New To Riverdale? Here's Everything You Need to Know! (Part 1)

If you haven't heard of the most popular show on the CW yet, what are you waiting for? Riverdale is all the rage these days... especially with the critic YouTube channels. Riverdale... is something. It's also a lot of things, so I'd suggest you buckle in because we're all in for one heck of a ride.

The first thing you should know about Riverdale is that it's based on the iconic Archie comics. Yessir, nearly every character you've ever read about and enjoyed in the Archie comics is probably in this show. You've got Archie Andrews (of course), Jughead Jones, Veronica Lodge, Betty Cooper; Josie and the Pussycats have a brief stint in the show and they even stuck in that new kid Kevin Keller.

Great right? A bit of nostalgia even the old folks will love! Wrong. Take everything you've ever known about these characters and just throw it in the trash.

We start with our very own Jughead Jones narrating. Cheryl Blossom's brother has (supposedly) drowned in Sweetwater River on the Fourth of July. Then take an instant cut to Betty's bedroom. What's she up to? Well, she's in her bra gushing to Kevin about.... actually I forget what, it's been so long since Season 1. Anyway, somehow, Kevin sees Archie through Betty's window because they're neighbors and utters the now, iconic line:

"Archie got hot!"

Now, Betty's had a crush on Archie for a while now, and to kind of catch up, she takes him out to Pop's. That's when we meet... the new girl. Dun, dun, dunnnnnn!

Veronica Lodge is moving to Riverdale with her mom after her dad got sent to jail for some random business illegal scam thing. They're in Riverdale now and Hermione Lodge (Ronnie's mom) needs a job and so they can't really splurge on a lot of stuff (hence why they rented the most expensive penthouse in town). So Veronica heads down to Pop's where she runs into Archie and Betty. Archie immediately falls in love with her.

Next, let's meet Jughead. Jughead is an emo boy. He's homeless, his dad is drunk all the time and he ends up living in the closet under the stairs at school (Harry Potter vibes anyone?). Jughead is the brooding type. Very cynical, sarcastic, pessimistic, and by the end of Season 3, honestly kind of annoying.

Throughout the first episode, we meet several other characters who will be very important later such as Cheryl Blossom (follow me at @cherylbombshell!), Kevin (who is literally "the gay best friend"), Josie and her Pussycats (can't even with her), and Geraldine Grundy (who is the music teacher and Archie's girlfriend-long story).

Back to the plot. The first season moves through the story of the supposed "drowning" of Jason Blossom, Cheryl's twin brother. Then Kevin and Moose discover Jason's body by the shore of Sweetwater River while skinny dipping. The body has a distinct bullet hole through Jason's head and it is obvious he didn't drown. Cheryl is taken in for questioning where she reveals that the drowning was a cover. Jason wanted to run away from his responsibilities at home, as his father was grooming him to be the heir to his maple syrup business when Jason got older. So he and his twin planned to fake Jason's death, but instead Jason was to run away once across the river and make it to safety. Obviously, Jason didn't make it.

Archie hears about this and remembers that he had heard a gunshot on the Fourth of July. Except he'd have to explain what he was doing on the day. Ms. Grundy insists that he doesn't testify as Archie had been making out with her, but Archie does and tells the sheriff (Kevin's dad) that he had just been walking his dog.

And while all that is happening, Veronica and Archie get shoved into a closet for a round of Seven Minutes in Heaven where Veronica makes out with Archie, much to Betty's dismay. We also discover that Betty's mother seems to have a vendetta against the Blossom family after Betty makes the cheerleading squad with Veronica (due to, as Cheryl put it "faux lesbian kissing") and insists Betty quit once she finds out Cheryl is the captain and that she's friends with Veronica. Betty says no and leaves.

Let's go back a bit. Veronica goes on a date with one of the football players, Chuck Clayton. He slut-shames her on social media and Veronica is very upset, so she goes to the locker room to confront him. This leads nowhere. Eventually, Veronica has had enough so she invites Chuck to the hot tub for a night of "you-know-what". Then, Betty walks out in a black cabaret wig and a black bra and skirt. She proceeds to literally torture the truth out of Chuck by nearly boiling him alive/drowning him. Meet Dark Betty.

Around here is where Betty and Jughead start dating and Jughead moves into the school closet.

Now we find out that Polly, Betty's sister, was pregnant with Jason's children and that's why she was sent away to a convent. Polly escapes and is later found in the Cooper's attic and then relocates to Veronica and her mom's penthouse because Polly doesn't want to give up her baby.

Jughead is then arrested for being a suspect in Jason's murder, but luckily Archie's dad bailed him out by forging documents that say that Jughead was working for him at Andrew's Construction on the day of the murder, after it was confirmed that Jason wasn't murdered on July 4. He was murdered sometime on the eleventh.

Now, a baby shower is held for Polly at the penthouse and after the nearly disastrous events, Polly goes to live with the Blossoms and Betty's mother learns that Hal, Betty's father tried to force Polly to get an abortion. Betty's mother, Alice kicks Hal out after she discovers this.

Next, it's Jughead's birthday and after explicitly stating he didn't want a birthday party, Betty throws him one. It soon turns into a high school rave after Cheryl, Reggie and the rest of the football team, cheerleaders and half the school show up. Jughead is upset about the whole thing, and that's where we get the most amazing line in the show:

"In case you haven't noticed, I'm weird. I'm a weirdo. Have you ever seen me without this stupid hat on? That's weird."

Oh, Jughead. Please shut up.

Soon after, FP Jones (Jughead's dad) gets arrested for Jason's murder after a Serpent (the gang that hangs around town) is found dead in his bathtub after overdosing surrounded by money coming from a bag with the Lodge name on it.

Jughead is obviously distraught until the kids find Jason's car by the highway. Inside is Jason's letterman jacket. Betty discovers a flash drive hidden inside the lining and on it is security footage of Jason's very own dad shooting his son in the head. FP was only an accessory as he cleaned the blood and hid the body.

Mr. Blossom is found dead, having committed suicide once he knew he was caught. Afterward, Betty and Jughead are about to get real cuddly when the Serpents (the gang) knock on his door and offer him a position.

The Archie's dad gets shot, Hiram Lodge comes back and yep!

Confused yet? I am.

Despite it's flaws, the first season is good, for the type of show it is. The characters are nicely developed, the plot moves at a good pace, and the romance doesn't move too fast and isn't *too* unrealistic.

But just wait until we hit season 2! That's where stuff starts to get... interesting.

Character list:

Archie Andrews (K.J. Apa)

Betty (Elizabeth) Cooper (Lili Reinheart)

Veronica Lodge (Camila Mendes)

Jughead Jones (Cole Sprouse)

Cheryl Blossom (Madaline Petsch)

Kevin Keller (Casey Cott)

Josie (Ashleigh Murray)

Reggie Mantle (Charles Melton)

Polly Cooper (Tiera Skovbye)

Fred Andrews (Luke Perry)

FP Jones (Skeet Ulrich)

Alice Cooper (Mädchen Amick)

Hermione Lodge (Marisol Nichols)

Nathalie Boltt (Penelope Blossom)