Riverdale: "Chapter Six: Faster, Pussycats! Kill! Kill!"

It took me half a dozen episodes to realize I was completely hooked on Riverdale. Apparently, that's how many episodes it took a lot of people, because this week the series was officially renewed for a second season.

Jughead and Betty are on the case.
Source: imdb.com

This mid-season addition to the CW's lineup could have gone either way. It's got a relatively unknown cast who are, in the words of a friend of mine "really attractive, even by CW standards." They are also more than their pretty faces. Early press claimed the Archie Comics adaptation would be a dark Twin Peaks for the younger set. So far, the only resemblance to the Lynch creation is Mädchen Amick, who plays Betty's mother, and was a waitress at the Double R Diner. No, if anything, Riverdale is reminiscent of a show that originally aired on the network's predecessor, UPN. In "Chapter Six: Faster, Pussycats! Kill! Kill!" we find Betty Cooper acting like Veronica - Veronica Mars, that is.

This comparison to the teen noir detective show Veronica Mars is apt because, like that series, Riverdale hinges on the murder of a high school student in a small town. (To be fair, so does Twin Peaks, but Riverdale lacks that show's absurdist elements.) The comics' Archie-Betty-Veronica love triangle rightfully gets put on the shelf in the series' first few episodes. Instead, the town and its teens are focused on solving the crime and regaining the innocence they lost. In "Faster, Pussycats," Betty (Lili Reinhart) is working for the Riverdale High School newspaper, and has begun to look for answers, not only to the question "Who Killed Jason Blossom?" but to the question of what happened to Betty's sister Polly. Polly had planned to run away with Jason on the day he was killed. In this episode, we learn that Polly is pregnant! I shouldn't have been surprised, but, like Betty, I was misdirected by Mr. and Mrs. Cooper's assurances that Polly was, well, crazy.  Betty tracks down her sister at a "home for troubled youth" and, following Polly's tip, finds a hidden getaway car. The pace of this part of the story is steady. The colors are muted. The sky is gray. There's fog in the air. Everything indicates mystery. A dark, rainy trip in the woods is enhanced by the minor chords of the Pussycats' variety show performance.

Betty has a partner in all this sleuthing. At the end of "Chapter Four: The Last Picture Show," when it was revealed that the show's narrator, Jughead Jones (Cole Sprouse), lives an essentially homeless life, I realized Archie's best pal was going to be the most interesting character in the series. His somewhat anti-canonical yet completely natural romance with Betty Cooper, sealed with a kiss in the sixth episode, also sealed his place as a lead. (And if the episode 7 promos are to be believed, his story is just beginning.) Though he began as a child actor, Sprouse's abilities shouldn't be underestimated. He fills the pauses as deftly as he delivers the lines.

Archie just wants to play his music, Dad.
Source: imdb.com

Riverdale knows its audience and its network, employing well-worn teen drama tropes. As a high school student newspaper reporter, Betty sleuths out real life crime, reminiscent not only of Veronica Mars, but also of the early seasons of Smallville. Archie Andrews (K.J. Apa), on the other hand, is the typical angsty teenage boy who can't decide between writing guitar ballads and playing on the football team. Unfortunately, this trope is applied less convincingly, and all I can do is roll my eyes at the red-headed leading man. That said, Apa does have a lovely tenor voice. Earlier in the season, Archie's story was headed in a different direction. He was revealed to be intimately involved with his music teacher. At this point I must note that teacher/student relationships are real life crimes and tragedies that are too often, unfortunately, romanticized on the small screen. [See also: Dawson's Creek.]

Meanwhile, the teens' parents are dramatically interconnected. High school drama seems to have followed them into adulthood. Thus, we find Veronica Lodge (Camila Mendes) devastated at the prospect of her mother cheating on her father with Fred Andrews. As Alice Cooper, Mädchen Amick masterfully depicts the madness of a mother bent on justice, or maybe just revenge. Then there's another whole plot with Josie's demanding father and politically corrupt mother. So is one of these crazy parents to blame for Jason's death? Betty certainly thinks so, and confronts her father with that accusation. But is it all a red herring? In Veronica Mars, it turned out that a parent was the villain. In Riverdale, I'm not so sure. I suspect the music teacher may come back to town just when we've almost forgotten her. I don't know! And it's precisely because the show keeps me guessing that I keep coming back to watch what happens next. And now, I'll get to see what happens all the way through Season 2.

