After six years, seven seasons, and all the spectacular highs and lows of high school
football, the Riverdale series finale finally makes clear what happens to Archie and his
buddies from the titular "town with pep."
Riverdale is rife with meta allusions to its Archie Comics origins and has no trouble examining
the occasionally absurdity of its source material.
That's exactly what makes the programme entertaining, and it's also what has allowed Archie Comics
to remain successful for close to 85 years.
The Riverdale series finale thinks about how to bid goodbye to tales that never truly end
in an inventive surprise that fits in keeping with the rest of the 1955-set season 7.
In the series' penultimate episode, Jughead (Cole Sprouse), the town's self-described
"chronicler," and Betty (Lili Reinhart) decide to retain both the good and bad memories from
the more sombre Riverdale of the first six seasons.
Archie (KJ Apa) and the gang decide to restore their happy memories.
The focus of Riverdale's finale shifts to an 86-year-old Betty's desire to visit her
hometown and relive her last day of high school after that.
In an emotional climax to Riverdale's seven-season run, Betty gets her wish and viewers discover
what happened to Archie and his companions thanks to an apparently omnipotent Jughead.
Archie, Jughead, Betty, and Veronica all end up together (kind of) at the end.
The choice of Betty or Veronica (Camila Mendes), the all-American teen Archie Andrews, is at
the centre of most Archie Comics tales.
With the characters teaming up in various configurations throughout the course of the
first six seasons, Riverdale's premiere already foreshadows the impending romantic turmoil.
The division of viewers into different groups, similar to those of comic book fans, raises
the stakes for Riverdale's endgame couplings.
Of course, there is no way to please everyone, which is the problem.
In spite of this, Riverdale manages to give the core four a rather amazing twist while
also making sure additional fan favourites remain together.
Fans of Choni will be delighted to learn that Cheryl Blossom (Madelaine Petsch) and Toni
Topaz (Vanessa Morgan) stay together for the rest of their lives and grow old in the Oakland
Hills.
The same is true for Kevin Keller (Casey Cott) and Clay Walker (Karl Walcott), who spend
the rest of their lives together.
The old Archie Comics conundrum about Archie, Betty, Veronica, and Jughead is solved by
Riverdale by revealing that the four main characters are a polyamorous "quad."
They were aware that they all had affections for one another once their memories were restored.
It's a brilliant, entertaining twist that really ought to have shown earlier.
But none of the core four get paired in the final round.
The Riverdale Gang Loses Involvement
Betty really skipped her last day of high school in the past.
Jughead's ability to travel through time and space, however, allows her to receive much-needed
closure.
In order to fulfil her dying dream of seeing "how it was, how we were," Betty enters her
childhood bedroom through a magical portal.
Betty, who is now a little girl, is ecstatic at her sister's (Tiera Skovbye) homecoming
and her mother's (Mädchen Amick) newfound freedom.
Due to her advanced age, Betty occasionally forgets what happened to her pals.
In other instances, she admits that she and the rest of the Riverdale season 7 cast of
characters lost touch, which is the reason for her ignorance.
The Riverdale teenagers make a commitment to stay in touch but eventually drift apart.
One of the most tragic realisations in the whole Riverdale finale is this one.
It feels like an all-too-real twist of fate given the show's sometimes sincere, nostalgia-fueled
style.
Omniscient Jughead informs a repentant Betty that "that's what today's all about: remembering—and
getting one more chance."
The statement "No regrets."
Betty seizes the opportunity to say goodbye, but she doesn't try to undo the past—not
even when Archie acknowledges that he believed they would end up together.
Archie is told by Betty, "That's a wonderful sentiment, but that's not what happens in
the future.
Riverdale Recognises Archie Comics' Timelessness
A star-crossed The first of the core four to have decided on her intentions after high
school is Veronica, although she is not the only one of the quad to leave the area.
