Despite having ended only a month ago, Riverdale is gearing up to return to the big screen for the season six premiere next week. However, before it can air, viewers must acknowledge the dumpster fire that was season five. 

In previous seasons, there was one central storyline and villain, but that was not the case for season five. The directors were forced to use the last episode to wrap up the numerous dilemmas occurring in the small town. The episode had no natural flow with each character consumed in their life events: Betty graduated FBI school, Veronica realizes she cannot return to her life in New York, Reggie does not pass his stockbroker exam, Toni decides to revamp her gang, the Serpents, Cheryl gets in touch with her family history, and Jughead and Tabitha burn down a building. However, the characters do get together to celebrate Betty’s graduation and expel Hiram Lodge, Veronica’s father and one of the longstanding series villains, from the town. 

The finale did bring together new couples and reunited old flames. Betty and Archie, one of the main ships in the comics, began a relationship at the end of the episode before being victims of an explosion orchestrated by Hiram Lodge, the season’s villain. With Betty and Archie together, their old partners, Veronica and Jughead, were forced to find companionship in other people. While Veronic reunited with Reggie, Jughead found love in a new season five character, Tabitha Tate, the granddaughter of Pop Tate, the owner of Pop’s. 

Despite season five receiving the lowest ratings yet for the series, Riverdale is back on Nov. 16 with a five-episode special entitled Rivervale. The episodes will air till mid-December before the show takes a break and returns in March 2022. 

Riverdale originally began with the story of Jason Blossom, a murder mystery, and has since progressed through countless different sci-fi-like storylines. The season five finale insinuated that the show’s next installment would follow Cherly and her ancestors’ connection to witchcraft. To help bring season six to life, the CW has called up Kiernan Shipka, who previously played Sabrina in another CW show entitled The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina. 

While I appreciate the creativity that it takes to develop the ever-changing storylines in Riverdale, the show has lost touch with the original concepts. It seems each season, the director concocts a new bizarre dilemma in the small town of Riverdale to keep the show progressing. However, it is time to stop and recognize that the show has reached its end. Each season receives lower ratings than the previous while becoming increasingly more of a joke for Gen Z. 

The season five finale confirmed that Riverdale is no longer a show about high schoolers in a small town but rather a mosh pit of every sci-fi teen show ever created.