#lilacsky

Ok here goes. In every CW show that I’ve ever watched, the first season is good, the second season in incredible, and then everything flies off the rails in the third season. In Arrow, they went so deep down the wannabe Batman rabbit hole that, in my opinion, they still haven’t recovered. Flash barely managed to pull itself out of the pit in season 4 with the wedding, and I have to watch the new season of Supergirl before I can make a decision. Now it seems, the third season curse has struck again, with Riverdale.

Let me take you back to the final episode of season 2, Penny Peabody is running the Goolies, Hiram Lodge has set up his full town control system, and Archie is accused of murder. I was excited. So very, very excited. Veronica was finally going to stop flip-flopping allegiances between which of her parents she thought was eviler (they’re both awful) and had become the owner of Pops, and Betty stood triumphant over the biggest killer the town had ever seen, her own father. I anticipated a third season centered around Jughead and Toni running the Serpents, fighting against the Goolies in their typical detective style until Penny was forced out of town again, of course at some point bringing the mom and little sister into play, Archie either getting off on all charges due to the brilliance of Bughead, or surviving prison, and Veronica being forced to truly live a life void of all the privilege her parent’s had given her. Instead, we got evil Dungeons & Dragons, a serpent king who almost never wears his jacket, Toni going from awesome gang commander to lesbian fodder (we love Choni, we don’t love badly written plots for Choni) and a bunch of random craziness. 

The prison arc for Archi was honestly really well done, and had it been placed alongside a Serpents vs Goolies or Bughead vs Hiram plot like it seemed in the first episode, I would have been glued to the screen every week. I thought that the madness Archie faced in prison not only was a compelling story, but also kind of his karma for betraying everyone in season 2. My main issues with this season with the treatment of 4 characters.

First, from the very first episode it was obvious the Betty was the only sane member of her family, however by the end of season 2 I truly believed Alice had finally pulled her head out of her ass and would become reasonable, instead, she ends up in a cult, and sends Betty to a place that, in all honesty, has had so many horror stories at this point I’m amazed they hadn’t been shut down years ago. Now, as far as the Betty part of this storyline, I actually really like it, I just am tired of Alice being a constant obstacle every season. 

Second, Toni Topaz was one of the best parts of season 2. I’m a very big Vanessa Morgan fan, and I honestly only started watching Riverdale because Vanessa Morgan was cast in the show. So to see her go from Jughead’s serpent guardian, to his second-in-command, and then made into nothing more than Cheryl’s running buddy (whose antics removed her from the Serpents) that’s lazy writing. I know she’s forming a new gang and I’m eager to see where that leads, but this also ties into another factor I find so frustrating. Perhaps hoping Cheryl would behave differently this season was asking too much, after all, Veronica has barely changed so why would Cheryl when, at their core, they’re nearly the same, but I was hopeful. In my opinion, the girl who shot the black hood with an arrow and threatened Penny Peabody is not the girl we’ve seen this season. Don’t write great arcs for characters if you don’t plan on having them actually grow and develop. 

The last thing, I honestly just think the writers are trying too hard at this point. It’s too much, and not enough of it is good. It’s quantity instead of quality. However, two things keep me watching: Betty & Jughead,