‘Riverdale’ Cast Blasts Haters Who Don’t Get the Show’s Intentional ‘Absurdity’

The Riverdale cast is clapping back at the haters as the show prepares to end after seven seasons. In a new interview with Vulture that was conducted prior to the SAG-AFTRA strike, the main cast got together to talk about their time on the CW series, which is based on the beloved ARCHIE comics. When talking about Riverdale, the topic of absurdity came up, as the series is known to go pretty far in terms of storylines.

Over the years, many people have expressed their hatred for Riverdale, making fun of it and saying that the actors probably “can’t wait” to be done with it. While the series is obviously not like other teen dramas, that’s the whole point, especially since it is a comic book series, as Lili Reinhart says, “I think it’s important to acknowledge that our show is made fun of a lot.”

“People see clips taken out of context and are like, ‘What? I thought this was about teenagers,’” Reinhart continues. “And we thought so as well – in Season 1. But it’s really not been easy to feel that you’re the butt of a joke. We all want to be actors; we’re passionate about what we do. So when the absurdity of our show became a talking point, it was difficult. It is ‘What the f—?’ That’s the whole point. When we’re doing our table reads and something ridiculous happens, Roberto is laughing because he understands the absurdity and the campiness.”

Casey Cott added that “It only works if we lean in,” meaning that they have to really get into the craziness that is Riverdale. The show didn’t really start to get off course until the third season, and since then, it’s been a waiting game to see what the town would be dealing with. The cast also has probably gotten used to not being so surprised as to what creator Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa and the writers will come up with, especially for Riverdale. Plus, organ-harvesting cults and time-traveling are not necessarily the craziest things people have seen in recent years.

“Superhero movies are the main thing at the box office these days, and those are the most absurd stories you could imagine!” Camila Mendes exclaimed. “You’ve got a f—ing talking raccoon fighting aliens in space! No one’s like, ‘This makes no sense.’ We’re a comic book; it’s supposed to be fun and fictional and weird. If you want to watch a teen show where there’s just a bunch of kids in high school dealing with relationship drama, there’s a lot out there. But Roberto didn’t want to do that. I think he wanted something that was more outlandish.”

Although Riverdale started out as a classic murder mystery teen drama, it wouldn’t be the show it is today without the crazy plotlines. Cole Sprouse even says that it’s “the natural life cycle of a cult program North America is the only part of the world that raises vocal opposition to the absurdity of the show. England, which has a more dry, sort of crass, sarcastic sense of humor, loves it and gets it. We find a huge audience in France that has a fascination with classic Americana.”

With only two episodes left of Riverdale, it will be sad to say goodbye, yet exciting to see how the story will wrap up. Since the final season takes place in the ’50s, there’s no way of knowing what will happen. Fans can expect something insane, though, in true Riverdale fashion. New episodes air on Wednesdays at 9 p.m. ET on The CW, with the series finale airing next Wednesday, August 23.