The story of RIVERDALE begins the morning of July 4 as twins Cheryl and Jason Blossom drive out to Sweetwater River for an early morning boat ride. “Are you scared, Jason?” Cheryl asks (in a move likely to hint at more secrets to be revealed at a later date). Jason shakes his head and the pair head out. The the time we see the Blossoms, Cheryl is found soaking wet on the riverbank and Jason’s body is not found when they drag the river. Jason’s death is ruled an accident, but it’s later revealed there was nothing accidental about it.
Before we get to that, however, it’s clear that a lot of people in town don’t view Jason’s death as a tragedy. Some people, in fact, are very happy that he’s gone. We get to know a lot of the characters of RIVERDALE in the pilot as this murder mystery continues to serve as a through-line for the show. Some of the characters are less connected to Jason than others, but most of them are drawn in to the story, all while hiding their own secrets.
Related: Watch an extended preview for RIVERDALE
RIVERDALE won’t be your typical team drama. Star Camila Mendes said that “It feels like a comic book, but it’s still real life, and I think we’ve done a great of balancing that, like balancing the darkness with the lightness. And also the idea that it really isn’t just teen drama, it’s not trivial drama that we’re dealing with. We’re dealing with really high stakes stuff, with our relationships with our parents, and balancing that with our relationships with each other. They’re going pretty deep.”
To get to know the characters of RIVERDALE, click the arrows below.
RIVERDALE premieres on on Thursday, January 26 at 9/8c on The CW.
Archie Andrews. Archie got hot over the summer while working for his father’s construction company. And while his dad wants him to take over the family business, Archie has his own dreams. He spent the summer writing his own songs and he’s serious about getting into music. When he approaches Josie (of the Pussycats) for help, she turns him down. And while that’s a big setback, he has over avenues to pursue. One is the school’s music teacher, Miss Grundy. Of course, that situation isn’t as black and white as you would think, because it’s soon revealed that Archie was actually engaged in a secret relationship with Miss Grundy over the summer (although she seems determined to avoid him now — probably in order to avoid a scandal). But that’s not the only secret Archie is keeping — it turns out that he and Miss Grundy might know more about Jason’s death than they’re letting on.
Miss Gruny isn’t the only messed up relationship in Archie’s life, however. In the comics Archie and Jughead are BFFs, but things are very different in RIVERDALE and it’s going to be a long time before we understand why these two former friends are not that close anymore. During our visit to the RIVERDALE set, star KJ Apa teased that “There’s obviously something happened between the two of the them, [but] it hasn’t yet been established what that was. I don’t even know yet, but I’m guessing it was something that was really bad. They still haven’t completely gotten over it, it’s episode seven [that we’re filming] and we still haven’t completely gotten over it, so when that comes out it’s going to be massive.”
Another “frenemy” for Archie is Josie, the leader of Josie and the Pussycats. Archie approaches her for some musical collaboration and she shuts him down. “Archie and Josie have kind of a weird relationship where, I feel like Archie really admires her, and really respects her in a musical way. He wants to work with her a lot, and still in episode seven, he is still really wanting to work with the Pussycats, but Josie won’t have a bar of it. She doesn’t think I’m good at all.”
Betty Cooper. Betty is into Archie Andrews. When we first meet her, she’s hanging out with her friend Kevin, who is encouraging her to confess her feelings to Archie, her life-long friend and the boy next door. Betty is a bit skeptical that that plan is a good one. After all, Archie hasn’t expressed much romantic interest in her. And when Veronica shows up in town and catches Archie’s eye, Betty is even less sure about her chances.
But Betty is a nice girl, so she befriends Veronica, who helps her get on the cheerleading squad, led by Cheryl Blossom. It’s clear, however, that Cheryl and Betty are not friends, primarily because something happened between Betty’s sister Polly and Cheryl’s brother Jason — something that changed Polly forever. And Polly isn’t Betty’s only family issue because it’s obvious that Betty’s mother is hard on Betty as well. While Betty continues to “do everything for everyone” as she says in the pilot, it’s inevitable that she’ll one day reach her breaking point.