Archie wants to work in construction and create all of the country's roadways, from the Atlantic
to the Pacific, in a nod to Riverdale season 1.
On their final night together, Betty advises them to refrain from acting like "wet blankets"
in the future, which eases the tension.
Jughead confesses, "If I had to go through high school twice, which we did, I'm happy
it was with you three yahoos.
The emotion accurately captures the almost universal nostalgia for high school, but it
also makes a more ironic reference to the Archie Comics.
Although the characters and their storylines have evolved and grown throughout the years,
they are still present.
In the end, Riverdale is no different from the other Archie Comics stories in that they
are timeless at their essence.
In other words, Riverdale on The CW may be coming to an end, but Archie will go on.
Pop's Is Betty's Sweet Afterlife (And Perhaps Everyone Else's)
The Riverdale of today is a town lost to time rather than a place lost in time.
Betty peacefully dies away as Alice pulls into the parking lot of Pop's Chock'lit Shoppe,
the final member of the Riverdale group to die.
The following scene, which has a 17-year-old Betty walking towards a neon-lit Pop's, is
as creative as Riverdale's breathtaking season 6 unexpected ending.
The door is opened by Jason Blossom (Trevor Stines), and Pop Tate (Alvin Sanders) and
all of Betty's pals welcome her inside.
She gives hugs to all of her happy friends before joining Archie, Jughead, and Veronica
in a booth.
They had been waiting for her with a strawberry milkshake ready.
The omniscient Jughead stands in the parking lot outside Pop's and addresses the audience
in an Alfred Hitchcockian monologue.
"I believe we should leave them here.
where they will always be juniors.
Forever seventeen," declares Jughead.
It's the same place they and we have always been.
the restaurant.
throughout the city.
During the Sweet Afterlife.
The conclusion also implies that the characters' interpretation of the hereafter is hanging
around Pop's, laughing with one other.
This is an homage to the everlasting characteristic of the Archie Comics, in which the characters
stay forever youthful.
It's a satisfying conclusion that acknowledges the Archie gang's enduring influence.
The Sound Of A Typewriter Suggests A Final Turn
The conclusion of Riverdale follows a trend of other realities and timelines.
While Betty's depiction of the Sweet Hereafter is the Pop's of the last scene, the Riverdale
finale's closing seconds could also have another twist.
The afterlife is referred to in the franchise as The Sweet Hereafter, and it has been mentioned
in Riverdale season 6 and its spinoff, Chilling Adventures of Sabrina.
The Riverdale season 1 conclusion, titled "The Sweet Hereafter," features the core four
getting milkshakes at Pop's and finishes with Jughead saying, "As dangerous as the world
had become, here — in this booth — we were safe."
Jughead has told the narrative ever since the opening seconds of the Riverdale pilot.
It is revealed at the conclusion that he founded a magazine that has been published for about
70 years.
Jughead tells Betty, "I'm not gonna lie, as far as legacy goes, I could've done a heck
of a lot worse.
It's mostly kids and teens who read it."
The remark reinforces the conclusion made in the Riverdale finale—that Jughead has
been authoring the tale the entire time—even if it is more of a meta wink than anything
else.
The Riverdale title card occurs after Jug bids the camera a Hitchcock-inspired farewell,
and is accompanied by the clicking of a typewriter and the tinkling of someone sliding its return.
The jingle of the door to Pop's opening serves as the soundtrack for the Riverdale pre-credits
title card throughout season 7.
In the season 6 finale, a superhuman Tabitha Tate (Erinn Westbrook) transports the group
back to the 1950s, when they awake in Pop's, supposedly sparing them from a town-destroying
comet.
Season 7 may, nevertheless, have taken place in The Sweet Hereafter.
Everyone is present when Betty arrives for the last time.
There are no bells jingling when the title card appears.
Since this version of omniscient Jughead is never completely explained, the typewriter
noises indicate a final meta surprise that makes the Riverdale series finale one to remember.