Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		3.5
Overall		3.5

Riverdale: The Complete Second Season Blu-ray Movie Review

Into the Woods and Off the Hook

Reviewed by Michael Reuben October 8, 2018

The CW's Riverdale was already an oddball in its first season. Taking little more than a location, character names and a few signature traits from the classic Archie comic series and throwing them into a candy-colored teenage version of Twin Peaks was weird, but it was sufficiently intriguing to sustain a thirteen-episode season. And unlike Laura Palmer's murder, the central mystery of Riverdale's opening was wound up by Season One's conclusion. (If you read past the first screenshot, you'll get the answer; so spoiler alert!) What could series creator Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa (a veteran of Glee and TV's Supergirl) and his writers room do for an encore, especially after The CW gave them a full season of twenty-two episodes to fill?

Aguirre-Sacasa et al. responded by taking a deep dive into soap opera lunacy and never coming up for air. Riverdale's second season veered wildly from one crazy subplot to another, each further testing the suspension of disbelief until, at some point, the writers apparently gave up any pretense of trying to sustain it. But even as Season Two's events grew increasingly ridiculous, they somehow remained seductively addictive, like sugary soft drinks and salty popcorn. After each week's eye-rolling insanity, I vowed never to watch another episode—but then next Wednesday I found myself tuning in again, curious to discover what new defiance of logic and credibility was next on the menu.

Riverdale continues to be released on Blu-ray by the Warner Archive Collection, whose TV slate keeps expanding in direct proportion to the shrinking space devoted to physical media by brick-and-mortar retailers. WAC has done their usual creditable job for Riverdale fans who want to own the show in its best available presentation, with a worthwhile assortment of extras.

Note: The following contains major spoilers for Season One and minor spoilers for Season Two.

So, now that we've solved the shooting death of Jason Blossom (Trevor Stine) with the perverse revelation that he was murdered by his own father (Clifford Hope) . . . and now that Jason's twin sister, Cheryl (Madelaine Petsch), has avenged her brother by burning the family's Thornhill mansion to the ground, with her cold and complicit mother, Penelope (Nathalie Boltt), trapped inside . . . and now that Jughead Jones (Cole Sprouse) has been banished to Southside High on the seedier side of Riverdale, thereby separating him from his sweetest of sweethearts, Betty Cooper (Lili Reinhart) . . . where do we go from here? What's your favorite selection on Season Two's menu of nuttiness at Pop's Chock'lit Shoppe diner?

Maybe it's the continuing saga of the Black Hood, the mysterious killer who shot Fred Andrews (Luke Perry) in the Season One cliffhanger, and who continues to menace Riverdale throughout Season Two. Why wouldn't we be thrilled by the Black Hood, who claims to be cleansing Riverdale of its sinners—which is essentially everyone—and who keeps reappearing even after he's supposedly been caught or killed. (He has more lives than Halloween's Michael.) The Black Hood's rampage leads to all sorts of additional intrigue, including Archie Andrews' (K.J. Apa) formation of a vigilante squad composed of Riverdale High athletes and a cabin-in-the-woods inquiry into a homicidal episode from the town's reliably dark past. (And that's just one of two cabin-in-the-woods tales stuffed into Season Two.)

Or maybe you preferred the power struggle within the Southside Serpents, formerly led by Jughead's father, F.P. Jones (Skeet Ulrich) and now up for grabs with F.P. in prison for his role in covering up Jason Blossom's murder. (You have to love a motorcycle gang that has room for a member called "Sweet Pea".) Or the Blossom family's contest over Clifford's estate (with a surprise appearance by a heretofore unmentioned relative, the special kind who's a staple of soap opera plotting)? Or the Riverdale election battle, with seamy dealings revealed on the part of Mayor Sierra McCoy (Robin Givens) and a series of surprise opposition candidates. Or the convoluted business plans of Veronica Lodge's (Camila Mendes) secretive mother, Hermione (Marisol Nichols) and her newly returned husband, Hiram (Mark Consuelos). Or the grouchy machinations of Betty's mom, Alice (Mädchen Amick), and disapproving scowls of her dad, Hal (Lochlyn Munro). Or perhaps it was one of the menu's tasty side dishes, as Riverdale's writers gleefully served up one ripped-from-the-headlines subplot after another, from controversial commemorative statues to Native American rights to date rape to gay conversion therapy? Or the Episode 18 spécialité de la maison, when the students of Riverdale High choose the infamous musical adaptation of Carrie for their school show. Carrie's song-and-dance transformation flopped on Broadway, but it might have succeeded if the Great White Way had seen an ending like this one.

