Favorite Movie: Dirty Dancing (1987)
Favorite Episode: Stag (7x16)
Most Relevant: Don't Worry Darling (7x01 + 2022)
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We all new it was coming--welcome to the end. I don't want to get overly sappy because this is a CW show, but it undeniably changed my life and was there through some really rough patches. The quality of Season 7 doesn't negate that impact.
7x01: Don't Worry Darling
This is a great note to start on, despite my ratings, because it sets the tone for the rest of the season. The episode is underdeveloped, the movie is lukewarm at best, but the implications are crazy. We are explicitly being told that 50sdale is a prison and the characters have varying levels of lucidity. The town (or architects) have discovered that people don't need to be hurt to stay, they just need to feel comfortable. Not even that. They have to be less uncomfortable than they believe they'd be otherwise.
I want to believe that the protagonists, like Alice, become aware in stops and starts. We as the audience don't see this because the town has the final say in where the story goes. Their minds are wiped, injuries cured, and sent on their merry way to live another day in Pleasantville. They'll never get out in a way that matters.
Don't Worry Darling (2022) - ★★½
Don't Worry Darling (7x01) - ★★★
7x05: Tales in a Jugular Vein
Stylistically, the influence is obvious, and the comic book panels add a lot of character to what would otherwise be boring exposition, but this combination angers me on principle. "Killing Mr. Honey" is the exception for anthology comparisons, not the rule, because it manages to further the plot and strengthen relationships while not really happening. It's far too late in the show to spend time on chintzy bottle episodes. That aside, Riverdale did a far better job with the concept; when it comes to comic adaptations, there's no such thing as too much camp.
Creepshow (1982) - ★★½
Tales in a Jugular Vein (7x05) - ★★★
7x07: Dirty Dancing
Oh, Betty. Where to begin. She's Baby, butting up against the title of "Perfect Daughter" but running to her daddy whenever things get out of hand. Rebellion is found through dance because bodily autonomy is the most regulated part of her life, yet the easiest to take back. She wants to change the world, but not for any sense of altruism. She wants the recognition, the infamy, and above all else, the last dance.
Dirty Dancing (1987) - ★★★★
Dirty Dancing (7x07) - ★★½
7x08: Hoop Dreams
I'm reminded of Fortune and Men's Eyes in the way that the source material feels far too serious for a teen CW sitcom. In the same breath I'll say that serious material is what makes Charles Melton shine, and for that I'm glad. Basketball is his only way out of Duck Creek. He tries his best to get to the big leagues, but even if he wins he loses--he has no one to share his victory with. You try, and sometimes it isn't enough. Sometimes it is.
Hoop Dreams (1994) - ★★★★
Hoop Dreams (7x08) - ★★★½
7x10: American Graffiti
One of the innate truths of the universe is than hot rods are fun. Fast, sexy, and full of freedom, but they fit far better in the counterculture of the 70s. At its core, Riverdale should be about freaks, a million interconnected storylines, and everything else that makes up 70s low budget sleeze. It may all tie back to the American dream, but that can't be all there is. The audience has to work for it. At least both works agree that it ultimately surmounts to nothing.
American Graffiti (1973) - ★★★
American Graffiti (7x10) - ★★★½
7x11: Halloween II
This exists as a callback to a previous reference rather than an exploration of the original work. It sounds deep and layered, but it's really just that Halloween happened again. Whatever.
Halloween II (1981) - ★★½
Halloween II (7x11) - ★★★½
7x13: The Crucible
On the surface, likening the burning of Ethel's comic books to the death of the John Proctor is about eradicating the "evil" that's actually holding the town together. With Riverdale, there's always more. They (whoever they may be) are destroying the future of an interesting storyline. What makes Riverdale Riverdale. It may go out with a bang, but the fuse keeps putting itself out. Above the surface, obvious enough to slap you in the face, is Archie's monologue, and thank god for K.J. Apa.
The Crucible (1996) - ★½
The Crucible (7x13) - ★★½
7x20: Goodbye, Riverdale
It's crazy (and fitting) that the poor quality of the movie is what makes this a compelling comparison. The original ending--pessimistic, bittersweet, full of longing--was written over so the main character could get her "happily ever after." But people still die. Emily will too, once the town decides it's done with her, so until then she gets to slog through day after day of charming mediocrity.
Season 6 was written over to facilitate season 7, the latter existing as a dream scenario where our protagonists are able to live life the "right," pure way. Like in Don't Worry Darling, the greater power at play learned that violence is unnecessary when people can be just as easily--if not more--kept in place by a sense of security. Sure, most characters left Riverdale town limits, but in a way that's spreading a piece of Riverdale wherever they go. It's the end of a parasitic horror movie, with the audience left on the cliffhanger that the quarantine has been breached. The town won. It all starts again.
Our Town (1940) - ★★½
Goodbye, Riverdale (7x20) - ★★★
In the eternal words of Audrey Hepburn, I don't know how to say goodbye. Do any of us?
- urdeadbestfriend
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