Riverdale Showrunner Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa Teases Supernatural Elements in Season 2
Debi Moore
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We’ve taken a bit of heat over the past several months for our coverage of The CW’s “Riverdale,” but with the series’ Season 1 finale heading our way soon and Season 2 looming, showrunner Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa sat down with EW to chat about what’s ahead, and it could be exactly what we’ve been hoping for: witches and zombies!
When asked if we might see some elements of the Afterlife with Archie comic, Aguirre-Sacasa said, “Well, I can tell you a few things: Obviously before I worked on ‘Riverdale,’ my passion project was Afterlife with Archie. When we were originally talking about doing a show about the Archie comic characters, one of the takes we debated pitching was Afterlife with Archie and it being not a descendant of ‘Dawson’s Creek’ as ‘Riverdale’ is, but a descendant of ‘Buffy’. That was an idea that everyone was passionate about. Ultimately we ended up going for ‘Riverdale’ and starting with a more grounded, less supernatural version of that because we thought we could always go there, but if we started there, it would be hard to take that away. So start a little more grounded and normal, and then introduce something supernatural as opposed to, once you’re supernatural, it’s going to be hard to go back to non-supernatural, so that was kind of the thinking behind that.”
And how might those “supernatural elements” be introduced? It turns out they already have been hinted at… “I love Easter eggs and I love inside jokes and I love little nods to things; but absolutely when we have zombie Jason creeping up on Cheryl, it’s an homage to Afterlife with Archie the way that Afterlife with Archie is an homage to Creepshow. Do you know what I mean? So definitely we were doing specific nods. There are even things in the pilot and Episode 2, like after Betty invites Cheryl over and Alice is sage-ing Betty’s room, Alice says, ‘You know, I bet you the Blossoms are up there worshiping some dark pagan god.’ It’s an allusion to Lovecraft and those old gods that are in Afterlife with Archie. The Easter eggs and the nods and the allusions to horror and Afterlife with Archie continue throughout the season. In Episode 7 there’s a great scene of the kids searching the woods where Polly and Jason vanished, and we had a conversation where they were talking about the witches of Greendale that we actually had to cut because the episode was too long. But yeah, we’re trying to keep the door open to anything being possible on the show.”
He continued, “In my mind the mythology is this: Riverdale is a non-magical grounded town with weird stuff happening. Then there’s Sweetwater River, where Jason died, and on the other side of that river is Greendale, where Sabrina and the witches traditionally live. On one side of the river there’s no magic, there’s no supernatural — that’s where Riverdale is. And on the other side of the mythic river, which is sort of like the River Styx, there’s magic and witches and dark Lovecraftian horrors.”
As for those witches, will we see Sabrina pop up anytime soon? Aguirre-Sacasa teased, “I feel like I can say two things: One is, we are constantly talking about Sabrina and how to update her character and introduce her to the TV audiences, whether it’s part of the ‘Riverdale’ universe or it’s alongside the ‘Riverdale’ universe. Hopefully sooner rather than later, there will be something to do with Sabrina. And the other thing I will say is that in the finale there is an appearance of a character from the Archie mythology that has a darker origin and backstory… I can tell you that the finale that we shot is not the finale that we started in mind. It has probably three or four giant set pieces for us. If Jason Blossom’s death changed Riverdale in a fundamental way, what happens at the end of the season yet again fundamentally changes what kind of town Riverdale is again, and it’s probably not going to be for the better.”
Now, what about those zombies? “…There are a lot of zombie shows, so if we did go there, I think we’d more lean into the Lovecraftian horrors; or it would be more like the Evil Dead zombies rather than the Night of the Living Dead zombies, if that makes sense. Night of the Living Dead right into Walking Dead, it seems like they’re biological warfare or they came from science or extra-terrestrial, whereas the Evil Dead zombies are very much about the Book of the Dead and the Necronomicon and demons possessing the bodies and stuff. That’s where I gravitate toward anyway. I’m more horror than sci-fi. Obviously I can’t confirm or deny anything, but I will tell you that Afterlife or not, there definitely will be a big genre element to Season 2. It won’t suddenly just be a coming-of-age drama. There will definitely be a very strong, bold genre statement. If Season 1 is a murder mystery, it won’t necessarily be another murder mystery. We’re telling, for us, kind of the best version of a murder mystery: Who killed Jason Blossom? So whatever twist in genre element that we add in Season 2, it’s going to be different from that and probably, I think, it’s going to make people go, “They’re not really doing that, are they?”
There a bit more in the EW interview, including how they might tackle a Sabrina spin-off so be sure to hit up the above link.
“Riverdale” returns on March 30th with Episode 1.08, “Chapter Eight: The Outsiders.” Be sure to tune in!
“Riverdale” Episode 1.08 – “Chapter Eight: The Outsiders” (airs 3/30/17)
THE BEST LAID PLANS — As Fred (Luke Perry) and his crew are about to start construction, he loses his crew, which could put his livelihood in jeopardy. Wanting to help his dad, Archie (KJ Apa) and his friends pitch in to help; but after one of them is attacked, the gang comes up with a plan that lands them in Southside Serpent territory. With Jughead’s (Cole Sprouse) secret revealed, he is worried about how his friends will react.
Meanwhile, Veronica (Camila Mendes) and Betty (Lili Reinhart) suggest throwing Polly (guest star Tiera Skovbye) a baby shower to make her feel better, but Polly is hesitant knowing how everyone feels. Marisol Nichols, Madchen Amick, Madelaine Petsch, and Ashleigh Murray also star. David Katzenberg directed the episode written by Julia Cohen.
https://youtu.be/6VYpnIzUL1k
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