TV Show review
Review basis: 7 seasons · through August 23, 2023
January 26, 2017 · 45 min · TV-14 · Ended
Woke Score
Lower is better
Review
Riverdale is a seven-season CW series that turns the classic Archie Comics characters into modern teens caught in murder mysteries, gangs, cults, drugs, family secrets, and later supernatural and musical chaos in a small town. It delivers campy soap-opera entertainment with over-the-top plots while updating the source material through a diverse cast and heavy focus on queer characters and relationships. Specific audience-visible woke elements include sustained central queer storylines such as the long-running Choni romance and Kevin Keller arcs, occasional dialogue calling out toxic masculinity and misogyny, and prominent diversity in a traditionally wholesome white comic setting.
Breakdown
These are the editorial factors and ratings behind our score for Riverdale.
Woke representation / casting
Highly visible diverse cast and sustained prominent queer characters plus same-sex romances in a modernized legacy property that originally featured a very white 1950s cast; queer elements receive elevated weight and drive viewer-noticeable storylines.
Woke political dialogue
Occasional character lines critiquing toxic masculinity and misogyny appear in episodes but remain infrequent and not central lectures.
Identity-driven story themes
Queer identity, coming-out stories, and same-sex relationships form major emotional and plot arcs for multiple seasons, especially Choni and Kevin-focused episodes, plus season 7 expansions.
Western institutional / cultural critique
Storylines address small-town corruption, class divides, and rich exploitation of the town but stay mostly personal and crime-focused rather than modern activist systemic framing of patriarchy or identity issues.
Woke character or canon changes
Significant modernization and queer expansion of traditionally wholesome, mostly straight white comic characters; publicly described as a bold subversive take, though without aggressive race or gender swaps of core figures.
Anti-woke backlash and complaints
Limited fan complaints on social media about cringy gender dialogue and tokenistic diversity; no major news stories, organized pushback, or widespread right-leaning outrage documented.
Creator track record context
Several key people show liberal-to-identity patterns (queer expansion by Aguirre-Sacasa, rep focus by Grassi, inclusive casting by Rapaport, feminist work by Talalay), supporting the show’s noticeable emphasis without a uniform activist bloc.
Production
