“Our story is about a town, a small town, and the people who live in the town. From a distance, it presents itself like so many other small towns all over the world Safe. Decent. Innocent. Get closer, though, and you start seeing the shadows underneath. The name of our town is Riverdale.”

Riverdale is the chilling new teen drama all your friends are raving about. The first episode of the second season aired on the CW on October 11th and raked in 2.3 million viewers. Riverdale has proven to be the sensational breakout show you’ll be binge watching. TVline called the up-and-coming show, “a real high-wire act, blending teen soap, a murder mystery, biting humor and a beloved franchise.”

Riverdale is based on characters from Archie Comics which were made in the 1940s.The show returns to its retro roots by including drive-ins and diners like Pop's Chocklit Shop and the Twilight Drive-in. Riverdale shows its unique authenticity with a “white picket fence” dream sequence in the episode “In a Lonely” where the actors dress and act like their 1940 comic book counterparts.

However, it’s not all jukeboxes and poodle skirts for the residents of Riverdale. Iconic characters such as Archie Andrews, Betty Cooper, Veronica Lodge, and Jughead Jones return in a darker, eerier way to solve the shocking murder of Jason Blossom and uncover the deep-rooted secrets of the once innocent town known as Riverdale. Cole Sprouse, who plays Jughead Jones, said this about their modern interpretation of the comics in an interview with LA Times, “‘Archie’ has a ton of universes, and where we fit in is a little more film noir, dark kind of take, a little more like the movie ‘Brick.’ It's a dark, brooding, understanding of ‘Archie’ and the town of Riverdale.” The comics, characteristically cheesy and sweet, have nothing compared to this newer, darker, and more enthralling teen drama.

The acting and directing is phenomenal. Scenes of death, surprise, grief, and anger blend seamlessly into the plot, and the actors are amazing in making you feel like you’re right beside them. Madelaine Petsch, Cheryl Blossom, can play the mean girl to vulnerable girl with ease; switching sassy one-liners with tears in a moment. The Boston Herald says, “This is the best young adult cast for any drama in years.” and all Riverdale fans would full-heartedly agree. This is also due to the cohesiveness of the cast; KJ Apa, who plays Archie Andrews, said in an interview, “I think Lili (Betty) and Cole(Jughead) have a lot of good chemistry that you can see on screen and I think it works very well for their characters.” From fantastic acting to incredible directing, Riverdale has everything anyone could want in a show.

And whether you ship Bughead or Varchie, are a Southside Serpent or a River Vixen, or are a Cooper, Lodge, Jones, or Blossom, the fandom will welcome you with wide arms. So the next time you stumble upon “The River’s Edge”, come in and join us all in Riverdale.