I do have my own personal favorites among Season Two's absurdities. One is Betty's brother, Chic (Hart Denton), who was never mentioned in Season One, even though her sister, Polly (Tiera Skovbye), played a small but key role. Over father Hal's objection, Betty persuades her mother to dig Chic out from whatever rock he's been hiding under, and despite the fact that he might as well have "sociopath" tattooed on his forehead, Betty insists on bringing him home to live with the Coopers, which wasn't exactly a functional family to begin with. Creepy consequences ensue almost immediately, and Betty quickly regrets her decision. But then, what else can you expect from a sweet girl with a "dark side" she's only just beginning to explore? (The Black Hood seems to know all about it.)

But the absolute king of Season Two's gourmet whoppers is the return of Veronica's father, Hiram Lodge, who is paroled for crimes that, in Season One, were made to sound like a mini-Madoff scam. It turns out, though, that Hiram is not your average white collar criminal. He's actually a Hispanic Godfather, who convenes secret meetings with other crime bosses, hires squads of enforcers and orders "hits" with the aplomb of an aspiring Don Corleone. And Veronica is just fine with that, once she learns the truth (she's basically Connie in the Godfather, except that it took Don Vito's daughter a lifetime spread over three movies to reach the conniving acceptance that Veronica achieves in just a few episodes). In possibly the most ridiculous plot turn in a competitive field, Archie—sweet, lovable Archie—agrees to becomes a soldier of the Lodge family, even as he's being pressured by an FBI agent (John Behlmann) to turn government informant. Some guys will do anything for the girl they love. (Besides, who wouldn't respond to the shooting of their dad by joining an organized crime family?)

Season Two concludes with an arrest that, if the PR for Season Three is any indication, will lead to yet one more plot cliche beloved by daytime soaps. By that point, it had become abundantly clear that Archie comics aren't the show's true source material. Riverdale's writers are busily mining Dallas, Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman, Dynasty (whose reboot appropriately followed the show last season) and other serial sudsers too numerous to mention. I'm waiting for the episode where Archie wakes up to discover it was all just a bad dream brought on by too many milkshakes at Pop's.

Riverdale: The Complete Second Season Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Riverdale acquired a new cinematographer in Season Two in the person of Brendan Uegama (TV's Van Helsing), who has dialed down some of the show's candy-colored extremes in favor of noirish shadows, atmospherically filtered light and strategic washes of yellow, red and blue (the last one especially at night). Even outdoor daylight scenes are frequently dimmed by mist or rain, although one can still find a few brightly light moments (the gym at Riverdale High is usually bright and cheerful). The stylized lighting doesn't evoke a comic book sensibility, but it provides a visual consistency that counterbalances the increasingly erratic machinations of the plot. Still, except for the occasional scene where Uegama appears to be channeling Gordon Willis' Godfather style, the digitally acquired image remains sharp and detailed throughout. Even dim locales like the Serpents' hangout at the Whyte Wyrm remain clearly visible. Blacks are deep, and colors are beautifully saturated, especially in the Lodges' world, where everything looks velvety and expensive. The Warner Archive Collection's five 1080p, AVC-encoded Blu-rays faithfully reproduce the show's alternate reality, and I did not spot any video anomalies similar to those reported in Season One and summarized in my colleague Jeff Kauffman's review. (As always, if anyone notices a problem I may have missed, I encourage them to contact me.)

WAC typically encodes with more generous compression than Warner's TV division, and Riverdale's Season Two is no exception, with average bitrates per episode that range from just below 23 Mbps to a high of 33.393 Mbps (though the latter figure applies to only one episode). I'm not sure why some episodes were allotted more digital real estate than others, but there doesn't appear to be any difference in the end result. All of Season Two's episodes look better and richer than broadcast or streaming versions.

Riverdale: The Complete Second Season Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The lossless DTS-HD MA 5.1 track for Riverdale's second season is comparable to what Jeff Kauffman described in his Season One review. The dialogue is clearly rendered and cleanly centered, with Jughead's voiceover narration (which is used somewhat more sparingly this season) set just slightly forward from the screen. The most sonically active scenes can't be described without spoilers, with the exception of the musical episode (Episode 18), where the performances and crowd reactions effectively expand outward into the listening space. Suffice it to say that Riverdale's soundtrack is comparable to that of most TV series, in that it lets the front three channels do the heavy lifting but the rear channels come alive when the occasion demands. Blake Neely continues his scoring duties, joined by Sherri Chung, both of them regulars in the ever-expanding universe of CW shows backed by Greg "Move Your Head" Berlanti. But the musical highlights are the cast's own singing performances, whether for Carrie: The Musical, in appearances by Josie and the Pussycats (too rare this season), or in other spots where the writers have managed to find an excuse for a song.

