'Riverdale' season 4 to go the comics route, may focus on Archie-Betty-Veronica love triangle and 'The Archies' coming together
In its opening season, 'Riverdale' followed the story of a small town in America coming to terms with the murder of a high school teen. A far cry from the Archie that we saw in comics- downright funny and who had first-world problems of managing enough dough for dates with his sweethearts, Betty and Veronica. We saw a perpetual burger-stuffer and soda slurper in Jughead Jones, and in Betty and Veronica, it was two teens who fought over Archiekins, loved shopping and were the sun and moon of the comics.
Now, we see a jacked Archie who boxes, plays football and aspires to be a musician. We see Jug as an amateur sleuth and a writer of sorts. Betty is your perfect next-door girl who prefers clenching her fists so hard till her palms bleed if something stressful were to happen. And, finally, Veronica, the sultry new girl in town.
Their enemy? The vile and cruel, not to forget, the damn rich Cheryl Blossom. Her brother, Jason Blossom, often Archie's rival in the comics, was shown to have disappeared in a boat accident and is later shown to be dead. Each character seems to carry some dark secret or tragic past.
Three seasons have passed by and there have been sprinkles of references to the comics. The teen drama has seen ratings of 88%, 88% and 84% for each of its seasons. The show is such that you love and hate the characters at the same time. You want the snobs to pay, and sometimes you actually might enjoy their audacity in certain situations. There are problems that most teens face and are relatable, but then there's too much drama with hefty doses of crime, teen romance, and grim humor. So much so that it comes across as ridiculous and yet eggs you on to watch it.
It was learned during the San Diego Comic-Con 2019 from showrunner Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, that the plotline of the fourth season series will go back to season 1. And what's more, Lili Reinhart who plays Betty Cooper also teased a Barchie romance. To add to the pleasant surprise element, KJ Apa who plays Archie Andrews added that 'The Archies' will be formed. The band that has the four main characters including Reggie Mantle will finally be introduced.
Now that we know what to look forward to, it's refreshing to see that we will be seeing some light-hearted drama for a change. If anything, the first three seasons was more of a 60% crime drama with the remaining percentage of the pie split between romance, sentiments, and humor. Each season had a couple of episodes where we saw Josie McCoy (Ashleigh Murray) do a fantastic job of dishing out a few tunes, and now we can look forward to 'The Archies' maybe, just maybe, roll out their chartbusters from the comics.
The Archie-Betty-Veronica love triangle was often the central plotline in the comics and it's pleasing to know that we could expect something along the similar lines in the upcoming season. The triangle had some thigh-slapping humor in the comics and hopefully, we get to see that too. The Betty-Archie romance was often all "cookies and cuddles at home" dates and it will be a change from the pop's dates and meet-ups we have seen so far.
While 'Riverdale' does justice to choosing a darker theme, the fact that it goes back to where it started in season 1 means there would be less of crime, and more of a teen drama that we always expected it to be. In three seasons, the show has firmly established the traits of its characters and season 4 would see the lighter side of them.
Here's hoping that we see more laughter, more romance, more of football and maybe less of crime and grotesque murders in season 4 which is all set to premiere this October 10 on CW.