The Show:Riverdale, Season 1, Episode 2
The Moment: The pep rally
A student has died, but the pep rally goes on, led by the dead student’s twin, Cheryl Blossom (Madelaine Petsch), queen beyotch. Archie (K.J. Apa), a hunky football star, spies his estranged emo pal Jughead (Cole Sprouse) by the bleachers. “I didn’t mean all that crap I said to you,” Archie says. “I’m sorry.”
“It’s cool,” Jughead shrugs. Then he grins. “We’re not gonna hug in front of this whole town. So why don’t we just do that bro thing where we nod like douches and mutually suppress our emotions.”
Josie (Ashleigh Murray) and the Pussycats, a trio who wear cat ears, begin singing, “Baby want your sugar I’m ready to get served,” and then segue into a hip-hop version of “Sugar, Sugar.” The marching band and cheerleaders — including Betty and Veronica (Lili Reinhart and Camila Mendes) join in.
I think this moody, self-referential take on the classic comic book series is in on the joke; that it’s both homage to and send-up of self-serious, pre-Golden Age TV dramas. I called it Twin Peaks 90210 before I even knew that a star of the former, Madchen Amick, plays Betty’s mom, and a star of the latter, Luke Perry, plays Archie’s dad.
But despite all the knowing updates — Betty’s bestie is gay, Moose is a jock-in-the-closet, and people say things like “Can’t we in this post-James-Franco era liberate ourselves from the tired jock/artist dichotomy?” – I still think this is an adult’s idea of teenagers. No kid today cares about the in-joke references and nothing can make “Sugar, Sugar” cool.
Riverdale streams on Netflix. Johanna Schneller is a media connoisseur who zeroes in on pop culture moments. She usually appears Monday through Thursday.
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