"Riverdale" May Have Been Strange, But I Loved It, And Now That It's Ending I'm Listing Its Wildest Moments

    If you thought Jughead was weird, you've got another thing coming.

    Brittany Blossom
    by Brittany Blossom

    Community Contributor

    BuzzFeed Community Team
    Approved and edited by BuzzFeed Community Team

    Riverdale started off as a pretty normal series, with all of the conventions of your average teen drama. But since then, it has become notorious for its deranged storylines. From organ harvesting cults to dead bodies at the dinner table, Riverdale is certainly unique.

    The gargoyle king stands in a hospital room. It appears to be a cloaked figure, with wings made of twigs, and the head of an animal.
    The CW

    1. The Mass Seizure

    Veronica, Toni and other girls lie on the floor of Riverdale High School, wearing cheerleader outfits. They are all having seizures.
    The CW

    As the renowned River Vixens went on their daily stroll around the school, Cheryl Blossom, head cheerleader, took a moment to examine the goings-on of the hallway, as there appeared to be...nothing strange happening? Obviously this was a once-in-a-lifetime occurrence in Riverdale, but the peace was short-lived, as the rest of Cheryl's squad fell to the floor in what can only be described as a "group seizure."

    Later on, this outbreak was revealed to have been caused by Fizzle Rocks: the new drug in town. Claudius Blossom, the secret twin of Cheryl's father, had been depositing the remains of the supply into the local river. The residue contaminated the town's water, which evidently led to every cheerleader except Cheryl having a seizure at the same time.

    Anyway, all's well that ends well, as any further contamination was halted when Cheryl's mother, Penelope, poisoned and killed Claudius.

    2. Organ Harvesting Cult

    Alice and Polly, two blonde women wearing all white, hold hands in the centre of a room. Multiple people, also dressed in white, surround them.
    The CW

    Edgar and Evelyn Evernever, possibly the most ridiculously named characters ever, were introduced as father and daughter, with Edgar being the leader of  "The Farm" — a support group made up of people going through personal struggles. Meanwhile, Evelyn enrolled at Riverdale High, attempting to recruit the hundreds of traumatized students, including Cheryl, Toni, Kevin, and Fangs.

    Unbeknownst to them, they had joined a cult. Edgar created the group in an attempt to find kidneys that were compatible with Evelyn, who required a double transplant. The Farm preyed on emotionally vulnerable people, informing them that they could transform their emotional pain into physical pain. Once a member had an organ removed, they believed that while the wound healed, their emotional pain would also fade.

    To top it all off, Evelyn wasn't Edgar's daughter; she was his wife. She had been posing as a high school student in search of suitable kidneys. As for all of the incompatible organs, they were stored in The Farm's headquarters... until they were ALL purchased by Penelope Blossom. And something even more worrying? This transaction was never mentioned again.

    3. Edgar's Rocket

    Edgar Evernever, a man with short dirty blonde hair and a beard, stands with his hands in the air. He is wearing a white bodysuit, with blue and red details. The flag of the USA stands next to him.
    The CW

    An escape plan was needed, so in true Riverdale fashion, Edgar decided to flee in a homemade rocket. Where was he going? Space? It was never mentioned. As for the Farmies' fate, they piled into a school bus which was to be driven off a cliff...with Betty and her mom, Alice, strapped to the front of it.

    Ultimately, Edgar's plan failed, as he was fatally shot by Alice before he could take off in his rocket. It's a bit of a shame, since he had a custom jumpsuit made just for the occasion.

    Also, Evelyn was supposed to be driving the bus, so how would she have ensured her survival? Was she supposed to meet Edgar somewhere if she survived? If he was going to space, how would Evelyn get there?

    4. Jason's Body and the Julian Doll

    Jason's dead body sits in a wheelchair. He has red hair, his eyes are closed and his mouth is open. He is wearing a shirt and cardigan. He is holding a creepy doll. The room is lit with candles.
    The CW

    Was this the creepiest storyline in Riverdale? Possibly. After mourning her brother Jason for so long, Cheryl began to feel the lack of his presence even more. She started to keep him in the chapel, brushing his hair and talking to him. He even sits at the table with Cheryl and Toni during the Halloween episode, just watching them...

    When Toni tries to persuade Cheryl to bury her brother's corpse, she is warned that Jason's ghost won't be very happy. This results in the appearance of a doll. Toni stays sane (somehow) and trashes the doll. But that wasn't the last we saw of it. Just when you thought it couldn't get any worse...it did. The doll reappeared on the wheelchair where Jason's corpse used to be.

