Riverdale’s time jump has not done the series any favors

Riverdale took a massive step foward at the beginning of the show’s fifth season by literally jumping seven years into the future.

When the time jump first took place and the gang reunited, it looked like things were headed in different – and generally better – directions. And after an episode devoted to showing where everyone was years later, it seemed as if Riverdale was making legitimate and necessary changes in the main characters’ storylines. For example, Toni was more involved in the town and was getting storylines outside of her relationship with Cheryl.

Sadly, Riverdale threw in the towel pretty early when it comes to trying new and different things. Despite the time jump, the show quickly returned to its old ways. Hiram Lodge still reigned as the main villain. Archie and Veronica got back together again. Jughead and Betty returned to being a detective duo.

Archie has plenty of personal projects in the works, including restarting the fire department, running the ROTC at Riverdale High, and coaching the school’s football team. While this is entertaining enough, Archie is being stretched too thin across the board as a character.

Meanwhile, Betty’s mixture of being an FBI trainee and the PTSD she is dealing with brought on by the aftermath of being trapped by the “Trash Bag Killer” does give a hint into what has been going on with her. But her storyline is just a more professional version of Betty Cooper solving Riverdale’s mysteries, which is not a new addition to the series’ canvas.

These storylines are made worse by the show’s insistence on bringing everyone back to Riverdale High School. Years after leaving, everyone is back in school to be teachers at a failing establishment. The group’s commitment to getting Riverdale back on its feet is noble, but there could have been another way to go about it than bringing everyone back to exactly where they had been years before.

Seven years is a long time, and Riverdale could have used that knowledge to advance its plot and characters to a point where the series could have been transformed into something new, exciting, and different. Instead, Riverdale is trapped in a paradox of bizarre storylines of its own making.

The time jump has not done the show any favors considering that Riverdale seems more interested in doing crazy things than in creating opportunities for new friendships and relationships to grow and develop.

Riverdale is just as crazy as it had been before the time jump, and that may be one of its greatest problems. The invention of Mothmen and truckers kidnapping women and girls don’t add a grand sense of fear to the show, mainly because fans no longer have much reason to take Riverdale or its storylines seriously.

These two storylines just don’t co-exist together well in Riverdale, mainly because they are treated with equal importance, as is Archie wanting the Bulldogs to win a football game.

The series has not done anything with the time jump that suggests it was meant to do anything other than age up the main characters, especially as it continues to find excuses for them to be still involved in high school activities.

Viewers wondered if the time jump could do anything to improve or energize the show, given the rut it found itself in at the end of the gang’s high school years. Sadly, the series has continued to be another version of its former self, just now with the main characters a few years older.

Has the Riverdale time jump worked for you? Why or why not?