Riverdale - The Sweet Hereafter - Review: "A Hell of a Finale"

Riverdale’s first season is over and last week the season finale ended this first cycle of episodes. 
I really enjoyed The Sweet Hereafter and overall all the season as well. Let’s discuss what happened.

After the huge reveal of Jason’s killer, Riverdale has to deal with the consequences of this big change. F.P. is still in jail and nobody cares, Jughead must change school and has to be adopted by a foster family, Cheryl can’t catch a break and Archie and Veronica start to bond more.

I really enjoyed how they developed the relationship between Jug and Betty: she is always ready to support him. She decides to write an article about F.P. and she delivers a powerful speech at the school Jubilee. One of the strongest parts of the season was the characterization and the growth of these two characters together. They started with Betty’s crush for Archie and they ended in an unexpected and interesting way. I hope they won’t split up soon, but we know that in a teen drama couples can’t last for so long.

Speaking of love-affairs, I have to say that Archie and Veronica together have an incredible chemistry. It’s impossible to deny that these two are meant to be together. I liked that they came clean with Betty. They both have a great quality: respect. I’m really curious to watch how they will develop this new situation, but I don’t believe they won’t add the iconic triangle to the mix.

The rest of the episode was focused on Cheryl’s grief: she doesn’t have a proper mother-figure and so she is left alone suffering. I didn’t expect both the suicide attempt and the burning of her mansion (Is her grandma inside?), but I loved it. The scene is so powerful. The soundtrack, Petsch’s acting and the narrative construction create an iconic moment. The season finale ends with so many unexpected twists: Fred is shot and Hermione is acting shadier and shadier. We all know that Hiram Lodge must be behind this, and I hope that one of the most enjoyable and fascinating parents of the show will survive to this accident. I don’t want to lose Luke Perry!

All in all, I really liked this season finale because it was full of moments and gave to the viewer a juicy beginning for the second cycle. It had its huge cliffhanger, it developed the storylines and I totally can’t wait to see what happens next. The first season of Riverdale was a solid run for a new teen drama: the show has strong characters, it knows how to entertain and has so much potential. We’ll see how they will evolve it from here.

And you? What do you think of The Sweet Hereafter and the first season overall?