Cop Fridays: Riverdale's 'Sins of the Father' with a Dark Millennial Twist

     First of all, Riverdale is a very spooky town. It's reminiscent of the 90's, a classic, timeless small town where everyone's parents went to school together. This is an increasingly important part of the plot. I love the relationships between the teens, but their parents have some uncomfortable history, See below) and everyone knows everyone's business. It could easily be Forks, Washington (Twilight) or the elusive but about to return) Twin Peaks, Washington. It's definitely in the pacific northwest because these pasty kids need some sunlight. Even on the sunny July 4th of Jason Blossom's disappearance, a slow fog and chill linger by the river.

     It's Jason's mysterious disappearance and eventual murder that kick up unrest in the town. Sheriff Keller is doing his best with his murder board, but he is out of his depth. Somehow teens Betty Cooper and 'Jughead' Jones (why the name?) are lapping him on mystery solving. All-American gal Betty (Lili Reinhart)  has a stake in the matter. Her sister Polly was dumped abruptly by Jason and sent away for a supposed breakdown. Of course, we discover Polly was sent away like it's 1960 because she's  pregnant with Jason's child. To briefly unpack this Romeo and Juliet scene, The Coopers are tightly wound investigative journalists (at the last non-online newspaper on earth) and the blossoms are old money rich from their maple syrup company. Back int he days of their great grandparents, Mr. Cooper and Mr. Blossom had a falling out and now they must never be friendly! Meanwhile Mrs. Cooper (Madchen Amick, formerly of Twin peaks) manipulates Betty, trying to keep her from crossing over to some unknown dark side.  We saw flashes when she dressed like a hooker and tried to boil the football captain in a hot tub. Betty just wants everyone to get along, but her Scooby gang hi-jinks have been bringing her closer to danger.

     Speaking of danger, Betty's new boyfriend and longtime friend Jughead (Cole Sprouse) is from the wrong side of the tracks.  His dad is an unemployed alcoholic and his mom ran off with his little sister. He spent time living and working at the drive in before it was sold to a mysterious buyer. Now poor Juggy has found some solace. His best pal Archie's dad invited him to crash with them, and Jughead seems to have found stability. His poetic lamenting is a bit much for me, it's goth Dawson-esque and not at all attractive. I wonder why people are friends with him, but I guess he's there to lend an ear. This week, Betty (the less damaged version of Joey Potter) threatened  Jughead's happiness by throwing a party for his birthday, which was crashed by the whole school. She also invited his dad, and in a very un-Dawson like matter, they did not come back together and wipe each other's tears away. Another important note about Jughead's dad (Skeet Ulrich) is that he;s the president of a rough and tumble biker gang, the Southside Serpents. This might have led to his wife taking off. The serpents are responsible for several unseemly things in town, shaking down people for payments, and  possible gay bashing. When the party broke up, Mr. Jones leered at Mrs. Cooper, suggesting they had a thing back in high school. This was too disgusting for words because THEIR KIDS ARE DATING!

     Let's get back to the murder at hand. My first guess was that Jason was murdered by his twin sister, Cheryl Blossom (Madelaine Petsch). Cheryl is the typical rich girl, cheer captain, queen Bee, and resident town insultress. But Cheryl has a soft spot for her twin. She was too attached to him from the first minute. The pair went out or an early morning boat row and he alleged downed trying to pull her glove put of the current. This was a lie. Cheryl (like mean girl Abby on Dawson) was covering for Jason so he could run away with Polly. His parents are typically cold and distant, but their grandmother supposed Jason and Polly's romance, offering him her engagement ring. But she had no idea about the baby. Polly explained to her sister that she went to Jason and he never showed up, she thought he chickened out. So we're thinking Cheryl is very sweet, helping her brother sneak off with his forbidden love. I (of the dark mistrust) intermediately thought Cheryl was jealous of Polly and murdered Jason so nobody could have him. At the party this week, a dangerous game of truth or dare led Veronica to accuse Cheryl of twincest. I completely agree with this theory, but it seems a bit too obvious when the characters confirm it.

