It is a highschool drama about as much as Fast and Furious series is still about cars.
If you want to look for anything realistic, you should look the other way
OK RIVERDALE SPOILERS AHEAD PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE DONT READ IF YOU DONT WANT TO BE SPOILED
There was a very long story arc about a religious cult leader, it ended with said leader coaxing his followers into a rocket but getting shot and killed before he could launch it.
Same. I stopped watching few episodes into season 5 cause shit got old. Even S4 I only really watched for the prep school story. That one was fun as hell imo.
IIRC, Veronica’s dad sold “fizzle rocks”(drugs disguised as candy) to the cult, but wasn’t directly affiliated with them. The leader’s name was Edgar Evernever
Exactly. A show isn't bad just because it doesn't fit your idea of what that show should be about. Riverdale never advertised itself to be about the typical American highschool experience. It's about a cheesy cast of American high schoolers solving murder mysteries. That's why I can't stand when people say how cheesy it is. That's literally the whole point.
Oh it's 100 percent self aware of what it is. 100 percent. I get that people don't like the show, but the writers definitely know its cringe and play into that and it's low key good if you take it at face value and laugh at it imo. I mean, they made the cult leader try fly off in a rocket - realism is NOT what they're going for haha
Edit, I believe season 1 was meant to be a relatable teen drama, and to some extent it was, but they sooo played into the cringe thing for sure and that's it's brand now
Honestly every high school prime time show has been like this. Beverly Hills 90210, Dawson’s creek, Buffy, the o.c., 90210 reboot, etc etc. always with the high schoolers at night clubs or bars never getting carded, owning their own homes or businesses lol.
Buffy wasn’t too bad about this stuff. The Bronze was an all-ages club, and the kids were kinda latchkey kids. Having to work shitty jobs was a frequent plot point, as well.
For real. Buffy didn't take itself seriously and it was still good. The Scooby Gang members are not popular or sexy in the usual manner expected on TV. Buffy trying to fit in balancing her Slayer job with her personal life is absurdly relatable, lol.
Super perfectly done, though. Because it really shows exactly what we're dealing with - humans with their problems. There is no supernatural sometimes, there is no evil sometimes, there is simply...entropy. Death gets us all and you don't get to do anything about it, even if you're the prophesied hero.
i worked in a comic book shop for a while and every nerd had to tell me how great that episode was. nothing would ever compare! and since i wasn't super hype about it my co-worker made me watch it so i could learn the songs and know it better.
My wife had never seen this show so we watched it together, and because she lost her mum as a kid I was dreading her watching it.
In the end, it turns out somebody who's already lost their mum is completely stoic about TV like that, while I was practically on the floor in tears despite having seen it about three times before.
That episode is an insanely brilliant piece of television. Everyone in it completely knocks it out of the park with their performances.
Yep she's great. SMG takes it for me just for that continuous shot at the start, but Anya's role in it is so well-written. Everyone thinks she's being invasive and unpleasant, but it's just because she doesn't understand.
I never liked that scene. I always felt it was a little off…in fact the scene that gets me is Dawn’s. Saying it’s “mortal and stupid” didn’t land for me, even if I understand she’s a former demon and doesn’t understand that humans die. Out of context like when my mom watched it with me, she thought the line was strange.
I get what you’re saying. I had only seen a handful of episodes before I watched that one and it took me a minute to figure it out. But after watching the series in order I think it fits well with her character. The only part of the episode that I think should have been left out was the vampire in the morgue scene. It felt really out of place.
I didn’t like it either but I found out that scene was the make a point that no matter what happens in Buffys life she is always a slayer and has to do her duty… there is no time off… even for grief.
For real. Buffy didn't take itself seriously and it was still goo
Eh, I think the success came from taking the right things seriously. The underlying coming of age story and accompanying supernatural metaphors was taken very seriously. This allowed them to let the superficial in-world story be more irreverent, and IMHO it was being able to do both that made it such a great show.
For real. Buffy didn't take itself seriously and it was still good. The Scooby Gang members are not popular or sexy in the usual manner expected on TV. Buffy trying to fit in with her peers and balancing her Slayer job with her personal life is absurdly relatable, lol.
I loved buffy but them going back to the bronze after they finished school was weird. Here in the UK we have alcohol free disco places for kids aged 14-18 (or at least we did in the 90s).
Once you got to drinking age at 18 and could go to clubs and pubs it was creepy to go to the underage ones because what 18 year old wants to dance with 14 year olds.
It all depends. In the US, we have under 21 clubs, which generally have an age cut off between 21 and 23 depending on region, and don't serve beer. We also have all ages venues, which are more like what the Bronze looks like.
You get carded at the door and get a colored wrist band if you're old enough drink. Normally these places are set up a lot like the Bronze. Bar, tables, stage, and balcony. The purpose is to see live music, and it's normally where you're gonna end up for like 75% of bands. It's not considered creepy for adults to be there enjoying the music and hanging out.
It was an episode of Buffy called “Band Candy” where all the adults in Sunnydale ate chocolate and regressed to their teen years and hung out at the Bronze.
Having to work shitty jobs was a frequent plot point
Still pretty unrealistic that Buffy was able to support both herself and her sister, and take care of all the house bills, on a part-time job flipping burgers, while also going to (and presumably paying for) college.
Also I'm pretty sure after the burger place turned out to be demon owned and operated, she never had a job again.