    Choni decide to hold a seance, and they discover that this doll's name begins with a J. But it wasn't the J that anyone expected. Nana Rose revealed that it was Julian, not Jason. She then informed Cheryl that she was supposed to have a triplet, but she consumed him in the womb. Cheryl's mother had been so distraught that she purchased a doll, named it Julian, and raised it as if it was a child. It was apparently Julian's ghost haunting the girls in the present day.

    At this point, Toni is incredibly freaked out, so they bury the doll and get Jason's body back. Personally, I don't think a corpse is much better than the doll.

    And of course, the doll gets back into the house. Cheryl comes clean about moving the doll around, but swears she doesn't know how it got back inside. How does one even think up a plot like this?

    5. The Mothmen

    A creature crouches in a tunnel. It is vaguely human shaped. It is very dark, so none of the creature's features are noticeable.
    The CW

    Believed to be aliens, the "Mothmen" were said to have been in Riverdale since the 1970s, when they came to Earth in their UFO. Pop Tate told Jughead that when he witnessed their arrival, the lights in the diner switched off, the jukebox began to play music, and other strange events occurred.

    Nana Rose was also interviewed as she was in the diner when this event took place. She even had a Mothman body, which she stuffed into a maple syrup barrel after finding it in the forest.

    While Jughead's investigation continued, women were going missing, and it was assumed that they were being kidnapped and killed by a highway killer. To cut a long story short, Nana Rose reveals that the Mothmen were not aliens but the illegitimate children of her late husband.

    He got multiple women pregnant, but because of the shame these children would bring to the Blossom family, they had to be given away. Nana Rose knew of a childless couple, the Starkweathers, who were living in the forest, so she gave them six Blossom children. These children started to hunt women to make a living, by selling their belongings. However, it quickly turned into a competition between brothers, and they needed a cover story. The Starkweathers spread the rumor of aliens, using a scaremongering tactic to make sure people didn't come looking for them.

    As for the "Mothman" corpse in the barrel? That was Timothy, one of the secret children. What is it with this show and creepy Blossom corpses?

    6. Hiram's Bomb

    A bomb with a timer strapped to it sits on the ground. The hand on the timer points to a line between 4 and 6 seconds.
    The CW

    As an absurd finale to his decade-long battle with Archie, Veronica's father, Hiram, planted a bomb beneath his bed, attempting to harm Archie and Betty. In murdering her best friends, he also intended to punish Veronica for turning her back on him.

    Unable to diffuse the bomb in time, panic sets in. However, instead of being killed, Archie, Betty, and their friends wake up in an alternate universe named Rivervale. What's even wilder is that RiverDALE was all just a dream that RiverVALE Betty had.

    That's not the end of it. Rivervale is a shadow world, where supernatural events take place quite often. Each character's personality is exaggerated, with Jughead narrating to the extent of breaking the fourth wall multiple times. I still have so many questions about this storyline...

    7. Rivervale

    A TV series title screen, with the word 'Rivervale' in the centre, in red capital letters. Behind it is a forest surrounding a river, with a dark sky in the background
    The CW

    As previously mentioned, the supernatural runs wild in the alternate universe "Rivervale." However, to convey the level of absurdity to you, I have some more examples of the bonkers events that took place there.

    During the first episode of the Rivervale saga, Archie is killed off. The main character is sacrificed by Cheryl, as she rips his heart out in front of his friends who stand by watching, uncaring.

    The madness continues throughout the remaining four episodes, including the devil himself — Lou Cypher — coming to town and Toni turning into La Llorona (a ghost from Mexican folklore).

    Characters come back from the dead, others drop like flies, there are two Reggies and two Jugheads, and Riverdale comics even exist!

    8. Abigail Blossom

    Three women sit behind a green metal fence. On the left is a redhead teenage girl, wearing blue denim. In the middle is a young redhead woman, wearing a red outfit. On the right is an elderly woman in dark red and black clothes.
    The CW

    First appearing in Rivervale, Abigail Blossom was an ancestor of Cheryl's who dated Thomasina Topaz, an ancestor of Toni's. However, Thomasina was killed by Fenn Fogarty, who Abigail was forced to marry. She was then burned at the stake by the ancestors of Betty, Archie, and Jughead for possessing magical powers.

    However, it was revealed that Cheryl had always been Abigail. She was also Poppyseed, another ancestor. Abigail, Poppyseed, and Cheryl were the same person cursed with immortality. Nana Rose's soul was then transferred into Abigail/Poppyseed/Cheryl's body, so Abigail could reunite with Thomasina in the afterlife. What?

