]

Okay, helping the Serpents is one thing but why would Sienna offer her services to any of the Lodges? She should be avoiding these people like the plague after what happened last time she got involved with them.

She does owe Veronica for tipping her off and saving her reputation though.

[jbmasta]

She does owe Veronica for tipping her off and saving her reputation though.

Not to mention Veronica was working against her father as well.

[jbmasta]

The season 2 finale felt less like like it's own episode, and more like setting up storylines for the third season as well as wrapping up the loose ends from the second season. The student council election barely got any coverage, to the point I had predicted it would carry over into season 3. When Hiram's pet sheriff said he'd identified the copycat Black Hood, I knew the suspect was dead.

Veronica is now independent from her parents, her father at least, and own Pop's. Hermione is mayor, but it was a close margin and she seems to be having a lot more doubts about Hiram. Hiram has gone into cartoonish supervillainy, setting up his legion of doom with Penny and the Ghoulies, Claudius (such a wasted character) and Penelope, and the sheriff in his pocket.

The season could have used more fleshing out of the background characters. Midge's death was entirely about the return of the Black Hood over any sadness at losing her. Despite Reggie being recast so he could be used more (the actor who played him in season 1 had commitments to 13 Reasons Why), yet he never got any focus. Chuck's redemption arc was done over two non-consecutive episodes and in different halves of the season. Kevin is still the token gay, brought out for the quippy lines but yet to receive any major storylines. The writers had 22 episodes, they didn't have a limited amount of time to work with.

The Black Hood arc was poorly paced and poorly written. With murder mystery storylines the murderer should be decided early on, rather than having to pick from the most eligible candidates at the end (because there weren't many in this case). Writers can get foreshadowing in there and develop the red herrings a lot better so it's harder for viewers to predict.

[Confuzzled]

Most of the problems stem from the fact that the Core Four and their families have blotted out every other character and storyline in the show, with scrappy Cheryl being the lone exception (and even she gets shortchanged at times, like this ep where a little more buildup would have been appreciated for her officially being "knighted" a Serpent).

I'm excited for the Legion of Doom though. Is there a supervillain team from the old Archie/MLJ Comics whose name they could use?

[Martini Sigil]

This show is devoid of nuance and subtext, the writing is sophomoric, and the very premise it operates from is absurd.

.... I never miss it. #GuiltyPleasure

[jbmasta]

Most of the problems stem from the fact that the Core Four and their families have blotted out every other character and storyline in the show, with scrappy Cheryl being the lone exception (and even she gets shortchanged at times, like this ep where a little more buildup would have been appreciated for her officially being "knighted" a Serpent).

I'm excited for the Legion of Doom though. Is there a supervillain team from the old Archie/MLJ Comics whose name they could use?

Something like Buffy's The Zeppo, following one of the background characters like Reggie or Kevin and relegating the usual A-Plot with the core four to the background B-plot instead. Tales from the Darkside sort of did this, following three sets of characters in the same timeframe with some events having characters cross over. It organically slows down the pacing of the ongoing storylines enough to pace out the season, yet there's still some development and non-Core Four characters are developed. We might also see how other characters view the Core Four, providing some outside context for the characterisation of the Core Four. Production-wise it eases up pressure on the actors for the Core Four (KJ Apa got injured in a car accident while driving and being tired due to working so hard), and gives the other actors more to do. Besides the Core Four, their families, Cheryl and Toni, the characters are pretty much one dimensional ciphers (token gay, jock, cheerleader etc). Giving them storylines independent of the Core Four and the season arc fleshes out them and the town in general, plus allows for more references to the comics for those who read the comics.

Supernatural did an episode set entirely within the Impala, so maybe Riverdale could do an episode entirely set within Pop's. It'll be a more prominent location next season as Veronica owns it, so perhaps seeing a day within there could show us town members and how they behave and interact. It'd also show Pop's a a hub in Riverdale, and thus a hub of information. Just look at how many conversations the Core Four hold there, as well as other characters. FP will retain his employment there, plus the club Veronica intends to open (opportunity for Josie to make more regular appearances?).

[Agent Z]

She does owe Veronica for tipping her off and saving her reputation though.

Perhaps it's just me but I'd be real careful about getting involved with the Lodges' drama again if I were her. Especially since Hiram still has knowledge of her affair with Kevin's father.

[jbmasta]

Perhaps it's just me but I'd be real careful about getting involved with the Lodges' drama again if I were her. Especially since Hiram still has knowledge of her affair with Kevin's father.

And Veronica knows all about the October Surprise, where the current mayor, her mother and a key pawn in Hiram's game (because Hermione is a pawn now), had an affair with Fred. So it pretty much evens out. If Veronica did leak it, it'd be just as damaging for Fred though, and force another election with fresh candidates.

[jbmasta]

Looking at the ratings, season two fared a lot better than season one. Season one averaged 1.04 million viewers over thirteen episodes where season two averaged 1.37 million over twenty two episodes. Only six season one episodes got over 1 million viewers, while season two only had one episode that didn't (S01E07 Chapter Thirty: The Noose Tightens, at 0.98 million). The highest ratings so far are S02E01 Chapter Fourteen: A Kiss Before Dying at 2.34 million, and the lowest is S01E10 Chapter Ten: The Lost Weekend at 0.87 million. For season two the ratings definitely dipped at the tail end, but did pick up for a nice round 1 million viewers for the season finale.

This doesn't include Netflix numbers, as they don't release viewing figures.

[Confuzzled]

It's funny The Lost Weekend had the lowest viewership as it was the events of that episode which tied directly into the season finale cliffhanger.

The dip in ratings towards the end was probably due to a combination of the number of breaks this season took and the odd execution of revealing the Black Hood's identity. Netflix will likely still cause a bump for the Season 3 premier over the Season 2 premier though.

[jbmasta]

It's funny The Lost Weekend had the lowest viewership as it was the events of that episode which tied directly into the season finale cliffhanger.

The dip in ratings towards the end was probably due to a combination of the number of breaks this season took and the odd execution of revealing the Black Hood's identity. Netflix will likely still cause a bump for the Season 3 premier over the Season 2 premier though.

You'd think it'd get more interest, as it was promoted with Molly Ringwald as a guest star. The ratings had been dropping since S01E06 (Chapter Six: Faster, Pussycats! Kill! Kill!), and that was around the time of the Archie/Valerie relationship iirc. If you look at Archie's storylines in season one as a viewer turn-off, it's logical to connect this with the ratings dropping.

I'd say the Netflix platform was the main reason for the bump in the numbers for the season two premiere. People were able to binge the first season instead of waiting for the DVD release, and along with the cliffhanger it provided an appetite for the next season. Fred was easily the best parent at that point, or the one with the cleanest hands (Hermione was involved in shady dealings for Hiram and Hal had lied about Polly and their connection to the Blossoms) , so the spike was probably people seeing if he'd make it.

Based on critical reception for season two, I don't think the season three premiere will see as much of a spike, certainly not the 1.38 million viewer increase the season two premiere got over the season one finale.

As for the odd breaks you cite, wasn't that the Winter Olympics? Lots of shows went on a month long hiatus during then because the network wanted to cover that instead. I can remember this happened four years ago, and it was when Supernatural was going through a period of boring monster of the week filler.