#Here’s why The CW’s ‘Riverdale’ isn’t just ‘Dark Archie’

[raymondebidochonlifechoices]

Are you confident Bughead will be endgame on this show? That’s literally the last strand I’ve been holding onto, but the thread is weakening. I really can’t believe that they would take this ship, their absolute most popular and loved one, and just end it like this forever. I am so angry with the writing!!

Hey there, anon! It is unbelievable, isn’t it?

What a tricky question you ask! confidence + prediction + the Riverdale writers ... As Jughead would say: yikes!

The thing with these writers is that they use a lot of words without knowing their meaning. “Endgame” is one of them. “New” is another. “Exciting”. “Darkness”™. “Adult stories”. “The message”…

Dangling the bughead “endgame” carrot at the end of one or two seasons of no bughead or -worse- of b*rchie and j*bitha f.e. is not an endgame. The general definition of endgame -outside of chess- is: the last stage of a process. If the process (i.e. the season’s content) isn’t about bughead, then bughead coming together at the very end is not an endgame, it's a peripeteia i.e. a sudden or unexpected reversal of circumstances.

In shipping, endgame is a couple that will inevitably end together (for ever and ever and ever). In order for something to be inevitable, you have to create that sentiment, you have to build the couple up.

There’s an article about the misappropriation of the word “endagame” that I find particularly funny, as it starts by mentioning Riverdale!

Anyway, this is a long-winded way to say that, yes, I do believe that the show will end with bughead and varchie as their main canon couples. It’s just that, like you, I’m so very tired with these story lines. There is satisfaction to be had at the notion of endgame but a seasonful of investigative bughead would be infinitely preferable. For me (and I can only speak of myself) the journey is more important than the destination -even if for the simple reason that -in TV show time- it lasts longer!

Why do I think bughead is still … that word? Everything’s under the cut, so as not to clutter your dash!

1. A lot of people have been theorising that what happened in 5x18 was not the original plot. I agree.

Let’s start with 5x18 varchie.

Their break up came completely out of left field. Its unexpectedness is reminiscent of 4x17. I make fun of how s5 is a reboot of s1+s2’s leftover ideas, so another copy-paste shouldn’t feel out of place, and yet … really? Another repetition? To what end? If the season’s goal was not varchie, b*rchie was already there waiting at the beginning of the time jump! Why abandon that plot? In terms of romantic varchie time, that was extremely limited, since after their kiss in 5x7, Veronica’s divorce kept them apart until 5x17 … Why have Archie being extremely jealous of Chad, Veronica getting involved in all of Archie’s schemes (firefighters, bulldogs), Archie getting involved in Ronnie’s (rescuing daddykins) or Veronica telling her father she chooses Archie over him in 5x17? Also, for those who remember, there was this by the-writer-who-shall-not-be-named.

The reason of the break up is as ludicrous as Veronica moving into Archie’s childhood bedroom (with its effing slanted roof!) on the premise that long term the Andrews’ residence has more room! (By the way, I don’t know what surprised me more: that Veronica thought that Archie and uncle Frank would know who Ina Garten is or that Jughead didn’t.) Why is Veronica astounded by Archie’s involvement in the same activities he has been involved in all through the season?! For f***’s sake, she’s the one that gifted him the fire truck!

Ok. Now let’s give 5x18 j*bitha a try.

For me, 5x18 could either have gone bugheadwards or j*bithawards. J*bitha had some heartfelt talks, a hand touch, a hallucination and a kiss. Bughead had one unfinished heartfelt talk (the only one in the whole season for Betty), two shoulder touches, two hallucinations and Jughead attempting to reconnect with Betty (without specifying what his intent was, it's true).

While I do think that j*bitha is a ship that has been adequately teased, the way they were explored in 5x18 was … not underwhelming exactly (after all, they’re not my ship, so I didn’t have any expectations about them) but … maybe lukewarm is the word? They had but minimal dialogue, only enough to establish that Tabitha’s parents were in town. Then a song where Tabitha initially rejects Jughead, although she had been supportive before. Then another song, where the lyrics were heavily altered and didn’t make much sense anyway (we hadn’t been properly introduced to the Tates) but where the original lyrics were very compatible with Bughead’s history and state of being as of 5x17. The kisses were ok, I have no problem with the actors’ chemistry. But -and this is strictly a personal opinion- Jughead’s flirting scenes (not the make-out ones, you perverts!) with Cora were better and so was the j*bitha kiss in 5x10. For the 5x18 j*bitha to flow, more dialogue and more flirting was necessary (always a persona opinion). So, no, I don’t think j*bitha were supposed to sing what they sang in 5x18.

Production for s5 wrapped up one week after the official announcement of the 5 special episodes for Riverdale and The Flash: “we expect it will take us until Fall 2022 to get back to a regular schedule” was the official quote. Re-organising the cw’s overall schedule didn’t happen overnight. Yes, more likely than not, the writers knew about the specifics of s6a before shooting 5x18-5x19 and had time to re-write them.

2. The couples spoilers for s6 do not make sense plot-wise.

If the end-goal for 5x19-6x1 had been b*rchie, j*bitha and v*ggie all along, these were pairs already happening (except from v*ggie) at the beginning of the time-jump. As for v*ggie, last time we saw them, Veronica pulled a face when she heard that he had had (still has?) an affair with Hermosa. And what about Nana Rose?! (ok, that was a joke! ... or was it? 👀)

The majority of both the fans and the general audience are bugvarchie shippers. Teasing b*rchie and j*bitha as a means of maintaining the viewers’ interest in a will they/won’t they way, only works if the audience finally gets what they want. In this season. Not the next one! There is so much trolling one can take after all. In the space of 1.5 year (4x17-5x19) b*rchie will have been teased ... THREE times (and still lacking build-up)!

I cannot myself see b*rchie, j*bitha and v*ggie as endgame couples. For the audience to invest in them after 4 years of bugvarchie, the writers have to a) give j*bitha an absolutely incredible development that will surpass bughead and the cinematography to go with it (good luck with that) and b) undo Archie’s character (highly unlikely) and/or give Betty a lobotomy (at which point a lot of people will quit en masse, because Archie as The One All The Girls Want just doesn't resonate with the majority).

I have no idea if s6a is an AU or not. But if it’s not, no one will be left to watch 6b.

Can I guarantee a bughead endgame? Of course not. I have no idea how the minds of the Riverdale writers work. But I do think that Jughead and Betty getting back together is more than wishful thinking.

Fervently shipping Jughead/Betty, Jughead/his book and Betty/therapy, sincerely yours, @raymondebidochonlifechoices

I hope you have fun with the Riverdale universe regardless, dear anon. Riverdale has given us one of the most beautiful getting-together stories in s1 and lots and lots of beautiful canon bughead afterwards. Here's to many more! Much love to you!

[fabianocolucci]

Can we have one lighthearted and optimistic show or movie for once?

Hello, I am writing this post because I have read that the CW is making a TV show about the PowerPuff Girls, except they’re going to be depicted as “20-somethings who are disillusioned after having spent their childhood fighting crime”.

Reading that angered me, I have to admit it, because this is just the latest of a never ending series of shows and movies that try to take something that is supposed to be lighthearted, funny and optimistic and turn it into something dark and edgy about how much life sucks, trying to highlight that “we live in a society” and so on.

Riverdale is the example many people come up with most of the time, and I can see why: its shared universe (which includes The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina) is a textbook example of how Hollywood keeps handling these things. However, what many people fail to realize is that this trend has been going on since long before the CW took Archie Andrews and the others and tried to be as dark and edgy as they can.

When Batman Begins proved to be a huge hit, and it was followed by an even greater hit (The Dark Knight), Hollywood apparently thought that the reason of its success was that it tried to be darker and edgier. However, those things worked only because Christopher Nolan wanted to take a popular superhero and tried to depict him in a more realistic tone (after all, their movies may be even darker than what Batman is supposed to be, unless you take in consideration any Batman comic written by Frank Miller).

Since then, we’ve seen countless movies, games and shows that tried to be so dark they’ve become bleak and, honestly, even a bit bland.

On the superhero side, we’ve seen multiple depictions where, for instance, Superman has become evil and is now a force that needs to be stopped (they even made a movie about this being a possibility, as if it’s inevitable), while we’ve seen at least four live-action depictions of Batman being a killer hero who has lost his vision and hope (to the point where Batwoman casually mentioning how Batman has a no killing code was enough to make that world’s Batman a lighter version than what is the current trend). The Netflix shows about Marvel superheroes even made it look like the Avengers’ arrival caused nothing but problems for New York (admittedly, they kind of have to depict New York this way, otherwise it would feel weird how there’s so many superheroes in that city and yet crime is still a thing).

On the fantasy side, because of Game of Thrones’ success, now every fantasy TV show wants to emulate it, and as such we have bleak, humorless worlds where there’s a lot of darkness, with constant “mature” content like swearing and sex (The Witcher is a great show, but they could have toned it down a bit, in that context). It’s like even a genre whose name is literally “fantasy” can’t escape in trying to depict a more gritty and real world where everything always has to be dark.

On the science fiction side, well, we’ve seen the new Star Wars movie, which took the ending of Episode VI, which was full of optimism and hope, and basically said “nope, everything now is so dark and lonely”. I guess one of the reasons why you could pretend the sequel trilogy never happened is that, well, they end with a more positive note than whatever happened after episode IX.

On the TV side, there isn’t just Riverdale or the upcoming PowerPuff Girls show. The Winx Saga has taken away all the color of the cartoon (no, seriously: everything is so grey and soulless looking in the TV show that someone may have to tell you they’re supposed to be The Winx Club in live action). The Nancy Drew show now is a dark mystery more in line with Riverdale actually. Netflix is making an Avatar show and apparently they want to age up the characters “so that they can have sex” (which somewhat implies that there’s someone who looked at 12 year old Aang or 14 year old Katara and thought “I want to see them have sex”, which is so creepy and disturbing that I even regret pointing it out).

This would not be such a big deal if there wasn’t the fact that we’re talking about the vast majority of big movies and shows! Even something funny like Lost in Space has been turned into a dark remake.

Why is it so hard to find something in Hollywood that doesn’t try to be dark and depressing? Well, I think there are multiple reasons, which I’m going to point out:

·       There is this idea among writers that drama is the only thing that keeps the plot interesting. Characters need to have tragedies thrown at them all the time, they constantly have to fight and (usually) heavens forbid if they even try to lighten up a bit. This is, of course, wrong, as shown by how many fanfiction writers take characters who have a life made of day-by-day drama and depict them in quiet scenes like them making a meal for their beloved or just going to a vacation where they can relax. Just because depicting nothing but quiet and peaceful moments can become boring on the long run, doesn’t mean it can never happen;

·       Because we live in dark times, then everything has to be dark. It’s as if people can’t experience any sort of hopeful escapism when out there it seems like nothing but tragedies and negativity occurs outside of their windows. Illnesses, war, deaths, recessions and so on happen 24/7, so how can you showcase even a bit of positivity? Well, I have one question: what kind of escapism would constantly remind you of the very thing you are trying to temporarily escape from? If I want to forget about the World’s problems for an hour, then why on Earth are you making me think about them? Who decided that the best way of forgetting that life sucks is to have your story say “life sucks” all the time? I don’t understand;

·       Writers are probably influenced by the “loser culture” on the internet. I mean, wherever you go on social media, people seem to have a race to see who has the most miserable life. Many comic artist have their characters experience all sorts of problems and negativity, there’s a lot of memes about negative stuff (how many times have you seen a wholesome post with a reblog or a retweet adding something negative? For example, I don’t know, someone tweets “I asked my mom a puppy, she brought me five of them” and someone says “if I asked it to my mom, she’d bring five slaps to my butt”). Of course, if I, a writer, see that people can’t stop talking about how much their life suck, I would think “well, maybe that’s all they want to hear about” and make characters with miserable lives;

However, I have always noticed how there’s a medium who seems to not be easily affected by all this stuff: animation.

You want a fantasy show where everything is colorful and bright? There’s lots of cartoons for that.

You want to see superheroes doing their best to fight for the good of the World? There’s plenty of them in animation.

You want hope and positivity? Tune in on any station that airs cartoons and you will find it.

However, the problem is that this goes hand to hand with the old stigma that, well, “cartoons are for kids”, so it feels like movies and TV shows are saying “positivity and happiness are for children. Grow the hell up and see how dark and hopeless the World truly is!”.

Why is trying to be positive and optimistic something that can’t happen if you’re a mature person? Why is it so wrong to just want to see a bit of peace in these media?

I don’t know what else to say or to add, so it’s best if I finish my post right here. So, here’s my opinion:

Even though it is okay for you to tell me a story where nothing matters, where “we live in a society” and where you can’t have good things, it should be balanced with something. Have you ever seen the Yin Yang symbol? Why do you think it depicts darkness with a little bit of light? Because nothing can be completely dark. So, just try to add some good energy in your story. It won’t be an issue for anybody to just have one moment where everyone smiles.

[diazpoems]

Me watching Riverdale S2:

THE WAY KEVIN IS RAISING HIS HAND TO THE MOTHERFUCKING SKY WHEN HIRAM ASKS FOR A VOLUNTEER FOR A WRESTLING DEMONSTRATION. THIS THIRSTY MOTHERFUCKER. HIS FACE IS PRICELESS.

I wish I could just jump into Riverdale and shake the characters and be like

Cheryl: Your parents fucking suck

Josie: Your parents fucking suck

Veronica: Your parents fucking suck

Betty: Your parents fucking suck

Archie: Your dads okay so far, I don’t know about your mom

Jughead: Your dad used to fucking suck but as a person, at his core, I don’t think he’s evil, and he’s getting better, but he’s got a ways to learn. I don’t know about your mom

Kevin: Your dad’s decent so far? Don’t know about your mom

Like especially Josie because I know it’s hard and that a lot of the trauma her mom felt probably manifested itself badly and Josie probably feels attached to her mom and like she owes her being a good daughter because her mom’s had it bad but like I also DON’T CARE. FUCKING TREAT YOUR CHILD RIGHT. I DON’T GIVE A SHIT WHAT HAPPENED. THATS YOUR CHILD. WOMAN UP AND BE A FUCKING DECENT PERSON. I DON’T CARE THAT YOU PUT A ROOF OVER HER HEAD, FOOD IN HER MOUTH, GAVE HER A SINGING CAREER (But continue to control it and not give her leeway to think and act on her own). SHE DON’T OWE YOU SHIT. FUCK OFF WITH YOUR WEIRD LIFE-FUCKING-SUCKED-FOR-ME-BUT-IM-ALSO-A-CLASSIST-BITCH PARADOX. MY DAD’S GOT IT MADE RIGHT NOW BUT HE HASN’T FORGOTTEN HIS ROOTS, HASN’T FORGOTTEN THE DISCRIMINATION HE FACED AND THE FACT THAT HE GREW UP SHIT POOR EARLY ON AND HE HASN’T DECIDED “Hey, let’s ridicule people for being in a similar position that I was in!”

