Riverdale must do better. We must do better." Despite some pretty effective scenery and shocking cliffhangers in this season finale - Rivedale unfortunately buckles under a thousand plot lines and struggles to keep it all together. In what is the most chaotic episode of the season, the Sweet Hereafter tells a story that continues the tragedies that have befallen the town of Riverdale so far with a bit more darkness and doom. Whilst the dark sides are the series' strongest segments, this time it was undermined by some seriously silly moments.
Regarding the positives of this episode - there were a lot of great scenes. Cheryl's suicide attempt was effectively directed, with the shots of Archie and his friends racing across the frozen river a memorable scenario. Having Archie bloody his hand so much in the process of saving Cheryl showed the strength of his character; that despite his sometimes ignorant perspective, he shows great loyalty to those closest to him. Jughead's final goodbye to his father was another highlight, ending on a positive note for their relationship, perhaps forgiving the fairly tumultuous bond they've had throughout the season. The final five minutes were also great, giving us almost a montage of endings between Archie & Veronica, Jughead & Betty, Cheryl & Penelope and eventually that fateful scene involving Archie & Fred. It's a great way to end the season, but it's unfortunately marred by some questionable decisions, and the fact that there wasn't much time devoted to building up the tension - it all happens in a flash. Its greatest flaw, in this episode is its breakneck speed. Betty's wonderful speech during the jubilee was not long enough because of this. If I had counted, there were probably forty plus successive scenes shown, that's a scene a minute - definitely not enough to create any character development or give us time to let changes sink in - this is a flawed way of telling a story, just by throwing the answers at us when the time becomes appropriate. I honestly thing this show could have been improved tenfold if it had just included some more meaningful character interactions. Overall, whilst the story of Jason Blossom is tied up, more stories seem to be emerging from the darkness of this time, most notably in the final scene. But there are still some interesting mysteries - especially with the scene involving Jughead putting on his Southside Serpent jacket on. It's a clever turnabout, but one that holds questions of his, especially considering Jughead's credibility in putting it on, knowing full well that Betty would be averse. I scoffed at the comparison to Agatha Christie - her murder novels have far more depth and wisdom, but as a high school TV drama, this has all the makings of improving as the story progresses. There have been quite a few highlights, but I won't be lavishly praising this one as one of the best of 2017 that's for sure. 7.5/10 Season One: 7/10
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