A Riverdale DeCoteau-ding

Riverdale is one of those TV shows that frustrates me to no end.  It has an incredibly hot and talented cast and a great premise, but it so often misses the mark.  I loved the first season, although I saw there were leads and supporting characters, it was written as an ensemble piece with the entire cast given moments to shine.  It was also a highs school set teen show, with most of the drama set within the walls of the school.

Season 2 was a different matter, I disliked almost the entire season.  The tone of the show changed, not darker, season 1 was dark, season 2 got uglier. Poorly conceived stories and new cast additions, and a lack of direction made the season a bit of a mess. The focus on ensemble moved to the focus on what the show has called the 'fab four'.  They are fabulous, but were getting on my nerves given how poorly the writers balanced the talented group of actors they had.

 This was especially frustrating given Greg Berlanti is one of the shows EPs.  Even with his great track record of with gay characters in other movies and shows, Riverdale shockingly was writing Kevin as a 'token' gay side kick and Josie as the 'token' minority, giving them both 'blink or you'll miss em' appearances most of the second season.

With only two episode in, it's too early to see if the show has changed it's course. There are hints they are trying to balance the screen time of characters, the parents are getting a story of their own and Kevin is getting 2 or 3 short scenes instead of one, but he, Josie and Cheryl are still mostly kept at arms length of the shows mains story lines.  The friendships that developed in season 1 seem to start and end with each episode instead of growing as the show progresses.

Lat night's episode, Fortune and Men's Eyes lived up to the title, coming off more like a David DeCoteau movie with all it's male shirtlessness and homoeroticism, which like most DeCoteau movies, never really satisfies.  I love me some KJ Apa, especially shirtless, but it feels like the show is using skin to make up for it's lack of compelling story telling.  Why are we getting more intensely homoerotic scenes with the straight characters and so little with the gay ones....

Maybe Riverdale is one of those shows best watched on mute.  Kj Apa is watchable, sound on or not, and  Eli Goree (below) was a breath taking addition in his guest starring role as Mad Dog.  His body had me speechless every time he was on screen, and really,  can you really expect a TV show to have spectacular visuals and a coherent story.... nah