Riverdale slowly edged out the parents from the big picture

When The CW Network’s Riverdale began, the parents had just as significant a role in the story as their teenage kids. However, as the series continued, the parents went from having an important place in the overall story to taking a backseat to nearly every event in town as Archie, Betty, Veronica, Jughead, and Cheryl took charge of the town.

One of the only remaining leading parents in season 6, Alice Cooper has gone from a significant presence to barely a supporting character. While Alice’s function usually surrounded bringing drama into Betty’s life, whether it be discouraging Betty’s relationships with Archie and Veronica or joining The Farm, she at least had her storyline or secrets occurring before.

Previously, Alice’s role had also involved keeping secrets about Charles, her son with FP Jones, and her history in the south side. Alice’s job as a journalist also played an essential role for a while. As time went on, though, Alice’s part was greatly diminished. As a result, it is lucky that Alice has more than a few lines per episode in recent seasons.

FP Jones followed a similar pattern. Initially, FP played the role of a troubled father and represented a fate Jughead desperately wanted to escape. However, as time went on, Jughead and FP slowly repaired their relationship. FP’s role then transformed to hint at and continue his romance with Alice.

Eventually, though, FP fell to a similar fate as Alice. FP went from a significant presence to a background character. Although he took on the role of Sheriff in his last seasons on the show, FP’s existence in Riverdale slowed down, and his exit before the time jump did not have a massive effect on what happened when everyone returned to Riverdale seven years later.

Riverdale used to value the parents and their twisted mysteries and histories with each other. The third season even devoted an episode to showing the parents as teenagers in The Breakfast Club-inspired episode, “The Midnight Club.”

Nearly every Riverdale parent had taken a significant backseat since their initial introduction. However, as of the sixth season, Alice Cooper and Tom Keller are two of the only Riverdale parents that remain a constant presence in town.

However, although they may appear in scenes, their relevance to the series has drastically reduced. Many of the other parents had left town in the wake of the time jump with an occasional guest star appearance such as Hermione Lodge or Penelope Blossom.

Although Hiram Lodge had remained relevant throughout his time on the series, he had overstayed his welcome as the town’s main villain. Hiram’s storylines were repetitive, and he barely brought anything new or exciting to the show.

Riverdale has undoubtedly changed since its beginning. However, it has not always done well toward giving the parents, people who used to be integral to the plot, continuing and intriguing storylines.