     As the new girl in town, Veronica Lodge (Camila Mendes) has her own secrets. The New Yorker (Jen Linley much?)  in a small town shifts back and forth between rivals and friends with Cheryl, and instantly bonds with Betty. The tow are ironically known as fighting over football star Archie Andrews, but here it seems like their girl-mance is more important. Betty was classically in love with Archie, confessing to him after he kissed veronica at a party. Brokenhearted Betty finally moved on, and Archie seems to be "totes kewl" with his two best friends dating. Is yesterday's episode, the house party for Jughead's birthday ended with Archie (KJ Apa's) and Veronica's less than innocent sleepover. This came on the heels of Archie being dumped by Valerie. As much chemistry as the pair have together, their relationship is very icky because their parents used to date, and may be dating again The pair recently started working together and were caught making out several times. This is truly a Riverdale scandal because Mr. Andrews (Luke Perry) is still married (the estranged wife moved to Chicago) and Mrs. Lodge's husband is in jail for a Madoff-like scene. Then Mrs. Lodge got the movie theater land for the Lodge company (on the D.L) and fired Andrews's construction group to run the demolition. There are at least 10 major laws broken in this business deal. It's possible Jason's death is tied to Mr. Bloom bringing down Hiram 'Daddy' Loge's company, but it's too soon to tell.

     Finally, let's discuss Archie, the golden boy of town. He became the new quarterback when Jason Bloom died. Let's hold out horses, I don't think Archie had anything to do with the murder, but he certainly hindered the investigation. Archie was busy banging his music teacher (eww, please teens and teachers should not be having affairs because its icky)  in the woods on the morning Jason was shot. It took some time to tease it out, but everyone found out about Archie and Miss Grundy (Pacey), and Miss Grundy was sent packing. Archie  seems despite his misguided love interest, to be a nice kid. I still am a little surprised that all the girls are throwing themselves at him. In the span of a few weeks, it's been Betty, Miss Grundy, Veronica, Miss Grundy again, Valerie and Cheryl. They are all trying to get in his pants. Only one has succeeded, as it looks like Archie and Veronica made out and slept in separate beds. This poor kid is still reeling from his parent's split, but he may soon get some closure. The last moment of the episode ended with Archie's dad coming back from Chicago with his mom, played by Miss Molly Ringwald.

*The parental relationships are a new level on this show. Usually  on a teen drama, there's a few parents and some sort of love triangle or a couple going through a difficult time. Now we're seeing tons of the generation X drama, which I love. I want to see the parents and their relationships and work drama,  but it just seems like a toxic level of towncest here. I wrote myself a note that said: This town is full of creepy creeping. The level of rivalries and incest present in the parental generation of the town downright revolting.




http://www.telegraph.co.uk/tv/2017/03/23/teen-drama-tv-darker-ever/

Ryan Reynolds- Superhero and Super Harvey

     Today marks the release of hottie Ryan Reynolds' new superhero movie, Deadpool. This is Reynolds' second movie as a comic book hero, and truth be told, his previous attempt at saving the world in  The Green Lantern was rough to watch.  At least he got Blake Lively as his wife (eventually) out of that flop. From what I've seen, Deadpool is a head-to-toe masked  fighter who was disfigured. He covers himself up, hiding behind his slick moves and sarcastic wit. And important to note, has a naked fight scene, which might be worth the price of admission.



 
  However, my favorite Ryan Reynolds role will always be the first Harvey Kinkle in the TV movie that launched the show Sabrina the Teenage Witch. He was a total babe in a tracksuit this 1996 movie with Melissa Joan Hart. Unfortunately, he didn't make the jump to the show, as he was replaced with Nate Richert, who looked better in the 90's than he does now. Accodring to MJH's book , (Melissa Explains It All) they were lip locking back then. Sigh!

Britney Comes Back to TV, a JTV Special

     In Monday night's Jane the Virgin, the show had a special guest star, none other than Britney. I began this episode being super excited to see the Brit, but I was quickly let down and disappointed.