During our visit to the RIVERDALE set, Lili Reinhart explained that “we wanted to make sure she wasn’t a damsel in distress. That was important to us. And she wasn’t a pushover. She wasn’t fawning over Archie. That wasn’t her goal in life, which is kind of was in the comics. She lives her life for Archie. On our show she has so much more going for her than just him. She has her own problems and she’s dealing with mental health issues and her family. At the end of the day we just wanted her to be a real person dealing with real world problems and shining a light on the darkness that comes with being a woman in this age and time and having the pressures on young women these days with appearances and being perfect.”
But all of the pressure on Betty will one day build up to a boiling point. “Oh my God, she lets loose, let me tell you. She lets loose pretty early in the season, which is going to be amazing. Betty definitely has mental health problems that she’s working on and has a lot of built up anger, which kind of goes to say the pressure that Betty feels to be perfect. She can’t show any cracks. She can’t be weak around her parents, so it builds up and takes over her. It comes out and you see her have a … something. She acts out a little bit.”
Veronica Lodge. She’s a mystery that rolls into town just before the new school year, according to Jughead the narrator. Formerly a rich girl who lived in New York City, Veronica drops mentions of the Met Ball and her old life all the time. But she’s also a lot kinder than you would think. Camila Mendes explained that “In RIVERDALE, Veronica isn’t so unlikable as she might have been in the comics. It’s funny, because I was researching the name Veronica, and how a lot of people hate that name because they associate it with Veronica in the comics, and it’s like, ‘Oh, she’s snooty. She sounds like a rich, spoiled brat name.’ I think because we’ve added this element to Veronica, we’ve added dimensionality to her, and the fact that her father is involved with all this fraud and embezzlement, got arrested, and kind of forced the family to readjust their lifestyle, and now we have no money, and my mom [Hermione] and I are kind of on our own, I think that’s really humbled Veronica. So I think in that way, it’s kind of really easy to sympathize with her.”
She’s clearly drawn to Archie right off the bat, but when she learns that Betty is interested in him she’s happy to back off a bit for the bond of sisterhood. In fact, Mendes says that “I think she sees all this potential in [Betty] that is being pushed down, because of her mother [Alice Cooper], and her mother really has a negative effect on her life. I think Veronica recognizes that and is trying to bring all of the good things about her, all the strength in Betty, out so that the world can see it. “
Veronica might be the person who is most tangentially connected to Jason’s murder, having arrived in town long after it happened. “I think it’s kind of eerie for her to walk into this world, already so different from where she comes from, and also to walk into the peak of drama. She doesn’t really know these people, and they all know each other, and they know all these secrets about each other. So I think she’s kind of sitting back and watching, and trying to help when she can, but at the end of the day, she’s pretty separate from all of that.” And while she’ll be drawn into the mystery because it affects her new friends (for example, “Betty kind of plays detective in some of the episodes, and Veronica will chime in”), Mendes hinted that “I think [for] Veronica, her overall objective, is to redeem her family name, and to take hold of her own identity, and separate it from that of her parents.”
Jughead Jones. He’s a little film noir in RIVERDALE — serving as both the narrator of the show and a bit of a scheming character. Cole Sprouse teased that “He is definitely different from the digests. He very much resembles the Jughead in the Mark Waid/Fiona Staples more recent reboot of the Archie comic series, in which he’s this kind of outsider – he is down on his luck in those comics as well and he’s, he gets a very objective perspective on the entirety of the workings of Riverdale. But he’s still kind of on the outside. In the show he carries very much the same sardonic, sarcastic sense of – dry, he’s a very cynical character. But he, he’s definitely a little more down on his luck in this show, which I think explains why he’s quite cynical. In the pilot, which you don’t see a lot of Jughead — you hear Jughead’s voice, so he’s the narrator of the entire show, which is quite fun, so he’s the perspective character. But, you don’t really know what angle he’s coming from in the pilot and slowly but surely over the season you start to see just how involved he is in it and he definitely has his own angle that he’s trying to pursue. It’s not like he’s coming from some altruistic approach. He definitely has his own reason for being there.”