Riverdale: The Complete Second Season Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Except for deleted scenes, which appear on the same disc as the episode from which they were removed, the extras can be found on disc 5.

• Deleted Scenes (1080p; 1.78:1): Note that Riverdale's episode titles are intended as "chapters" in the great American novel that Jughead is supposed to be writing in whatever spare time the series' frantic developments leave him. Their numbering picks up directly from Season One. The subtitles are nearly all from movies (or maybe they all are; there are a few I can't place).


• Disc 1
• Chapter Fourteen: A Kiss Before Dying (1:38)
• Chapter Fifteen: Nighthawks (6:59)
• Chapter Sixteen: The Watcher in the Woods (4:37)
• Chapter Seventeen: The Town That Dreaded Sundown (4:01)


• Disc 2
• Chapter Eighteen: When a Stranger Calls (0:24)
• Chapter Nineteen: Death Proof (0:41)
• Chapter Twenty: Tales from the Darkside (1:21)
• Chapter Twenty-One: House of the Devil (3:46)
• Chapter Twenty-Two: Silent Night, Deadly Night (1:55)


• Disc 3
• Chapter Twenty-Three: The Blackboard Jungle (2:05)
• Chapter Twenty-Four: The Wrestler (0:36)
• Chapter Twenty-Five: The Wicked and the Divine (1:14)
• Chapter Twenty-Six: The Tell-Tale Heart (1:34)
• Chapter Twenty-Seven: The Hills Have Eyes (3:01)


• Disc 4
• Chapter Twenty-Eight: There Will Be Blood (0:21)
• Chapter Twenty-Nine: Primary Colors (5:17)
• Chapter Thirty: The Noose Tightens (1:37)
• Chapter Thirty-One: A Night to Remember (5:00)
• Chapter Thirty-Two: Prisoners (1:32)


• Disc 5
• Chapter Thirty-Three: Shadow of a Doubt (1:25)
• Chapter Thirty-Four: Judgment Night (0:36)
• Chapter Thirty-Five: Brave New World (3:32)



• Making the Musical: Riverdale (1080p; 1.78:1; 4:53): Creator and showrunner Aguirre-Sacasa and the cast (plus the episode's choreographer) discuss the joys and challenges of producing a musical event in the same amount of time as a regular episode.



• Riverdale Vocal Warm Ups (1080p; iPhone AR; 2:10): Virtually a gag reel, but some of the warmups are for real.



• Riverdale Pop Quiz! (1080i; 1.78:1; 1:38): This is an additional segment from the Comic-Con Panel listed below. The "contestants" are the cast.



• Riverdale: 2017 Comic-Con Panel (1080p; 1.78:1; 29:33): It's a big panel: creator Aguirre-Sacasa, executive producer Sarah Schechter, K.J. Apa ("Archie"), Camila Mendes ("Veronica'), Lili Reinhart ("Betty"), Cole Sprouse ("Jughead"), Madelaine Petsch ("Cheryl"), Ashleigh Murray ("Josie McCoy"), Casey Cott ("Kevin Keller"), Asha Bromfield ("Melody Valentine") and Hayley Law ("Valerie Brown").



• Caught Between Two Worlds: The Darkness Inside (1080p; 1.78:1; 18:30): Co-executive producer Michael Grassi explores the differences between Seasons One and Two. Cast members join in. Of all the extras, this one provides the most insight into the creative process behind the show.



• Gag Reel (1080p; 1.78:1; 4:58): A combination of on-set mishaps, blown lines and deliberate mugging.

Riverdale: The Complete Second Season Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

What is it that makes Riverdale so popular and gives its creative team such license to commit weekly offenses against character consistency and narrative logic (not to mention the spirit of the original comics)? Yes, the pretty young cast provides surface appeal, but there has to be more to it. I haven't yet deciphered the formula for the secret sauce that Riverdale's creators have obviously perfected, which is why I'll be there later this month for the Season Three debut, mildly ashamed but still tuning in. Meanwhile, WAC's Blu-ray set provides fans with a luxurious opportunity to relive Season Two in all its loopy excess. Recommended for those who love the show. The uninitiated should start by sampling Season One.