     Appearances like this  used to be a pretty big deal back in the day, but somehow it made me feel kind of sad. The show opened with Jane taking her baby to the Maribela hotel to stalk Britney, then they got together and did a creepy dreamed-up imaginary dance sequence to one of Britney's much weaker hits, Toxic.

     Something seemed off about Britney in a way I cannot explain, like she might have been forced to do this as a favor to someone, or it was a blackmail scenario? We're way past the days of "eave Britney alone", but I have to wonder, who is she? Could is just be weird for her to act in something that's not the Mickey Mouse Club? Having seen Crossroads (never the full movie, just bits and pieces), we know she is not he best at holding down a feature presentation.

     This led to a much weirder plot where Britney had been invited to Miami to perform at a highly important wedding ceremony. Who's wedding, you may ask? Crazy Petra is blackmailed into marrying a crazy explosives salesman, Miloche.

     The episode got  downright hilarious when Jane's telenovela star dad Rohelio De La Vega (always use his full name) admits to having a feud with Britney over a Latin Grammy Awards presentation. A very serious twitter feud with some "Mean Girls-esque" banter. I did at least laugh at Britney and her dancers began walking around the hotel in one large synchronized group. Is Brit really that desperate for exposure, or am I just not in the joke?

     My favorite Britney tv appearance is when she showed up on Sabrina the Teenage Witch, teaching Sabs some dance moves in Paris. It was also kinda a weird situation,  but it worked because she really seemed like herself, just a teen pop star dancing around with a fan, and not a glambot. Alas, it was during the Drive Me Crazy phase of 199, so maybe Britney was just more of an authentic gal back then.

The Oddest Couple

   Last week, CBS re-launched The Odd Couple. I'm not exactly sure why they did this, but based on the success of Hawaii 5-0, I guess any old show stands a chance these days if it can get some buzz going. Before the show started, I was excited about watching it. Now that I've seen the first episode, I'm not sure it will be holding my interest.

   It's a take as old as time. Two divorced college buddies that are as different as night and day end up living together and navigating the world through their differences in personality. Matthew Perry (Chandler) plays grumpy drinking Oscar and Thomas Lenin is likable as the completely neurotic and on the edge of a nervous breakdown Oscar. Felix is messy and he likes sports, while Oscar is a total neat freak that enjoys opera, arts and cooking. They make the acquaintance of two sisters that live in their apartment building, played by Leslie Bibb (Casey) and Lindsay Sloane (Emily) {it's important to note here as part of the WB network's two stars to a new project rule, both actresses were on the WB, Bibb in popular and Sloane in Sabrina the Teenage Witch}. The opening scenes followed the play version very closely, but with some 21st century upgrades  (lots of TV's, Laptops, cell phones...).

   As much as I like both actors, and enjoy their scenes in the movie 17 Again, it felt like a community theater production put to a laugh track. Only time will tell if it makes it to another season.

A Note About Celebrating Halloween Part 1: 90's Family Sitcoms

In honor of Halloween, I'm doing my most (and probably only) Halloween-themed event this weekend. Here are my five top sitcom Halloween episodes of 90's sitcoms. Check back for the five best Halloween drama episodes.

Sabrina the Teenage Witch
(Seasons 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 - but not 7)

A show about a teenage with has tons of Halloween-themed episodes, which makes the selection tough. (While the WB-year episodes in the later season weren't always filled with the best of storylines, and Season 7 was again basically lost season, there is some great material). Season 2's "A River of Candy Corn Runs Through It" is the best, where Sabrina's first mortal Halloween party turns into a disaster, complete with possessed furniture and a river of candy corn. "Good Will Haunting" from season 3 is also a great episode, where another haunting happens at Sabrina's house, during a Halloween double-date (by a creepy possessed doll).

