• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Riverdale |OT| Teen Peaks (or: Archie's Weirder Mysteries) - Thursday, 9/8c on The CW

Clearly it's a different kind of show, but there were a few moments where the music evoked the hell out of Friday Night Lights and it worked sooo well.
 

Grizzlyjin

Supersonic, idiotic, disconnecting, not respecting, who would really ever wanna go and top that
Clearly it's a different kind of show, but there were a few moments where the music evoked the hell out of Friday Night Lights and it worked sooo well.

OMG, thank you for pointing this out. There were a few moments that had me thinking back to Friday Night Lights and I couldn't put my finger on why.
 

PK Gaming

Member
Might as well call this show Veronica™ because goddamn, Camila Mendes is absolutely running this show. Forget Archie, Veronica's basically the main character (and a better audience surrogate imo). The cast is really strong in general, even Archer (who's undeniably the weakest) has a couple of things going on with him.
 
I watched the first half online during my lunch. I really enjoyed what I saw. Characters are likeable already, show has my preferred fast paced referential dialogue (kind of reminds me of The OC), there a lot of pretty things to look at, and the loose bit of murder mystery/intrigue is enough for now. Will watch the rest when I get home.
 
I really liked it. Veronica is the best character so far. Really like the twist on her classic archetype that they gave her. A shame about the ratings. Hopefully they go up.
 

Bubble

Neo Member
I liked it. Likable characters (especially the girls), a few funny moments and I really liked that they poked at some of the typical tropes.

Shame to hear about the ratings though. It is the CW though, so low ratings might not be that big of a problem... Maybe?
 

JeTmAn81

Member
I didn't hate this like I thought I would. It's Archie in Name Only (AINO), but they've done a decent job of at least carrying over some of the core character traits. Veronica and Betty's friendship really works. Archie himself has a decent amount of depth, being torn between all these different worlds which are tugging at him. Jury's out on Jughead since we saw so little of him. His dynamic with Archie really needs to be right, but since they seem to be on the outs we don't know what that's like yet. Cheryl Blossom seems delightfully nasty.

The 2017-ness of everything turns me off...half the characters need to be changed to a different race, people have to have secret gay and/or illicit affairs, everybody's parents are divorced, Betty's mom hopes someone is burning in hell, etc. That ain't Archie. But AINO could still be an entertaining show. We'll see.
 

Pilgrimzero

Member
I didn't hate this like I thought I would. It's Archie in Name Only (AINO), but they've done a decent job of at least carrying over some of the core character traits. Veronica and Betty's friendship really works. Archie himself has a decent amount of depth, being torn between all these different worlds which are tugging at him. Jury's out on Jughead since we saw so little of him. His dynamic with Archie really needs to be right, but since they seem to be on the outs we don't know what that's like yet. Cheryl Blossom seems delightfully nasty.

The 2017-ness of everything turns me off...half the characters need to be changed to a different race, people have to have secret gay and/or illicit affairs, everybody's parents are divorced, Betty's mom hopes someone is burning in hell, etc. That ain't Archie. But AINO could still be an entertaining show. We'll see.

I can agree with all of that except the race part. Comic Archie is pretty white. Every main character, their parents, and Pops are straight white people.

Heck if they went comic version you'd have the one black family, one of the pussycats is also black and then the one gay guy. I think that's it.
 

Fancolors

Member
Just watched the first episode.

Never read any Archie, so none of the differences between the comics and the CW show are issues to me.

Betty and Veronica make a great pair, and Archie has enough problems to make me interested on him.

Solid show so far.
 

Fuu

Formerly Alaluef (not Aladuf)
I can agree with all of that except the race part. Comic Archie is pretty white. Every main character, their parents, and Pops are straight white people.

Heck if they went comic version you'd have the one black family, one of the pussycats is also black and then the one gay guy. I think that's it.
And even the gay guy is a super recent creation (2010).

We're talking about a character who has faced the Punisher, a Predator and that has a version in a zombie apocalypse. Switching things up is more than fine. I dig what they did with Pops, Reggie and the Pussycats. The jury is stil out on how they'll handle Moose's orientation, but the "no homo" angle might be interesting.
 

Fantastical

Death Prophet
I think I like Veronica more, but I really liked Betty too. They were both great. I kind of liked everyone except Ms. Grundy.

Also, FUCCCCKKK at those ratings. Hopefully CW continues to renew its low performing shows.
 
And even the gay guy is a super recent creation (2010).

We're talking about a character who has faced the Punisher, a Predator and that has a version in a zombie apocalypse. Switching things up is more than fine. I dig what they did with Pops, Reggie and the Pussycats. The jury is stil out on how they'll handle Moose's orientation, but the "no homo" angle might be interesting.
latest
 
The ratings are a bit low, but it's the CW and they like to hold onto critical darlings despite their ratings. This show also is getting some strong word of mouth, so hopefully it'll get a boost from that too.
 

Sou Da

Member
And even the gay guy is a super recent creation (2010).

We're talking about a character who has faced the Punisher, a Predator and that has a version in a zombie apocalypse. Switching things up is more than fine. I dig what they did with Pops, Reggie and the Pussycats. The jury is stil out on how they'll handle Moose's orientation, but the "no homo" angle might be interesting.

Just a bro-job. Not gay.

Did they actually call it that?
 

HeavenlyE

Member
Betty is one of the few "girl next door childhood friend" characters that I really like so far. Honestly most of the characters are really likable, but geez archie don't go kissing a girl you just met a few hours after someone confesses to you.