Basically, this is me begging for for Josie’s mom to ✨fucking do better✨

Anyways yeah normalize Riverdale characters disowning their own parents ✌🏽🥰

Hmmm. If I wasn’t completely and utterly for the Serpents before, the white serpents learning to shut the fuck up and stand with Toni and her grandfather in opposition of the genocide and colonialism that was perpetrated by Cheryl’s great great grandfather? Hell fucking yeah

Dude I’m sorta crying at the scene with Hiram seeing Veronica in her confirmation dress because he’s a piece of shit but this is how it goes down, like it’s a whole thing

I love that I immediately knew the meaning of “Catholic chic”. Apparently that’s all going to church every Sunday for the formative years of my life accomplished

I hope Penelope Blossom dies in a fire :)

OH MY GOD, LOVE SIMON CAME OUT RIGHT AROUND HERE, KEVIN IS ASKING MOOSE TO IT, MY COMFORT MOVIE OH MY GOD-

Ugh, I don’t trust Midge. Something about the tropey-ness of her being The Girlfriend™️ and her face, as well as the fact that she played Gen in tatbilb, something doesn’t sit right. The haircut feels too manic pixie, like she’s hiding something. Bad vibes

NOOO CHERYL ILL GO ON A VACATION WITH YOU 😭 GOD IM SO GONE FOR HER

Aaaaand she did some fuck shit. Aaaand Toni is pretty. Aaaand there’s the internalized homophobia.

Jughead saying that growing up Betty’s and Archie’s windows being parallel always bothered him sounds more like a jarchie admission than a bughead one, I’m just sayin’

BETTY AND JUGHEAD’S REACTIONS WHEN THEY HEAR THE BED SQUEAKING IS ME. Like the little amused but lowkey confused and baffled expression on his face as he’s like “is that their solution to everything? Can’t they ever just talk?” Like no apparently not. Me too Jug, me too-

Idk Vee, maybe he’s asking questions about your father’s line of work and the business of his associates because your dad and mom are fucking evil

What the fuck Veronica. I mean yay because that just gets us closer to Jarchie kiss but like what the fuck Vee. Also Jughead is super cute, like why does the blue eyes black hair thing absolutely melt my weak heart, like I didn’t choose to fall for this pasty ass white boy but here we are. Also Veronica’s eyes are really big and dark and pretty like girl help im falling for these two-

BETTY LITERALLY POINTED IT OUT, C’MON NOW CW, I KNOW WE’VE MADE THE MISTAKE OF GROVELING WITH SPN BUT PLEASE IM BEGGING YOU WE NEED A JARCHIE KISS-

CAN HETEROSEXUALS PLEASE STOP FUCKING ALL THE TIME ON TV. WHY DO YOU HAVE TO SHOVE YOUR STRAIGHTNESS IN MY FACE. NOT EVERYONE IS STRAIGHT YOU KNOW.

“Entertain Jughead” 😏

DUDE. They were sitting ALONE. TOGETHER. In the WOODS. With them being the ONLY ones who haven’t kissed. DUDE.

C’MON MAN, THEY’RE STARING FUCKING LONGINGLY AT EACH OTHER

If there are weird gay ships for straights then Jeronica is the weird straight ship for gays

Ok so is there a legitimate reason why Veronica is faithful to her parents and defends them to a tee and partakes in their mob shit or is she just daddy’s little fucking girl. Like it isn’t her fault that she’s been manipulated but it pisses me the fuck off. And people who want her to stay with her parents because supposedly they’re the only ones who love her even though it’s toxic and warped? Like do you have a brain?

Archie and Veronica really love supporting gentrification, classism, and Vee’s rich daddy and mommy’s innocence huh

Look i actually agree with Reggie for once, get Hiram’s ass, deal with it Veronica

Wow, nice, shaming Jug for eating. That’s cool, Arch. That’s awesome. And no Betty, she doesn’t have everybody’s vote. Because Veronica’s parents are motherfuckers and when it comes to choosing between a murderer/abuser/rich/classist/gentrifying fuck and supporting your bestie uwu guess which one im fucking picking. Also, THANK YOU JUG for explaining to your friend that even though he lives in a fantasy land where northside Riverdale is the only one worth referring to when talking about Riverdale at all and thus the only one that matters and is worth protecting, the southside exists and people live and have grown up in the southside and building a prison there where it will be even more easy to profile and incarcerate southside residents under false or exaggerated pretenses ISN’T A GOOD THING. That his own friend isn’t quite apart of his and Veronica’s and Betty’s socioeconomic caste and that he’s not going to pretend like he is, he isn’t going to be quiet about it just because you’re friends again. That he’s not going to lay down and let Archie explain what a good move for Riverdale is when he clearly means northside riverdale, let him explain how the southside needs to be dealt with to someone who grew up on the southside and knows it more (not the most, I’m not saying Jug isn’t out of his depth with certain aspects of being a full southsider) intricately than him. LIKE FUCK. ARCHIE. WHO THE FUCK DO YOU THINK YOU’RE TALKING TO. Like he just doesn’t get why building prisons and stereotyping and condemning all southsiders and gentrifying entire neighborhoods is really fucking bad and a big deal and it annoys me so much. Like yeah Arch, obviously you don’t see the big deal because it doesn’t affect you and you delude yourself that it doesn’t affect your friend either, but it actually is that bad.

In conclusion, Archie and Veronica and sometimes Betty are giving me headaches rn. Like I’m not saying Jughead is perfect at all but in this particular instance he’s the only one I agree with for the most part right now.

Yeah Arch, you see things differently because you’re not the one who’s on the receiving end of the problem

YES MOMMA ANDREWS. SNAP! GO FERAL! SHOW THAT SOB SOME CONSEQUENCES!

Ah, so this is the jarchie “break-up” scene. You know what. I feel no heartbreak. Get his ass Jug.

Get. His. Ass.

They sent Cheryl to a conversion institution. I’m literally crying. This isn’t an exaggeration. I feel like I want to cry. Just. God fucking damn it.

SHE DOESN’T WANT TO GET BETTER. SHE’S NOT SICK. YOU ARE. DIE. FUCKING DIE. BURN IN HELL. AND PENELOPE BLOSSOM TOO.

“That’s not how things go in Riverdale” is a veiled way of saying “don’t challenge the upper class and don’t try to stifle gentrification,” I hope you all know

[kenetijamesupdates]

I Still Believe Reviews and KJ Praise in Quotes

Franciscan Media

Movie Mom

“But Robertson and Apa make a sweet couple and their commitment to God and each other gives their story a tenderness that even those with different beliefs will find touching.” 

World Magazine

Common Sense Media

“Apa and Robertson are marvelous together.”

Hollywood In Toto 

Rogers Movie Nation

“Kapa does his own singing in “I Still Believe,” a big plus as he covers both Camp’s songs and others from the Christian pop canon, such as a beach campfire rendition of “Find Me in the River.”

The Film Yap

“Apa brings a lovable decency to the role. With his dark, lanky good looks and breezy charisma, his Jeremy sort of reminds me of Jim Halpert from “The Office,” minus the snark.”

Eskimo TV

“ KJ Appa gives an emotional, charismatic, and realistic portrayal of a man who has found the love of his life and is going to stand by her side, trusting in God, no matter what challenges that they face.“

The Hollywood Reporter

Variety

“ Thanks to the immensely appealing performances by Apa and Robertson, it’s easy for the audience to take a rooting interest in the sometimes awkward, sometimes amusing development of the budding romance between Jeremy and Melissa.”

Datebook

“Apa and Robertson appeared together in “A Dog’s Purpose,” and they share an obvious chemistry that makes their characters’ instant connection here believable. They also create the film’s only real musical spark when their characters harmonize during a gathering on a beach.” 

“The script mostly requires Apa to look pained, which he does effectively. And he can’t help that at certain angles, he looks like Shane West, triggering memories of “A Walk to Remember,” an actually good movie about illness intervening in young love.”

AV Club

“ Robertson has the harder job, tasked with ailing beautifully to inspire others. She manages to make the most out of her few minutes of anger and frustration. Apa’s duty is less onerous, but he fares well, too—and for what it’s worth, sings beautifully.“

Backseat Directors

“The key to making a film like this effective is getting the right casting and portraying enough moments of earned emotion. I Still Believe passes both of these tests. It is not one of the best faith-based films of recent memory, but it is solid and inspiring enough to be worth a watch. While Robertson is getting too old for these types of teen roles, Apa and her have nice chemistry together that goes a long way.“

The Globe and Mail

“Most of this is due to the committed, if ultimately insubstantial and disposable, performances by real-deal actors K.J. Apa (better known as Archie on CW’s Riverdale) as aspiring singer-songwriter Jeremy and Britt Robertson (Tomorrowland) as the cancer-ridden object of his affection, Melissa.”  

Paul’s Trip To The Movies

“ KJ Apa shies away from his Archie tendencies and makes Jeremy a little awkward, a little goofy, but full of heart. He and Britt Robertson have good chemistry together. They previously started in A Dog’s Purpose, and you can buy into them as a couple fairly easily.“

Irish Film Critic

“ K.J. Apa completely wraps himself in the persona of Camp and performs the music himself.”

The Christian Film Review

“The casting is perfect with KJ Apa portraying Jeremy Camp, he plays guitar and sings throughout the film, while bringing humour, struggle, sadness and hope. He helps us to feel the emotions he is going through and brings us on the journey with him. He and Britt Robertson who plays Melissa Camp are just perfect together, bringing this love story to life.”

Box Office Revolution

“ Once again, in I Still Believe, the Erwin collective proves that they take great care in their casting and acting coaching work. Even though some of the cast members don’t entirely represent the real people they are portraying (which is the movie’s only flaw), every performance is still on point. Line delivery and emotional delivery are basically flawless as the audience is able to easily experience the characters’ feelings. Though this is a relatively small cast compared to previous Erwin projects, it still shines nonetheless and rounds out another blockbuster hit for the brothers.”

Wherever I Look

“Leading men with charm aren’t hard to find. A white boy with hair, a good face, abs, and knows how to make a girl swoon is pretty much the minimum if you wish to work in anything beyond indie dramas. Apa, on the other hand, doesn’t rest on the basics. In a movie about faith, you can see this drive behind his eyes and in every action as if, beyond knowing the story and having the script, he and Melissa will be together in the end, and you get sucked in so deep.”

Zach Pope

“And I’ll also mention that I think that Britt Robertson and KJ Apa were actually pretty good, besides having a middling kind of script inside here.”

Dallas Culture Map

“It helps tremendously to have two charismatic, photogenic, and recognizable actors as the leads. Both Apa and Robertson have proven themselves in other successful projects, and their experience and chemistry keeps the story moving when it threatens to get bogged down.”

LA Times

Watch or Pass

“ First and foremost, K.J. Apa is fantastic as Jeremy Camp.  He is talented (doing about 85% of the vocals in the film and playing guitar) and funny, really highlighting what is special about the famous singer.  And, most importantly, he has fantastic charisma with Britt Robertson.  The relationship that these two share really drives the story and the underlying message of the film, and the clear connection the two have really shines through on the screen.”

Stuff

“ The pair sell their nascent romance and growing deep affection with aplomb, no easy task when saddled with a script that can't decide if it's a teen weepie (a la Five Feet Apart) or a sub-par (Nicholas) Sparks-eque romantic-drama. Given the chance to showcase his musical and leading man abilities Apa grabs it with both hands, while Robertson's performance makes you wonder why she isn't a more regular Hollywood fixture.”

One Guy’s Opinion

The Wrap

“ Nearly indistinguishable spiritual ballads — sung on screen by the musically talented Apa himself — plague the timeline of this fateful relationship, with a duet between them at the beach early on being the most memorable.”

Beautiful Ballad

“Apa steps into the role of Camp and is captivating as the Christian singer. Apa uses his own musical talents to draw the audience with every musical scene. His romantic scenes with Robertson will also have audience members swooning. Apa’s take on this character is much different from his role as Riverdale’s Archie Andrews, but just as enjoyable. Robertson’s take on Melissa is heartbreaking and inspiring. The character goes through many different emotions throughout the movie and Robertson navigates through them with ease.“

[viralhottopics]

Here’s why The CW’s ‘Riverdale’ isn’t just ‘Dark Archie’

Pictured (L-R): KJ Apa as Archie, Camila Mendes as Veronica and Lili Reinhart as Betty in ‘Riverdale’

Image: Katie Yu/The CW

When Luke Perry was growing up in small town Ohio, sharing a tiny bedroom in a trailer with his brother, he took sanctuary with a stack of comic books piled high in his closet. Hed pull issues from his stash and read them diligently by flashlight, and amid the many superheroes and sci-fi epics there was another favorite a staple of the medium since debuting in 1941: the quaint, relatable, all-American adventures of teenager Archie Andrews and his high school pals, rivals and crushes, set in the idyllic town of Riverdale, U.S.A.

Today, Perry no stranger to series centered around iconic locales, thanks to his stint on Beverly Hills 90210 is among the cast of Riverdale, The CWs ambitious and decidedly edgier take on the 75-year-old comic book series.

Veering away from the wholesome vibe that many associate with classic Archie, the drama adds a Twin Peaks-inspired aura of mystery, danger and controversy to the small town proceedings.

For instance, in the pilot episode, our redheaded, freckle-faced hero, played by New Zealander K.J. Apa, indulges in a steamy backseat tryst with his teacher Miss Grundy reimagined from the comics silver-haired spinster into the much younger, more curvaceous form of actress Sarah Habel. Not only that the site of their forbidden dalliance soon puts them in uncomfortable proximity to the season’s unfolding murder mystery.

I was the biggest skeptic, Perry admits to Mashable of the more adult take on the Archie gang. I said, Im the guy youve got to convince. I grew up reading Archie I am that guy. So show me what is different about this. And they did.

KJ Apa as Archie and Luke Perry as Fred

Image: Diyah Pera/The CW

“They” are the production team led by writer-producer Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, an accomplished playwright and veteran scripter of popular television series including Glee and Big Love, whos also enjoyed an acclaimed second career in the comic book industry.

A stint at Marvel Comics writing top-tier characters including the Fantastic Four and Spider-Man ultimately led Aguirre-Sacasa to an opportunity to write the 2013 comic book miniseries Afterlife with Archie. The endeavor represented a bold step for publisher Archie Comics in which the company combined their longtime characters with a zombie apocalypse narrative drawn by emerging fan-favorite artist Franco Francavilla.

It is a five-year-old Robertos dream come true, Aguirre-Sacasa tells Mashable. Ive always loved the characters. I read them from when I was a kid.

Like Perry, the writer was among a second generation of Archie devotees that discovered the now-iconic characters Archie, Jughead, Betty, Veronica and Reggie, as well as spin-off headliners like Josie and the Pussycats and Sabrina the Teenage Witch over a quarter century after they first debuted.

Ashleigh Murray as Josie

Image: Katie Yu/The CW

In 1941 a few years after rival publisher DC Comics had launched the superhero genre with Superman MLJ Comics had been riding that pop culture wave with their own powered-up characters, including the patriotic, pre-Captain America hero The Shield.

But publisher John L. Goldwater was looking for a new comic book genre that would feel fresh yet familiar. Hoping to capitalize on the popularity of the wholesome, funny, relatable teen antics of MGMs Andy Hardy screen franchise, starring a young Mickey Rooney, he gave over a six-page portion of the twenty-second issue of an established title, Pep Comics, to the earliest incarnation of the Archie gang.

Though not even mentioned on the cover of its debut issue, the Archie feature, originally written by Vic Bloome and drawn by Bob Montana, was quickly established as the hottest and much imitated new genre in comics, so popular that within a few years MLJ formally changed the books name to Archie Comics, and Archie himself appeared on every cover from 1944 onward.