Boy Meets World
(1,2, 5, 7-only in theme)

Point of contention here because Season 5's "And Then There Was Shawn" is not actually a Halloween episode, it was done in February of season 5 on top of the the Halloween-themed "Witches of Pennbrook." but has always been discussed among my friends as the best Halloween sitcom episode. This is my choice, with its "Scream" "I Know What You Did Last Summer" and "South Park References." During detention (and during the legendary Cory/Topanga breakup), Shaw, Cory, Topanga, Angela, and a guy named Kenny get sentenced to a horror of detention. Must see line: "We'll always remember he (Kenny) was that tall," where a pencil drilled a hole through Kenny's skull and into the wall and "It's against the Geneva Detention Convention." Jennifer Love Hewitt guest stars as Jennifer Love Fefferman (aka Feffy, who falls in love with Eric before death by library books. "Witches" gets an honorable mention for Jack dating a creepy witch girl (played by Candace Cameron (Bure) of Full House, and a guest appearance from Sabrina.

Home Improvement
(Halloween themed episodes in seasons 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8)

The Taylor clan was long known for elaborate holiday themed episodes including Tim's annual Christmas roof decorating and Halloween scare-offs. Season 3's "Crazy for You" is my favorite, where Jill takes a (successful) try at out-pranking her husband, the self-titled "King of Pranks." Tim believes he is being stalked at his Halloween party by an obsessed fan, Rose, who is actually Al dressed up like a woman. Jill recruits Al, Heidi, Wilson and others to pull off the elaborate prank. The Taylor boys also dress up as the Three Stooges, all as Moe. Great Jill quotes include "Death was a popular costume this year. Black is very slimming," and "The only costume that was left was this or Bob Vila." Honorable mention goes to season 7's "Night to Dismember," where Mark and a friend make a creepy film for school and worry his parents, playing the youngest of three sons on a killing spree.

Step By Step
(Halloween episodes season 4 and 7).

Season 4's "Something Wild" is one part Halloween and one part geek trying to be cool. Mark meets a punk girl (JJ Jenkins- the hottest girl in the 8th grade) that tries to turn him bad. He ends up leaving his family's party to throw eggs at a house (with a Mohawk). Cody also grows the world's largest pumpkin. Great Al line, "Great. Mr. Wizard is in heat." There's also a great scene where carol comments on her daughters' Halloween costumes, Karen the mermaid, and Dana the lady in a suit (she was dressed as Hillary Clinton). "Dream Lover" in season 7 (the lost season after it moved to CBS) was pretty lame. No honorable mention, just an acknowledgement.

Family Matters
(Halloween episodes seasons 2, 4, 6, 8, 9)

Now the season 8 "Steevil" episode gets a honorable mention for showing Laura cut up in the kitchen cabinets, but I'm picking the season 6 episode "Dark and Stormy Night" where Steve tells Little Ritchie a scary 1800's story about the Von Winslow Family. Check out Nana Winslow as Raggedy Anne and Eddie and Waldo as Siamese twins. Plus, Steve says "Didst I do that?"

A Note About WB Stars Making TV Appearances

     The WB stars of the past and present, mostly the past in this case, have long made TV appearances together on new shows. They're popping up everywhere. Here are 10 great WB reunions in other shows and movies and 3 WB prequel friendships.

Reunited, and it Feels so Good

As part of their packaged deal, I'm convinced, WB stars make TV deals to be in future TV shows with other stars. Here are ten examples:

1. 2010, Life Unexpected 
1. (Shiri Appleby- Roswell and Kerr Smith- Dawson's Creek), as radio cohosts and engaged parents raising her long-lost teenager.
2.  2010, The Vampire Diaries 
1. (Paul Wesley- Everwood, Bianca Lawson- Buffy)
3. 2010, Pretty Little Liars 
1. (Holly Marie Combs- Charmed,  Lucy Hale- Privileged, Bryce Johnson- Popular, Bianca Lawson- Buffy)
4. 2008-2010, Bones 
5. (David Boreanez- Angel, and Brendan Fehr-Roswell)  as his brother.
6. 2008, 90210 
1. (Lori Loughlin- Summerland, Jennie Garth- What I Like About You) and including Shannen Doherty and Greg Vaughn- Charmed, Scott Patterson-Gilmore Girls, and Sarah Danielle Madison- 7th Heaven 
7. 2007, Samantha Who?
1.  (Barry Watson- 7th Heaven, Melissa McCarthy- Gilmore Girls)
8. 2007, Greek 
1. (Appearances by Charisma Carpenter - Buffy/Angel & Jesse McCartney- Summerland)
9. 2006, What About Brian?
1.  (Barry Watson- 7th Heaven, Amanda Foreman- Felicity, and Matthew Davis (The Vampire Diaries)
10. 2006, The Bedford Diaries 
1. (Penn Bagley- future Gossip Girl star, Milo Ventimiglia- Gilmore Girls)
11. 2006, Heroes 
1. (Greg Grunberg- Felicity, Milo Vetmingilia-  Gilmore Girls)
12. 2005, How I Met Your Mother
1.  (Alyson Hannigan- Buffy, and Bob Saget- Raising Dad)                                            with guest appearances by Amy Acker-Angel, Joanna Garcia- Reba, Alexis Denisof-  Buffy/ Angel, Tom Lenk- Buffy, Harry Groener-Buffy)
13. 2004, Fearless (Unaired WB pilot)
1.  (Ian Somerhalder, Bianca Lawson, and Rachel Leigh Cook- honorary WB star).
14. 2004, Jack and Bobby
1.  (starred Bradley Cooper, who links to many proijects with other WB stars, including Greg Grunberg (Alias) , Emma Caufield (I Wanna Marry Ryan Banks), Nick Brendan (Kitchen Confidential)
15. 2003, Veronica Mars
1.  (Guest roles by Alyson Hannigan- Buffy & Charisma Carpenter- Buffy/Angel)
16. 2003, Supernatural 
1. (Jared Paladecki- Gilmore Girls, Jensen Ackles- Smallville)
17. 2002, What I Like About You
1.  (Simon Rex- Jack & Jill, Leslie Grossman- Popular, Jennie Garth - 90210)
18. 2001, Lost 
1. (Emilie de Ravin- Roswell, Daniel Dae Kim-Angel  & GS Greg Grunberg- Felicity)
19. 2001, Alias 
1. (Jennifer Garner- Felicity, Greg Grunberg-Felicity, Amanda Foreman-Felicity, Kevin Wesiman, Felicity)
20. 2000, Gilmore Girls
1.  (Keiko Agnea- Felicity, Danny Strong- Buffy, Chad Michael Murray- One Tree Hill)

     Hold your hats, here we go on some deep dives!

• The appearance of James Van Der Beek on One Tree Hill (2008-2009 season) as a coke-snorting director brought the WB/CW (WC for short) full circle. VDB's director came to Tree Hill to try to direct a movie of Lucas's life story, and the former WB golden boy and resident moody dreamer finally passed on his crown to the WB's reigning golden boy and moody dreamer (CMM), before he left at the end of that season. Now if only VDB had come home  (both shows filmed to Wilmington, N.C.) as his WB character, director Dawson Leary, the earth as we know if would explode. If only....
• Some WB stars were friends before they came to the glorious network, like Lori Loughlin and Bob Saget, who starred as in-laws and co-hosts on Full House. FH stars Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen were in a classic episode of 7th Heaven where Simon and a friend go on a double date with the daring twins. The pair also anchored a season of Two of a Kind on ABC, where their uncle was played by Sabrina cast member, David Lascher.
• The original 90210, the one that started it all, starred Shannen Doherty (Charmed, 90210) and Emma Caulfield (Buffy).
• The 1995 Clueless movie and subsequent 1996 TV show starred Elisa Donovan, who went on to play Morgan on Sabrina, and Donald Faison, who played Tracy on several seasons of Felicity. Rachel Blanchard, who played Cher in the TV series, later went on to play Kevin's police partner on 7th Heaven.
• The WB's less publicized shows such as Jack & Jill and Zoe, Duncan, Jack and Jane (aka Zoe...) launched the careers of other WB stars such as Michael Rosenbaum (Smallville, Lex Luthor), Ivan Sergei (Paige's husband in the last season of Charmed), and Simon Rex (Felicity once slept with him).