The premiere episode of Riverdale introduces us to the lead characters. It also sets up the mystery they are going to be dealing with.

So far it seems like the show will revolve around the mystery of the death of a minor character, Jason Blossom (Trevor Stines). Here’s how it goes: Jason and Polly Cooper (Tiera Skovbye), who are dating, go for a boat ride on the morning of the 4th of July. Polly drops her glove in the water and Jason tries to retrieve it but the boat flips and he falls into the river, eventually drowning. Polly survives and Jason’s body is never found.

The characters include the main character and the focus of the story, Archie (K.J. Apa), who is dull, to say the least. There is his childhood best friend and neighbor, Betty Cooper (Lili Reinhart); the new girl who just moved into town with her mother after her father’s disgrace, Veronica Lodge (Camila Mendes); the gay friend, Kevin Keller (Casey Cott); the obligatory mean girl, trouble maker and twin sister of the late Jason Blossom, Cheryl Blossom (Madelaine Petsch); Archie’s business owning dad, Fred Andrews (Luke Perry); Fred’s ex-girlfriend and Veronica’s mother, Hermoine Lodge (Marisol Nichols); and the sexual predator teacher, Geraldine Grundy (Sarah Habel).

The show isn’t anything like the Archie comics. It has no humor at all. It gives a dark mysterious vibe, unlike the comics which have a happy-go-lucky vibe. It’s more alike to shows like Dawson’s Creek.

It seems like the writers couldn’t come up with names for their characters, so they took the nearest comic they could find. In doing so, they also benefited from an established brand name. So, don’t expect the show to be just like the comics.

What is interesting, is the relationship between Betty and Veronica. Unlike the comics, in the show, they are best friends looking out for each other, and it works really well.

The episode emphasized on the act of treating other people nicely and the ramifications of doing so.

One of the most touching moments in the episode was Betty turning the other cheek, enduring Cheryl’s insults, who blames Betty’s sister, Polly, to be the cause of her brother’s death. Betty tries so hard to be nice to everyone and she pays the price, as signified by the marks left by her clenched fists.

Similarly, Veronica is struggling to become a better and nicer person, trying to leave her past self behind. She walks with the mark of shame, being the daughter of a thief and she proudly owns it.

For what it is, the show has a good start. It does a good job of giving intrigue and setting up the plot and characters. The soundtrack specifically caught my attention. They cramped a lot of development in the first episode including a cliffhanger which is fine by me.

The story, although somewhat cliché, is enough to make me tune in next week.

Stray Observations:

Archie is still hung up on his teacher. This will be the real challenge he has to face in the end.

What happened to Jughead? He used to be Archie’s friend.

The show is narrated by Jughead. Not sure how I feel about this, we’ll have to see.

It seems there is unfinished business between Fred and Hermione.

Rating: C+

So, what did you think about the first episode? Will you watch the next episode? Let us know in the comments below!

Riverdale airs Thursdays on The CW at 9/8c