Also Reggie is the perfect jock character, hopefully he gets a lot more scenes.
 

ZeroX03

Banned
Wait Molly Ringwald is in this?

Yep, Archie's mom. He certainly didn't get that hair from his dad.

The 2017-ness of everything turns me off...half the characters need to be changed to a different race, people have to have secret gay and/or illicit affairs, everybody's parents are divorced, Betty's mom hopes someone is burning in hell, etc. That ain't Archie. But AINO could still be an entertaining show. We'll see.

Gonna give you a little side eye on that one.
 
Being more familiar with the classic Archie comics (though I have read some Archie Afterlife), there were some major disconnects for me (Mrs. Cooper being a total cunt, Fred and Mary split up, etc), but the episode was good enough to be willing to check out next weeks.

And the CW's ability to cast gorgeous actors never fails to amaze either.

Just about died when Kevin told Betty about Moose being hung like a horse
 

JeTmAn81

Member
I'm completely not against changing a character's race, or other characteristics...but the casting in this show just smacks of PC cheese. Like, it was cast by the kind of people who think that a group can be "too white". America is still really white. Also, some of the changes tend towards stereotypes.

The nerdy scientist guy is now Asian? The hot singing group is all black girls now? Veronica as a Latina makes perfect sense. Reggie and Dilton as Asians doesn't. They don't look anything like their comics counterparts. Also, seems like South Asians get short shrift when this happens.
 

Grizzlyjin

Supersonic, idiotic, disconnecting, not respecting, who would really ever wanna go and top that
I wonder if Archie's mom being in Chicago was a subtle nod to John Hughes' films, most of which took place in or around Chi Town. Considering they got the Brat Pack Queen to play her, I'm thinking yes.
 

Fuu

Formerly Alaluef (not Aladuf)
I wonder if Archie's mom being in Chicago was a subtle nod to John Hughes' films, most of which took place in or around Chi Town. Considering they got the Brat Pack Queen to play her, I'm thinking yes.
Speaking of which, I hope they don't resist doing some clever Twin Peaks nod with Mädchen Amick (although one could say that the whole show and her being in it is already a massive nod, haha.).
 

GavinUK86

Member
Finally got around to watching it and I loved it. It really surprised me. I watch a lot of CW shows, and I've been reading all the Archie books since the relaunch a few years back, so I was hoping it was good and it delivered in spades. It feels a lot like the comics imo. Sure, it's darker but the way everyone is drawn to Archie feels legit and I pretty much guessed who was playing who before they were introduced, minus the main group that I already knew about. Not keen on the Archie casting but I love everyone else so far. I'm sure he'll grow on me. Betty and Veronica definitely stole the show. Super excited for next week's episode after that Jughead narrated cliffhanger.
 

Replicant

Member
Kind of weird to see Archie and Reggie looking that good. They make Moose kind of plain even though the actor is hot IRL. OTOH, at least now it makes sense why Archie is being fought over by Betty and Veronica and Reggie is the lead jock.

More Moose and Kevin. I've definitely encountered guys like Moose. Hot but frustrating due to their fear of what others would think if they find out. Also would like to see Moose and Dilton's friendship since Reggie doesn't seem like his real friend.
 
I was slightly disappointed with this. It ended up way more teen drama and way less Twin Peaks than I wanted. Like 90% dry straightforward melodrama and 10% really dry mystery. I will keep giving it a chance and hope it gets more interesting. Sometimes it takes a bit for shows to really find their groove.
 
Just watched the first episode and liked it quite a bit. The Sexy Archie Show is good everyone!

Side note - Like hell these people are sophomores lmao

Side side note - Veronica is the better character but I have a serious crush forming for Betty /checks actress's IMDB
 

kevin1025

Banned
I'm way into this. Finished watching it just now. This show is damn beautiful, it certainly has a look and style. Plus everyone on the show is beautiful, haha, so that adds to things. It's on Netflix weekly here in Canada, so I'll be supporting the show that way!

Some of the dialogue really caught me by surprise, too, it's better written than I'd been expecting.

The Betty Draper jokes make me wonder if they're going to make this a pseudo-Mad Men prequel, haha.

Also, I went to follow Cheryl Blossom on Twitter like she told Veronica, but she never wrote anything yet :(

One last thought: Smithers must be the key to everything.

https://twitter.com/CherylBombshell
 
Biggest disappointment of the TV season so far. Man I was really looking forward to this, a mix of Archie and Twin Peaks, with a darker take. I was on board with the concept. But the execution was horrible. I didn't feel attached to any of the characters, the dilogue was pretty bad, and the direction was all over the place. I did like Veronica, and I thought Archie's dad was OK, but they juggled WAY too much for the first hour of the show. Maybe it will get better as it has more time to breathe, but it was pretty much crap.

Then I see all the great reviews and I feel like I'm taking crazy pills.
 

zulux21

Member
The ratings are a bit low, but it's the CW and they like to hold onto critical darlings despite their ratings. This show also is getting some strong word of mouth, so hopefully it'll get a boost from that too.

the ratings are fine for the cw.

i mean it did way better than crazy ex girlfriend's premier and despite crazy ex girlfriend averaging only around 500k viewers a week it still got picked up for another season.

it's not super far off from jane the virgin's premier... either way i doubt the show is super expensive to make, so giving the reception there isn't much need to worry about right now.
 
Top Bottom