Over the decades, circulation soared to nearly 300,000 copies, and Archie-mania was born: Several of the ever-expanding Archie-verse characters headlined their own solo series; Dan DeCarlo, who moonlighted drawing sultry pin-up girls for pulp magazines, became the definitive Archie artist and developed the signature look of the comic; The Archies, a prefabricated pop group of anonymous studio musicians (packaged as Archies garage band) scored an enduringly popular hit song in 1969 with Sugar, Sugar; past issues were collected in conveniently miniature digests; progressive new minority characters were introduced into white-bread Riverdale; and the characters became widely commercialized, appearing on TV shirts, lunchboxes, Saturday morning cartoons and a hit primetime sitcom starring Melissa Joan Hart as Sabrina the Teenage Witch.

Although the Archie lines mainstream appeal would gradually wane to cult status among comics fans in the 1990s and 2000s, the characters would endure as iconic figures to multiple generations of readers.

Through it all, though the hairstyles, hemlines, hotrods and hi-jinx evolved, the Archie stories rarely wavered from their core conceit: the misadventures of an average American high-schooler pursued by a pair of beautiful, competitive girls, constantly vexed by his rivals and consoled with good humor by his offbeat, free-thinking best friend.

By 2010, more opportunities were arising to tap the ongoing goodwill toward the Riverdale mythos.

I love the characters. Id grown up reading the characters. I always kind of went back to the characters, says Aguirre-Sacasa. I always wanted to write them even when I started writing for Marvel Comics. I was exclusive to them for years. And in fact, I broke my exclusivity with Marvel because I had a chance to write an Archie comic, Archie Meets Glee, which was the first thing that I did for Archie, and that was a dream come true.

SEE ALSO: 9 shows to get excited about in 2017

Even as he was bringing the characters slightly outside of their traditional comfort zones, it was clear that Aguirre-Sacasa was simpatico with the essence of the Archie gang, and he quickly assumed greater custodianship of the characters, eventually being named Chief Creative Officer of Archie Comics, overseeing a critically and commercially successful re-launch of the core titles by top-tier comics creators. At the same time, he began shopping new and left-of-center takes on the properties to Hollywood.

I really want to help bring these characters to life in a way thats never really happened successfully, he says, explaining how he promised publisher Jon Goldwater, the son of the original Archie Comics head, that theyd have to create a slow build of heat on the publishing side before turning Hollywoods head.

Though theres always sort of heat on Archie, he adds. When they make a move and they get tons of press. I know that my friends at DC and Marvel were always like, Why do you get so much ink? People love the characters.

Afterlife With Archie, a surprise sensation in the comics world, demonstrated that after three-quarters of a century that the tried-and-true Archie format had more malleability than expected.

Image: archie comics

We were really nervous about putting the Archie characters in quite a hardcore horror story with a lot of gore, and violence, and some pretty wild ideas, says Aguirre-Sacasa. But we found out two things: one is that the characters could withstand that kind of caldron of stuff; and two, the fans loved it the fans loved seeing the characters they loved in different situations, and they were emotionally invested in what happened to the characters. They were sad when characters were eaten by zombies.

It of course has a little bit informed Riverdale, says the writer, who teamed with executive producer Greg Berlanti no stranger to successful comic-to-TV adaptations thanks to his success with DC Comics and The CWs interconnected superhero series, Arrow, The Flash, Supergirl and DCs Legends of Tomorrow to infuse a similarly shadowy sensibility into the television take.

When we start pushing at the boundaries, I think people get nervous, but I think when you see it, you see that its done with integrity, and care, and comes from a deep abiding love of these characters,” Aguirre-Sacasa says. “No one wants to protect them more than I do. But you do have to evolve them, and you do have to push boundaries, and you do have to be more than just a story with a joke at the end.

My pitch to Roberto was, Number one, we have to find a form where in this can work as a TV show, Berlanti tells Mashable. Number two, can whats beloved about Archie and intrinsic about Archie and the Americana-esque, period element of it translate to todays audience? Thats the challenge we have to at least be aware of [Id tell Roberto] it has to be as much of his personality as possible, because youre a show creator, and youre creating this thing, and theres so many elements of things you love: you love horror, you love comedy, you love irreverent stuff. It has to be as evocative of you and your personality, as Afterlife with Archie really was too.

As we moved along, he wrote a script that was terrific and had that magic thing, Berlanti adds. Im not sure I knew until I read his draft of the pilot script that we developed that it was a real TV show.

One misconception that is out there is that this is Dark Archie, this is dark, gritty Archie, and Rated R Archie, chuckles Aguirre-Sacasa. And in fact the show is a mix of light and dark. The show honors what is Archie, and then subverts it. For me, the sweet spot is the tension between Twin Peaks, and the tension between the 1950s sock hop Archie right in between that is where stories work on both levels. They work as good Archie stories, but they work as good noir, or mystery, or moody stories as well.

KJ Apa as Archie, Camila Mendes as Veronica, Cole Sprouse as Jughead, and Lili Reinhart as Betty

Image: Katie Yu/The CW

Roberto loves these characters, and I dont think anyones salacious to be salacious, Berlanti says of the elements that may sound eyebrow-raising to anyone who hasnt read Archie Comics in a while. That is not our goal. That being said, the show wants to deal in the tropes of these kinds of shows, and comment on those kind of things, and have that be a part of it. Im sure that wont be the first time we have a subject matter that makes people [take pause] – but I can say, in terms of our heart being in the right place, we dont start from that place of like, ‘this is going to get us some people to watch.’ We love these characters, and you dont want to assassinate them either.

Though the characters may be in dark, adult, morally-compromised, scary situations, the characters are still true to their essences, says Aguirre-Sacasa. Those characters are basically the characters they are in Archies Double Digest, just put in a crazy, messed-up situation. Theres trial and error, but I think thats where the show lives in the tension and the juxtaposition of those things.

I would say weve been met with guarded optimism, Perry who ultimately signed on to play Archies father, Fred Andrews says of the Archie fanbase. They dont want us to mess Archie up, but they do want to see it in a new way. They do want these characters to have a new life thats the sense Ive got. So were going to try to give them that without messing up the other.

Riverdale airs Thursdays at 9 p.m. on The CW.

BONUS: You won’t believe what Stan Lee originally wanted to name ‘The X-Men’

Read more: http://ift.tt/2juUoPo

from Here’s why The CW’s ‘Riverdale’ isn’t just ‘Dark Archie’

[kimmytalks]

So I basically live on Netflix like any typical university student. I spend a lot of time browsing through the endless catalogue that netflix offers and I completely understand how annoying it can be to spend so much time finding something to watch.  I compiled a list of some of my spring favourites of shows I’ve recently watched!  It’s sorted by genre to make it LOADS easier to find something depending on what you’re feeling. If you find something you like, check it out and spread the word! Let me know what you think of the show! I’d love to discuss your favourite characters and gush about it!

Marvel Shows 

DAREDEVIL

“You were right... what you told me over the radio that night. Not everyone deserves a happy ending. ”

The “devil of hell’s kitchen” A.K.A Matthew Murdock steals the show as New York City’s very own blind vigilante (who also has a job as a defense attorney). It will literally leave you on the edge of your seat. There are two seasons, two villains that Daredevil goes up against while fighting a bigger underlying villain in New York City.  There is SO much action, there’s romance, it’s electric and everything you would want in a TV show. 

Plot: ✰✰✰✰

Action: ✰✰✰✰✰

Favorite Character: Elektra Natchois, Matthew Murdock

Overall: ✰✰✰✰✰

LUKE CAGE

“You know why everyone wants to be the king? Cause of the crown.”

Meet Luke Cage, a bullet-proof black man in NYC. Loyal to Harlem, Luke decides to start using his abilities to start cracking down on the unusual crimes in the area. 

This show has amazing dynamics, all of the characters work hand in hand with each other and the bonus is that you get to meet some other important characters such as Claire Temple, Misty Knight and Jessica Jones. The story line is moving, the action is incredible and i loved how unapologetically black it was. 

Plot: ✰✰✰✰ 

Action: ✰✰✰✰

Favorite Character:  Cornell 'Cottonmouth' Stokes, Luke Cage

Overall: ✰✰✰✰

THE PUNISHER

“Those who do evil to others - the killers, the rapists, psychos, sadists - you will come to know me well. Frank Castle is dead. Call me... The Punisher.”

Frank Castle is a murderous vigilante in NYC. I’m going to give you guys a bit of a warning, it is VERY brutal and gory.  To fully understand the backstory of Frank you have to watch Daredevil Season 2. He’s back from the “dead” and has new battles and villains to face, including someone very close to him. You get to fully understand the way Frank’s mind works...to an extent and how corrupt the U.S government really is.  I’m someone who doesn’t mind gore so I really enjoyed this and the story line will keep you on edge. 

Plot: ✰✰✰✰

Action: ✰✰✰✰✰

Favorite Character:  Frank Castle

Overall: ✰✰✰✰

Drama

DYNASTY

“The Carrington impulse is to throw money at a problem and if that doesn't work, lie.”

From the FIRST episode this show leaves you gasping for air. Who doesn’t love watching rich people’s drama? The Carrington’s are one hell of a family, tons of drama and money crowd them. There’s mistresses, secrets, lies and murder (just like any good drama). 

This show honestly will make you laugh with Fallon’s wits and sarcasm as well as her raunchiness. The show also brings up some good social discussions such as immigration and racism. If you’re a fan of shows like Empire and Scandal you’ll definitely want to check out Dynasty.

Plot: ✰✰✰✰✰

Drama: ✰✰✰✰✰

Favorite Character:  Fallon Carrington, Steven Carrington

Overall: ✰✰✰✰✰

RIVERDALE

“I don't follow the rules. I make them. And when necessary, I break them.”

Riverdale has kind of gotten confusing this season but the drama still prevails. I was a huge fan of the Archie comics as a kid so I do actually really enjoy the spin CW has taken with it.

It’s full of drama, heartbreak, conspiracies and friendship ordeals. The core 4 (Betty, Jughead, Veronica, Archie) solve murder mysteries in their small once innocent town. They stand up in social movements and protest against issues that would ruin the social well-being of the town. 

If you like murder mysteries, witty teens and  small town drama, you’ll want to check this one out if you havent already. 

Plot: ✰✰✰

Drama: ✰✰✰

Favorite Character:  Betty Cooper, Toni 

Overall: ✰✰✰

STAR

“You and I have very different ideas of nothing. I've had to scratch and claw for everything I've got. So when someone hands me a credit card, that street bitch just comes out.”

I’M SO MAD THIS SHOW ISN’T GETTING MORE RECOGNITION. 

It follows three young girls who become a music trio in Atlanta. This show’s acting is incredible and the drama will continue to keep you on your seat. It EVEN deals with very real issues, even incorporating some recent social justice movements in the episodes.

The shows talks about current issues such as: racism (episodes dedicated to Black Lives Matter), the foster care system, sexual assault, domestic abuse, and addiction. I loved every minute of Season 1 and it leaves on such a huge cliffhanger!!! 

Bonus: The music is INCREDIBLE, and can be found on spotify as well.

Plot: ✰✰✰✰

Drama: ✰✰✰✰✰

Favorite Character:  Alex Crane

Overall: ✰✰✰✰✰ 

SCI-FI

THE 100

“Who we are and who we need to be to survive are very different things ”

The 100 is honestly one of my favourite shows ever (with the exception of Season 3). It’s everything I would want in a post-apocalyptic show about delinquents in space. 

These kids are incredibly witty, smart and brave-hearted. Imagine being a kid thrown to a radioactive  Earth and having to fight for your lives against the Earth and enemies. There’s romance, there’s so much action and you get to admire the main characters of the show as if they were your own friends. In the first few seasons they’re fighting against the grounders (people who survived the radiation on Earth), then they make an alliance, it’s broken a few times and now they have to go back to space because Earth is now uninhabitable again. There is a Grounders plot which is also pretty well done but I prefer the scientific plot that the show started with. You’ve probably seen tons of GIFS on here about The 100 so what are you waiting for?

Plot: ✰✰✰✰

Drama/Action: ✰✰✰✰

Favorite Character:  Raven Reyes, Bellamy Blake

Overall: ✰✰✰✰

COMING OF AGE / TEEN TV SHOWS

END OF THE F**KING WORLD

"It’s strange. A lot of the time you don’t register the important moments as they happen. You only see that they were important when you look back."

If you enjoyed Skins you’ll probably enjoy watching James and Alyssa accidentally become fugitives after they get bored and run away from home. 

This show is honestly a mix of everything and I absolutely loved every minute of it. If you have a dark sense of humour, you’ll enjoy the witty remarks from James and Alyssa alike. They’re an odd pair the both of them but they care for each other a lot and watching their relationship progress through ten episodes (needs to be more). 

The quotes are powerful they make you think about life, love, sex, relationships and everything in between.

Plot: ✰✰✰

Drama/Action: ✰✰✰

Favorite Character: James

Overall: ✰✰✰✰

THE GET DOWN

“This ain’t Disneyland, this s*** is the f*****g Bronx. Either you be strong, or you be gone. All I find, all I keep. Either you beat the world, or you get beat.” 

First of all, I am so sad Netflix decided not to renew this gem of a show. It follows a group of kids in the hip-hop/disco scene in New York City, specifically the Bronx. 

I really enjoyed this show, it was really different and I loved the musical numbers included in it. The fashion was everything and every single character is so lovable. 

The show also discusses the poverty in their community and the gang violence that surrounds them. This post doesn’t do it enough justice but seriously, it’s awesome and you should check it out.

Plot: ✰✰✰✰

Drama/Action: ✰✰✰✰

Favorite Character:  Marcus “Dizzee” Kipling, Mylene Cruz

Overall: ✰✰✰✰

ON MY BLOCK

This one is basically hot off of Netlix’s production company, it came out March 16th. It’s currently on it’s first season and has a total of ten episodes! (Super-easy to binge and re-watch) Where do I even begin with this show? It made me so nostalgic of being in high school and I honestly wish I had a squad like this during those years. It follows Monse, Cesar, Olivia, Ruby and Jamal through their first year of high school freshmen and all the ordeals that come with your first year of high school. There’ the boy drama, figuring out who you are, helping your friends and all that stuff everyone remembers from high school. But throw in the fact that these kids live in an inner city, they have more issues they’re dealing with such as gang violence in their community.The show also does a pretty okay job at discussing the racial issues all of the characters face (such as Olivia’s parents deportation) cultural appropriation and Monse’s struggle with her mother leaving her. I honestly fell in love with this show and all of the characters. If you’re looking for a good pick me up show this is the one to watch. They’re a really dynamic group of kids to watch and honestly who can’t help but laugh at Ruby’s sarcastic remarks? Or even Jamal’s constant clap-backs and schemes with Ruby’s Abuelita. The season finale will leave you in tears so don’t say I didn’t warn you! (which is why I need all of you to watch it right now so we can get it renewed for season 2!)

Plot: ✰✰✰✰✰

Drama/Action: ✰✰✰✰

Favorite Character:  Honestly? All of them I can’t choose a favourite.

Overall: ✰✰✰✰✰

[shaykeijser]

riverdale 2x16

 here are my thoughts/reactions to this weeks episode that no one asked for, which will include spoilers (obviously) so i’m putting them under the cut. i’ve already watched the episode so these aren’t my first reactions technically but they’ll be the same. 

caution: i’m not a fan of jughead or the core four. so i’ll be poking fun/getting annoyed at them.

