Top 10 Jump the Shark Moments on Riverdale

Cheryl’s connection to her dead brother always seemed a bit, let’s say odd. But this was pushing it way over the line. Cheryl gets her hands on Jason’s corpse and hides him in her house. Why did the show do this to Cheryl? She was arguably the best character on the show in the first few seasons. Did they just run out of awesome storylines for her and take this ridiculous turn instead? Not to mention Cheryl lied and gaslit Toni to keep this secret. Seriously not cool.

Sure, if you do an in-depth study of serial killers throughout history, they probably have some very specific things in common, but come on. Dark Betty was already almost too much to tolerate, but according to “Riverdale,” Betty’s dad, also known as The Black Hood, and her biological half-brother also share these two specific genes that all serial killers have. A 2022 article specifically referencing this storyline talks about the MAOA and CDH13 genes, saying that they do affect aggression levels. But if everyone who had this combination of genes became a serial killer, there would be an obscene amount. They really should have done their research on this one, because this idea just made the show sound silly.

Okay, it’s enough already with all the Blossom family plot twists. We accepted when Jason’s true fate was revealed. We tolerated it when we found out the Coopers and Blossoms are actually related. But enough is enough. With the appearance of secret Uncle Claudius, any remaining suspense of disbelief the audience may have had around the Blossom family history just went straight out the window. The term jumping the shark refers to a point in a show where things turn irrevocably downhill, or just go overboard ridiculous. And this one undoubtedly applies. Things got way too unbelievable after that.

Archie is the absolute worst at making big life decisions and this is only the first of many entries on this list proving it. Yes, when a serial killer is out on the loose in your town, clearly the only reasonable thing to do about it is to gather up a gang of your shirtless buddies and openly threaten him. Archie wasn’t even wearing a mask like the others. He was already nearly a victim of the Black Hood once, how on Earth did this seem like a good idea to him?

Speaking of Archie’s terrible life decisions, this one is definitely one of the dumbest. He knows what a bad guy Hiram Lodge is. In fact, he’s so bad that he’s the main villain of season one and you never even see him. Everything shady that goes on in Riverdale, Hiram Lodge has his hand in it. And yet, Archie still chooses to work for the guy. At first, it seems like he might be going in as a sort of double agent, but then he goes all in. For what purpose? He becomes a junior mobster just for the perks?

Archie is for sure a pretty tough dude, but we’re relatively positive that a fully-grown bear could take him. While on his little journey of self-discovery after running away from Riverdale he gets attacked by a bear in the woods and just… sleeps it off? Just surviving the attack is bad enough, but Archie seems like he’s crossing over to the other side if he doesn’t get help quickly. But then the next morning, he seems to just rub some dirt on it and be okay. What is that?

Yup. Aliens. Your radio is just fine, do not adjust your television sets, you heard us right, aliens. Okay, fine, they ended up not really being aliens, but honestly, that would have been less lunacy than what actually happened. Apparently, the stories of the Mothmen were all a cover to hide the illegitimate children of Nana Rose’s cheating husband. Rose even delivered a fake alien corpse to the diner to throw off Jughead’s investigation. But the truth eventually surfaces that the Mothmen, previously thought to be aliens, are deformed throwaway children of the Blossom clan. There is just no end to the secrets of the Blossom family’s past.

This entire plotline was so weird. Hiram frames Archie with murder, and as all of his friends and family rally behind him, he decides just to plead guilty rather than put them through the stress of a trial. What a noble move that was, because it totally wouldn’t mess them up worse to have him in prison. And things just continue downhill from there. How could we ever forget Archie’s life-changing speech about the epic highs and lows of high school football? Or the Vixens inspiring performance of “Jailhouse Rock?” Or, perhaps worst of all, the gang’s epic jailbreak. We won’t even mention the underground fight club.

The game itself wasn’t so bad, but the cult-like following it had pushed this storyline way over the line. A clear fictionalization of Dungeons & Dragons, this game leads to several Riverdale kids becoming brainwashed and some even dying for the Gargoyle King. We’re not sure the show knew where it was going with this one. It started as some sort of checkered past between the parents that the kids were now continuing, then it seemed to dip its toe into the supernatural, and, because clearly this was the breaking point, it stepped right back out.

Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions.

A Teenage-Run Club

Why Is It Always Kevin?

To What End?

There Is No Escaping Hiram Lodge

The Not So Fast & the Furious

As this list shows this show has a plethora of moments that took it past the point of no return. But all of those pale in comparison to the Farm. Brainwashing, organ harvesting, sister wives, oh my. Any one of those storylines would be bad enough on its own, but the combination of all of them gave us possibly the show’s most ridiculous arc ever. Edgar Evernever starts seducing the teenagers of Riverdale to join his cult, which Betty later finds out is a front for his organ harvesting business. But the worst part of it all is when the jig is up and Edgar attempts to escape on a homemade rocket.