Cheryl Blossom. Cheryl is used to being at the top of the social food chain. A quintessential mean girl who particularly enjoys torturing Betty, Cheryl isn’t afraid to say whatever is on her mind, no matter who she hurts. But it’s also clear that the loss of her brother affects her greatly. And while you may think there’s something a bit creepy about their relationship, star Madeline Petsch said “the way to explain it is that she’s not in love with him in an intimate and sexual way. It’s that he’s the only person who’s ever shown her unconditional love and the only person she’s ever unloaded unconditional love back to. So it’s a very awkward [and] weird place for her when she loses him to realize she’s so in love with him and so obsessed with him because no one loves her like he did, and her family doesn’t show love to her. She’s kind of distraught and so lonely without him.”
The loss of Jason actually helps the fans better understand the character, who is “not so one-dimensional” as she is in the comics. And maybe she’s not the mean girl you think she is: “You really get to see the emotional side of her [in the show]. She is the biggest emotional roller coaster on this television show, which is so interesting because you wouldn’t imagine that from reading the comics at all. She’s kind of like a bad girl for a purpose. She’s there to make Veronica seem nicer in the comics, and she’s kind of a standalone character. She does have her own purpose as well, but she’s a real human. She’s not just the villain for being a villain. She’s a person, and there’s reasons why she’s a villain. She’s lost the love of her life. There’s so many layers behind her that you get to see in this television show.”
The appearance of Veronica — who knows how to hold her own against girls like Cheryl — also complicates Cheryl’s life. Petsch said that “I’ve kind of been the Queen Bee of Riverdale High for a very long time, and with Jason by my side, nobody can turn me down. Now that Jason’s gone, and Veronica comes in, she really kind of throws me off-kilter, and I’m not really quite sure what to do with somebody who talks back to me and feels like they can say anything to me. It’s definitely very interesting.”
Meanwhile, Cheryl’s twin brother might die in the pilot, but that won’t be the last we see of Jason. This crucial relationship in Cheryl’s life will continue to be showcased as RIVERDALE goes on:”Trevor, who plays Jason, will be coming back quite often. Until we find out who done, he’ll be coming back most episodes to kind of help us pave the path for whoever did it.”
Josie McCoy. Josie is trying to carve her identity as a musician. Her signature cat ears headband is one way that she and her band (the Pussycats) can be distinctive. But Josie’s not just a run-of-the-mill teen. Like the other kids in RIVERDALE, Josie has some troubles at home. Ashleigh Murray explained that “Josie is absolutely consumed by music and the success of her band. And not just her, that’s the thing. Her biggest obstacle that she’s dealing with [are] the expectations her mother has, because she wants her to stay in a certain brand and that’s kind of what it’s all about her her mom. And her father, on the other hand, who is a musician and travels all the time, doesn’t quite love the type of music that Josie chooses. Trying to balance the love and acceptance of her parents while staying true to herself … it’s a lot for a teenager to handle. Combine that with the ego of a 16 year old, sometimes she’s a bit of a mess. You see how it unfolds in the first episode. She seems kinda’ diva-ish mean girl. She’s not completely mean, it’s more sassy than anything. Halfway through the season you’ll really get to see the dynamic between her and not just her bandmates, but her parents [as well] and how that influences who she is outside of the house.”
Josie’s relationship with the Pussycats is better than her relationship with her parents, but sometimes she can get a bit ahead of herself, according to Murray: “It’s interesting, it’s very strong [the bond between the girls]. She definitely loves her bandmates and all three of them share the same type of struggle and they look to her for support or guidance. But at the same time she can get a little ahead of herself. Her head gets a little big and she starts to run things as if she’s a dictator as opposed to a partner. She learns her lesson from that but all in all, underneath it, at the end of the day she realizes that these are her girlfriends more than anything else. If she’s going to succeed, if she’s going to have these girls by her side, she’s going to have to give sometimes. It’s all love. Sixteen year old hormonal love.”