- why did betty not go straight to alice with the dna test? why would she give chic, who she thinks is capable of hurting her, the opportunity to last out at her? i also still don’t get why she didn’t just get a normal dna test. like you’re a journalist, get the full truth, not just some of it

- i fucking called it!! why do ya think hal wanted nothing to do with chic? remember when he said “you’re letting this stranger into our house”? he wouldn’t call his own son a stranger

- fp is the dad and that’s the facts (that wouldn’t make bughead wrong don’t even try to defend that)

- chic is such a good creep IM LIVING FOR IT

- if it wasn’t a for-profit prison it wouldn’t be the worst idea. but it is so :///

- southside high was falling apart at the seems. the old students were aware of that and were plenty happy to go away! yes the lodge’s had other intentions with shutting down the school, but overall it was a good thing. there’s other, more valid reasons to not like the prisons that aren’t being talked about!!

- lol we know that veronica running for stuco wouldn’t end up well

- fred getting more screen time <333 (even if i don’t totally agree with him)

- does everybody at this school watch the same tv shows how is jughead quoting scandal (which i had to google) universally understood? i’m actually a sophomore and my friends and i quote vines.

- why isn’t ronnie defending herself? she gave that look to archie so he could defend her. where did kick ass veronica i don’t take no shit’ lodge go??

- ‘hunger strike for southside high’ BOI 

- ‘for it to re-open’ i had to pause this when i first watched this scene. he went there for like 2 weeks. toni was his only true friend for the majority of it. he didn’t like the idea of it and didn’t like what he had to do to survive there. the other students were happy with it closing!! why you gotta be so extra?? and if he really wants to get out of riverdale to be a writer he shouldn’t be trying to go back to a school that had teachers who gave up hope on their students

- ew ethel (i was eh with her all together but i’m still >:( over how she got mad at veronica for what hiram did to her father. veronica was one of the only people who was comforting her and tried to make amends. we can’t forget that when that all was going down veronica didn’t like her dad)

- WHY ARE KEVIN AND JOSIE SITTING ALONE

- wait jk i remembered 

- HAHAHA ok i’m josie (don’t get me wrong i like veronica and is the only tolerable lead for me atm but that slushie thing is really funny. it was sorta uncalled for, but she is working with her father soz)

- props to veronica for being the bigger person in this scenario

- 'what are the odds your father’s gonna be the first inmate in that prison?’ #boomroasted #thatwasatheofficereference #didanyonegetit

- lol at least veronica kept her cool for a little bit (go her btw)

- MY POOR CHERYL NO

- mama blossom is shady and nana rose is sassy

- that tea’s gonna be poison i’m calling it

- why would ethel’s dad want a job at the prison? he was a businessman

- veronica’s own parents are threatening her UGH

- power to veronica for wanting to run but this isn’t gonna end well

- TONI’S HOT & even if her audition flopped cheryl still would’ve made her member #lovemybabies

- tbh i didn’t like the lodges being the main plot point and i’d still prefer for the serpents to get more screentime than them BUT this is getting interesting

- drag him archie

- i want to see other south siders fighting for this why does jughead get to be the leader of this revolution (that i’m here for!! except for the school thing bc it doesn’t make sense)

- y’all have been having friendship problems since the ms. gr**** thing i think the trains have been getting closer than you think jug

- FINALLY, THE CHONI I’VE BEEN WAITING FOR

- something bad is gonna happen to cheryl i’m calling it, and nana rose

- (about what betty said after cheryl opened up) betty let chic into her and her family’s life can she not just be cautious from a distance and let her mom enjoy having her son back

- of course toni’s in the bed you sly little bird cheryl

- y’all gonna fuck? kidding this the cw that’s only for het couples

- THEY GONNA KISS AWE

- ok fuck why can’t we have some happiness for once

- penelope and claudius pushed her, i mean penelope had obviously prepared a back up plan incase she didn’t die (mentioning sundowners syndrome)

- #ProtectCherylBlossom

- aw archie’s mom is back i’m happy 

- YES SCHOOL THAT BOY FOR DISRESPECTING FRED GO MAMA ANDREWS

- charles melton looks really hot with a bruised face oi oi (so does jordan connor)

- that lowkey sounds like a bribe veronica.... 

- fang, toni, and pea are in this scene?? new favorite scene

- honestly, if any other serpent was the one in jugheads spot i think i would be all for it lmao

- i thought mary (andrews) was gonna also give archie the safe sex talk that he archie never got dang

- mary’s giving good advice though let’s just hope archie will listen to it

- I LOVE KEVIN 

- kevin had the right to tell chic, she was the one who forced him into the poorly planned catfishing (like seriously - she shouldn’t have been there and they shouldn’t have done it at a school). kevin has barely got any good storylines that actually continue and i’m so damn happy that he’s sticking up for himself. betty only reaches out to him when she needs help.

- betty talking about her darkness and saying ‘darkness’ in general is the most cringey thing ever. she has some sort of mental illness. i don’t know what but they shouldn’t have taken this ‘darkness inside of me’ approach.

- i wish V tried to become josie’s friend before asking her for an endorsement. actually, i wish the show resolved their friendship ages ago. they’re the one of the few WOC and overall i’m tired of girl x girl friendships being ruined like this

- it’s got so bad that veronica had to bribe josie to endorse her. i know this isn’t gonna go well

- sweet pea looking like an out of focus snack <333

- DRAG HIM JUGHEAD (lol you can tell how much i don’t like archie being up hiram’s ass that i’m praising jughead)

- give betty cooper therapy, you cowards

- ‘i caught the black hood’ bitch no you didn’t that hoe still out there & i’m taking that theory to the grave

- sheriff keller woah i forgot about him

- my boy fp!!

- omfg imagine when betty tells jughead that chic’s dad isn’t hal they better have him be like “...what if it’s mine” (i just realized that sorta sounds like jughead saying ‘what if the kid aka chic is mine’ and that’s not what i meant, i meant that chic’s dad is jughead’s dad but that made me laugh so i’m keeping it)

- oh sHIT something’s gonna happen @ this concert/rally for veronica’s campaign thing

- kevin’s filming it yeps something’s happening

- ope i knew it ethel is passing papers out 

- woop there it is

- i don’t ~really~ get why betty’s mad 

- JOSIE’S APART OF IT WTF I DIDN’T SEE THAT COMING but i should have :(

- this show tries to be all about female empowerment but then they have two girls banding together to bully an already manipulated and hurting girl. smh

- again, i don’t ~really~ get why betty can’t trust her anymore

- :((( i feel so bad for ronnie. she’s being manipulated by her parents and i really want her out of lodge industries. she’s taking blame for the shit that her parents have done

- THIS IS WHAT I’VE BEEN WAITING FOR

- HAHAHAA THE WIG OH MY GOD

- “i was guessing” congrats betty, you’ve played yourself

- the offer that hiram made to fp actually sounds nice :((( if only he wasn’t so shady 

- archie is so far up hiram’s ass he sounds exactly like him

- YOU GO MARY! SCHOOL YO CHILD

- finally a parent (alice) talks bout safe sex to their kid (betty)!!! my mom is gonna be so happy when she watches this episode (yes i watch riverdale with my mom, no it’s not awkward during sex scenes because we watch every show together so we’re used to it)

- “absolutely not.” keep telling that to yourself alice

- alice cooper is my favorite cooper

- “he’s dangerous.” bitch so are you? you held a lighter up to his face?

- i thought alice killed that drug dealer is that what betty is saying he did

- cheryl doesn’t have red lipstick on in this hospital scene something’s gonna happen

- nana was being poisoned by the tea :((

- i guess i’m remembering this wrong i thought alice shot him (about the scene in chic’s room)

- how did betty not remember that he didn’t touch anything

- CHERYL DROP AND ROLL OUT OF THAT CAR NOW

- look at archie being all smart aw

- why is betty next to kevin?? stay away from my baby (kevin)

- this scene is actually really powerful? even though them chaining themselves to the school is a repetitive and cliche thing to do, the aesthetics and the filming of it is really cool

- can we see all those young serpents more often pls

- what is jughead talking about why does he think they’re gonna lose riverdale high? is it because of veronica running? bc no one’s gonna vote for her after those flyers

- uGH i can see him being a good president

- why is betty so done with her and veronica’s friendship? i really don’t get why she’s so mad at her?

- jughead, betty, and fp all living together. that’s a concept

- SOMEONE WRITE A HEADCANON OF ALICE BUSTING INTO THE TRAILER TO GET BETTY BACK AND THEN WE GET SOME CUTE FALICE ANGST

- i’m happy mary’s staying bc maybe with her around we’ll get more fred screen time #canyoutellilovefred

- FUCK YEAH FRED IS RUNNING

- toni topaz is the caring type of girlfriend who goes to her girl’s house when they aren’t in school pass it on!!

- but really though where is cheryl what are they doing to her

- CHERYL DOESN’T DESERVE THIS SHE’S BEEN EMOTIONALLY ABUSED FOR YEARS AND HAS LOST A BROTHER, FATHER, AND BEST FRIEND 

main takeaways

~ veronica is being manipulated by her parents and doesn’t deserve half of the shit that’s getting thrown at her

~ jughead is still cringey and extra

~ toni is the girlfriend of all of our dreams let’s be honest here

~ cheryl blossom doesn’t deserve this bullshit

~ betty cooper is mentally ill

~ chic is fp and alice’s son

~ #FredForMayor

[aion-rsa]

Riverdale Season 5 Episode 8 Review – Chapter 84: Lock and Key

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This Riverdale review contains spoilers.

Riverdale Season 5 Episode 8

“Am I crazy or have you been feeling the same way too?”

Since Jughead’s narration opens most episodes with the most obvious observations possible, I’m going to return the favor by stating the following: Riverdale is not a series known for its profundity.

Over its five seasons to date it has proven to be a dumb show that is more often or not done smartly. Or maybe its ability to constantly induce narrative whiplash has be semi-concussed and believing that the program is way better than it has any right to be.

Which is where the above quote comes in.

With this season’s time jump and the characters dealing with actual real-life problems like post-collegiate ennui and the long farewell of long-held dreams (alongside of the usual nonsense that is the program’s calling card), Riverdale is the best it has ever been of late. And I’d never thought I’d write such words, but the most shocking thing about this episode was not Jughead’s alien tormentor or the Reggie and Fangs kiss but the way all of the trauma endured by these characters was brought to the surface tonight. Handled with grace no less.

That this minor miracle was set in motion thanks to a Key Party thrown by Cheryl in a creepy effort to break up Fangs and Kevin and live some sort of demented domestic bliss with Toni in her Gothic prison is kind of besides the point. The sheer volume of storylines happening in each Riverdale are so often disjointed that it feels like several shows are happening at once. Again, this is part of the appeal of watching this hottest of messes. So it’s a bit of a wallop across the head then when you have these characters having relatable moments, letting their guards down and getting to the heart of what haunts them.

Throughout this episode we see these characters shedding pretense and recognizing what drives them, be it fear, lust or anxiety. Kevin implodes his and Fangs’ relationship because the former has no idea what he wants out of life, but is certain it isn’t the small town drama teacher existence he currently has. Jughead is quite literally haunted by visions of an otherworldly creature who is either a literal alien or a manifestation of being twentysomething and rudderless, a literary one-hit wonder. Betty is still having nightmares about the Trash Bag Killer, suspecting that he may be responsible for Polly’s disappearance and worried her failure to bring him to justice will result in personal tragedy.

“What’s coming next with my mom and Polly is the darkest thing I’ve ever faced,” Betty states to Archie in the episode’s most powerful scene. The pair then acknowledge their true feelings, that they will be better off as friends. Veronica’s latest fight with Chad makes her acknowledge that whatever bonded them together is no longer there. It is Archie she truly loves, and vice versa. Cheryl bares her twisted soul to Toni, who is in return horrified by her actions and tells her as much. Yet Cheryl quickly finds a form of redemption in the embrace of the mysterious Minerva Marble (Adeline Rudolph, late of Chilling Adventures of Sabrina).

Yes, it is a contrivance that all of these huge epiphanies happen more or less at the same time. I’ll forgive this sin however since Riverdale so often has its character development move at a glacial pace. Perhaps when Veronica states that “the past is in the past” the show’s writers are telling us to forget what we know about how stories will unfold from here on out. Certainly, the post-time jump episodes have proven this. Maybe we really are in a brave new world for the series? Stranger things have happened before, especially on Riverdale.

Riverdale Rundown

• Jughead Jones has become unstuck in time! What do we make of Jughead teaching Kurt Vonnegut Jr.’s Slaughterhouse Five to his students? More importantly, is Riverdale going to do a Jughead’s Time Police-inspired storyline?

• This stuff with Jughead and the alien is the absolute best. Please please please let the E.T. be real.

• In what must be a Riverdale first, Archie is shirtless within the first 30 seconds of this episode. As a sexy fireman no less.

• Art dealer Minerva is almost certainly not what she appears to be. So what is she really playing at? Are her feelings for Cheryl legitimate? Or is she playing some sort of long game?

• Speaking of Cheryl, I feel the writers need to really figure out how to handle this character’s mental illness as the argument can (and probably should) be made that they have entered exploitation territory.

• I was getting huge Psycho Goreman vibes off of the alien stalking Jughead.

• We see Jughead making like his comic counterpart and snacking on Lay’s chips in this episode.

• Varchie shippers, are you happy with the Veronica/Archie reconciliation?

• Drew Ray Tanner shined as Fangs here, delivering a heartbreaking performance as Kevin throws away their future together.

• Betty again illustrates how awful of an FBI agent she is by allowing her mom to keep a key to her home in a garden gnome while living in a dangerous city that has multiple serial killers on the loose.

• I desperately want to hear about Jughead’s Jingle Jangle-fueled New York City exploits. This is what happens when you read too much Bret Easton Ellis, folks.

• Lucy Hale makes an audio cameo as Katy Keene in this episode, simultaneously making me wonder why the CW cancelled her show in the first place and laughing at how the Riverdale producers keep thumbing their noses at the network by constantly referencing the doomed spinoff.

• Dr. Whitley’s name is an obvious homage to UFO novelist/experiencer Whitley Strieber (whose most famous work was Fire in the Sky, which just so happened to be the name of last week’s episode).

• Jackson incredulously remarking on Archie as player by saying “Sarge juggling two ladies?” indicates that he doesn’t know him at all.

• Casey Cott gets the episode’s funniest moment as he reacts to Reggie and Fangs’ kiss with impressed shock.

• Despite how this episode ended, I still think that Alice’s remark about how it sounded like Polly was calling from a spaceship is not a red herring. Look, there better be a full blown alien invasion by the time of the midseason finale, okay? I ask for so little.

• “I’m not bringing my baby into this house of horrors” might be the most sensible sentence ever uttered in the Blossom household.

• Betty refers to Cheryl’s Spin the Bottle party (when Archie spends Seven Minutes in Heaven with Veronica) from the series’ pilot.

• Next week, Betty goes in to the heart of darkness.

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The post Riverdale Season 5 Episode 8 Review – Chapter 84: Lock and Key appeared first on Den of Geek.

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[riverdaleroundup]

Riverdale Roundup: 2x07 “ Tales From The Dark Side”

Here we are! Back at it again with the poorly spelled bitch seshes.

