Riverdale Season 7 Ditched The Only Thing That Could Salvage '50s Storyline
What's the point of Riverdale's final season anyway?
The Riverdale train seems to be going nowhere. While the idea of sending Archie and the gang back to the 1950s seemed exciting in the beginning and gave the creators some interesting possibilities, as Season 7 progresses, the story drifts further and further away from the event that brought the characters back in time — the plotline that was supposed to be in focus but somehow got lost among other things in the current season.
Remember the 'bend towards justice' line? Yes, even though it was abandoned for 14 episodes, that doesn't mean that the message ceased to exist — and it was all that mattered this season, really. Let us remind you.
When a demon with the curious name of Percival Pickens came to Riverdale in Season 6 and did everything in his power to wipe the town off the face of the earth, the gang did the only thing they could think of to stop him. Tabitha, who had learned to manipulate time, sent everyone back to the 1950s to change the course of the town's history and stop the demon's arrival.
Jughead was the only one who kept his memories, and Tabitha explained what they had to do before he also forgot everything. Desperate to remember the important message, Jughead could only get three words out of his head: 'Bend towards justice.' But he might not have written the words down — because so far, 14 episodes later, the message hasn't been mentioned once.
It hasn't become part of a Milkman/Ethel storyline or a coming-out-of-closet arc, both of which feel more like attempts to fit in the stories from the comic source that couldn't be part of the previous seasons. All in all, throwing the original Season 7 motivation down the drain robs not only the current season, but the entire show, of any meaning and purpose.
The gang spent most of their time protecting their city, and it stands to reason that their last major effort would be to save Riverdale from total destruction and set things up for a better future for everyone. Instead, they're stuck in the past (and supposedly never coming back to the present), and everything they've done over the years seems to be forgotten.
Now, is this really any different than a demon destroying everything?
Riverdale Season 7 Episode 15 airs Wednesday, July 19, on The CW Network.