They never did. It was a whole plot point that after the small inheritance ran out that Buffy was in serious financial trouble coming into the last season.
But then all Hell (literally) broke loose so they resolved her money problems by... dropping them literally in a sink hole.
and a coming of age too, the plot is basically like a typical Spider-Man storyline, except that the main character is a young girl that kills vampires to save the world.
It's the hero's journey, as they've basically cut, and pasted a woman into this classical structure. Tbf Buffy is a little more than this, on occasion, but it still fits. I like that women are now writing the heroine's journey, and defining it on our own terms, according to feminine technologies. That there are narratives available, again, which exist outside the narrow male perspective. A perspective that usually excludes half of the population, and sometimes minorities, and is very culturally influential.
Yeah, there had always been drama in high school real or fictional, my problem with Riverdale unlike these shows is that its concept is poorly executed and the writing and acting just makes the show harder to watch. Riverdale takes itself too seriously compared to every other high school show.
What about the show “Skins”? I feel like that was a more realistic highschool setting, albeit more about delinquents that get into sex, drugs, getting into trouble and such.
Don’t forget One Tree Hill, which featured a high school wedding! Yep, apparently no one in the town, including the characters’ parents, had a problem with two eleventh graders deciding to get married.
Dawsons creek was really one of the most pretentious shows I’ve ever seen like I had to take a shower every time I saw an episode somehow against my own will
I couldn't digest the OG 90210. You had 30ish people playing 16 year olds. So now they'd be 50ish playing 30ish people lol. But it seems the main point was to poke fun at privileged high school kids.
Reminds me of “My So-Called Life.” They were always in the bathroom at school, never in class. Sometimes they allowed people to post comments as the show was being shown and the comments were hysterical.
always with the high schoolers at night clubs or bars never getting carded
this probably happens more than you realize. I'm not going to say it's common, but I was shocked when I moved to NY and lived above a bar and they let me drink when I was 20. Then a few weeks later some kids from the local high school were in there...
Haha nah. I use to go to bars. In high school too, but it was never me and 18 of my closest friends. It was like me and my one or 2 also “bad” buddies. In these shows, these kids have like running tabs, and like sometimes host fundraisers or whatever at bars lol.
oh ok that is a bit crazy. I don't watch the show in question so I didn't know they went that far with it.
where I grew up the bars were incredibly strict so kids had parties and got drunk in the woods. not sure if that is better or worse tbh. I don't remember anyone dying though.. the 1 drunk driving incident from my highscool involved a house party where parents were home.
Does Freaks and Geeks count as prime time? I remember it being not terrible about that stuff but it's been a while (since the show aired and since I was in High School).
Buffy was good about this. The Bronze which was the social area, they couldn’t drink until college. They all lived with their parents and sneaking out was pretty big point in the show. Buffy herself gets in trouble when she’s caught coming into her window at 2am.
In fact Buffy struggles very hard to make money in the later seasons. I always thought their high school experiences were fairly realistic for a show about demons and monsters.
It's definitely a "least offender" so to speak, but they had some unlikely high school stuff going on as well. That time buffy did it with spike in the Bronze. Plus buffy was dating angel who was like 30 or 40 (or 150), and it was just "normal" even though she was like 16 or 17.
They do mention his age being like 200 years old. But Buffy thought he was in his early 20’s before she knew he was a vampire. Angel was supposed to be between 25-27 permanently. Though his age is never exactly established, just his vampire age. But David Boreanaz was 26 or 27 in season 1, I believe.
Buffys mom thought he was a community college student. Also when Joyce finds out Buffy slept with Angel in the episode Passion. She yells and lectures Buffy about how he was way too old for her.
Xander mentions that Angel looks older and is a little weirded out and jealous by it. Cordelia has a crush on Angel too for the first 2 seasons.
When Willow says how Oz is a senior (in season 2) and that he may be too old for her. Buffy says “You think he's too old 'cause he's a senior? Please. My boyfriend had a bicentennial.”
It is acknowledged in the show! Giles was okay with it because he isn’t her parent and he realized he couldn’t keep Buffy from doing what she wanted to do in her personal life. He also liked Angel and knew Buffy and Angel could relate to eachother.
Also, it was mentioned in season 7 in the episode Conversations with Dead People, a former Sunnydale student turned vampire says how a lot of the alumni knew Buffy was dating a much older dude.
Lol, so eventually they did an actual 7 year time jump. Everyone looks exactly the same but they’re all 7 years older. I can only assume because of all the nonsense going on.
Ok but this is a fictional show based on the archie comics that they turned into a mystery/sexual show. If you're living this life your life is incredibly bizarre but congrats and bangin hot chicks (or guys I guess)
Highschool was a lot of fun but drama, especially that much drama, is crazy. These teenagers never care about SAT or college application. They are damn good looking with hyper sexual attraction (that I can relate). Some have super care and his own million dollar business.
Right? Sure, you could buy acid in my high school commons area, and on any given day there would be half a dozen kids in school attending class on LSD.
Sure, we had a few murders and a murder/so suicide. Death by drug overdose. Runaways, the occasional fight, ditching class, the creepy guidance counsellor, corrupt/racist/homophobic/misogynist principal. Drunk subs.
And it was not considered a “bad” school. But still, Riverdale is over the top. I couldn’t deal anymore after like season 3.
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u/Snoo79382 28d ago
There was a lot of drama that had happened at my school, but the show didn't feel very real and I couldn't relate to it.