Okay so we open up with this artsy ass SVU esque true crime docu series news bulletin and i’m just like why? Why are we doing this? This is very that one episode of Grey's anatomy after the shooting when it was like a reality tv special about the hospital.

Okay anyway BH is like “ Okay you little trolls here's the deal. If you don’t sin for 48 hours I won’t murder all of you. Sound good?” but because this is riverdale everyone goes on with their sin filled lives like normal. Like here’s an idea, why don’t you all just take a long weekend, hang out at home with the shades drawn and watch some tv? But no everyone feels the need to do a little extra sinning because why not. It’s not like their lives are on the line or anything.

Archie and Jughead:

Betty and Jughead are all cuddled up in bed together and Betty is wearing his S shirt. But what Betty doesn’t know is that freaking Toni Topaz was lounging in that same shirt like 20 minutes ago when Jughead was getting it on with her…..so like drama. Philandering and Lying to your girlfriend? SIN.

Jughead talking to Penny Peabody even tho FP told him not to: Disobeying thy parents. SIN. Like he picks up the phone and it’s her. Hang up bitch! Don’t go get pancakes. Freak. UGH. Being a dumb little bitch: SIN. Okay so Penny is like “ your dad got jumped in the showers” and I watch so much SVU that i’m immediately like “ they’re going to talk about someone being sodomized on the CW? Holy shit.” but like they just hit him so like that’s a little more on brand.

Penny is like “ we need money” and Jughead is like “ sick I have 18 dollars’ and i’m like it’s so sad how relatable that is. So Penny is going to hook him up with a casual drug running job and i’m just like SIN.

Okay so Jughead needs to borrow Archies dad’s truck so he run some casual drugs and i’m like okay you still don’t have licenses and you still can’t drive but whatever. Jughead is like “ you owe me archie because you ruined my street race.” so now Archie has to help. They get this crate from a storage container (SIN) and they’re off. Archie is like “ Okay how much longer are you going to be a serpent” and Jughead is like “ you dumb bitch tattoos don’t just fall off after three months.”  Archie basically proposes to Jughead talking about how he has his fantasy of them being roommates in New York  and Jughead is a writer and Archie is a musician and i’m like okay so this really is going to become like RENT? Like in his 15 year old mind he thinks that straight out of high school they are all just going to move out to NYC together and get amazing jobs sans college degrees and live happily ever after. He’s watched too many episodes of Friends. They proceed to get a flat tire because of course they do. They have no spare because they are 15 and ill prepared. Archie wants to call triple C which is the cheap version of triple A and Jughead is like nah we are hauling drugs, like the tow truck is going to search their vehicle? Jug wants to call his boo Betty but Archie doesn’t want to get her mixed up in the drug trade and i’m like she’s just bringing you a tire not strapping a pound of jingle jangle to her person and going through TSA.  This creepy ass guy comes along and is like y’all need a ride and i’m like DO NOT GO WITH THIS MAN YOU STUPID IDIOTS. But of course Jughead goes with this creepy guy who tells him not to look under his tarp and i’m like okay, you dumb idiot. Don’t do this. Jughead leaves archie on the side of the road and goes willingly with a creepy stranger. Being a dumb idiot and getting in the car with a scary stranger: SIN.

So the people of god think that the Black Hood is basically Jesus 2.0 and that he’s coming to rid the world of sin. So like Yikes. Archie sees a fucked up deer and then Jughead looks under the tarp and finds a dead deer and i’m like Oh dear.  So the creepy ass man tells Jughead the story of the Riverdale Reaper who murdered this whole family and i’m like okay Jughead and Betty do all this freaking research about the murders and they never once heard of this? Did Alice Cooper tear that out of all the papers too? So this guy tries to stiff Jughead with the cheque and he’s like “ bro I already gave you my 18 dollars” but this guy doesn’t give a single fuck. He’s bouncing and he’s taking the drug crate with him.

Thankfully Archiekins rolls up and is ready to make it rain but only if they accept debit. Riverdale has never been so self aware. Like finally Archie is acting like an actual fifteen year old and using his debit card which is probably connected to his dad’s account so that Fred can monitor where Archie is spending his allowance.

Okay why can we not be in greendale after midnight? Is it because Sabrina the Teenage Witch is going to be out and doing spooky magic?

They roll up to the drop off site and are greeted by these creepy Russian gangsters which is just so convenient. Turns out Jughead is going to be their new little brug mule so he better get his ish together.

Jughead goes to visit FP and see’s that Daddy is fine and has not been jumped so like what the fuck Penny? Jughead goes to confront Penny and she’s like “listen up you little troll I own you now so like get the fuck used to it. You’re daddy like broke my heart or like didn’t give me a ride to the airport when he said he would so now I H8 you.”  So like yikes.

Josie

When her names flashes up on the screen i’m like really? There’s a whole section just for her? Like I thought they just brought her in when they needed an upbeat musical number. She hangs around school late into the night so she can play the piano and i’m like do you not have one of those at home? Your Dad is like some big deal musician so like shouldn’t you have a piano? Can you not use an app on your ipad and play on that.

So the Mayor has moved them into a hotel because that’s going to be safer and i’m like okay??? Josie has to be back in the room by dark but like it’s winter so isn’t it dark by like 3pm? Does she have to skip the last period of school to make it home on time?

Both Josie and Cheryl look like they waltzed out of the 1970’s in their jumpsuits and heavily embellished tops. Josie is getting recruited to be a solo act so like bye bye pussy cats. She keeps getting creepy gifts in her locker and like in what world would a note that says “ i’m watching you be romantic?” Those are clearly not cute gifts but rather creepy little gestures that say I WANT TO MURDER YOU.

Chuck rolls up and asks Josie out and at first she’s all like “ ew no” and i’m like “ ew no” because he’s like gross and creepy and an asshole but by the end of the episode i’m like “ omg i love chuck. I don’t even know.”  Josie asks if he’s putting stuff in her locker and he’s like “ I can be” which is not a yes so I don’t know why she takes it as a yes like ummm excuse me???? Josie goes to take a steam at the school and i’m like what kind of school has a steam room? Valarie and the other pussy cat whose name I do not know come and confront Josie about going solo which is very much like when the Cheetah Girls were in Barcelona and Adrienne Bailon was going to ditch the group to sing with that spanish girl and everyone got really pissed about it.

Josie runs into Chuck in the hallway and she’s like “ Thank god you're not a murderer, now drive me home.” and he’s like “ okay but first let's get french fries and fall in love.”  Okay so don’t get me wrong i’m suddenly very team Chuck like out of the blue but what the heck happened to Reggie? They were like kind of hyping up a Josie Reggie thing like 20 minutes ago and now this? Whatever, Archie had like 67 love interests last season.

So Chuck talks about being a changed man and Pop is like “ ahh yes Chuck goes to my church. He is a man of god.” and i’m like okay did you pay him to say that Chuck? And Josie is thinking the same thing but like Chuck says he’s not that prepared. They then proceed to dance the night away and honestly they are not bad dancers but it’s just so random. Then the Mayor burst in and is like “  girl check your phone once in awhile” and then tells Josie to never speak to chuck again. It’s gearing up to be very Romeo and Juliet. Anyone up for a forbidden romance? The Mayor tells Josie about all these letters she’s been getting from these creeps and i’m like hot damn that's aggressive.

Cheryl is not team Chuck and makes that clear. Josie gets this creepy drawing and a box with a heart in it and I CALLED THAT I FUCKING CALLED IT BEING A HEART.

“ Out of the way Bert and Ernie” is so fucking Iconic.

Okay the janitor is around way too much to not have to do with something so like…..what’s the truth Mr. Spenceon?

Okay josie has a dream about dying and I honestly thought it actually happened and I was not pissed soooooo.  Then we see Cheryl drawing this creepy ass drawing of Josie and like omg Cheryl you little liar. But I mean she just wants to keep her best friend to herself so like...I get it. Don’t think I wouldn’t do this Brittney.

Betty & Veronica

Okay so Kevin is worried about his dad because there is a killer on the prowl and the Sheriff has gotta catch him. Betty and Veronica both think they know what’s going on. Betty is like “ he’s def the killer” and Veronica is like “ he’s def having an affair” and then they look at each other like they’re both dumb bitches.  Betty is a little too wrapped up in this mystery and thinks that literally everyone in this town who is male and above the age of 45 is the killer. She’s like “ Mr Phillips was killed in the police station soooo…” but literally 4 episodes ago Jughead was like “ okay anyone could break into the police station it’s so easy let's rescue my dad and send him to Canada.”

Veronica invites herself over to Kevin's house for a sleepover like an entitled bitch so that she can go snooping to figure out if the Sheriff is gettin it on with someone. Betty literally rolls up to the police station and is like “ What’s good Sheriff Keller. How the hell did BH get into the police station” and the Sheriff just shows her all this evidence and i’m like in what world would the HBIC of Riverdale Police just show all his evidence to this 15 year old girl?

So Veronica and Kevin are playing like Dungeons and Dragons or Mall Madness or something in his bedroom and Veronica is trying very hard not to slit her own wrists out of boredom. Again being entitled she decides to go get herself a drink but is actually just going to snoop around Sheriff Keller's underwear drawer or something. She calls Betty for advice and Betty is offended that she didn’t get an invite to the sleepover and i’m like same.

Veronica goes down to the basement and Sheriff Keller is pumping iron and looking very DILFy today. He and Veronica just hang out by the soda fridge for a while and we find out that Kevin's mom is in the army and i’m like ohhh she isn’t just skipping town like Jugheads mom and never looking back. Veronica is vibing with the Sheriff and honestly like wants him. Looks like Hiram isn’t the only one she’ll be calling Daddy (b) . But she doesn’t get any good info about if he is literally a mass murder or if he’s like fucking some random mom from the PTA. However if Veronica turns out to be wrong about him having an affair she would be more than willing to start one up #daddyissues.

Veronica see’s him sneaking out of his house and i’m like bitch it isn’t called sneaking out if you’re a literal adult and you own the property. He’s just leaving. Maybe he had a craving for some peanuts you don’t know.

Betty is grasping at straws to make Keller the killer and Veronica is defending her man to the end. Betty knows that the sheriff is hiding hiding something but Veronica knows that the only thing he’s hiding is a hot bod (b).  Betty breaks into the Keller house (SIN) and starts going through his personal property. She finds a murder board and is like “Omg proof that he’s the killer!” and I’m like “ Or maybe he’s the literally chief of police who has to solve the murders” like we’ve seen him make murder boards before. The sheriff rolls back up and is like “ Wtf Betty what are you doing in here?”

So Betty brings her good for nothing father to the police station to talk to Keller and he lays down all the evidence to show that he’s innocent. Betty and Veronica follow the sheriff and find out that he’s gettin it in with the Mayor at some sleeze motel (SIN) and i’m like how many hotel rooms does she have? Veronica is heartbroken. Clearly.  Veronica and Betty decide to keep this a secret and lie to Kevin ( SIN) Cheryl is like poisoning Josie with that tea (SIN).

Pop is the new Betty and gets a call from the Black Hood. BH knows that they have all been sinning aggressively and he’s coming to mirder them. So yikes.

Honestly everyone is sinning all over the place do I don’t know what these bitches expected?? They all wear polyester and I bet somewhere someone is eating shellfish. Also Moose wasn’t in this episode so….SIN.

[aroaceways]

The Affects of Ace-Erasure - Is Riverdale Worth It?

In 2016, after 75 years of the Archie Comics up and running, one of its main characters, Jughead Jones, was officially labeled as asexual. In 2017, the CW's adaptation decided to not have him be ace on their new show Riverdale. Many fans are now rightfully upset and refuse to watch the show. In order to evaluate whether all hope is lost or not, I have decided to give the show a chance and write about Jughead's character development after each episode. So if you don't want to watch the show, but are kind of curious about any updates on his sexuality or whatnot, this will be your resource. Still got questions after reading what's written under the cut? Just send an ask and I'll give it my best to provide you with answers.

For 2017, Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa had decided to turn the characters of the long-time popular Archie Comics into a drama show for the CW. Despite not having a coherent storyline, the Archie Comics are overall humorously focusing on the lives of its teenaged characters – since 1941! In Riverdale, the mood is different, though. A murder, drama and dark lighting make up for a much more serious and sinister setting than before. Much like any other TV drama, most of the characters' storylines are about relationships. The pilot episode that aired a few days ago already gave us that much, with plenty of critique in response.

The first two problematic parts that occurred in the first episode, made me feel like I traveled back in time to 2012 – which is not a good thing. Having to show fire to get them both into the cheerleader squad, Veronica makes out with Betty, a scene already included in the trailer. Many fans have been interested in their relationship, however, according to the show's creator, nothing will come out of this kiss anyway (so why include it?). The other thing that made me feel like it was the year the world was supposed to end, was Kevin Keller. Don't get me wrong, I am happy for every queer representation in the media, but his role seemed to be solely based on the gay best friend trope – being in Betty's room while she's only in her underwear and encouraging her to make a move on Archie and literally being asked by Veronica to be her gay best friend. Again: why? But it was only episode one, so let's remain hopeful that there will be more to him than just that.

Something awfully wrong with the first episode that certainly wasn't a part of the Archie Comics in the entire 75 years of them thus far, is the newly introduced relationship between Archie and Miss Grundy. Originally, Miss Grundy is an old teacher, not a freshly graduated one. Archie, just like in the comics, is a teenager, nonetheless. This is nothing other than pedophilia and unnecessary.

Queerbaiting, overused stereotypes, and pedophilia – can it be worse?

Yes.

While for some reason they decided that the classical love triangle between Veronica, Betty, and Archie wasn't enough and so they threw in Miss Grundy as well, they also decided that a drama show wouldn't be a good drama show, if not every single character had relationships. Including the canonically asexual one.

Archie Comics lover, Jughead fans and people from Asexual and Aromantic Community are annoyed, frustrated and, well, all sorts of other negative emotions. Jughead Jones was revealed Asexual in Chip Zdarsky's 2015 version of Jughead Jones. That, however, didn't come as a surprise, because the character has always been uninterested in girls and a bit too interested in food for his wallet. The creator of Riverdale has, unfortunately, already declared (and shown in the trailer) that Jughead will have relationships and will only maybe be asexual in a later season.

According to him, they tread Riverdale as an origin story and want characters to develop until they catch up to the 75 years of Archie Comics. As mentioned before, Jughead was never a character that was interested in anything relating to sex or romance but wasn't label as asexual or aromantic due to the awareness being even worse back in the 40s than it is now. Representation hasn't improved too much, though, which is why fans were hoping that it would be given now. By giving fans hope for a discovery storyline for Jughead and his sexuality, we are given yet another form of queerbaiting. “Support our show and maybe as a reward you'll get your asexual Jughead.” Thanks?!

While so many have already focused on exactly these negative aspects of not starting Riverdale with an openly ace Jughead, is there anything positive about this ace- and aro-erasure?

Whether or not Jughead will come out in the CW's Riverdale is still in question, true, but let's say he will have a journey of discovering his sexual and romantic attraction – or rather the lack of those – chances are, of course, that that would be poorly written, but anyhow, in a way it would place a bigger emphasis on the topic than if he was just briefly mentioned as asexual. Any form of realization would mean that he thinks about it and eventually will come out to someone and even a minor plot role would be interesting, especially as it would give a new perspective on the so far very self-aware and confident character. Again, first having to discover his sexuality, with us as a witness, could easily be cringy, but even in the Zdarsky's version, he must have realized it and come out to someone at some point, which might have been just as bad; we just didn't get to see that.