    This storyline didn't continue in Riverdale, but Cheryl did get possessed by Abigail, as she wanted to take the town for herself, intending to get revenge on the descendants of her tormentors.

    Ultimately, they discover Abigail's nefarious plan and banish her soul into the body of...the Julian doll. But that's not the last we see of her. The gang brings her back in the finale so she can aid them in stopping Bailey's comet. Abigail requires one thing in return — a night with her beloved Thomasina. They are reincarnated in the bodies of Cheryl and Toni, but the comet still hits the town.

    9. Superpowers

    Betty, a young woman with a blonde bob, looks at herself in the mirror. She is surrounded by a glowing yellow aura.
    The CW

    Why would the Riverdale characters have superpowers? I think the better question is why wouldn't they? After everything that's happened in this show, I wasn't even surprised by this point.

    The powers varied from Archie's invulnerability to Tabitha's time-traveling and were somehow given to the characters after the detonation of the bomb beneath Archie's bed.

    Other powers included Veronica's poison, which killed a man in his sleep, Cheryl's witchcraft, and Betty being able to see auras — which told her if someone had committed a crime.

    However, I think the best part of this ridiculous storyline was the reveal that Archie's dog, Bingo, had superpowers, as his four broken legs healed within three days. Bingo also saved Archie's life by dramatically pushing his potential murderer through a brick wall!

    During the season finale, the heroes used Veronica's dialysis powers to their advantage, and transferred their abilities to Cheryl, who was the designated person to stop a comet hitting the town...by flying...while everyone sang about the end of the world — certainly a very Riverdale moment.

    10. Percival Pickens

    A smiling man with gelled brown hair with a purple shirt and black suit.
    The CW

    Percival was a sorcerer who managed to get from Rivervale to Riverdale by stepping through a rift between the universes. He received his wish of immortality after making a deal with the devil and intended to claim Riverdale for himself.

    Even though each main character had their own superpower, none of them ever seemed to be strong enough to defeat Percival.

    One of his first mischievous plans was...naming Riverdale the worst town in America? It's the most devious, shocking crime a villain has ever committed in Riverdale!

    He went from entering Jughead's mind to building new railroads, all part of his scheme to take over the town. However, the heroes managed to stop him by sending him back to his own time and even getting the devil himself to tear up the contract made between him and Percival. How do they pull it off every time?

    11. Toni and Fangs' wedding

    Fangs, a man with long, black hair holds hands with Toni, a woman with long, black hair. Fangs is wearing a black suit with a flower on his lapel, and Toni is wearing a white wedding dress and veil.
    The CW

    While a lot of their guests are miserable about their own love lives, Toni and Fangs celebrate their whirlwind of a romance in the form of a wedding — with Toni's ex girlfriend as the officiant. The couple shares their vows and commit to each other, saying loving promises, including the traditional wedding phrase "till death do us part." Probably not a good thing to say when you live in Riverdale.

    During the wedding reception, everyone is dancing and enjoying themselves, but that never lasts long. Within no time at all, multiple attendees begin to feel ill, including the bride and groom who drop dead. With many of their friends' dead bodies on the floor, it's up to the rest of the gang to figure out what connects them. They realize that everyone who died was a firstborn child, due to a plague put upon the town by Percival. However, there's still one firstborn child alive — baby Anthony, Toni and Fangs' son.

    Something must be special about him, but what? He's immortal. Why wouldn't he be? He is then aged up by Tabitha, so he can defeat Percival. But upon realizing who he's up against, Percival takes flight.

    12. The 1950s

    The main characters of Riverdale sit and stand in Veronica's huge and fancy apartment. They are dressed in traditional 1950s apparel.
    The CW

    I'm yet to hear a good explanation as to why this happened, but when Cheryl was unable to stop the comet, it didn't destroy the town (as far as we know), but instead sent all of the main characters back to the 1950s, with no recollection of their old lives.

    However, for a few episodes, Jughead could remember everything, but he quickly lost this ability, and became like his friends — a "normal" '50s teenager.

    The characters maintain the same key personality traits as they had in their previous lives, with a lot of their feelings for each other being reminiscent of their original romances (such as Cheryl and Toni still being in love in this era).

    On the other hand, some storylines are brand new, such as Cheryl's parents being revealed as Russian spies, an original musical, and confusing family tree details — Hal is Ethel's father?!

    I'll let you finish the final episodes of the show for yourself to see if the gang make it back to their own time!

    While these are some of the most prominent ridiculous Riverdale storylines, there are A LOT more. This show is a rollercoaster in every way, and it's safe to say that there will never be anything like it again. If I missed any of your favorites, list them in the comments below!!

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