Riverdale, currently airing its fourth season on The CW, is a teen drama that serves as a darker take to the Archie Comics. With the same characters that are slightly revamped for modern times, it’s thoroughly entertaining TV if you’re into that kind of thing.
Through the seasons, the story has focused on the four main characters you know from the popular comics: Archie, Betty, Veronica, and Jughead. But there are other characters, like Josie (from Josie and the Pussycats), Cheryl, Reggie, and more.
While all of the cast members get quite a bit of screen time throughout each hour-long episode, some deserve it more than others. Here are 5 characters we’d love to see more of, and 5 that, if they had less screen time, we wouldn’t be mad about it. (Note: some mild spoilers ahead.)
Archie Andrews: Less
We get that Archie is the main guy in the show – the sweet and innocent jock turned aspiring singer turned muscular juvenile delinquent bad boy (still with a great heart.) But we could really use a lot of his screen time to watch other characters develop.
He’s often trying to help everyone, which is nice, and he is frequently showing off his abs, (which are nothing to complain about). But there are only so many shirtless boxing scenes we can watch per episode. There’s not much else to him. If it weren’t for his fearsome foursome, he’d be lost and not very compelling.
Jughead Jones: More
There’s so much depth the Jughead, who has lived a tough life with an absent drug-dealing mother and an alcoholic gang leader father. Despite his tumultuous upbringing, and despite becoming the new leader of the gang (that isn’t necessarily up to no good but just wants to protect one another and their town), he is super smart and a talented writer.
Even though he’s scrawny and sort of an outcast, he manages to get people to like and follow him. While his storylines always involve drama, they are interesting, nonetheless as he tries to get to the heart of what’s happening in Riverdale, while capturing the essence of every situation through his prose.
Veronica Lodge: Less
The rich daddy’s girl who despises her parents and their mafia-like family business, yet happily lives off their blood money, is hilarious to watch. Smart, beautiful, talented, cunning, and manipulative, she’s always there to help others out of a jam thanks to her endless resources and connections.
But the story gets more and more unbelievable when you try to fathom an 18 (or so) year old high schooler who owns a speakeasy, has time to run it (what about homework?) yet still gets into the top colleges and spends every waking moment seducing her boyfriend Archie. We’d rather see more of others.
FP Jones: More
FP is arguably the most changed character of everyone. He began as Jughead’s absentee dad who focused his life on leading his gang that resided on the fringes of Riverdale. The gang was known as the Southside Serpents and they were constantly doing dirty deeds in order to ensure their protection.
He found his way back to his son, completely turned his life around, even taking a job at Pop’s diner to try and make an honest living before he somehow became the new sheriff of Riverdale. He is the kids’ connection to law enforcement, and we’d love to see him come in and save the day more often, showing that people really can change for the better.
Josie McCoy: Less
Josie hasn’t added much to the story. First a snobbish lead singer of a popular high school musical group with aspirations of becoming a major music artist, she eventually let her guard down and let others in. And it was revealed that much of her attitude stemmed from unfair pressure her father put on her.
But she hasn’t been a big part of the latest seasons, and while she isn’t seen much on the show as of late, she could easily transfer out of the school and probably wouldn’t be missed, except for her nightly singing performances at Veronica’s speakeasy La Bonne Nuit.
Alice Cooper: More
It seemed that Alice had gone completely bonkers after it was revealed that her husband was a terrible serial killer, joining a cult-like group along with her eldest daughter and her twin babies. But it was later revealed that Alice was actually pretending, going undercover for the FBI to take the organization down.
She accomplished this but was missing for some time from the season. Alice always provided some interesting perspective on the parents, who were clearly all pretty wild children back in their day as well. We’d definitely love to see more of her.
Kevin Keller: Less
We loved Kevin originally, as the best friend to Betty and son of the former sheriff. But once he got caught up in the cult, and even almost let Betty get lobotomized, we lost all respect for him. Granted, people can get caught up in things and finally come back to their senses, which Kevin appears to have done. But we’re over him now, and we’d rather see Betty spend her time with someone else.
Cheryl Blossom: More
We can never have enough of Cheryl, the wealthy, entitled and manipulative popular girl who came from a once well-respected family with its roots in Riverdale and managed to survive major controversy, death, and murder amongst her kin. Finally accepting herself for who she is and entering into a relationship with Toni, every time Cheryl walks into a scene, she’s, well, a lot.
But whether she’s barking orders with her hand on her hips in a skirt and bright red lipstick, or taking down enemies with her bow, arrow, and killer shot, she’s always fun to watch.
Betty Cooper: Less
While FP changed from being the worst dad possible to a model father, Betty switched completely the other way, going from the girl next door to a savage, cunning, dark young woman. Intelligent and fiercely loyal to her family and friends, she struggles with having a serial killer father and believing that she somehow inherited some of his darkness.
Betty is always at the center of every mystery and is often the one who solves it. But we think it’s due time she let someone else step in and pull back a bit to give other characters more screen time.
Hiram Lodge: More
Veronica has an evil dad who runs a criminal organization where he kills, manipulates, tortures, intimidates, and does whatever it takes to get what he wants. Hiram is the main antagonist of the series, even when there’s a serial killer running around.
Recently in jail, he still manages to pop in every now and then (he owns everyone at the jail, he tells Veronica, so can come and go as he pleases). What will he do next, and how will he toy with his daughter once again? We can’t wait to find out as they continue their cat and mouse game.