Of course, what was just mentioned is based purely on the hope that Jughead will be openly asexual (and maybe also aromantic) sooner or later, but isn't there anything positive coming from this that is actually reality right here, right now?

Yes.

From the moment it was announced that Jughead was not going to be asexual in the beginning of the show, and possibly not ever changing that, and even more, once the pilot aired, articles talking about this new adaptation all mention exactly this problematic. Cole Sprouse, the actor portraying Jughead in the show, has been asked about the asexuality of his character in most interviews, people on Twitter and Tumblr post more and more about this – spreading awareness of asexuality, aromanticism, the erasure of both as well as the lack of representation in the media. Articles reviewing the first episode had countless aspects to mention, yet plenty of them decided to criticize the show's decision to change his sexuality, thus also educating others on it.

Because they decided to announce that Jughead was going to have relationships, at least at the beginning of the series, it wasn't just people from the ace community that complained: long-term fans have been outraged by their beloved Jughead, known for caring about burgers like others care about relationships, whom they can't picture as being straight.

Again, the first of these two positive points is only a wishful thinking that may or may not come true in the future, but the second point is important to remember to be able to continue this exact wishful thinking. Either way, fans are fighting for the proper Jughead and will not give up.

Not feeling hopeful? Here's a quote from the Wikipedia page of the Jughead Jones character to end this article with: “For a while, Debbie and Joani formed Jughead's own love triangle, but fans did not like it, so both girls disappeared and Jughead reverted to his classic independent lifestyle.”

[thegloober]

Kiernan Shipka Casts Indelible Spell on Netflix’s Chilling Adventures of Sabrina

by Matt Fagerholm

October 22, 2018   |  

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All it takes is one great role for an actor to be rediscovered. Kiernan Shipka had already proven herself to be a formidable talent, growing up before our eyes on AMC’s “Mad Men” while displaying impressive range in a diverse array of genres—from the moody supernatural drama of Andrew Proz Palermo’s “One and Two” and the rousing adventure of Nickelodeon’s “The Legend of Korra” to the uproarious satire of her Funny or Die web series, “Child Star Psychologist.” 

Yet it was her startling dive into horror, courtesy of Osgood Perkins’ masterful 2015 debut feature, “The Blackcoat’s Daughter,” that revealed the astonishing breadth of her potential. Shipka played Kat, an alienated girl yearning to fill the void left by her absent parents. After answering the call of a horned demon that may or may not exist solely in her head, Kat undergoes a malevolent transformation that brings her a strange sense of empowerment, especially when it terrifies her peers. Aside from one climactic howl, she never raises her voice, even when hurling an expletive at a pair of bewildered caregivers. Overcome by the sudden power that has taken hold of her speech, Kat stares at her prey with fierce eyes as a tear rolls down her cheek. Later on, when she calmly raises her arms and replies, “Hail, Satan,” she appears fearsomely in control rather than out of her mind. Like Norman Bates, she’s simply focused on getting her job done, no matter how gory it may be. 

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As confirmed by Shipka in a recent BUILD interview, “The Blackcoat’s Daughter” turned out to be a crucial inspiration for Archie Comics CCO Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa when developing the small screen adaptation of his own recent comic book series, Chilling Adventures of Sabrina. Whereas “Riverdale,” Aguirre-Sacasa’s hit show on The CW Network, echoes “Twin Peaks” in its self-aware subversion of the squeaky clean adolescent archetypes once modeled after Andy Hardy, his reimagining of Sabrina’s teenage witchery pays homage to numerous genre-defining classics, lending a cinematic aura to its metaphysical mischief. Though Sabrina couldn’t be further removed from Kat in terms of her thriving social life and sunny disposition, she also lost her mother and father at a young age, and is on a journey toward finding her place in the world. Melissa Joan Hart’s sitcom incarnation of the character had no knowledge of her own capacity for witchcraft until she turned 16. The first season of Aguirre-Sacasa’s “Sabrina” series, debuting on Netflix this Friday, October 26th, opens with its titular heroine counting down the days on her calendar—in one of many shots evocative of “Blackcoat”—toward the same pivotal birthday. What makes Shipka’s Sabrina more in step with the original comic book character dating back to 1962 is the fact that she is well-aware of her magic from the get-go. This is an origin story not about discovering one’s powers but learning to own them.

Kiernan Shipka and Michelle Gomez on Netflix’s “Chilling Adventures of Sabrina.” Photo credit: Diyah Pera/Netflix.

Aguirre-Sacasa provides a stellar showcase for many of the abilities she utilized in Perkins’ film, from her lovely singing voice to the arresting strength she derives from her vulnerability. No special effects or badass one-liners are needed for Shipka to register as a towering force onscreen. She traumatized me in “The Blackcoat’s Daughter” without the use of demonic prosthetics (quickly scrapped by the director), and on “Chilling Adventures of Sabrina,” she casts her indelible spell with the layers of emotional nuance rippling across her face. Just as Kat’s world was shrouded in brown colors intended to signify the snugness of her newfound identity, the red glow of Sabrina’s wardrobe conveys a very different type of warmth. How refreshing it is to see a modern series built around a teenager whose most defining feature is an innate goodness.

Though each hour-long chapter of the show is linked by a continuous narrative, the “Adventures” in the title correctly suggests an episodic use of secondary conflicts that Sabrina must face in her everyday life. The child of a male witch and female mortal, she is dubbed a “half-breed” (or “mudblood,” as termed by J.K. Rowling), requiring her to straddle the line between the magical realm and the human one occupied by friends oblivious to her bloodline. The observation made by Aunt Hilda (a delightful Lucy Davis) that Sabrina’s father could’ve been a movie star “like Cousin Montgomery” is a sly nod to the star of Sol Saks’ beloved sitcom, “Bewitched,” about a witch-turned-housewife who refuses to suppress her otherworldly skills, much to the dismay of her mortal husband. In her stubborn battle against various forms of oppression at school, such as library censorship and hazing rituals, Shipka’s Sabrina is a kindred spirit of Elizabeth Montgomery’s Samantha. She is a terrible liar precisely because she is so sincere, yet with the aid of her witchcraft, Sabrina pulls off some satisfying pranks that earn many of the show’s biggest laughs. A priceless bit involving truth extraction reminded me of the “Bewitched” episode where Samantha’s husband, Darrin, is hexed by his mother-in-law, causing him to speak only in toddler-appropriate language at a business meeting (“I made a boo-boo,” he explains). 

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Kiernan Shipka and Ross Lynch on Netflix’s “Chilling Adventures of Sabrina.” Photo credit: Diyah Pera/Netflix.

Never verging into the family-friendly silliness of Hart’s “Sabrina, the Teenage Witch,” where the protagonist had a penchant for inadvertently turning mean girls into pineapples, “Chilling Adventures of Sabrina” still peppers its increasingly grim subject matter with richly earned bursts of euphoria, starting with Sabrina’s dance to “Be My Baby” after professing her love for mortal boyfriend Harvey Kinkle (Ross Lynch). Like Shipka, Lynch is remarkably gifted at portraying shunned youth on the cusp of destruction, as seen in Marc Meyers’ “My Friend Dahmer,” and it’s a joy to watch them both liberated by the inherent sweetness of their characters, not to mention the palpable chemistry that they share. Episode three contains a beautiful sequence of consensual intimacy triggered by Sabrina’s urgent request that Harvey check her body for a birthmark. What could’ve devolved into a squirm-inducing leering session instead becomes a touching portrait of Harvey’s sensitivity. He handles her body with the utmost respect, while insisting that he strip down as well because “fair is fair.” 

Apart from its nostalgic trappings, the appeal of “Stranger Things” lies in its endearing band of misfits that drive the story, and there’s no question they’d get along splendidly with Sabrina’s cherished companions. Instead of exchanging witty banter with her cat, Salem (whose dialogue is limited to expressive meows), she finds an even better scene partner in Ambrose (Chance Perdomo), her pansexual cousin whose exuberance masks an underlying bitterness at the curse keeping him housebound. Sabrina’s school chums, Rosalind (Jaz Sinclair) and Susie (non-binary actor Lachlan Watson) further expand the show’s fully dimensional inclusivity, while the aunts that raised her—the irreverent Hilda and uptight Zelda (Miranda Otto)—form a most amusing comic duo. 

Rather than settle on derivative formulas, the show often soars to the provocative heights of Broadway’s “Wicked” and Robert Eggers’ “The Witch,” which both illuminated the exhilarating aspects of defying gravity, breaking free of societal strictures by “living deliciously” (Sabrina notes that there are many “delicious” reasons to be a witch). Of course, devoting one’s life to the Dark Lord comes with a price, and when Sabrina questions why their unholy leader is terrified of granting women freedom and power, the response she receives is unfiltered perfection: “He’s a man, isn’t he?” 

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The show is at its best when skewering the patriarchal oppression of organized religion, an ancient scourge no less prevalent in the witch’s own belief system that hypocritically derides the “false god” of Christianity. “Why must I save myself for the Dark Lord?” Sabrina demands, “Why does he decide what I do with my body?”, to which Zelda sighs, “Should’ve been homeschooled.” The crimson hue of Sabrina’s attire is mirrored by the apple she plucks off a tree, a biblical symbol of the knowledge God had intended on keeping from Eve. Her refusal to blindly obey orders breeds a healthy level of skepticism, especially when confronted by the sort of frightening fanaticism memorably explored in the original “Carrie” and “The Blackcoat’s Daughter” (for more context, read my in-depth appreciation of Perkins’ film here—after seeing the film, of course).  

Lachlan Watson and Jaz Sinclair on Netflix’s “Chilling Adventures of Sabrina.” Photo credit: Diyah Pera/Netflix.

The coven’s High Priest, Father Blackwood (Richard Coyle), and Sabrina’s principal, Mr. Hawthorne (Bronson Pinchot), are equally loathsome examples of puritanical masculinity, yet neither are a match for the manipulative games of Mary Wardell (Michelle Gomez), a mysterious, ever-watchful teacher on par with Severus Snape. Just as Sabrina’s pals debate the symbolism in their favorite movies, particularly “Night of the Living Dead”—which is referenced at the beginning only to later become unearthed, so to speak, toward the end—the show’s thinly cloaked commentary provides viewers with plenty to chew on. An episode deftly timed for Thanksgiving is chock-full of metaphorical subtext regarding the Native American genocide, while Principal Hawthorne voices the misogyny of men complicit in sexual abuse who label the #MeToo movement a “witch hunt.” Among the many shared understandings that exist between Sabrina and Harvey, one is the plight of being torn between two worlds. In Harvey’s case, it’s the world existing inside the local mine overseen by his father (Christopher Rosamond), and the one existing outside of it, above ground. Harvey’s dad may be the show’s most monstrous character of all, embracing a tragic occurrence as an opportunity to publicly shame his son while spewing propaganda about his chosen way of life, which is as destructive to the environment as the man’s words are to his family’s mental health. As a rebuke against the tribalism keeping witches and mortals apart, the program illustrates how their worlds really aren’t all that different from one another, and how Sabrina’s unwillingness to conform flies in the face of them both. 

With season two currently in production and slated for release next year, “Chilling Adventures of Sabrina” could theoretically join with “Riverdale” in creating its own comic book-based expanded universe. Aguirre-Sacasa already has ideal subject matter for a cross-over in the form of his Afterlife with Archie series, where the red-headed hero must team up with his buddies to combat a zombie apocalypse when it reaches their hometown. Sabrina’s town of Greendale is right next door to Riverdale, a fact mentioned only once this season, and that’s probably a good thing. Having the show debut on a network separate from the one airing “Riverdale” provided enough distance for it to have a tone and charm all its own, avoiding the pitfalls of interconnected exposition that mars many a Marvel vehicle. 

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If anything, “Sabrina” has more in common with the other seasonal 10-hour epic released on Netflix this month—Mike Flanagan’s riveting limited series, “The Haunting of Hill House”—yet their most glaring similarities aren’t worth replicating. Both shows incorporate cartoonish CGI (though “Sabrina” thankfully has far more practical effects) as well as use the repetitive refrain of “I have to fix this” so often in later episodes, it seems designed for a future Netflix drinking game. Weirdly enough, the best episode in each of the shows is the fifth one—both benefit from an ingenious structure that probes deeper into the minds of its characters. The longevity of Sabrina’s adventures has yet to be determined, but with Shipka and the gang signed on for the full ride, I’d gladly follow this witch to the moon and back.

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31 Best Horror TV Shows on Streaming Services

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Horror and television have always been a bit of an awkward fit. What’s scary and what’s bingeable sometimes seem mutually exclusive. Horror requires that you suspend your disbelief and the longer it asks of your attention span, the higher the risk that the tension wanes.

Still, in the modern streaming era, there are plenty of horror TV shows that get the spooky job done. Gathered on Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hulu, and HBO Max are some truly great bingeable options to elevate the heart rate. Here we’ve compiled the very best of the best. What follows are the 31 best streaming horror TV shows. 

American Horror Story

Available on: Netflix, Hulu

Ryan Murphy’s American Horror Story is revolutionary in quite a few ways. Not only did it help usher in a renewed era of anthology storytelling on television, it also was arguably the first successful network television horror show since The X-Files.

Like all anthologies, American Horror Story has its better seasons (season 1 a.k.a. Murder House, season 2 a.k.a. Asylum, season 6 a.k.a. Roanoke) and its worse (season 3 a.k.a. Coven and season 8 a.k.a. Apocalypse). Still, for nine years and counting, American Horror Story has been one of the go-to options for TV horror fans.

Apparitions

Available on: Amazon Prime

When The Exorcist first premiered in 1973, it changed everything for horror. A whole world of demonology and exorcism entered into our collective unconscious to torment the masses. Still, the TV world hasn’t done much with exorcism-based horror since that then. BBC’s Apparitions from 2008, however, might be the exception. This is a nifty little horror drama that goes about demons the right way.

Apparitions stars Martin Shaw as Father Jacob Mays. Mays is tasked with examining potential miracles for canonization. But as Mays sets out, he begins to come into contact with dark forces in need of some exorcising. Apparitions is an excellent miniseries that has a shockingly complete perspective on how the Catholic Church operates.

Ash vs Evil Dead

Available on: Netflix

Sam Raimi’s Evil Dead series (consisting of Evil Dead, Evil Dead II, and Army of Darkness) are some of the most deliriously bloody and fun slasher films ever committed to celluloid. Surely, however, a TV series made decades later couldn’t possibly bring the same level of thrill, could it?

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Wrong! Starz’s Ash vs Evil Dead is another installment of fantastic comedy horror. Bruce Campbell returns as Evil Dead hero Ash Williams, who has done seemingly little with his life since battling the forces of evil (and dead) 30 years ago. That all changes when the dead walk once again and Ash, and some new friends must pick up the chainsaw once again.

Black Summer

Available on: Netflix

In a zombie television landscape largely dominated by AMC’s The Walking Dead, Syfy’s Z Nation found a nice with a more playful, tongue-in-cheek presentation of the zombie apocalypse. In this spinoff, Black Summer, things get a touch darker.

