Warning: spoilers ahead.

After a long five months, Riverdale returned on Oct. 11. The show left viewers with a season one ending that raised more questions than it answered, and set out to answer some of those questions throughout the season 2 premiere. Riverdale is a teen drama and mystery show based off of the Archie Comics that were first published in 1939. The first season of the show consisted of 13 episodes and followed the lives of teenagers Archie Andrews (KJ Apa), Betty Cooper (Lili Reinhart), Veronica Lodge (Camila Mendes), and Jughead Jones (Cole Sprouse) in the town of Riverdale. Season one left the viewers with many cliffhangers, the most notable being that Archie’s father, Fred Andrews (Luke Perry) had just been shot. Jughead narrated the episode, as he always does, beginning with the ominous lines “Riverdale was still, at its heart, a haunted town.” These first few lines set the town for the rest of the show, foreshadowing new mysteries and surprises.

Within the first few minutes of the show a distraught Archie rushes his father to the hospital, Fred’s fate unknown. Throughout the rest of the show, Archie’s friends come together to support him during this hard time while other subplots simultaneously unfold. Jughead questions if he wants to be a Southside Serpent, a group of rough gang members, and faces Betty’s opposition to him becoming one. In addition, Jughead uses his father’s status as a Serpent to solicit help from other members to try to figure out if Fred was shot by one of them. Meanwhile, Veronica questions her mother, Hermione Lodge (Marisol Nichols) whether she played a role in shooting Fred. Throughout the first season, it is revealed that Hermione and Fred share a romantic history, but Hermione tries her best to keep it a secret from her husband, Hiram Lodge (Marc Consuelos), a wealthy and powerful businessman in jail for embezzlement and fraud. While this all occurs in present time, an unconscious Fred imagines numerous scenarios of Archie’s life: high school graduation, when he becomes engaged, and his wedding. However, each of these imaginary scenes ends with the gunman coming and shooting Fred. This violent and aggressive surprise during every sweet moment continues to add to the mystery and suspense of Riverdale.

In the last few minutes of the Season 2 premiere, Ms. Grundy, a former employee of Riverdale high school who had an illegal romantic relationship with Archie during season one, returns. She is shown to be tutoring another young boy in music and also having a sexual relationship with him. However, within a few minutes, she is brutally choked to death by the same person who shot Fred.

Season one of Riverdale was only 13 episodes long, which explains why each episode was full of numerous plot lines. Season two, though, is 22 episodes long. Therefore, it is no longer necessary that each episode be quite so packed, but the season two premiere was still full of multiple different stories. While the show managed to keep watchers engrossed and on their feet, the fast-paced and busy nature of the show makes it hard to follow at times.

This show is available to stream on the CW app or website.

Rating:

⭐⭐⭐⭐∙

4 out of 5 stars