Riverdale's Shocking Death Proves the Show Is Better Without One of Its Main Characters
Riverdale season 6 spoilers follow.
Riverdale viewers were left stunned when Archie Andrews met his maker at the start of the "Rivervale" five-episode event that kickstarted season six on The CW.
In an effort to save their town, Cheryl Blossom convinced everyone to come together to sacrifice Archie to keep the land and women fertile. His sacrifice was done to provide sustenance for years to come until the moment when, 25 long years later, Archie and Betty's offspring would have the same done to him. What a curse.
But, losing Archie – albeit temporarily – has actually proven to be quite the blessing for Riverdale, as the episodes following his death have been some of the most exciting and well-done of the entire show.
Without Archie, the stories have fallen to the many others that make up the fantastic and compelling ensemble cast, like the heightened focus on long-time Riverdale resident Reggie Mantle and relative newcomer Tabitha Tate, whose importance in the upcoming battle between good and evil cannot be understated.
Archie's absence hasn't been all that noticeable, and not just because none of the characters are missing him. His involvement in the stories the series tells is so unimportant and insignificant so much of the time, it doesn't feel any different than before, except he isn't being shoehorned into scenes where he isn't needed.
Free of Archie's reign, the series finally has a chance to focus on the true heart of Riverdale (the town and the show): Pop's Chock'lit Shoppe. Throughout everything, as the writers often point out, Pop's has been a refuge for everyone that has passed through Riverdale at some point in their lives. It's been a home for many, a pure sign of the best of the town and those that reside there.
Riverdale has so often claimed that Archie is the heart of Riverdale, but rarely does anything happen to back up this statement. If anything, Archie has consistently been far less involved in the wellbeing of Riverdale than the rest of the core four.
Some may say that Veronica is the least involved, but Veronica's business ventures have at least given back to the town in many ways, like her temporary ownership of Pop's and underground speakeasy La Bonne Nuit. Meanwhile, Betty and Jughead (mainly the former) have worked to stop serial killers from completely wiping out the town's entire population.
Here's the primary issue, though: Archie hasn't been written as a compelling character throughout much of the show's duration. For far too long, Archie has been wrapped up in his own world of fighting, violence, and rage. He's providing the show with an overdose of toxic masculinity, which has really dragged the character down.
From his back-and-forth fight with Hiram Lodge (that went on three seasons too long), the underground fight club when he was in jail, his brief stint as a masked vigilante with a bat, to owning his very own boxing gym, little about Archie's story has been compelling in the scope of the show.
Archie is always kept so separate from the mysteries of Riverdale (as are many of the characters). It's a problem because the mysteries are the focal point of the show (or, at least, they were before the flash-forward). Being left out of the most important aspect of the show makes Archie not even feel like the main character, which is quite sad considering Riverdale is pulled from the pages of Archie Comics.
Other characters are getting a bit more involved now, like Tabitha who played an important part in both Betty and Jughead's mysteries in season five. So, considering the show has nothing better to do with Archie, why can't he become involved? It makes sense, especially if he's really devoted to making Riverdale a better place.
The time jump post-high school graduation changed Archie's character for the better, giving him a pivotal role in the main storyline about restoring Riverdale to its former glory. Still, it wasn’t long before Archie's stories went back to being all about physicality, something that is not the least bit interesting on a teen drama like this.
He started the volunteer fire department, was mining for a rare kind of mineral throughout town, and, in very small doses, continued to rebuild the town. All of this as the focus of the show drifted back to the mysteries, like Jughead's investigation of the mothmen and Betty's focus on Polly's disappearance.
While Archie doesn't need to be included in the mysteries to be an interesting character, he could be written to actually be the heart of the town, if the writers want us to believe that he is.
But, the mysteries remain the focal point of this show, which means that Archie will never feel like the person he is proclaimed to be. His efforts to rebuild and better the town will never get the same focus or be treated with the same level of importance, nor will it ever be as intriguing as the stories given to other characters. Sadly, the only thing Archie will be remembered for on Riverdale is taking his shirt off and getting into violent situations.
Without him, the "Rivervale" event has truly proven how insignificant Archie is, at least with how he has been written. With Archie gone, viewers are finally being allowed to see what we've already known: How much more interesting the other characters are, like Cheryl Blossom and Toni Topaz, that have been stuck in the background for far too long. Riverdale should embrace the ensemble and let go of the "core four" that has not made much sense for several years now.
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