Jamie King stars as Rose, a mother who is separated from her daughter during the height of a zombie apocalypse. Rose sets out on a mission to recover her and in the process builds a group of like-minded individuals looking for something they’ve lost.

Castle Rock

Available on: Hulu

Stephen King properties have made their way to television before. There have been miniseries for classic King texts like The Stand and ‘Salem’s Lot and even full series for works like Rose Red and Under the Dome. Still, none of those series has had the audacity to adapt multiple aspects of the Stephen King universe itself…until Castle Rock.

Castle Rock takes multiple characters, storylines, and concepts from the vast works of Stephen King and puts them all in King’s own Castle Rock, Maine. The first season featured inmates from Shawshank prison, extended family of Jack Torrance, and maybe even a touch of the shine. The show has opened itself up for more storytelling possibilities in season 2, adopting an anthology format and bringing Annie Wilkes into the fold.

Castlevania

Available on: Netflix

Netflix has beefed up its anime offerings in recent years and one of the first IPs they mined to do so was atmospheric Konami videogame series Castlevania. Originally planned as a film, Castlevania makes good use of its serialized format to pick up the horror story from where it begins with 1989 gameCastlevania III: Dracula’s Curse.

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And what a story it is. Wallachian lord (and vampire, obvs.) Vlad Dracula Tepes (Graham McTavish) falls into a mighty rage after his wife is wrongly accused of witchcraft and burned at the stake. Vlad summons an army of the dead to declare war on the living of Wallachia. The only people who stand in his path are a ragged band of heroes led by Trevor Belmont (Richard Armitage).

Chambers

Available on: Netflix

Chambers only survived one season at Netflix, proving once again that it’s tough out there for horror television shows. But the one season legacy the show leaves behind is a decently spooky one.

Chambers tells a story that contains a pretty familiar, yet effective horror trope. Sasha Yazzie (Sivan Alyra Rose) receives a much-needed heart transplant from a girl named Becky Lafevre. Soon, Sasha begins to experience troubling visions and begins to unravel a conspiracy that brings her into contact with Becky’s parents (Uma Thurman and Tony Goldwyn).

The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina

Available on: Netflix

After the Archie comic universe got a gritty reboot in The CW’s Riverdale, it was only a matter of time before Archie cousin comic Sabrina the Teenage Witch got her turn. Thankfully Netflix stepped up to the plate with the Kiernan Shipka starring Chilling Adventures of Sabrina and even more thankfully…it’s gritty as all hell.

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The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina brings witchcraft back to its absolutely metal satanic origins. Sabrina Spellman (Shipka) is like any teenager at Baxter High. She’s concerned about her grades, her social status, and her impending 16th birthday in which she must undergo a dark ritual in which she’ll have to grant her loyalty to the Dark Lord Satan. Such is life for a half-mortal/half-witch.

Dark/Web

Available on: Amazon Prime

For those interested in anthology and serialized horror storytelling, Dark/Web offers the best of both worlds. This Amazon Prime original tells a single spooky tale, spread out over eight largely self-contained “chapters.”

Dark/Web picks up with the disappearance of cyber analyst Molly Solis (Noemi Gonzalez). As her friends investigate what happened to Molly, they begin to uncover some truly dark secrets hidden within the fabric of the Internet. Dark/Web expertly exploits real world fears about the spreading influence of this omniscient communication technology.

The Exorcist

Available on: Hulu

The Exorcist is one of the greatest horror films ever made. The Fox series that bears its name and premise isn’t quite as good (few things could ever be) but it’s still an excellent horror story in its own right.

The Exorcist is a two-season long anthology series that follows two different cases of demonic possession. In the first installment, two Catholic priests assist a woman with a possession in her home. In the second, two new priests help a young girl battle evil.

Folklore

Available on: HBO Max

HBO’s 2019 series Folklore is based on a novel concept. HBO Asia has access to some of the best horror storytellers in the East. Why not give them carte blanche to tell the horrifying stories they want to tell in an anthology format?

Folklore features episodes from filmmakers based in Indonesia, Japan, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, and South Korea. Each installment is unique to that country’s sensibilities and also entirely terrifying. 

Ghost Adventures

Available on: Hulu

Since the turn of the millennium, television has not been lacking for shows involving paranormal investigations. But even within the crowded spooky market, Travel Channel’s Ghost Adventures stands out.

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First premiering in 2008, Ghost Adventures follows paranormal researchers Zak Bagans, Nick Groff, Aaron Goodwin, Billy Tolley, and Jay Wasley as they travel the world looking for ghoulish occurrences to investigate. Over its 200-some episodes (not including specials), Ghost Adventures has proven itself to be the gold standard for people who just want to watch some dudes stumble around old properties in night vision.

Haunted

Available on: Netflix

Haunted is a bit of an odd duck among Netflix’s horror offerings. It was introduced for the 2018 Halloween season, just a week before the juggernaut Haunting of Hill House. As such, it got lost in the spooky shuffle. Still, this is a surprisingly effective take on your classic “tell a scary story” style TV series.

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31 Best Horror Movies to Stream

By Alec Bojalad and 1 other

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By Alec Bojalad and 3 others

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Best Horror Movies on Hulu

By Alec Bojalad and 1 other

In Haunted, people tell their real life scary stories. That’s it. This is well-trodden ground on long running cable series like Ghost Stories and Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark. Where Haunted differentiates itself is in its shockingly high production values, as witnessed in the ethereal screengrab above. Also, these stories are like…really scary.

The Haunting of Hill House

Available on: Netflix

Shirley Jackson’s novel The Haunting of Hill House is considered one of the most important texts in the horror literature canon. It’s only fitting then that it’s Hill House that Netflix turned to when the time came to make its first big original horror series. It’s also fitting that they turned to Hush director Mike Flanagan to make it happen.

Flanagan’s version of The Haunting of Hill House is quite different from the novel from which it takes its name. This Haunting is a modern story that follows the Crain family as they try to recover from the trauma they sustained as kids living in the terrifying Hill House. Of course, Hill House is still out there just dying to call them all back home. Netflix is going to keep “The Haunting” going with The Haunting of Bly Manor and presumably more to come after that.

The Haunting of Bly Manor

Available on: Netflix

The consensus is that The Haunting of Bly Manor is significantly less scary than Mike Flanagan’s original Netflix series The Haunting of Hill House…and that consensus is correct. But there are still plenty of scares to be had in this worthy followup.

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Why The Haunting of Bly Manor Needed a British Script Editor

By Louisa Mellor

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By Louisa Mellor

Bly Manor borrows elements from the works of Henry James, including The Turn of the Screw, to craft another affecting ghost story. Hill House‘s Victoria Pedretti returns as Dani, a young American woman who takes on a job as a governess to two young children at the titular Bly Manor. Soon Dani and all involved will come to find that Bly Manor holds some serious (weirdly romantic) secrets.

The Living and the Dead

Available on: Amazon Prime

The BBC’s The Living and the Dead is an aesthetically beautiful show. It’s not entirely dissimilar to a British-ized The Returned. It stars Colin Moran as Nathan Appleby, a psychology who inherits a beautiful, if creepy manor.

Sure, the property is a touch isolated but that doesn’t concern Nathan and his wife. It should because what comes next is a bit more Amityville Horror than The Returned.

Lore

Available on: Amazon Prime

Aaron Mahnke’s history horror podcast Lore has always operated under the theory that truth is stranger (and scarier) than fiction. That’s the same philosophy that this Amazon Prime original adaptation adopts.

Both seasons of Lore tell a handful of real life stories that illustrate the origins of some of our world’s spookiest legends and events. Narration combined with live action recreations present tales of vampirism, grave-robbing, werewolves, and more.

Lovecraft Country

Available on: HBO Max

Classic horror literature is largely dominated by white voices and white characters. HBO’s bold adaptation of the book Lovecraft Country by Matt Ruff, seeks to seamlessly insert some Black voices and characters into the historical horror canon.

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Lovecraft Country: Bringing the Shoggoths to Life

By Rosie Fletcher

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How Lovecraft Country Uses Horror to Tell Black Stories

By Nicole Hill

To that end Jonathan Majors and Jurnee Smollett star as Atticus “Tic” Freeman and Letitia “Leti” Lewis – two Black Chicagoans discovering magic in 1950s America. The plot is structured as a sort-of anthology with Tic, Leti, and their friends and family dealing with the supernatural weekly while also engaged with the machinations of the ancient Braithwhite family. With a deep appreciation of monsters, both real and imagined, Lovecraft Country is worthwhile horror programming.

Monsterland

Available on: Hulu

Since Netflix acquired the rights to Black Mirror back in 2015, the streaming world has been a veritable arms race of sci-fi and horror anthology series. Hulu has already tried its hand at horror anthology with the Blumhouse-produced Into the Dark, and Monsterland represents the latest effort.

Monsterland is based on the short story collection North American Lake Monsters: Stories by Nathan Ballingrud. It consists of eight spooky, unconnected tales and features the acting talents of Kaitlyn Dever, Bill Camp, Kelly Marie Tran, and more. The twist here is that each episode focuses on an urban legend from a different city within the United States. And given how weird this country is, the series won’t be running out of of stories anytime soon.

One Step Beyond

Available on: Amazon Prime

The amazing drama you are about to see is a matter of human record,” runs John Newland’s introduction to this Twilight Zone-esque series. “The real people who lived this story, they believe it, they know, they took that one step beyond.

Famously, Newland took one step beyond himself when making “The Sacred Mushroom” episode in which he ingested hallucinogenic mushrooms and filmed his reaction. It’s not available here, but it’s out there in both senses of the phrase.

The Outer Limits

Available on: Hulu

When The Twilight Zone premiered in 1959, it set off a brief little renaissance of anthology horror storytelling on television. The best of these contenders to the Zone‘s throne was probably the sci-fi centric The Outer Limits.

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Best Horror TV Shows on Amazon Prime

By Alec Bojalad and 1 other

TV

Best Horror TV Shows on Hulu

By Alec Bojalad

Outer Limits aired from 1963 to 1965 on ABC. In that span it generated 49 spooky episodes, several of which made an impact on pop culture. Alan Moore infamously borrowed the plot of the episode “The Architects of Fear” for the ending of Watchmen. The Outer Limits received a Sci-Fi Channel revival in the ’90s and is currently poised for another bite at the apple.

The Outsider

Available on: HBO Max

Stephen King is among the most adapted authors of all time. And yet, even after all this time, the King canon is able to produce some surprises. HBO’s miniseries (or series, they’ve not really made that clear) The Outsider, based on a 2018 King novel of the same name and developed for television by The Night Of‘s Richard Price, is one such pleasant surprise.

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Will There Be The Outsider Season 2?

By Alec Bojalad

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The Outsider Ending Explained

By Alec Bojalad

The genius of this story is how it first presents as a true crime tale, with little league coach Terry Maitland (Jason Bateman) being arrested for the unspeakably violent murder of a local boy. But as Detective Ralph Anderson (Ben Mendelsohn) looks further into the case, he discovers there might be a supernatural force at play. The Outsider deftly delves into themes of belief, skepticism, and family, all the while asking viewers “how long would it take for you give in and believe the unbelievable?”

The X-Files

Available on: Hulu

The X-Files is quite simply the gold standard for horror on television. Chris Carter’s conspiracy-tinged supernatural masterpiece not only inspired every horror TV show that came after it, but just about every other TV show in general.

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The X-Files follows FBI special agents Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) as they investigate the unusual cases that traditional law enforcement won’t touch. For 11 seasons (and a handful of movies), the show expertly balanced a massive series-long story along with what came to be called “monster of the week” self-contained tales.

Scare Tactics

Available on: Netflix

Scare Tactics is what happens when someone looks at the prank camera show format and thinks “What if this but also dangerous and terrifying?” The concept of Scare Tactics is simple: take normal people, put them in elaborate horror movie situations, and film what happens. Awful? Yes. Entertaining? Absolutley!

Shannen Doherty hosted the first incarnation of the show that premiered on Syfy in 2003. Stephen Baldwin took her place in the middle of the show’s second season. Then after a three-year hiatus, Scare Tactics returned with Tracy Morgan at the helm and lasted three more seasons of hilariously cruel pranking.

Stan Against Evil

Available on: Hulu

To parody horror, one needs to love horror. And Stan Against Evil creator Dana Gould really, really, really loves horror. The longtime standup comedian and comedy writer brings his unique humor sensibilities and lifelong appreciation of horror to tell the story of a quaint New Hampshire town that just happens to be built on the cursed site of a massive witch burning.

John C. McGinley stars as the titular Stan, a disgraced former sheriff who opts to pick up the battle against evil after a close call. He teams up with new sheriff Evie Barret (Janet Varney) to defend the town (and sometimes world) from supernatural threats.

Stranger Things

Available on: Netflix

It seems so obvious now but in hindsight there was little buzz about this nostalgic tweenage horror project on Netflix from the relatively unknown Duffer Brothers. Little did we know that the Stev(ph)ens Spielberg and King inspired Stranger Things would be one of Netflix’s biggest hits.

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Best Horror TV Shows on Netflix

By Alec Bojalad

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Stranger Things: Eleven’s Journey and the Need of Powers

By David Crow

Stranger Things takes place in the fictional Hawkins, Indiana in the mid-’80s. Hawkins is your typical smal ltown American city. The kids like to ride bikes, play Dungeons and Dragons, and tease one another. Little does everyone know that the mysterious government building on the outskirts of town may have opened a portal to another world – a portal that will usher in multiple seasons worth of monster fighting mayhem.

The Strain

Available on: Hulu

The most novel thing about FX’s vampire horror thriller The Strain is how it equates the ancient fear of vampirism with the more modern, global fear of pandemic. The Strain, produced by Guillermo del Toro Chuck Hogan and based on their novel series opens with a flight landing with all of its passengers mysteriously dead.

As CDC director Ephraim Goodweather (Corey Stoll) steps in to investigate, he discovers that there might be something more sinister…and ancient afoot than a simple virus. The Strain lasted for four mostly decent seasons on FX and if nothing else helped re-embrace the vampire as a monster and not some sort of noble antihero.

The Terror

Available on: Hulu

Based on a 2007 book of the same name by Dan Simmons, The Terror season 1 tells a fictionalized account of Captain Sir John Franklin’s expedition to the arctic in 1845. In real life, the doomed men likely got lost and succumbed to the cold but the show asks “what if there was something more sinister than low temperatures lurking about?”

The Terror features a cast impressively full of “hey it’s that guy” guys like Jared Harris, Ciarán Hindis, and Tobias Menzes. It deftly turned itself into an anthology with the second season The Terror: Infamy that tells a ghost story within the setting of a Japanese interment camp in World War II.

The Twilight Zone

Available on: Hulu

The Twilight Zone is an all-time television classic for good reason. Join Rod Serling each episode for a new tale of mystery, horror and woe.

Whatever you do, however, do NOT drop your glasses.

Unsolved Mysteries

Available on: Netflix

Any reboot of continuation of the classic ’80s/’90s true crime series Unsolved Mysteries just needs one element to be considered authentic: that music. Thankfully, this modern iteration on Netflix maintains a version of the original’s haunting theme. Beyond that crucial aspect, Unsolved Mysteries honors the original by continuing the formula to great success.

