Riverdale: Betty And Veronica Steal The Show

Let me tell you about the moment Riverdale won me over. Betty and Veronica are trying out for that American high school staple – the cheer-leading squad. Their routine is solid, as far as I can tell. I’m not any kind of judge here, I never even saw the Bring It On movies. But it doesn’t impress mean girl queen bee Cheryl. She’s got it in for Betty, and not even an awkwardly shoehorned faux lesbian kiss can move her.

But then Veronica channels some mean girl of her own, dissecting Cheryl’s bullying persona like an expert surgeon. There’s a stare down, and the queen of Riverdale High has to back down. It’s a weird scene to be waffling about, but within it is the key to Riverdale’s would be success.

Riverdale is the latest product of The CW’s photogenic young people machine that’s bought us The 100, Arrow, The Flash and countless other melodramas. Adapted from the famous Archie comics series, it’s all about teenagers in a small town and the suspicious goings on that are always, well, going on. As someone who’s never picked up an Archie comic in my life, I can’t tell you if Riverdale is a faithful adaptation. What I can promise you though, is that it’s way better than its trailer makes it look.

I can also tell you that this is mostly down to the two characters I was telling you about a second ago: Betty and Veronica.

 

Love Triangles are old news

See, the Archie comics are centred around a love triangle. Betty, Veronica and Archie are in a constant battle with their teenage hormones in a never ending cycle of will-they-or-will-they-or-won’t-they. This was the extent of my Archie knowledge going in, and long time fans will likely mock me for butchering the premise.

Even so, I can’t say I was looking forward to Riverdale when it landed on British shores via Netflix this past week. Young Adult fiction is a minefield of poorly written love triangles these days, and I was worried seeing another might turn my brain matter into milky porridge.

Thing is, Betty and Veronica are the best things about Riverdale. Sure, they both have awkward teenage feels for protagonist Archie, but their depth of character and fast friendship is genuinely refreshing. Perhaps adulthood has just turned me into a cynic, but I can’t imagine a show like this twenty years ago which would have allowed Betty and Veronica to be this three dimensional.

Let’s start with Betty. She’s the hopeless nice girl in love with Archie, but she’s also got her own family problems and a romance with her best friend doesn’t feel like the necessary end game of her character arc. Veronica is new in town, a former mean girl who’s been humbled. She’s witty and well versed in pop culture, but she has family drama to deal with too, plus a slice of juicy mystery too.

That’s the other part of Riverdale. Something mysterious is going on. A teenager -Queen Bee Cheryl’s twin brother to be exact – has vanished. Everyone thinks he died in an accident, but this is TV and the rest of us know better. We’re watching a town full of secrets, and Betty and Veronica are sitting on entire icebergs of them without even realising.

 

The Real Heroes

Poor Betty’s mom is a control freak. She sees her daughter’s life as hers to mould, pushing her towards anything which will get her into a good college. Betty is a ‘nice girl’, and has those doe eyes which makes you think she’s going to roll over for whatever her mother tells her. But she’s on Adderall, and there’s sixteen years of emotional suppression bubbling under the surface.

Her sister was dating the missing teenager I mentioned earlier but now spends her days recovering on a mental health ward. Betty blames her mother for it. Again though, secrets.

Then there’s Veronica, daughter of a disgraced businessman father and socialite mother. Her dad’s on trial for cooking the books, and she’s taken a fair share of hate mail as a result. Oh, and a big bag of money showed up on her mother’s desk near the end of our first episode. Veronica has the self assurance of someone who’s been popular, but she also has a self righteous streak burning through her. And yes, I suppose we should also mention she’s trying very hard not to fancy the pants off Archie.

Yes, Archie, I guess I should talk about the red headed dude who’s supposed to be our protagonist. As it stands though, for most of this pilot episode Archie comes off as almost boring in comparison to the Betty-Veronica double act. He’s sensitive and good at music and he’s good at football? What a burden. He had an affair with the school music teacher? That’s pretty salacious and all, but could he move over so we can have more Betty and Veronica please?

Which brings me (sort of) back to where I started. Beth and Veronica’s unlikely alliance, forged in the fires of cheerleader try outs, is the most fascinating story of Riverdale’s first episode. It’s turned the love triangle trope on its head, because who wants to watch Betty and Veronica make googly eyes at Archie when we can watch them become dope best friends? Is this what I’ve been missing in Archie all along? Can these two just be the main characters of the show please?