Riverdale finale: The Fred Andrews surprise; the Bughead confession
Much of the discussion is going to begin and end coming out of the finale with discussion of Fred Andrews. He was shot in Pop’s Diner, forcing the story to end with his son Archie holding him in his arms in the closing minutes. Can you imagine the sense of pain and tragedy present here? It’s palpable, gruesome, and the sort of thing that would make comic-book Archie set himself on fire and burn right off the page.
This, however, is the standard M.O. at this point for Riverdale, which loves to consistently deliver these huge, shocking moments. It can figure out the feature for Fred down the road. Conventional TV wisdom suggests that he’ll recover, but conventional wisdom also didn’t suggest that a dark, sordid adaptation of Archie Comics would make it onto the air in the first place.
Regardless of his father’s survival, this is a moment that will change Archie Andrews emphatically. It’s a gut-punch to his heart, a shake-up to his entire perception of the world. He familiarized himself with death thanks to Jason Blossom’s death, but it’s different when it’s your own family.
As for other highlights (if that’s the right word for them) from this hour…
Cheryl lets it burn – Is ANYONE surprised at this point that she set her entire house on fire? It’s hard to be given everything that’s happened to her, and her mother’s overall terrible attitude towards the whole thing. The bigger surprise is that it took this long for Cheryl to fall to this level.
Bughead moment for the ages – They love each other! The unexpected relationship proved to be one of season 1’s biggest strengths. The chemistry proved palpable, and there future could be bright … if they can get through the fact that Jughead now seems primed to join her father’s gang and be front and center for a wide array of chaos in the process. This said gang is died to his father being behind bars now, so he better “tread lightly” to avoid a similar consequence.
What Riverdale finale moment shocked you the furthest? Sound off now in the comments below!
Meanwhile, head over to this link to score additional updates now when it comes to the series and its future. (Photo: The CW.)