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TV

Unsolved Mysteries Review (Spoiler-Free): True Crime With More Questions Than Answers

By Tony Sokol

TV

Unsolved Mysteries Volume 2 Review: Reboot Fits a Flatfoot More Than a Bigfoot

By Tony Sokol

Unsolved Mysteries remains largely a true crime enterprise. The show covers unexplained disappearances, murders, and crimes. But it also spends plenty of time with the truly unexplained: the paranormal. This reboot has covered UFOs and some tsunami ghosts. That, combined with the atmospheric music, makes this a suitably spooky watch.

The Veil

Available on: Amazon Prime

1958’s The Veil consists of dramatizations of strange tales, the majority of which also feature host Boris Karloff in the cast. At story’s end, our host is back to offer a conclusion to that particular story of “the world beyond our understanding.”

Not that 1950s TV audiences would have known about it, because The Veil wasn’t broadcast. Footage from its episodes appeared in some late sixties TV movies, and a DVD release followed in the 1990s, but its cancellation prior to airing have made it a cult find.

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Riverdale Roundup: Episode 2x03 “ The Watcher in the Woods”

Are you ready? ooohh ooohh ohh- I know you see me standing here-- okay i'm already off topic.

Okay so here I am. Fresh off watching the new episode of riverdale and I thought I would share my thoughts with you because my life is empty and I need something to fill my time. This is my creative outlet. Welcome to your tape? More like welcome to my blog.

Okay so we start this week's episode and Kevin is running in the woods like a thot looking for some good old gay lovin and he starts macking on this guy and i'm like who is that? Was that Dilton doiley? It kind of looked like him but a bitch is not sure.  I mean what are the odds that the gun happy leader of riverdale’s finest boy scout troop is also a first rate closet case?

BANG BANG gun shots! Kevin runs over and Midge is like freaking the fuck out. Okay is it just me or does she kind of look like Carly Rae Jepsen in a bad wig? Praise the lord that Moose is alive.  I was so sad when I thought he was dead. He's my guy. He shielded that crazy bitch from harm with his beautiful over sized body.

Now let's talk south side high: What the fuck is with this place? So there's security and metal detectors but the kid's can do straight up drugs in the hallway? I get that jingle jangle or whatever it's called basically just looks like pixie sticks but still. Also how convenient that there just happens to be a rival gang that no one has ever heard of before. Everyone was so damn concerned that the Serpents were doing all this evil shit around town but not one single person was like huh maybe it's this other gang that has strong ties to drugs and are in general just sketchy af. Also there's no wifi in the classrooms and no doors on the bathroom stalls? That sounds like my literally hell.

So this Toni Topaz gal is some artsy photographer how perfect for the revival of the red and black or the black and red or whatever it is.  How convenient. People on Instagram are all like " omg she's going to break up bughead"  and i'm like hmmmmm that sounds like it could be kind of true but also kind of fake. It just seems like such an obvious route to go with. Like oh wow Jughead is friends with a girl so clearly they’re going to fuck. It's TBD.  But also like isn't she supposed to be sexually fluid or some shit like that? Like is she going to go after Betty? Who's to say?

Also Jughead just casually getting beat up by the other gang and then telling Betty that he crashed his motorcycle. Okay for one thing Jughead you are 15. You can't just drive around sans license. I get that your girlfriend's GBF's daddy is head bitch in charge of the riverdale police but still, your family is already in deep shit with the law. I mean i don't get how his mother wasn't charged with reckless abandonment for picking the child she liked better and fleeing the state.  Also I feel like there is a clear distinction between the scraps you would get from from falling off your bike and the bruises you get  from being beaten up by a rival gang member.  Betty is no dumb bitch. Also why was Toni just casually in the trailer with them? Like are they all BFFs now? Are they going to adopt some other south side street rat and become the new core four?

On another note FREAKING CHARLES PERCY IS THE SOUTH SIDE HIGH ENGLISH TEACHER!!!!!!!!!! He faked his death at Seattle Grace Mercy West in order to move to whatever east coast state this is and work in an underprivileged high school? I like wasn't paying attention when he was first on the screen so I only heard his voice and i looked up and i was like omg that's one of those residents that died who I totes forgot about.  

Also we finally see the return of pregnant Polly. Who delivers one of the most iconic lines of the episode  " I am an unwed mother carrying my cousins babies. I am the poster child for sin"  like it's so weird to hear her say her cousin. Like they acknowledge that its incest and that Polly and Jason are related but hearing her say that I was like YIKES! Also she " called the farm" how fake does that sound? Like what kind of farm just operates as a wayward home for pregnant runaways? No farm Iwant to go to that's for sure.

Okay back to my boy Moose for a hot second. I love him. I love him so much. And he LOVES Kevin and i'm like Kevin be with him. Kevin you don't need to go sulking in the woods for a hook up. Moose is right there in all his bi sexual closeted cuteness asking you to love him. When he was like " you can come back and we could like hang out and like talk" and i'm like go to him Kevin.

Next subject on the docket is Veronica and her Daddy. Someone needs to keep a count of how many times she says Daddy in a single episode. I'm sure by the end of the season the number will be well into the thousands. Okay so she wants to have her friends over to watch " the matchlorette" like okay CW why don't you buy the rights to say normal words. This is a popular ass show I know you have the money.

" Matchlorette"

"American Excess"

" Vanity Flare"

WE SEE RIGHT THROUGH YOU WRITERS! YOU'RE NOT CLEVER.

So Daddy gives baby 15 year old Archie some fancy ass Rum and is like fight this killer with violence. What's your MO Mark? Also i H8 Hermione so much right now. She's such a Psycho and not in a hot way. Also Veronica drinking a mimosa at breakfast like it's nothing. You are 15! Which is basically 14 which is basically 12. Shut up you're like 12.  So Veronica is going to join the shady ass family business and get her hands dirty. Like okay V. Lets see how that goes.

Okay so like does Alice has her finger on the pulse of riverdale current events? The killer is so hip to the town that he's like i'll send her this creepy letter and all my  evidence knowing that she's such a stone cold bish that she'll publish it no matter what Sheriff Keller or the Mayor says.

J'adore how Cheryl was being so very me and just eavesdropping on all of Betty and Kevin's conversations. Then she was just like " I'm here to fuck shit up" and stands by smiling while watching their friendship burn in front of her. Also her comment about dark betty was iconic.

Okay now the meat and potatoes. The red circle? Really Archie? We get it you have red hair. When they were all shirtless at end with the red hoods I was like okay wow this is happening. Also how very Liam Neeson was that ending part when he got really close to the camera and was  like " we will find you and we will end you" and I was like Archie you are 15. I don't know how I feel about the new Reggie yet. He's very active in these episodes now.  Okay also what was that BS with Ethel and the van? Was she just being a paranoid bish? For one when there's a murderer on the loose don't walk alone at night. Two: black hood is after sinners and Ethel seems like she goes to church on sundays and has never even said the word shit. She wears headbands with bows on them for Christ sake.  

Catch my thoughts next Thursday,

[viralhottopics]

Turns out Archie is just as clueless in ‘Riverdale’ as he is in the comics

KJ Apa as Archie Andrews, Lili Reinhart as Betty Cooper, Cole Sprouse as Jughead Jones, and Camila Mendes as Veronica Lodge

Image: Diyah Pera/THE CW

This recap contains spoilers for Riverdale Season 1, episode 2, titled “A Touch of Evil.”

Previously on Riverdale Archie (KJ Apa) got hot, Jason Blossom’s (Trevor Stines) body was discovered with a bullet hole in his head meaning he didn’t drown like his twin sister Cheryl (Madelaine Petch) said and Archie, Betty (Lili Reinhart) and Veronica’s (Camila Mendes) iconic love triangle was born with Betty’s broken heart.

As subversive as Riverdale gets with Archie Comics canon, underneath the darkness and grit of the world created in The CW series, all of the characters are still pretty much the same as their comic book counterparts. Yes, Archie’s now a hot varsity football player caught in an illicit teacher/student affair with Ms. Grundy (Sarah Habel), but underneath his buff exterior, he’s still the girl-crazy redhead who always tries to do the right thing, even if he doesnt succeed most of the time. His intentions are pure.

While last week’s series premiere did its best to get tongues wagging with how scandalous, shocking and edgy Riverdale is going to be, episode 2 lives up to its promise of staying true to who the Archie Comics characters are. It also makes big strides in Jason Blossom’s murder investigation, no thanks to Archie. But we’ll get to that in a bit.

Now that the police are searching for whoever shot Jason, Archie’s guilty conscience is getting the better of him about the mysterious gunshot he heard at the river’s edge on July 4th. Archie may be a little dense, but he’s not stupid; he can put two and two together he knows exactly when Jason was shot, and he also knows that information could be very helpful to the police. But Ms. Grundy’s scared that if they come forward, it will expose their affair and get her in trouble, so she refuses to let Archie spoil their good time with his ethics. #RiverdaleStrong.

It only takes Archie until lunch to confront Ms. Grundy again, asking her if her feelings for him are real because otherwise there’s no reason to protect whatever it is they’re doing especially if it obstructs a murder investigation.

When faced with that ultimatum, of course Ms. Grundy tells him their relationship is real no surprise there. She seductively warns him that if he exposes their affair, they’ll never get to see each other again, appealing to his teenage boy hormones and effectively shutting him up for a little bit. It’s clear that Grundy doesn’t feel the same way about Archie that he does about her and is more concerned with keeping her job, but he can’t see that through his lust blinders. Can you blame the poor guy?

Thankfully, his former best friend Jughead (Cole Sprouse) is here to help Archie see the truth after he catches a glimpse of the two of them in the act. Archie and Jughead subsequently get into a tense fight about the affair, leading Archie to confess to hearing a gunshot on July 4th, and Jughead’s ensuing anger over the fact that Archie isn’t doing the right thing and coming forward proves to be the push that Archie needs to nut up.

Bro code.

Image: Diyah Pera/THE CW

The next morning, Archie’s resolve is strengthened by an inspiring talk with his dad (Luke Perry) and good ol’ Archie finally decides to do the right thing and tell the police what he heard. We’ll have to wait to see how Grundy reacts to Archie’s decision, though something tells me she’s desperate to keep their affair a secret.

Meanwhile, Betty’s mom, Alice Cooper (Madchen Amick) is on the warpath when it comes to Jason’s murder investigation, practically dancing with glee over the discovery that he was shot.

There is something seriously off with Alice, more than just being a overbearing mother. If every Riverdale character is like their comic book counterpart in some way, Alice Cooper is the exception. There is no trace of her warm, nurturing self from the digest and if it’s there, she’s hiding it well. No one, especially a mother of a high school student, should be that happy about her daughter’s peer getting shot in the face.

She pays off the medical examiner performing the autopsy for the inside scoop on his cause of death, and her interest levels are definitely suspicious. And why is she so afraid to have Betty visit Polly in the group home she’s in? There is definitely something fishy going on with the whole Alice, Polly and Jason situation. I’m all for a slow burn, but this mystery is likely going to have huge ramifications for many characters and possibly the investigation itself, so I’m getting impatient.

But Betty is too focused on her own issues to dig deeper into that, as both Veronica and Archie are on major damage control after their little makeout sesh. For the most part, Betty seems to be over her broken heart. But it’s not how she really feels it’s just what she’s projecting, seeing as how her mother wants her to break off things with both of them. Is this the first sign of Betty’s rebellion, going against what her mother wants, even if it’s not what she truly wants?

When Veronica tries to talk things over with Betty, Betty’s true feelings finally come out and it’s no more Miss Nice Girl. She takes Veronica’s olive branch gift of manis/pedis and blowouts at a fancy salon and instead invites Cheryl of all people, who accepts only to try and get information out of Betty about Polly.

Cheryl thinks whatever happened between Polly and Jason over the summer caused Polly to shoot Jason, and Betty definitely has no time for those kinds of accusations. And hey, maybe threatening murder to the sister of the boy who was just murdered isn’t the smartest idea?

Madelaine Petsch as Cheryl Blossom

Image: Dean Buscher/The CW

There’s clearly more to Cheryl than meets the eye. After trying to stay strong throughout the entire hour, she finally breaks down during the pep rally thrown in her brother’s honor. Believe it or not, Veronica ends up being the one to comfort her, and after Betty sees the sweeter side of Veronica, she decides to put the past behind her and be Veronica’s friend for real. They seal their newly forged bond over milkshakes at Pop’s, making a vow that no boy will ever come between them again.

In a case of TV-perfect timing, Archie then walks through the door of Pop’s. Betty can see the sparks between him and Veronica, but she shoves her feelings down once more and invites him and Jughead to join them in their booth.

Jughead’s closing narration sums up that trio the best: “To someone on the outside, peering in, it would have looked like there were four people in that booth. But I was there and I can tell you, really there were only three: a blonde girl, a raven-haired girl and the luckiest redheaded boy in the universe. For one shining moment, we were just kids. Those bright neon lights of Pop’s keeping the darkness at bay, giving way, as all nights must, to a morning of reckoning.”

SEE ALSO: ‘Riverdale’ reinvents Archie with a ‘Twin Peaks’ twist, and we dare you not to love it

That morning of reckoning is a big step forward in Jason’s murder investigation, as none other than Cheryl is the first arrest made! Record scratch, freeze frame, say what?!

She’s taken out of class by the sheriff and principal because of what the autopsy revealed, and in her own words, she admits, “I’m guilty.” But guilty of what? Surely not murdering her twin brother?

It’s more likely she’s “guilty” of giving a false statement about when her brother disappeared, since it turns out he didn’t die on July 4th he died over a week later. So what was the gunshot that Archie and Grundy heard?

Looks like there are now two major mysteries being brought out of the shadows and into the light in Riverdale. But honestly, I’m just here for Betty and Veronica’s newly-minted girl power friendship.

Other noteworthy moments:

– Moose (Cody Kearsly) wants to keep his secret fling going with Kevin (Casey Cott), but Kevin has no interest in extreme closet cases. Keep on being your awesome, confident and self-aware self, Kevin. You are slowly but surely becoming the best part of Riverdale.

– Archie is the king of sending poor Betty mixed signals, and it’s even more heartbreaking to watch onscreen than it is to read it in the comics. Apparently when they were both in second grade, he almost got held back because he was having trouble reading. She tutored him every day so he would still be in her class, and when he passed he kissed her and asked her to marry him. She told him to ask her again when they were 18 and she’d say yes. She probably, definitely meant that, and of course, he can’t see that. He just remembers it as a cute memory from their childhood. Oh, Archie.

– We’re starting to get a fuzzy picture about what caused Archie and Jughead’s friendship-ending rift. Apparently Archie had plans to go on a road trip over the summer summer with Jughead, beginning on the weekend of July 4th, but Archie canceled last minute. Jughead now knows it’s because of Archie’s fling with Grundy, but that definitely isn’t the whole story. What else happened between these two former best friends? At least Archie deciding to come forward about the gunshot he heard seems to be the start of a resolution with Jughead. Plus, taking a punch to the face for his former bestie definitely scores Archie some points.

– The River Vixens perform at the school’s pep rally in Jason’s honor (what an interesting way of grieving, Cheryl) with an assist from Josie (Ashleigh Murray) and the Pussycats. Their cover of “Sugar, Sugar” is awesome, bubble gum pop fun, and a subversive take on the original since it’s usually sung by The Archies. Subversive really seems to be the mantra of Riverdale, huh?

Riverdale airs Thursdays at 9 p.m. on The CW.

BONUS: DC Comics characters come to life in the form of LEGO bricks

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