Riverdale airs Thursday nights at 9 PM on The CW.

Happy Father's Day - Celebrating TV Dads

On this Father's Day, I'd like to take a moment to talk about some great TV fathers. Before you read on, I'll acknowledge that this post leans toward father-daughter relationships. It's partly because I'm a daughter, but it's also because it was hard to think of very many father-son TV relationships that were particularly commendable. Anyway, here they are: five of my favorite dads of the small screen!

The All-American Dad

Source: abc.com

Mike Heck - The Middle

Along with Jay Pritchett and Phil Dunphy, a modern ABC sitcom father who should enter the annals of Great TV Dad history is Mike Heck. Sure, this middle-aged middle-class Dad may not be a warm, cuddly father. And yeah, he makes his share of mistakes. Once he even admitted he had a favorite kid - in front of the other two kids. But he also goes out of his way to support his children when they need it - agreeing to coach a soccer team of cliquey teen girls so Sue would have a chance to play. Standing up for awkward little Brick when he believes he's being picked on. Laying down the law for lazy Axl. But perhaps more importantly, Mike loves his kids' mother, Frankie, even when she's stressed or sad. He's your average family man. That's what makes him great.

The Funny Father 

Source: cbs.com

Simon Roberts - The Crazy Ones

I am super disappointed that this Robin Williams headlined show has been cancelled. Poor Sarah Michelle Gellar can't seem to catch a break. In any case, Simon's greatest strength as a father was, not surprisingly, Robin Williams's greatest strength as an actor - that perfect combination of silly and sweet. Simon, father to Gellar's Sydney, consistently brought the humor to their charming relationship, which, yes, left Sydney to bring the common sense. The two of them played on the whole "bringing up father" role reversal in a workplace environment, incorporating the familial aspects of a sitcom in hilarious ways. Despite their dysfunction, these two characters effectively balance out one another's strengths and weaknesses, a quality indicative of a healthy father-daughter relationship. It only lasted a season, but The Crazy Ones is worth your time.

The Father Who Knew Best

Source: thetvmouse.com

Jack Bristow - Alias

Next on my list of great TV dads is another father of a Sydney - the humorless Jack Bristow. Half the time we didn't trust him, and when we did, we weren't sure that we should. But even when his actions seemed altogether villainous, Jack really did have Sydney's best interest at heart. He may be the dad on this list with the most faults, but his status as super spy makes up for that. The times he saved Sydney's life are too many to mention, let alone count. And if there's a father out there who needs a tutorial in scaring off daughters' boyfriends, he need look no further than Jack's phone conversation with Sydney's fiancé Danny in the pilot episode. He may have an icy exterior, but Jack Bristow has a warm heart once you realize he's one of the good guys.

The Dad Who Stopped at Nothing

Source: ew.com

Michael Dawson - Lost

If there's a TV Dad who deserves credit for trying, it's Michael. First, he had to fix the relationship with an estranged son he never wanted to part from in the first place. Then, compounding the whole deserted island problem, poor Walt gets kidnapped. But Michael never gives up the search for his little boy. Yes, he is determined to a fault. (Actually, he might have more faults than Jack, because yeah, did commit a double homicide there in the hatch.) In the end, getting Walt off the island might not have been Michael's best decision, but he did what he thought he had to do in the near impossible situation the story handed him. 

The Single Dad Who Did it All

Source: facebook.com/VeronicaMars

Keith Mars - Veronica Mars

Television is chock-full of awkward father-daughter relationships. Suburgatory's George and Tessa have a chemistry can hit the viewer strangely given the actors' small age difference (Jane Levy is just 15 years younger than Sisto.) The fact that Tessa calls her father by his first name doesn't help.  Nashville's Deacon and Maddie are awkwardly navigating the new father-daughter relationship they've discovered in a manner all-to-akin to dating. But then there's Keith Mars, father to Veronica, girl detective. Keith was always the right combination of strict and empowering.  In TV terms, he managed to maintain his own storylines all the while supporting hers.  The scene when the two of them confirm their biological relationship was the most moving moment this emotion-laden show saw. Well, either that or when he saved her life at the end of Season 1. In times of trouble, Keith was strong for his daughter, and the best single dad TV has ever seen.

Have a favorite TV dad who's not on this list? Tell us about him in the comments!