When we first meet her, Josie’s biggest annoyance, however, is Archie, who approaches her for help with his music and she doesn’t take him seriously. “She has a big problem with Archie. Not just his choice to want to pursue music but how it seems kind of out of nowhere for her. She’s doing favors for him and she definitely judges him before seeing what he’s capable of. She will start to figure out how to soften around him but it’s difficult because he starts to push in on one of her bandmates because everybody thinks Archie is cute.”
Kevin Keller. Kevin is the Sheriff’s son and Betty’s gay BFF — her confidant in her crush towards Archie. He also gets along swimmingly with Veronica once she arrives in town. In fact, Camilla Mendes (Veronica) said “I love her friendship with Kevin. I don’t know what really to say, besides that it’s just a friendship that works. Their characters really understand each other, and whenever Betty’s too busy dealing with all of her family drama, me and Kevin come together, and we kind of have our own little stuff.”
Kevin also happens to be helping fellow classmate Moose in exploring his sexuality, although Moose insists he’s not gay. But he’s still eager to fool around with Kevin even while dating a girl named Midge.
Fred Andrews. After putting his son on his construction crew this past summer, Fred is determined to get Archie into the office next and running the company soon after. He’s also pretty mild-mannered overall and is separated from his wife (who lives in Chicago) while raising Archie on his own. Luke Perry told us that with Fred he’s just trying to have him “be your average, everyday dad. And that’s a hard thing to do, as I sit here and say it, just [to] be your average, everyday dad. That’s a task that’s becoming more and more difficult every day due to the advent of all this digital s**t and all the social media and all of that kind of stuff. So just to be able to hit middle ground, I think, is a real challenge. That’s something that I’m really invested in doing with this character. Yesterday I found myself in a scene where a lot of the other characters I would have played would have been much more active or reactive and done something, and I just kind of had to stand there and take it, and that was great. For me it was something different to do. But as someone’s father you’re always setting the example, so that’s a fun challenge for me to do with this character.”
But Fred isn’t just Archie’s father in RIVERDALE — like the other parents he has secrets of his own. It’s clear that he has a history with Hermione and star Luke Perry teased that other than Archie, his character has spent time with “with Veronica’s mom. And the Coopers live right next door to me, so I see Betty and Hal Cooper with some regularity.”
Alice Cooper. Alice is a mother who is used to being the driving force in the family — in other words, she’s a control freak. When we first meet her in the pilot, she’s trying to explain to sophomore Betty everything she needs to do to ensure she gets into a good college. She may put a lot of pressure on her daughter, but she wants the best for her.
However, there’s a lot of insecurity in the character. We soon learn that Hermione was a mean girl towards Alice when they were kids, which left lasting scars and a feud between the two. Alice also works hard to ensure she gets the dirt on other people via the Coopers’ ownership of the Riverdale Register, the town’s local paper.
Hermione Lodge. The Lodge’s RIVERDALE apartment is the only piece of property in Hermione’s name and not her husband’s, which means it’s the only place they can move in to after their assets were frozen and the patriarch of the family was thrown in jail. And yes, her trusty Smithers is present, although he’s the bellman instead of her personal butler.
A former mean girl, Hermione is experiencing her just desserts as she returns to her old home town with a nice apartment, but without the big trappings of her old life. And she’s also a bit desperate for a job, which drives her to Fred Andrews — a man she used to date until she chose the rich guy instead.
It’s clear that Hermione loves her daughter and the pair seem to get along, but that won’t always be the case. Camila Mendes hinted that the relationship between the mother and daughter is “very complicated. Part of the coming-of-age story is coming to terms with the fact that your parents are just like you, and they’re still learning, and trying to make their way through life. Veronica recognizes that, but also isn’t mature enough to actually understand it, and so I think there’s a lot of resentment towards her mother, because her mother still is involved with some stuff with the shady business, and Veronica starts to see that and starts to feel betrayed by her mother.”
